Keeping up appearances

My hairdresser was asking me last week when I was in for a cut and color if I ever thought of letting my hair grow longer. When I was young I had shoulder-length hair. (didn’t we all) But it never really worked for me as I had to work too hard to keep it looking good. As I got older with a job and a child, I decided I needed a really easy hair style, one that took almost no work and so got my short hair style that I’ve pretty much had for 40 years. During the late 90s I let it grow a bit, but it made me look so old because it pulled my face down and it was also getting gray, and not a pretty gray.

With that explanation, my hairdresser commented that I had really healthy hair so she thought it would look pretty if it was longer. Then we switched topics to skin care. She wanted to know what I do to keep my skin looking so good at my age. MY AGE! Well, okay, I am inching closer to 70, but… The best advice for good skin when you get old is to have good genetics and take care of your skin when you’re young. I’ve never gone out in the sun for very long, always worn sunscreen or makeup with sunscreen. I’ve never smoked. I eat well. I sleep well. And I have my father’s genes. All of his sisters had beautiful skin. My sister had beautiful skin.

We next talked about what the pandemic has done to people’s appearances. We’ve relaxed our routines. We weren’t able to get hair appointments for months. (This is where I feel fortunate because I never missed a hair appointment due to my hairdresser working out of her home and only taking in clients who she trusted.) When working I put on makeup every day of the week. Monday through Friday for school, Saturday to run errands, Sunday for church. My sister and I talked about this years ago because she too always wore high quality makeup and felt that it helped her skin. But with the shutdown, I’m not leaving the house for days at a time, so no need for makeup unless I’m doing a zoom meeting. And now, a storytelling session three days a week.

I’m not going to wear my uniform when doing the storytelling. I had already decided, last year, that I was going to give up the uniform shirt with police insignia and instead wear fun, bright colors. Yesterday I wore an orange t-shirt with a lion on it.