I smile a lot. Smiling makes me feel good, and when I smile people are drawn to my face not my neck. I am not fond of my neck. Of course I also smile a lot because I am happy, but back to my neck.

If I could walk around holding either side of my neck and stretch the skin until it is taut it would look great. Somehow that’s not practical. Somewhere between 50 and 70, my skinny neck got scrawny, and I am not opting for any surgery. When I read about neck lifts I get queasy, and when I look at the women who have had ‘work done’ via surgery, I know that is not for me. So I have decided to do the best with what I have, and that is deal with the skin I have.

Skin changes as we age. This is not news. As a teenager I had acne and oily skin, so greasy that you could blot it with a paper towel and it remained shiny. Now this turned out to be a good thing, and my juicy skin kept its elasticity, and resilience. The acne went away for the most part, and left me with smooth older skin. You may be thinking, ‘so how will that help me?’

This brings me to moisturizer. Not everyone has oily skin and even if you do, you will still need face cream I accidentally found a great one because of the sunblock I was using by LaRoche-Posay, Anthelios 60, which I love. (I will talk about the sun in another blog).

My expensive La Mer cream was making me break out. I know it’s exclusive and great for many women, if they can afford it, but it wasn’t working for me. And speaking of cost, I also know that many women will buy the most expensive skincare products if they believe in them, no matter what the price.

I tried this great moisturizer, La Roche-Posay’s Redermic C with UV protection for sensitive skin, and I love it. No more breakouts and my skin looks and feels silky. It’s also about the fifth of the cost of La Mer. I love it, but of course we all have different skin and it may not be great for everyone.

Here are some of the things that I do for my skin and how I face the day, pun intended. I sleep on my back. I read an article in Cosmopolitan magazine about forty years ago that said you would not get wrinkly cheeks if you slept on your back, so I do. You might have to compare my skin over that time period but it’s worked. I don’t have wrinkly cheeks.

I do not remove my makeup at night. I once read that the less you fiddle with your face the better. I am also too tired at night to go through a routine of cleansing. When I wake up, I remove my eye makeup with Lancôme Bi-Facil Eye Makeup Remover, and then I smear the oil from a Vitamin E capsule under my eyes, put a bit of cover up on this area, and go to the pool for a half hour.

By the time I get home, walk the dog, make some breakfast, the ‘E’ has been absorbed. I have been doing this routine for 30 years, and I believe it’s helped minimize any eye wrinkles because of it. More recently, I have been putting some Vitamin E on my neck, but this is only to make me feel better about my neck. Then I shower and use soap to wash my face. I have been using Fa bar soap for years on my face and body. Makes me feel clean. That oily business again.

After I dry off, put sunblock on my arms and face, I head to the mirror for my get-ready regimen. I remove the last vestiges of eye makeup, put on the moisturizer, a light tinted foundation; cover up any spots with a tiny brush and concealer, then a bit of blush, lip gloss, mascara, dry my hair if I have washed it, and I am ready in 30 minutes.

Oscar, my dog, thinks I look great, and gets me smiling once again. Who cares about my neck anyway?

 Riki