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I was just going through one of my morning rituals of white tea with almond milk (very yummy and healthy) and reading the Wall Street Journal when I came across a review of a new book, Beauty Junkies by Alex Kuczynski. The inspiration for her book was her own addiction to cosmetic prodecures, beginning with her first Botox injection at age 28. It sounds fascninating in a morbid kind of way because she goes into gory details about prodecures, deaths and the prodecures that went bad. If you are on the fence at all, and even if you’re not, you might want to read this book before making that appointment to “have a little work done”.

My thing is that I just don’t understand why a woman would opt to remove her personality (yes, part of your personality is your face and facial expressions) and replace it with, as the reviewer, Alexandra Wolfe, says, “looking vaguely like the same person: an aging porn star.”

When I see a woman with a face lift, it is so obvious that I can’t take my eyes and mind off of it. I end up not listening as attentively as I would like. It’s really quite fascinating to see how their mouth stretches out in those strange, wider-than-ought-to-be lips. They really do all look the same.

Sure, I’ve stretched my face back, just a tad, to see what I’d look like without my sagginess that is beginning to show. But always, I see that I am taking away the character in my face. Judy Dentch is my idol. I want to age exactly as she ias done. And Helen Merrin. Those are beautiful women who seem to get more attractive with each passing year.

The funny thing is, when a woman removes her sags and wrinkles, she may look younger, but she is less attractive. It’s the saddest thing. And it’s irreversible.

And it’s not just the women. Look at Kenny Rogers. When I saw him on TV recently, I did not recognize him. No kidding. All that beautiful character, collected over years of living, gone. It just breaks my heart.

Part of being beautiful is liking yourself. Part of liking yourself is taking good care of yourself. To stay youthful I’ve done several things that are easy and good for you: Drink lots of water; get that blood pumping so the skin stays glowing and the interior stays in tip-top shape; wash my face morning and evening and use good (but not necessarily expensive) face products; be happy and share your love. I’m 58 but everyone guesses me to be in my early 40’s. I feel young and I’m having the time of my life. Life is too good to risk any kind of elective surgery.

With much love,
Kara