Does ethnicity play a role in aging?

Krizia from www.myBeautyMatch.com

Project Runway Canada’s host, Iman, has been very vocal in her statement that: “black don’t crack”. If this is the first time you’ve heard of this saying it refers to the fact that many black women don’t show any signs of aging such as deep wrinkles and sagging skin simply because they are genetically blessed.

Well, study after study has proven that aging is 80-90 per cent related to lifestyle and not genes. On the subject of blacks never aging, I’ve seen my fair share of blacks who had deep wrinkles and sagging skin. If you smoke, drink heavily, worship the sun … you will age and it will show … regardless of your ethnic makeup.

That said, different ethnicities will show different signs of aging. Iman is not entirely wrong in her assessment. If you are black and if you take care of your skin, exercise, eat well, stay away from fast foods, don’t smoke, don’t drink heavily and if you don’t partake in recreational drugs, you should be able to hit your 70s and still fool people around you in thinking that you are 20 years younger.

Black beauties (as I like to call them) are born with an integrated anti-aging and protective photo-protective shield called melanin.

Melanin (the substance that gives skin its colour), plays a huge part in how different ethnicities show the signs of aging. Lighter and fairer complexions are very much susceptible to aging faster because harmful UV rays from the sun can penetrate their skin more easily and deeply. As a result, their skin loses moisture more quickly, and collagen breaks down more rapidly than in a thicker, darker skin.

Just in case you were wondering, melanin is found at the bottom of the epidermis. It acts as barrier against the rays that damage the dermis, acting as a built-in sun filter and considerably slowing down the signs of aging.

That said, although darker-skin beauties might not have to worry as much about photo-aging, they still have concerns about skin cancer, as melanin does NOT protect the skin against skin cancer.

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Everybody's line is different

I started thinking about my views on ‘getting a little cosmetic help’ one night seven years ago when the ladies from my mom’s group went out for dinner. Over wine someone posed the roundtable question—where do you guys stand on cosmetic enhancement? Would you ever have any work done?

Well I had to give this some serious thought before I answered. Because, while my default answer may have immediately been ‘no’, I have already made cosmetic enhancement, maintenance or ‘normalizing’ choices. I was born with a birthmark on my face and have had a series of laser treatments to reduce the birthmark over the last fifteen years. And, I wear makeup to cover the birthmark every day and have since I was thirteen years old. Why? Because it allows me to operate more effectively and comfortably in the world that we live in.

So, in essence I have been pursuing cosmetic help for some time and am truly grateful that I have the option to do so. So, when I went back to contemplating where I stood on the issue I realized that I was very much pro-choice and pro-options and while my pursuit of treatment may today be focused on normalizing rather than enhancing, I can’t say that down the road I won’t pursue other things.

More importantly, I feel really strongly that women should not judge other women who make cosmetic choices. Because, it is a very personal choice and we don’t always know what drives people to do things or what each person’s individual story is. Everyone’s line is different.

Margaret from Season One Speaks with my Beauty Match

Be sure to tune in to this week’s podcast on mybeautymatch.com where Margaret discusses aging, being part of Define Yourself, the ways she maintains her youthful appearance, and her thoughts on the idea of “growing old gracefully”.

Listen to Margaret’s conversation on the Beauty Match Buzz Podcast and don’t miss Part One of the Define Yourself interviews.

my Beauty Match Interviews Robina from Season One

This week, Robina, one of the cast members of Define Yourself Season One, sits down for an interview with my Beauty Match to discuss aging, non-invasive rejuvenation treatments, her experience on Define Yourself, and her ultimate secret to aging well.

Listen to part one of Robina's interview on mybeautymatch.com and stay tuned for part two.

In conversation with Arline Malakian

International Artist, Fashion Photographer, Author, Creator

Catharine Fennell sits down with Arline Malakian to discuss women, aging and the importance of defining yourself. First in a three-part series.

Art: The Gaze. A Photographic tableaux. http://www.alavri6.com/arline
Book: Be a woman. Expressions of Life. http://www.be-awoman.com/

Listen to the full audio podcast.


CF: How do you define yourself (when it comes to aging)?
AM: I have discovered with time, the more of a friend I become with me, the free-er and more me I become. I am who I have created me to be. The aging helped! I call this maturity. I have a past but I am not my past. I have found the strength to find and define who I am.

CF: How old were you when you found your “backbone”?
AM: Let me tell you that I am not entirely there yet! I ask myself some key questions... What am I here for? What difference can I make in this world? These questions kept me on my own trail. In my work, I am in the foreground of what society defines to be modern or beautiful – part of making these trends and the futility of it. It is only things to play with- but we don’t have to take this on.

CF: Tell us about your craft, your recent photographic art exhibit: The Gaze
AM: The gaze is the celebration of the moment. The gaze is impregnated with our own experiences and individual connections in the moment. Connect, reflect and create.

Contact Arline: arline@total.net

Why Aging is Like Parenting

Cindy Ball, Principal
Smart Ass

During the past few weeks I’ve had a bit of a revelation; aging is a lot like parenting. I know all you young gals out there are thinking what the heck is she talking about? I’m 42 (not exactly old given 40 is the new 30 – right!) and my oldest daughter (I have three in total) is 9 years old. I’ve been parenting and, as luck would have it, aging for 10 years (including my pregnancy of course). I look back at the pictures when I was pregnant with # 1 and I looked so YOUNG. My aging definitely kicked into high gear after babies started popping out!

So back to my revelation. When you first become a parent you REALLY believe your parenting is shaping your child and that they’re perfectly behaved because of all your wonderful parenting. It’s the old nurture vs. nature argument. If you were blessed with an easy going first child you think you’re God’s gift to parenting. Then whamo, # 2 or 3 arrives, you do the same things and the outcome is different! It’s a bit like when you’re young with perfect, wrinkle free skin. You think it’s something you’re doing and then whamo, those wrinkles start to roll in and then one day you look down and instead of your hands typing on your laptop – your mother’s hands are tapping away!

I’m coming to believe that much of how we age and how our kids behave hinges on our genes. Of course, there are some basics on the aging side; don’t fry yourself in the sun, wear sunscreen, don’t smoke – we all know them. And on the parenting side; talk to your kids, feed them well, read to them, plug those nasty outlets with little white plastic things so the kids don’t fry themselves! Yes, there are things we can do as parents and as aging women to help things turn out okay BUT don’t be too hard on yourself sometimes it’s just the way it is! Accept it - temper tantrum throwing children, laugh lines, wrinkly hands – all of it.

The main reason I think parenting is like aging is because you should NEVER judge a parent with children older than yours or a woman with skin older than yours – NEVER! Parents-to-be need to learn this in pre-natal class. It’s as important as learning when to push. I remember when #1 was still a blob of a baby visiting with friends who had older children and thinking “I will never let my children eat French Fries, run around by themselves, stay up late” you fill in your own list of “nevers”. Fast forward a few years and my girls are doing all this and much worse. The same goes for being young and fresh faced. Please don’t criticize those aging blazers ahead of you. If they decide that microdermabrasion, lasers or injections is the path they need to follow, so be it. Please don’t judge them until you’ve walked a mile in their wrinkles!

So there you have it, my thoughts on parenting and aging – good luck on both fronts!

Cindy Ball and her business partner Alix Cameron own Smart Ass Lingerie. Between them they have five children and their fair share of wrinkles. Check out their fabulous lingerie at http://www.smartassgals.com/ .