Aging is definitely a process. A process that we can try to gracefully slow down by leading a healthy and active lifestyle. But no matter how much we try, certain body parts are simply prone to weaken over time. Our breasts fall in this category. Yup, our girls are going south, and they’re not coming back.

Our skin loses collagen and elasticity through the years, and the ligaments that support the breasts weaken. Additionally, breastfeeding and wearing the wrong (or no) bra can also have an impact on our breast health. All of this leaves us with a sagging version of what our breasts used to be.

Have you felt that your usual bras don’t fit as well as before? Have you noticed bulges on your sides and even on your back? Are your breasts making a disappearing act under your armpits? Maybe you’re having difficulty putting your bra on and taking it off?

You’re not alone.

Unless you’ve had implants or reconstructive surgery, you’ll need to look into purchasing a bra that is comfortable and that will provide adequate support for your heading-south bust. No worries, there is a variety of bras for older women to choose from.

I’ll admit I have a thing for bras and probably own way too many for just one woman. I have the cute French lace bras, the cozy everyday t-shirt bras, the bralettes, the sexy push-up bras, and the supportive sports bras.

I was a lingerie designer for over 20 years so that probably explains my love of all things underwear. One thing that I have noticed recently is that my bras don’t fit as well as they used to.

So, it seems that a changing body means it’s time to change our bras.

Why Wear a Bra

Our culture has grown to expect women to start wearing bras as soon as they start showing signs of breast growth, usually at the onset of puberty.

Trends have come and gone through the years, from the iconic conal bras of the 40s to the burning of the bras movement of the 70s, right up to the extremely padded push-up bras of recent years.

But why do we wear bras? Apart from the cultural acceptance of bras, women (especially those with larger breasts) feel better when the breasts are supported under their clothing as they go about their daily active lives.

Well-fitted bras will provide a smooth and appealing shape and also provide support to help preserve the breasts from drooping in mature age.

What to Look for in a Bra for Older Women

You shouldn’t forgo wearing a bra because you are getting older. You simply need to find one that fits you well and that is comfortable to wear.

Quality

Quality bras are made of durable fabrics and solid components (sliders, closures, etc.). Look for carefully designed and well-constructed bras. Typically, quality bras cost more than the fast-fashion bras.

Comfort

We spend a lot of time in our bras, so comfort is essential. It’s important to try on a bra before purchasing it to make sure that you feel good in it.

Quality bras will be comfortable and not have any components that scratch or irritate your skin. Wider straps usually are more comfortable than the thinner ones.

Support

The main reason to wear a bra is to provide support for your breasts. Depending on the size of your breasts, the bra will need to meet certain requirements. You may not need supportive underwires if you have smaller breasts.

Coverage

Trends come and go. This is also true in the bra industry. You may be tempted to go for the lacey cute demi-cup, but make sure that it is the right fit for you. If you want ultimate comfort and no bulges, look for bras that cover more of your chest and that offer wide side pieces.

What Are Your Needs

Whenever you purchase a new bra, consider your specific needs.

Physical Conditions

Those with arthritis and other health issues that hinder regular movements will appreciate bras with front closures and velcro fastenings. These bras make it easier to put on and take off.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle is important when choosing a good bra. Do you do a lot of sports? Look for bras with lots of support and coverage.

Budget

Bras vary greatly in price. Typically, the best quality bras are more expensive but tend to last longer and can put up with lots of wear and tear. If you’re on a limited budget, check for sales and promotions.

How to Get the Perfect Bra Fit

Chances are you’re wearing the wrong bra size as you’re reading this. Studies have shown that up to eight women out of ten are not fitted properly. This can happen because you simply got used to purchasing a certain size and stuck to it.

An ill-fitted bra doesn’t only look bad, it can also cause health issues like back and shoulder pain.

The body undergoes continuous transformation, and your bra size can change as well throughout your life. In order to determine the right shape and size for you, you can look for helpful videos online, such as these ones from Her Room, or get fitted by a bra specialist in specialty lingerie stores.

10 Best Bras for Older Women

Let’s take a look at the 10 best bras (and brands) for older women on the market today.

Playtex 18 Hour Front-Close Wirefree Bra with Flex Back

Playtex’s best-selling 18-hour front closure bra assures all-day comfort and support. The wire-free frame and large side and back panels make it the perfect bra for any figure but especially if you are heavier.

Just My Size Easy-On Front Close Wirefree Bra

Another classic, full-coverage bra perfect for older women is the Just My Size wire-free version. The 3-seamed cups help shape your body perfectly and provide ultimate support. Did you know that more seams indicate better support? Now you do!

The Meryl – Cotton Front-Closure Leisure Bra from Leading Lady

This full-coverage front-closure breathable cotton bra is the perfect everyday comfortable bra to wear even at night while you sleep. The Meryl comes in a variety of colors and patterns. Pick your favorite!

CATE Side Support Bra from Elomi

The Cate full-cup bra is perfect if you still want a little sheerness without giving up support or comfort. The side panels and underwires offer ultimate support. It comes in various colors – hot pink, teal, and royal blue to name a few.

Rive Gauche Full Coverage Unlined Bra from Chantelle

If you want lacey, supportive, and comfy all rolled into one, try a Chantelle bra. The best-selling Rive Gauche full-coverage bra offers support and a touch of femininity with its exquisite lace design.

Fantasie Rebecca Lace Underwire Spacer Full Cup Bra

The Fantaisie Rebecca has molded contour underwire cups that provide an excellent silhouette and a perfectly smooth look under clothing.

Glamorise Magic Lift Front-Close Wirefree Posture Bra

Another great model from Hanes that is perfect for older women is the Glamorise Magic Lift. It provides easy front closure and wire-free fit for ultimate comfort.

ANITA Momentum Sports Bra

Want a perfect fitting sports bra? The Momentum sports bra is the one that will keep you supported throughout your activities.

Arthritis Bra Front Fastening from Silvert’s

This easy front fastening bra from Silvert’s is perfect if you have arthritis or joint pain. It’s designed especially for older women who have problems getting into and out of their bras.

Lilyette Comfort Lace Minimizer Bra

Need a minimizer bra? The microfiber Lilyette bra has you covered. It will minimize your breast size without compromising your shape.

Which Bra Will You Choose?

I know, shopping for a bra online may seem a tad challenging. Make sure to check the return policies so that you can easily ship back your purchase if it doesn’t fit properly. Most of these websites offer assistance in finding your perfect fit. Some have questionnaires for you to answer and others have live chats with fit technicians.

Finding your perfect fit is worth the time and effort. I hope that one of these bras for older women on my list meets your expectations.

Do you own one of these bras? Can you tell us what you think about it and why you like it? Do you have another style that is not on my list that you absolutely love and want to share with us? Comment below, and let’s chat bras.

Whether you want your lashes to look wispy, fluffy, or ultra-long, false lashes are usually the way to go. And the best individual lashes allow you to customize to create your own unique look for every day or a special occasion. Yes, they take a little bit of practice but once you have them down, you won’t know how you lived without them. Grab your tweezers and some lash glue and you’re already on your way.

Once you get them down, you’ll find that individual lashes feel more comfortable and look a lot more real than strip lashes. That’s often because you can play around with the placement and the size of your lashes. That makes it look like they just grew out of your eyes that long.

All of these lashes feel natural (even the longest ones) and are cruelty-free and vegan. Plus, it doesn’t matter your budget because these falsies start at less than $3. Choose Adell and Kiss lashes for short, everyday varieties, Sephora Collection and M.A.C. for a mix of lengths for a customized look. Or go all out with Lashify’s starter kit that includes all the bonders, tools and lashes you need.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Image: Ardell.

Ardell Duralash Naturals Individual Lashes

These short black lashes are perfect for a little something extra every day.

Image: Kiss.

Kiss Lash Couture Faux Lash Extensions, Venus

These cruelty-free clusters come in both short and medium lengths so you can customize your own look.

Image: Lashify.

Lashify Control Kit

This genius starter kit gets you the ultra-helpful precision wand, two Gossamer lash sets in 12mm and 14mm, a dual-sided lash bond and mascara, as well as a waterproof lash extender. Plus, once you’re signed up, you can grab discounts on even more Gossamer lashes in various sizes from natural to bold.

Image: Sephora Collection.

Sephora Collection Luxe False Lash

These natural-looking lashes add fullness for every day.

Image: M.A.C.

M.A.C. 30 Lash

This kit includes three sizes so you can mix and max with ease.

Image: Tarte.

Tarteist Pro Cruelty-Free Individual Lashes

These lightweight, medium-length lashes are both vegan and cruelty-free.

Flat, six-pack abs are hard enough to achieve when you are young. As a woman in your 60s, who has had a few kids, it might feel impossible! You may even be saying, “Core? What core?!”

Benefits of a Strong Core

A strong core will not only help you look and feel good about yourself, but it also helps improve your posture, confidence, and balance, prevents injury, and even protects your inner organs. A strong core becomes a powerhouse of muscles that protect and power your body through each day.

Moreover, building muscle mass and decreasing the fat around your midsection can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. 

The Real Helper

Because it feels so hard to achieve that dream core and abs, many women are tempted by quick fixes or cleanses.

Yet the real superpower to slowing down the aging process and building your muscles is a mix of good, old-fashioned exercise and a healthy diet that fuels your body, such as lean protein, veggies, and complex carbs – skip the added sugars. 

Let’s Begin Properly

Strength training keeps the body younger, stronger, and more functional as the years go by. When you feel like you’ve lost your abdominal muscles, it can be hard to understand how to engage them properly again.

The old standby is to jump right into crunches or sit-ups – isn’t that the best way to build up your core? But crunches and sit-ups can actually be dangerous for your spine as you age, causing too much pressure with repetitive flexion.

Jumping right into crunches and sit-ups without reminding your body how to properly activate the core can backtrack your results. But there is a great way to fire your core muscles so you can see results right away.

What Types of Exercises Help the Most?

Building a strong core can be broken down into three types of exercises. Just as babies learn first to crawl then walk then run, you can use the same principle when it comes to building up your core muscles.

First Step Is Stability

Starting with basic stability exercises, you can build stability in your muscles which will help to allow the deep core muscles to activate properly and work towards building a strong core and flat abs.

Examples of stability exercises are bridges, the bird dog exercise and even planks. Focus on technique and breathing with these exercises. It’s important to ensure you are firing the correct muscles, so you don’t create imbalances along the way.

Try to hold the exercises for a full exhale and breathe in on the return. Using breathing with your core exercises ensures safety and allows the abdominals to properly engage. 

Time for Strengthening Exercises

Once you feel comfortable activating the muscles correctly, and your technique is good, it’s time to progress to strengthening exercises to build more muscle so you can have a strong, lean, and powerful core.

When performing strength training exercises, keep breathing, focus on technique, and aim for 8–12 repetitions and 2–3 sets of each exercise. Examples of strengthening exercises are mountain climbers, progressions of planks like adding a shoulder tap, and variations on crunches like the reverse crunch.

Add in Some Power

When you are feeling confident in your technique to engage your core muscles, and have added in strengthening exercises, you can then add some power to the mix! Power exercises add a bit of speed or more force to your motions.

These exercises help with your balance, reaction time, and even have shown more carryover into strength with your daily life. As always, proper form is key. An example of a power exercise is the woodchop exercise. This exercise gets your whole body engaged and working to build the core you are looking for.

Aubrey offers many resources on how to restore your core via workouts built for each stage of the process. You can download her free Restore Your Core guide or access the Restore Your Core course.

What is the current state of your core? Have you tried doing anything to strengthen your core muscles? What were the results? Have you given up because it was taking too long to accomplish what you wanted? Please share your thoughts and experiences and let’s have a conversation!

Melissa Gorga’s Unicorn Pool Float On Instagram

Real Housewives of New Jersey Instagram Decor

Melissa Gorga’s giant inflatable unicorn pool float is so on trend as far as pool floats are concerned. The white unicorn floatation has a bright rainbow colored mane and tail, complete with little white stars and of course, a gold horn.

It seems everyone who’s anyone rocking their summer bodies are doing so on a unicorn float for the past few years. Melissa’s rockin’ extra hard on the Jersey Shore in a stunning one-piece, black and white stripe suit and boss babe worthy shades. Meanwhile, I’m over here rockin’ a quarantine body. And by that I mean, not suitable for any summer activities. You’d think I’d be inspired by our favorite Shore babe’s summertime body, but meh. I’ve decided I’m going to postpone any version of a summer body to 2021. So for now, I’ll just live vicariously through Melissa and her unicorn pool float.

Until next time,

Chelsie

Click Here To Shop Melissa’s Unicorn Pool Float

Click Here To Shop Melissa’s Black and White One-Piece Swimsuit

(Melissa got hers at Envy by MG but it is no longer on their site)

Click Here To See Melissa’s Sold Out Sunglasses

Photo: @MelissaGorga

Originally posted at: Melissa Gorga’s Unicorn Pool Float

Have you thought about what you want to do with the rest of your life? Do you ask yourself, “What’s next?” or, “What’s left?” It can be a challenge to think about what you want to do. However, answering the question of “what’s next” is critically important for success.

See the World with the Eyes Of a Beginner

As we age, we tend to stay with the familiar. We gravitate toward comfort. The truth is, the more you stay with the familiar, the smaller your world becomes – which makes for a greater chance of becoming isolated, depressed and anxious.

For example, if you wanted to try out a new art class, but your inner conversation goes like this: “Everyone will be better than me. I won’t be good at it because I have never done this before. Everyone will know more than me.”

If you’re really self-conscious, that train of thought will bring you to the ultimate excuse – of course, that “no one will like me.”

You talked yourself out of it before you ever sign up. Whenever you compare yourself to another, you can’t help but come out the short end of the stick, right?

If you’re not ready to jump into something new, you can tip toe in by imagining the new experience through the eyes of a child. Children are full of wonder. Their imaginations run wild. They experience their world whole-heartedly. It is magical.

You would never tell a child all the messages you tell yourself, so why not try compassion and love to help yourself become the beginner? You still have that ability. You just need to wipe off the dust, become the child, and let your imagination out to play.

Focus Your Awareness with Intention

Remember that where your awareness goes, your intention and focus follow. When you have no focus, one day runs into another, and life becomes a blur. So take some time to identify your intentions for your physical, emotional and spiritual health.

Make an inventory on what has had meaning for you in the past, and evaluate what is meaningful now. Keep a journal of what you discover, and review it often because you are changing and evolving.

It is important to keep all possibilities on the table. Remember, you’re reconnecting to yourself in a new way. There is no right or wrong.

Slow Down, Be Still and Listen Deeply

Our culture urges us to always be “busy.” We run our lives at a fast pace. The more you run, the less you connect to anything meaningful in the world.

Instead of succumbing to what culture teaches you, let yourself sit in nature, still your body. Start noticing what your senses tell you.

As you take it all in, notice what stillness feels like in your body. The more comfortable you get feeling stillness, the more you hear the whispers of your soul. That is the voice of your inner wisdom speaking to you, holding you in safety and love.

Life and its meaning are always easier when we take the time and effort to meet ourselves in this way. Then you become empowered to meet everyday as a new adventure. What a great way to experience each day for the rest of your life!

What big goals do you have for the next phase of your life? Are there any hobbies you’d like to explore? What is your favorite spot in nature where you can calmly sit down and find peace? Please join the conversation below!