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Tuesday 19 January 2010

Old and Beige

There was a picture of Susan Sarandon in the Observer over the weekend. She was lounging against a wall, dressed in a fantastic jersey dress, soft red curls tumbling round her face. She looked stunning. She’s sixty bloody three. Yes, yes the lighting was good, the makeup and hair perfect and there was probably a teeny bit of photoshopping afterwards but even so. Gorgeous. Thing is, she doesn’t have that awful frozen at thirty five look, she just looks like a beautiful mature woman.

It’s not much fun getting old. Er. I’ve been in writing purdah for the past couple of months, juggling work for the Open University and struggling to write an adaptation at the same time. Yeah boo hoo. I dunno about you but when I’m really busy, appearance takes a bit of a back seat. Apart from the basics of personal hygiene. So I had a GOOD LOOK in an unflattering bathroom light the other day and noticed several bad things.

1. A proliferation of grey hair. This doesn’t matter so much if you have warm skin – grey can look silvery and sexy. When you’re a redhead with pale skin you just look like a beige blob.
2. Red veins round my nose, just to add a splash of colour. Not quite a W.C Fields alco nose but definitely red veins.
3. A WITCH HAIR sprouting from my cheek. Like a long pube curling outwards – shameless. It was practically shouting: ‘Here I am!’ I can’t believe I’m admitting this but I SHAVED IT OFF. I’m shaving. I know this because the Girl wandered into the bathroom (her timing is immaculate) and said: ‘Mummy I thought only daddies shaved their faces.’ She did redeem herself later on the way to school by saying: ‘Mummy when I’m a grown up I’m going to try and stay out of jail.’ A laudable ambition.

It didn’t help that when my sister and I visited my parents over the weekend, mum gave us our overdue Christmas presents, which included among other things, a bottle of sterilising hand gel (!?) and a pair of slippers that my sister says, are the kind that ‘105 year old ladies wear’. Sis has banned me from wearing them saying that if I do, it’s a slippery slope and before I know it, I’ll be considering a cauliflower perm - so very practical, or looking at beige leisure trousers and thinking oooh they look comfy. She’s right.

Although I think that doing what you love is the best anti-ageing device. That and a fuckload of hair dye and botox. So bugger ageing gracefully – I’m off to the hairdressers

6 comments:

Husband said...

1. Grey hair = sexy mature woman. Not old harridan. Not every bloke wants a 25 year old.
2. Red veins not noticeable except by you when holding microscope up to bathroom mirror (will you please stop doing that? Stubbed my toe on it again.)
3. Agreed. Witch hair Not Good. Please remove.
4. Hand gel odd but very practical
5. You're still a Yummy Mummy so stop complaining. Geez.

penny said...

I was going to say something sympathetic and supportive, but you obviously don't need it! My grandmother's method of dealing with witch-hairs was to burn them off with a lighted match - they evidently bred them tougher in those days...

Kit Courteney said...

Lovely post, Jane!

I wouldn't know how many grey hairs I have. At the first sign of 'roots' I get them covered PDQ.

Therefore, I have none.

I can fool myself forever that way.

Product Placement said...

Witch hairs? I like to think of mine more as Nanny Goat hairs. Or facial pubes. Like we don't have enough problems in that area... Jeez.

Gillian said...

It's not a cheek hair or a chin hair, it's a stray eyebrow.

: )

Gillian said...

It's not a cheek hair or a chin hair, it's a stray eyebrow.

: )