HOW TO LOOK GOOD IN YOUR UNDERWEAR

Time was when those communal dressing rooms didn't intimidate me.  Not that I ever had a knockout figure; no matter what my age and weight my thighs were chunky and despite all the marathons run and  ballet classes taken they could best be described as flabby
However I subscribed to the no body's perfect school of thought and had little trouble disrobing until recently. While makeup, botox and other procedures may rescue our faces, there's no easy fix for an aging body.  Skin loses it's firmness; it wrinkles, creases and hangs and broadcasts our real age like nothing else.    Exercise may help a bit, as will self tanner or a body stocking if you're really desperate, but none work magic  Our darker skinned sisters fare better because their skin tends to be thicker.

So what's the answer ?A bit of camouflage and enhancement is in order.  Devote more time and attention to your underwear purchases especially when it comes to color .  Chances are few of us would appear on the beach  in a white or flesh colored bathing suit.    (Again darker skinned women can take a pass on this part of the advice).  Nothing makes a pale older body look worse than white or nude.  Banish those colors from your underwear drawer.  More flattering is black, other deep shades or even a print. Take the same amount of time shopping for underwear that you do for the rest of your wardrobe.  I would usually whip my way through the lingerie department  guessing at size and hoping for flattery.  I made lots of mistakes.
Fit is all important and too big is as bad as too small; no droopy drawers or loose bras.  Bypass the cotton or any thing else matte and look for fabric with a bit of shine  and some percentage of stretch   The garment should hug your contours with out squeezing.  A flattering underpant style is the high cut  brief.  It helps flattens the stomach and lengthens the leg. An under wire bra works best for most sizes and gives good support. If your breasts are small look for a slight push up. I've found that  Soma makes well fitting bras for our age group. They have wide side panels that hold in any extra flesh and are sexy too  No matter what style you pick don't forget a hint of lace.       
It  never occurred to me to have a bra fitted but lately more and more of my friends have taken that step and have been happy with the result.   And think of using self tanner  (Jergens has several] .  Any body,  no matter what its shape, looks much better with a glow. Who says you can't look sexy after 60?

BEST SELF TANNER

This year I decided to ignore the seasonal deluge of self-tanning products. I'd been a diehard user since the days of QT. back in the sixties. Being just one of the multitudes who looks better with a tan I'd sought that look with practically every product that came on the market.
Last year I found that I was spending too much time and money applying cream lotions and sprays in an effort to achieve that bronze glow. More often than not the results were streaky or artificial looking. Not to mention that tan itself was receiving a lot of bad press.
Tan has never been popular in the ballet studio where I spend a lot of time. Most dancers have skin that appears not to have seen the light of day. I decided this year to up my ballerina wattage and join them. No matter that my skin has enjoyed too many summers in the sun and so is spotted and discolored, I was still aiming for alabaster.
Then Total Beauty.Com which is just about the most comprehensive beauty site on the web sent me L'OREAL SUBLIME BRONZE PERFECT AIRBRUSH SELF-TANNING MIST. Right away it caught my attention with it's promise of ultra even no rub quick-dry application. It so happens that it arrived on the warmest day of the season, the day I had actually gotten out my shorts and was feeling a bit depressed that my legs didn't look as good as one would have expected after having spent so many hours in the ballet studio. There were all those sun spots and blue etchings and I'll spare you the rest.
I headed for the bathroom where I shaved and moisturized my legs . It is suggested that you cleanse and exfoliate using Sublime Bronze Sunless scrub but that's the sort of suggestion I usually ignore. I see it as a ploy to get you to invest in a second product. Any way I'm the sort that can't wait so I sprayed away following the directions to spray the mist slowly and continuously at arms length. I was taken back at how quickly I was able to apply it(less than five minutes and how rapidly it dried. Another five minutes and I was able to get dressed!. I couldn't wait to see how it dried but I got busy with one thing of another.
A few hours later I was surprised when I looked down and saw that my legs had indeed turned a nice golden tan and their various imperfections were much less noticeable even when I checked with my reading glasses on. The product smells very faintly of self tanner (You know the scent) but it's hands down better than any other I have ever tried. So much so that I'm seriously rethinking alabaster.
Cheers, Barb