Ask Annie for July 16, 2003
Dear Annie,
I'm a forty-five year old woman but I look much older. I've never paid that much attention to my appearance, as far as I don't really use much make up, but lately I've noticed I have lots of lines around my eyes and my hair is getting white. (I used to be a redhead.) I work in different national parks, always remote locations, and I don't want to start all that high maintenance stuff like tanning, nails, hair salon every week, etcetera. I'm not saying I want to look younger, but I don't want to look sixty already, either.
Crowsfeet Apparent, Mt. Rainier
Dear Crowsfeet,
First, I'm wondering what happened to suddenly make you study your looks so intensely. Second, I wonder, do you smoke? Smokers' skin gets so much more leathery and wrinkled than non-smokers. Sounds like you work outdoors, so some kind of moisturizer on your face would probably help your wrinkles. If you don't want to dye your hair, how about one of those color rinses you use when you shampoo that could enhance the white? If you do use cosmetics, stay away from sparkly, glittery eye make ups. They make sags and bags in the eye area much more apparent. (Take it from me, queen of the hooded eyelids.) You redheads have to really watch the make up, anyway, because your skin is usually so pale people can tell when you use foundation and blush unless they're the perfect shades, expertly applied. A note to you men: while this "Annie" may not hold much interest for you, I want you to realize how difficult it was for me to answer this letter without slamming you and the fact that most of you rarely perform even the most basic hygiene practices and yet think you look like Greek gods.
Annie
Please write to: Annie, P.O. Box 1084, Eatonville,WA 98328E-mail: letters_annie@hotmail.com