Another Birthday? – Treat Yourself!

Birthdays come and go but we are still here – yes, it’s my birthday today and no, I don’t really need another one – but I can’t stop them from happening – so the only thing to do is to look on the bright side of things and celebrate yet another year that has passed and look forward to the year ahead.

For as long as I can remember I have bought myself a new dress for my birthday. After all it is a special occasion and I wanted to mark the moment. I know people who take the day off work, but I rather went to work wearing my new dress that day. But this year I did something different –  I bought a pair shoes – not any shoes – Red Shoes – and the effect is amazing. They make me feel very feminine, very sexy and daring – and that is the attitude I need for another year to come.

 

Maybe red shoes are not your thing, but I am sharing this with you to remind you to treat yourself with whatever makes you feel good and special. Another birthday needs to be celebrated with a gift you give yourself!

                                                     Happy Birthday to everybody who is also born on May 6!

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

Brigitte

 

Lipsticks – Our Best Friends!

beautiful lips painted red lipstick

“I just want to put on some lipstick.”  is something every woman says a thousand times during her life. And while freeing the creamy stick from its tube,  looking in the mirror, and opening her lips slightly she carefully applies the magic that makes her look better and above all makes her feel whole again, because without it she feels incomplete.

I remember my mother-in-law, even at 91 years old, always had a lipstick close by. When she had diner at home or in restaurant a lipstick was right beside her plate. And no sooner had she finished her meal she picked it up and gently applied it to her lips. No, she needed no mirror, and no, she never missed, all was perfectly in place.

From all the items in our make-up kid the lipstick  is the most effective:

  • it makes the face look alive
  • it  makes the face look pretty
  • it adds sex appeal to the face
  • it protects the lips against dryness
  • it brightens up your smile
  • and most of all it makes us feel whole
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Close-up of Nefertiti’s Lips

Today’s women are not the first to enhance their appeal with lipstick. In 1923 the first lipstick in a tube was sold. But as far back as in Ancient Mesopotamia (5000 BC) women decorated their lips with crushed gem stones, and in Egypt Queen Nefertiti (1370 BC)  was always depicted with red lips.

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Queen Nefertiti 1370 BC

 

And ever since women have enhanced their beauty by coloring their lips. And our choices have grown ever since. It is an overwhelming task to find the perfect shade – (the reason we end up with dozens of lipsticks in our drawer). My personal chagrin is that every time I find the perfect color it is soon discontinued. I was told by a cosmetic company executive that women get very excited by new shades and it guarantees a sale.

But with all the options we have, beware of the following missteps when getting a little older:

  • too bright colors – can easily look garish
  • too dark colors – don’t give any life to the face
  • lip-gloss – tends to run into the little lines around the mouth

A statistic showing that when times are bad sales of lipstick go up certainly confirms that a lipstick is the most important item in our paint box.

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And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

bn-small-imageBrigitte

 

 

 

 

CHAMPAGNE – Makes You Healthy and Happy

Now that the New Year is here let’s start it the right way, and do the right things to make us happy, prettier, and healthy!

All the Ways Champagne Is Good for You

As if you needed another excuse to drink it

We’re big fans of champagne (here’s proof, in case you needed it). But until now, we weren’t aware that the bubbly we’re drinking on the reg actually has a quite a few scientifically-proven health benefits. Take a look:

It’s low-calorie.

While a glass of red or white wine contains between 135 and 200 calories, a glass of brut (dry) champagne clocks in at only 95. And the low-sugar version, called “low dosage,” has a mere 65 calories per glass.

It prevents dementia and memory loss.

A study at the University of Reading determined that drinking one to three glasses of champagne each week can boost brain health. The study was done on rats, half of whom were served champagne every day for six weeks (nice life for a rat, right?). The rats were tasked with completing a maze, and while the sober rats had an average success rate of 50 percent, the bubbly drinkers had a 70 percent success rate.

It’s good for your skin.

“Champagne detoxifies the skin with antioxidants, and its lightening tartaric acid helps even out the skin tone,” says dermatologist Marina Peredo. “For those with oily skin, its antibacterial properties [help with] breakouts.”

It’s a heart-healthy beverage.

In fact, it’s just as good for your heart as red wine. Another University of Reading study concluded that “two glasses of champagne a day may be good for your heart and circulation and could reduce the risks of suffering from cardiovascular disease and stroke.” Maybe they should rename the place Champagne University?

It may actually help you drink less in the long run.

Champagne and other effervescent drinks have been shown to make people drink slower and feel full more quickly. There’s even a diet plan based around it. Score!

Cheers!

From: Town & Country
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And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!
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39 Forever!

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if getting older stopped at age 39? For some it does and they stay happily 39!

Image result for 39 forever birthday

A review I received from a reader of my book confirms this, and I would like to share it with you and thank Jane for writing the review, quote:

Getting Over Growing Older

Author, Ms. Brigitte Nioche

A review 

I had the recent pleasure of collaborating with Ms. Brigitte Nioche at an event, along with the after perk of reading my own signed copy of Getting Over Growing Older.

Honestly, I entered the manuscript with a neutral attitude. Like others, I do not necessarily savor the prospect of aging, and have pretty much promoted the “39 forever thing “ for the past five years.

(People think I’m joking, but I’m really not.)

But that’s okay, because in Getting Over Growing Older, Ms. Nioche stays positive, focused, sophisticated, and light through her entertaining and, at times, somewhat poignant account of the inevitable march of time. I can imagine Ms. Nioche setting up a dynamic Manhattan lifestyle, balancing the needs of her family with her own professional development, a comforting model at any age.

Plus , Ms. Nioche offers certain pieces of sage, everlasting beauty advice with the power and authority of a former model and fashion consultant -to look your best, whatever is your style and to thine own self be true. In the end, it’s all about balance, as inferred in Getting Over Growing Older. I appreciate Ms. Nioche taking the time to grapple with this increasingly important topic.

4.5 stars

Respectfully reviewed by

Jane – Summit, N. J. 

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And Never Forget- A Smile Changes Everything!

2016-01-27 12.40.02 (5)Brigitte

 

 

Men Too Can Get Over Growing Older

The 80-Year-Old Runway Model Reshaping China’s Views on Aging

Wang Deshun, who turned 80 this fall, at China Fashion Week in Beijing last year. Credit Quan Yajun

BEIJING — Before cranking up the techno at his 80th birthday party, the man known as China’s hottest grandpa paused from his D.J. duties to poke fun at the staid traditional celebrations for the elderly in a country that venerates old age.

“I should wear a long robe, with the word ‘longevity’ embroidered on the front,” the birthday boy, Wang Deshun, said at his party in September. Far from looking old and frail, the silver-haired actor, model and artist wore a crisp white shirt and black jeans, his back straight and his eyes glittering with humor.

“Two young maidens should help me into an old-style wooden chair,” he continued, pretending to dodder. “On a table in front of me there should be peaches,” a symbol of longevity, “and my students should kowtow, wishing me a good birthday.”

“So, what am I doing today? My students from 30 years ago are putting on a fashion show, and I’m the D.J.,” he said, signaling the start of the show with a thudding techno mix.

Determined to avoid mental and physical stagnation, Mr. Wang has constantly explored new skills and ideas while devoting ample time to daily exercise. Last year, at 79, he walked the runway for the first time, his physique at his age causing a national sensation. He takes obvious joy in subverting

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A role model for all mankind!

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything

brigitte-headshotBrigitte

 

Think Positive- Avoid Negative Thoughts

NEGATIVE – I hate it when I see some old person and realize we went to high school together!

POSITIVE –  Be happy your are both still alive

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And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything

brigitte-headshotBrigitte

 

 

P.S. Please share any negative thoughts you thinks should be avoided – we all want to learn! Thank you

A BOOK COVER – THE FIRST IMPRESSION

The cover of a book is your first contact with an author and his story.

If you have been to my website and read my blogs you will have seen the cover of my book Getting Over Growing Older with the header displaying a photo of me.

Since the reaction of the  buyers always was “Oh, that’s a nice picture of you” and since that was not the reaction I had expected or the message I wanted to convey, I decided to change the cover – and instead of smiling at you, I hope the new cover will tell you more clearly what the book is about, namely sharing my personal experience of growing older, and assuring women in their 40s or 50s plus that growing older is not only about going down hill. But it gives us a chance to enjoy life in many new and interesting ways.

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Now that you have seen the new cover I would mean a lot to me if you would tell me how you like it. Please leave a comment or email me at bbnnic@gmail.com

Thank you so much

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And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything

Brigitte

 

 

 

HOPE IN A JAR

I want to share the following article with you which appeared in the The Times in the UK.

After reading it I checked on Amazon and yes it is available through Amazon and they ship from the UK.  The link is myperfecteyes.co.uk

An eye cream that really works?

A product that really does banish under-eye wrinkles . . . but only for a few hours

Alice Hart-Davis

September 8 2016, 12:01am, The Times

The skin around eyes is thinner than elsewhere in the face and wrinkles easily Michael Leckie for The Times

It is one of the holy grail products for beauty seekers. Along with an invisible lift to hoist drooping eyelids and a magic wand to eradicate extra chins, what we all long for is a miracle in a bottle to get rid of bags and wrinkles under the eyes.

Eyes are such a giveaway of ageing. The skin around them is thinner than elsewhere in the face. It wrinkles easily, sags into bags as we get older and is prone to puffiness.

We are always suckers for new products that promise the earth — or at least, a little bit of real-life photoshopping. Enter the latest “miracle”, My Perfect Eyes, a cream invented in Australia that claims to be able to banish wrinkles in seconds. One that comes with a live video demonstration that has been given the all-clear by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), no less.

Can this sort of thing possibly work? Most women are pretty cynical about “miracle products”, even if the ASA has said that the stuff does what it says on the tin — if only for a short time.

“I’ve seen this kind of product before,” says cosmetic dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting. “Essentially it creates a clingfilm effect, holding in the bulging eye bag. I think this kind of product does work on a temporary basis, which is great, because it’s a tricky area to treat without resorting to invasive procedures.”

I’ve tried other products like this. There’s Eyesential, a thin gel that you sweep under the eye area and which slowly tightens over 15 minutes as it dries. I’ve seen make-up artists get great results with this, but when I tried it, I never got it quite right. It tightened all right, but too much product meant loose skin would be scrunched into nasty folds.

Then there’s Roloxin Lift, a face “masque” that tightens as it dries into a white powder. When you wash off the powder, the skin stays a bit more taut, even when you put on moisturiser and make-up.

The old favourite for under-eye tightening is haemorrhoid cream (benzocaine, the active ingredient, causes the blood vessels to contract, which reduces puffiness), but this can make under-eye skin even drier and therefore prone to more wrinkling.

Most new types of hope-in-a-jar are either improbably cheap (like Aldi’s £7 anti-ageing serum with caviar extract) or eye-wateringly expensive (Dior’s new La Cure anti-ageing serum, £950).

This finds a middle ground. It costs £59.95 on the firm’s own website, is also available on Amazon and TV shopping channels and comes with a shopping list of instructions. It’s not claiming to improve the skin or plump it up in any way, it simply forms an invisible, web-like film under the eye that will compress any bagginess or puffiness and temporarily hide fine lines and wrinkles.

You can’t put anything wet — such as moisturiser, liquid foundation or concealer — on top of it or the web will dissolve. So crying and sweating are clearly off limits, or your fragile web will melt and you’ll be back to normal. It is meant to last for up to ten hours, so don’t apply it too early or there will be a Cinderella-style collapse later in the evening.

Eyes are such a giveaway of ageing

I pull the wand out of the bottle and wipe a pea-sized amount on the back of my hand. I make a firm sweep outwards under my right eye from the inner corner, wiping the tail ends of the residue into the crow’s feet that branch off over my cheeks. And wait.

Over the next 60 seconds, I can feel the stuff tightening as it dries, the strangest sensation as it feels as though the skin is shrinking into itself. It works! A minute later, it has dried into a thin shiny film and my under-eye area looks altogether smoother, the lines and crow’s feet much less evident. It keeps on tightening for the next five minutes, then tingles alarmingly for another five before settling down.

I quickly swipe some under the other eye — a bit too much, as it turns out, as it goes into a slight snakeskin effect. I think I need more practice. I suspect it will work a treat on my husband’s eye bags, although he absolutely refuses to touch the stuff, let alone show the results in the national press.

So. Holy grail? Sort of. Will I use it again? Absolutely. It’s a quick fix that works, and even if it’s only for a few hours, even if it’s just a short-lived self-esteem booster, isn’t that exactly what we all want? myperfecteyes.co.uk

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So when you find out it really is the Holy grail – or not – please, please share your experience on this blog. Or tell us how you feel about using these type of products.

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

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IS BEING MULTILINGUAL THE ANSWER?

This is the result of a study done in Luxembourg. A country where, through proximity of other countries, people speak at least 2 if not 3 languages – German, French, Luxembourgish.

The study was done by Magali Perquin of the Department of Health and it concluded that  compared with other countries the percentage of older people with dementia is lower in Luxembourg, 3.8 % against 6.4% in Europe, 7.1% in Latin America and 8% in Canada.  They believe there is a strong possibility that it is the result of people speaking several languages.

It has long been said that challenging the brain with mental exercises like Crossword Puzzles will help to keep individual brain cells alive. But maybe doing crossword puzzles is not your thing? Therefore, could learning French be an option?

No, it’s not too late. Quite the contrary. It might be the answer to the question many older or retired people ask – how can I find a new purpose or an activity to occupy my time? And if it is not French you want to learn but you wouldn’t mind speaking another language, think of your vacation or travel plans – going to Italy next? Wouldn’t it be nice to order your dinner in Italian?

An added advantage to taking classes – no, not  on-line- will be that you meet other like minded people – and you never know who you might meet and who is ready to go to Italy too!

couple in luxembourg

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything

Brigitte