My Roommate The Television

 

Image result for photos of people watching TV

When my husband died I don’t know how I would have made it through the days without  television. There was  the news, the latest events from around the world, movies, ads, game shows but I heard none of it. It was only background noise, a noise I needed desperately  to fill the new and terrible silence around me.

Through the following months, and now years, the TV is still on most of the time, but most of the time it is muted. When I move around in my apartment the images flashing by still give me the feeling of –  maybe – somebody is there with me?

According to statistics of Television viewership I am not alone. Television is a companion for a lot of retired, older people. Maybe it is for the same reason, not to feel alone, to be up-to-date, connected to the world allowing us  to know at every moment, instantly, what is happening  anywhere  in the world. But do we really need to know? Does it improve our life?

Having admitted to be a television junkie, I would like to share an experience that is slowly weaning me off my dependency – and it feels good.  Since a few months I am spending a week a month in a place where there is no television – yes, no television – or even WiFi.  All I have is my phone which let’s me get emails and phone calls. The first two days I am there I am miss the news. The third day it doesn’t matter, after all what could I do about it? And at the end of the week I know that the world turns and goes on without me.

A very freeing, appeasing experience, which has replaced the mute button to be the off button. It has also taken away the numbness I had developed seeing the world’s misery over and over, leaving me more aware of the world around me.

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Of course I still watch TV, but much less  and instead of the devastating news of the day I am happy to watch Downton Abbey!  

 

Always Remember – A Smile Changes Everything! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having A Roommate in Your Golden Years

Listen carefully – this might be a way to change your life! Please leave a comment telling us how YOU feel about this – thank you

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

Brigitte

Do You Have Blind Spot?

What is a  blind spot?

It’s  the place on your skull where some of the hair has disappeared and trying to cover it by pushing the rest of the hair over it does not really help – I know!

But there is a solution. L’Oréal has come up with a Root Concealer. It is a spray which is easy to apply and covers our shame…..lasting until the next shampoo. And as you can see it comes in 6 shades – surely one of them matches your Goldie looks.

It is not only called MAGIC it really is – because the wind blowing our hair out-of-place is not a threat anymore.

And Never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

Brigitte

PS – I could not find it in any drugstore, but  it is available at Target or on-line at Amazon.

 

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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BRA STRAPS ARE USEFUL BUT NOT PRETTY

Since for the last few days the sun is shining brightly it has, to my chagrin, brought out the bra straps again.

bra strapes

  • Problem: They are not pretty and never add anything to make a woman look well dressed. Maybe she doesn’t look in the mirror? – or doesn’t realize how unattractive they are?
  • Solution: – 1  if you want to wear a camisole and are not as lucky as some young girls who don’t need a bra – buy one with a bra build in. They come in many fabrics, colors and are sold everywhere

– 2  if you wear a sleeveless dress which doesn’t hide the bra straps  buy a T-Back Convertible made by most underwear manufacturers today.

Below an example of it. Made my Wacoal style 851205 (no I don’t get paid for this) but wearing one I can say it to works well under revealing styles of clothing. By the way they agree about exposed bras straps not being a plus. Their sales pitch is:

wac851205_blk_bv3

SHOW OFF YOUR FIGURE NOT YOUR BRA STRAPS

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And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything!

Brigitte

 

WHY WRITERS WRITE

I am usually not good at tooting my own horn, but today I would like to make an exception and share with you this interview about why and how I write.

                  Getting Over Growing Older

An interview with author Brigitte Nioche

                                   BooksGoSocial

May 31, 2016 | Interviews

Today we are chatting to Brigitte Nioche author of Getting Over Growing Older: How to Change Your Life by Staying Positive

Tell us something unexpected about yourself!

Love doing things out of the box, and enjoy proving the rules and regulations wrong, and when things become more difficult I become more determined to succeed- it’s the rebel inside me

What kind of books do you write?

Self-Help and Memoir/Self Help
What inspired you to write?

Observing people and their life makes me want to help them find a better way

What makes your writing stand out from the crowd?

I write with humor about serious things, never forgetting common sense and a down-to-earth approach – here is comment from a reader.

I liked your book very much. I particularly like your consistent message of staying positive and I also enjoyed learning more about your very interesting life. I think that your advice to older people is excellent. You have succeeded in presenting  good advice in a way that is fun to read and think about. It was a treat to read it.

What is the hardest part of writing – for you?

Working alone – and not being able to share before the work is done and the book is written

Where do you like to write – what is your routine?

In my office – and once I start writing I have trouble stopping and just keep going –

What do you do when you are not writing – do you have a day job?

I volunteer 2 days a week – I go to the movies very often – spend time with my family – and travel

Do you work with an outline or just write?

No, I just write – ideas come while working

What advice would you have for other writers?

Write what you feel passionate and strongly about – don’t write for an audience – writing being hard work should be rewarding and satisfying when you done – you must be happy with the result
How important is marketing and social media for you?

I know it is important – but I am not a fan of it and often struggle with it but I need to use it to get the book and myself (blog) out there

What’s your next step?

Selling my book in any way possible – -contacting reviewers -mailing books out to newspapers -writing a blog on social media -and any other avenue that I will find

Getting Over Growing Older is available here

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Over-Growing-Older-Positive/dp/069262385X/

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I thank you for taking the time to read this

And never forget – A Smile Changes Everything

Brigitte