Is it time for your regularly scheduled maintenance?

It's so great to drive a brand-new car isn't it?

It roars to life at just the gentlest touch. It hums like a bird at any speed. You can be rough with it, neglectful even, and yet it drives with confidence.

Eventually the car will start to show its age a little. The engine gets louder, less graceful. It starts to lurch around, rather than hug, the corners. You start to notice bumps and thumps, tiny dents and scratches, that were never there before. You worry that things are starting to really break down.

One day you wake up and you realize your car is on its way to beater-hood. You can't afford a new one, so you vow to do all you can to stave off the inevitable. You slow down. You start changing the oil on a regular basis. You start taking those bumps and thumps seriously. It gets increasingly time-consuming and increasingly expensive.

And the most frustrating thing? Despite all your efforts, that car just doesn't feel like the sleek, little beauty you drove off the lot all those years ago.

Yup, I'm sure you figured it out less than halfway through that belaboured metaphor; I am that car.

And you probably are too. For most women it seems like the more we age, the more maintenance our bodies require to stay in working order. And by working order, I mean the kind of shape that allows us to feel confident, strong and comfortable with ourselves.

As much as I have always loved clothes, I never used to be terribly high maintenance when it came to grooming. I would throw on a sexy dress and some kicky shoes and run out to the next party.

I constantly dyed my own hair - just for fun - confident that I could pull off whatever colour resulted. It never occurred to me to whiten my teeth or shape my eyebrows. I was 30 when I got my first pedicure.

I could have spent hours primping, but I didn't need to.

Now I would kill to have hours to primp, but it's not gonna happen; I'm too busy working, mothering and keeping my home and life in (semi) order. I have realized that the best you can do is try to keep up a few things and hope those efforts mitigate what you can't change.

Here are some things I think pay the best dividends with the least investment:

1. Get your eyebrows done. It usually costs less than $20 and takes about 10 minutes (I go on my lunch) but it opens up your face like you wouldn't believe. You don't have to go really thin and stylized to look instantly more polished. Try it - you'll thank me.

2. Take a few hours one night after the kids are in bed and go through your closet. Be ruthless. Better to wear a few nice things over and over, than to wear things that are not flattering. If it's questionable, THROW IT OUT! If it looks kinda dated, THROW IT OUT. Otherwise, you will be rushed one morning, you will throw on that skirt you bought in 1988 and you will feel like a dork all day. Trust me - I almost threw on a pair of pleather pants the other day because they were there! Which reminds me...

3. Try and get in the habit of laying out your clothes, including jewelery and shoes, for the next day before you go to bed. It actually saves time and almost always results in a more polished outfit. I do this seven days a week, even when it's jeans and sneakers; it just helps me feel more put together in the morning.

4. Try lip liner - seriously. Lipstick alone is good, but lipstick and liner together? Hubba hubba. Try a pencil one shade darker than your lipstick, draw just on the outer edge of your natural lip line and fill with just a little lipstick. Voila! Instant glamour. If you mess up, just put a dab of concealer over the mistake and redraw. I often don't wear any other makeup on the weekend days, but I always draw a nice lip line, fill it in with lipstick and I'm good to go. And if you want your lips to stay perfect for a night out, rub in foundation all across and around them before applying liner and lipstick over top.

So those are my some of my best tips. I could go on about the importance of maintaining a great cut and colour and getting regular facials and workouts, but you know all that.

I know all that too and I don't have time for it either.

I may not be the sporty little model I once was. But with some carefully chosen maintenance, I'll keep humming along.

And so will you.

Comments

[slouchingmom]

I too am a recent convert to getting my brows done -- and I agree with your take on it.