Fabulous at Fifty

By Sandy Dumont –

Edna Stephens had her 50^th birthday recently and decided it was time for a new look. She had gained a few pounds over the years and wanted to feel good about herself again. She arrived at the studio with her husband, who was as excited about her makeover as she was.

Edna has beautiful skin and doesn’t really need makeup, so all that was necessary was a little blusher and lipstick. These two things will make most women come to life and look like a brand new woman! Edna said she never wears lipstick, so she was a little reticent to wear anything with much color. Making change of any kind is a process. You can’t jump from no lipstick to bright red without a reaction of shock. So Edna took the plunge with a soft translucent fuchsia. Then I let her see a darker shade of fuchsia. Finally she agreed to try a cherry red shade, and both she and her husband agreed that she looked the most dynamic and attractive in the brighter lipstick. When you have black or dark brown hair, you can easily wear brighter shades of lipstick, because dark hair looks great with the high contrast.

I tweaked Edna’s eye makeup because she had black eyeliner at the upper and lower lashes. Even though this is very popular, for most women it’s not a good idea. That’s because the dark line creates a severe look and also makes the eyes look smaller. Who wants smaller eyes! I created the alluring “smoky eye” with monochromatic shades of brown eye shadow, which made her eyes more inviting and friendly looking. Edna’s lower lids are smaller than her upper brow, as is the case for the majority of women. When she wears eyeliner on her lids, it further increases the imbalance, because the liner “eats up” what lid there is. Unfortunately, Edna was wearing permanent eyeliner so it couldn’t be removed. Makeup covered some of it, so she could see the difference. She agreed that she looked better without the eyeliner.

Edna’s weight gain was mostly at her midriff, and she tried to camouflage it with loose jackets and tops. She discovered that the wide black belt was more effective in slimming her midriff due to the clever design of the buckle. The white buckle and closure popped in contrast with the solid black part of the belt, so the eye was drawn from the outer black portion to the white center portion. This gave the illusion that her waistline was as small as the buckle portion. Edna’s white blouse is the perfect foil for her dark shiny hair, and it also shows off her good skin.

Edna often wears her hair pulled back and attached at the upper back of her head in order to keep it out of her eyes. She has beautiful and lustrous hair, but it’s a bit too long. When hair is this long, it often looks like teenage hair so it makes a woman look less stylish and significant. Edna agreed that she wanted to augment her presence and look more sophisticated.  I advised her to cut it two or three inches so she could enjoy wearing it loose more often.  A long bob with shorter pointy layering at the face would elongate her face and show it off beautifully. If you look at the right side of the photo, you can already see the length I recommend.  Her husband agreed that he liked it a bit shorter, too. Sometimes women are hesitant to cut their hair when they know hubby likes long hair. She can still have long hair, but without the burden and inconvenience.

Lastly, we talked about the importance of accessories, and Edna tried several styles of earrings and necklaces. She settled on the curvy silver style earrings that come in left/right versions. In other words, one earring is for the left ear, and the other one is for the right ear. This means they are designed to hug the face and not stick out too much. If you put an earring on the wrong ear, it wears you because it stands out too much. Edna said she rarely wears earrings, but after seeing how they gave her an air of confidence and authority, she made the decision to start wearing them.

Edna and her husband, Sean, left together smiling. “I’m going to keep this look,” she said!

Sandy Dumont is an internationally-known image consultant who has spoken on three continents. She is also the author of “Seven Days to a Brand New you,” a book for women. She has also produced several DVDs and boxed sets on the subject of image. You can contact her at www.TheImageArchitect.com.