Garcelle Beauvais’ Red Leather Tie Neck Dress

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 12 Fashion

Garcelle Beauvais’ looked red hot in her red leather tie neck dress. Which probably came in handy in the “freezing” California weather. With the chilly weather and the Christmas decorations it had me all excited for the holiday season. That’s a long ways away, but it doesn’t hurt to start shopping for gifts. That’s why I’m getting a head start and getting a Style Stealer of Garcelle’s dress as a gift to myself.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to See Her Marc Jacobs Red Leather Dress

Originally posted at: Garcelle Beauvais’ Red Leather Tie Neck Dress

In the last few weeks, we have seen numerous articles about social isolation. Check my Twitter feed! The net-net is that, while things may be opening up, social contact does not necessarily alleviate social isolation. And those most vulnerable have deep emotional and mental issues to deal with coming out of the pandemic (if indeed we are coming out!).

In March of 2020, businesses and schools scrambled to shift to virtual environments with the expectation that the Covid-19 outbreak would only last for a few weeks. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Most Americans spent the next year primarily indoors with very limited contact with friends, family and coworkers to slow the spread of the virus. The social distancing measures necessitated by the pandemic resulted in many people experiencing a profound sense of loneliness and isolation – perhaps none more so than the older adult population.

Social Isolation Has Always Been Around for Older Adults

Even prior to the pandemic, an estimated 25% of seniors were socially isolated and 43% were lonely. According to a 2020 study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, nearly a fourth of older adults are considered to be socially isolated.

Social isolation among seniors is incredibly common and dangerous. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, social isolation is associated with a 50% increased risk of dementia as well as higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicide. Loneliness is also associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and 26% increased risk of stroke.

Due to the adverse mental and physical health impacts of loneliness, combatting social isolation among seniors is essential to their overall wellbeing. Fortunately, the pandemic greatly increased the use of social technologies, many of which will be used widely even as the world slowly returns to normal.

These technologies are great tools for combatting social isolation among seniors who are not able to connect with their social circle in person regularly.

Technologies that Battle Social Isolation

I recently spoke with Aisha Parillon, Senior Director of Senior Centers at JASA. Their agency serves 40,000 older adults annually in New York City, providing critical services, interventions and partnerships that promote aging with a purpose and provide autonomy for older adults. 

Whether you’re an older adult, caregiver or generally interested in fighting this issue, she suggested five ways that technology can be leveraged to fight loneliness:

Staying Connected with Loved Ones

Technologies like Zoom and FaceTime are great tools for helping older adults easily stay in touch with relatives and friends they are not regularly able to see.

During the pandemic, these tools were critical for staying connected with loved ones and can now be used to ensure older adults with physical disabilities and/or those who live far away from family can stay social without having to travel.

Telehealth

During the pandemic, the number of older adults using telehealth services jumped from 4% as of May 2019 to up to 26% between March and June of 2020. Virtual doctor’s appointments are a powerful tool for combatting the negative mental and physical impacts of social isolation by empowering seniors to connect regularly with their healthcare providers.

Virtual Senior Programming

Virtual activities allow older adults, regardless of physical ability and means, to remain active and engaged by participating in new hobbies at home.

During the pandemic, organizations like JASA and Sage Stream provided diverse programming ranging from exercise, art and cooking classes virtually. For many seniors, this type of programming was essential to fighting loneliness in periods of lockdown.

Healthy Aging Technologies

Tech companies are beginning to focus more and more on developing new products to promote healthy aging – according to CNBC, the active-aging industry in the U.S. is expected to triple by 2022 to nearly $30 billion.

Many of these devices focus on combatting social isolation and the health risks associated with it by alerting seniors to check in with family, take prescribed medications and prompting them to get out for walks. As these devices are less mainstream than technologies like Zoom, investment in tech support and training will be needed for the benefits to be tangible.

Social Media

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can be excellent tools for seniors to stay connected with the changing world around them from the comfort of their homes. These platforms can empower older adults to stay updated on cultural shifts and current events, in turn giving them a sense of connectedness with the world and their peers.

What’s Yet Needed

While these various uses for technology have the potential to change aging for the better, too many seniors do not have the proper training or connectivity necessary to use these tools. We must invest in getting older adults connected and trained on how to use these new tools and technologies.

At a policy level, this means expanding the Emergency Broadband Benefit Program and other supplemental programs to help seniors meet the costs of these technologies, as well as increasing funding for community-based organizations that can provide trainings for older adults.

At an individual level, people with older adults in their lives can help by showing them how to use different technologies. Through increased funding for access to and education around technology, more seniors will be able to use these tools to lead healthier, happier and more social lives.

What technologies did you use to combat social isolation during the various stages of lockdown? If you have older adults in your life, how did you help them stay connected? Is social isolation a serious issue in your community? Please share your thoughts.

Believe it or not, our lips start losing thickness after the age of 16! This is caused by the loss of collagen, and we continue to lose about 1% of collagen each year. This causes the fat pads in our lips to slowly shrink and thin as we age – which in turn causes our upper lip to flatten and the corners of our mouth to slightly turn down.

Loss of bone density is also a factor since our lips become less supported. Bone loss also causes our lips to roll inward and as a result our upper lips become longer and thinner. These changes are natural, but thank goodness there’s a lot we can do that will make a dramatic difference in helping our lips look fuller and more lifted.

Now we certainly don’t have to do all of the things that I’ll be sharing with you today. I’m simply going to give you a laundry list of different options to consider so you can choose which – if any – of these techniques is right for you.

#1: Exfoliate the Lips!

The first thing we can do is to exfoliate our lips once a week. We’re accomplishing two helpful things when we exfoliate: first, we’re removing dead skin cells which helps smooth our lips. And the smoother our lips are, the more light they reflect which makes them look larger.

The second benefit is increasing the circulation of blood in our lips. And increased circulation stimulates collagen production.

There are many different lip scrubs on the market. I love one from a woman-owned independent beauty company called 3 Graces.

#2: Lip Balm Is a Must-Have

Next, as we all know, it’s very important to moisturize our lips with a lip balm. The skin on our lips is different from other areas of our body since it doesn’t produce oil or sweat. So our lips are very susceptible to drying out and as we get older we’re even more likely to lose moisture.

Applying a lip balm or moisturizer right after we cleanse our skin and before putting on makeup allows time for the lip balm to really sink in and be most effective. It can also be helpful to use a brush or a Q-tip to gently press the lip balm into our lips. And by the way, applying lip balm before we go to bed at night is also extremely beneficial.

You may also want to check the ingredients in the lip balm you’re using since anything we put on our lips ends up in our mouth or gets absorbed into our skin. There’s an easy way to do this. You can simply google: “ewg.org rating of lip balms.”

EWG is the Environmental Working Group and if the name of almost any product is entered, there will be a rating for that product on a scale of “safe” to 10. It’s also important to mention here how absolutely vital it is to up our water intake during the day as well.

#3: Create a Blank Canvas

Always start with a blank canvas for your lip liner. To do this, smile and apply concealer around the edge of your lips. This will also help keep your lipstick from feathering or migrating into those little fine vertical lines that you may have around your lips. Then blend the concealer and make sure it gets into those vertical lines around the lips.

Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!

#4: Another Use for Highlighter

You can then apply a highlighter along and above the Cupid’s Bow of the upper lip before applying lip liner. This helps the lips look brighter and fuller. In the video I’m using a tiny bit of liquid highlighter from Wet ‘n Wild. Another beautiful highlighter I like to use is one from Becca called “Vanilla Quartz.”  

#5: Create a Shadow

Another makeup artist trick is to apply a very small amount of bronzer slightly below the middle of the lower lip with a small, fluffy brush. This creates a shadow which makes the lower lip area look larger. I’m using Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer in the demo and after applying it, I very lightly feather it out.

#6: Create an Upturned Lip

If you have downturned lips and want to make them look more upturned, you need to take a little concealer and cover up the very top edge of your lower lip on each side of your lips. Then, you need to apply lip liner on the lip line or slightly inside the lip line as you bring it up along the new lip line you’ve created by applying the concealer on the outer, upper edge of your lips.

#7: Lip Liner? Yes!

It’s best to choose a lip liner color that matches either your lips or your lipstick. Another option that can work well to make your lips look larger is to choose a lip liner that is slightly darker than your lipstick color. And the key word here is slightly darker!

Where you apply the lip liner is also key. To make your bottom lip look larger, you want to apply the lip liner along the outer edge of your lip. It’s important to first smile and then apply the lip liner along the outer edge of the lips starting in the middle.

If you have downturned lips and want to make them look more upturned, it’s best to start going upward toward the upper lip before you reach the area where the concealer was applied. If you don’t have downturned lips, just follow your natural lip line all the way up toward your upper lip.

In the video I’m using L’Oreal’s Age Perfect Lip Liner which helps prevent lipstick from feathering or migrating into fine lines. Since I don’t have downturned lips, I’m going to follow the natural line of my lips.

Then fill in the lips with the lip liner so if the lipstick wears off a bit, there isn’t just a harsh edge of lip liner on your lips. You can do this with your fingers, a brush or a Q-tip.

To increase the size of the upper lip, start at the Cupid’s Bow of the top lip and go along the outer edge of the top lip and then onto the actual lip line as the lip line meets the lower lip. It’s also helpful to apply it more lightly along the outer edge of the top lips.

Now if you don’t want to increase the size of your upper lip, you can just apply the lip liner along the natural lip line. And then smudge out the lip liner onto the lips as previously mentioned.

#8: The Lipstick Formula Is Important

If you have issues with lipstick feathering or migrating, it’s helpful to first apply a matte lipstick which is less likely to feather or migrate into those fine lines around the lips. If lipstick migrating is not an issue for you, then simply use a satin lipstick or lipstick with some kind of luminosity. More luminous lipsticks reflect light which makes our lips look larger.

If you’ve used a matte lipstick to prevent lipstick from migrating into fine lines, then take a more luminous lipstick and apply it over the matte. However, don’t apply it all the way to the edge of the lips since it’s important to have the matte lipstick remain along the very edge of the lips to prevent the lipstick from feathering.

#9: Choice of Color and a Highlighter Can Help

One more method to make the lips look larger is to help bring them forward by using a lighter colored lipstick or a highlighter (or both) in the center of the bottom lip. In the video I’m using the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in “Vanilla Quartz” to add a highlight to the center of the lips.

#10: Gloss Makes a Difference

And the final technique is to add a touch of lip gloss to the center of the lips which also attracts light making the lips look larger. In the video I’m using Huda Beauty’s lip gloss in the color “Mystical.”

All of these techniques will help the lips look larger, but the two that help the most are applying lip liner on the outer edge of the lips and using a luminous lipstick and lip gloss.

Have you noticed that your lips have gotten smaller over the years? Have you tried any of the techniques mentioned in this article? If you’re interested in trying one of these techniques, which technique interests you the most?

Sutton Stracke’s Black Lace Dress

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 12 Fashion

Sutton Stracke is always ready to go in her ready to wear fashion. This time she’s wearing a very classy looking black lace dress. Though this particular dress isn’t ready to be worn because it’s out of stock and probably expensive. But there are great looks for less in the Style Stealers below that are in stock and totally ready to wear.

Sincerely Stylish,

Jess

Click Here to See Her Dolce & Gabanna Black Lace Dress

Originally posted at: Sutton Stracke’s Black Lace Dress

Kathy Hilton’s Facial Cleansing Lotion in Palm Springs

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 11 Episode 12 Beauty

Ooh la La Mer! I think it’s safe to say that you know that someone is *insert Lisa Rinna voice here* rich honayyyy when you spot a product by the brand behind Kathy Hilton’s facial cleansing lotion on their vanity. However as it turns out this particular product actually sells for under $100, meaning that we should probably purchase to enjoy in the meantime while we save up for a big tub of this. 

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her La Mer Cleansing Lotion

Click Here For Additional Stock

Click Here For Info on Her Facial Mist

Originally posted at: Kathy Hilton’s Facial Cleansing Lotion