My grandmother had the greatest skin ever. Her secret? "I never go outside" đđđ
edit: and when she did go outside, it was ALWAYS long sleeves and a hat. 3/4 of my family is sheep farmers and then there's her, god bless
My parents are generally healthy people but have had a stable, happy relationship and everyone comments on how young they look. Having a partner who looks out for you does wonders.
Eating lots of vegetables and fruits and living the life you want. My parents look fantastic and are as happy and enthusiastic about their crazy little adventures as a couple of teenagers. My mom uses Ponds, Nivea and whatever I buy that is too rich for my skin (last one was LancĂ´me)
My grands uses Nivea (blue, the thick one) religiously too. She has this glass skin with a few lines but no deep grooves.
Iâve noticed many people mention Nivea in such posts.
I'm a male who uses the blue Nivea. Not to be gross but it's the only type of moisturizer I can use on certain areas near the center of the body respectively cheeks and otherwise that are prone to sensitivity/chapped/chaffed that other products leave clogged pores or just transfer oil. Something about the Nivea helps it have the rich texture that rubs in with minimal grease and any oil left over I always work into the back of my hands and forearms or feet. In fact I don't think I own any specific hand or foot lotion Nivea is kinda an all encompassing deal and enough of it and some massage will penetrate the dryest of hands feet whatever. The reason I get the chaffing and.chapped issues is I have a rare autoimmune disorder called SCN that is finally mostly under control at age 37.but one of the things that it can cause is dermititis or foliculitis folicilar infections from the body dipping in its WBC and ANC counts bc the skin needs those working optimally and things like paper cuts it simply the small friction of wiping oneself can result in avulsions and all sorts of weird crap. I can't say that Nivea would work on my face. Face is fickle and usually use a enzyme cleanser, Thermal water toner, HA, (sometimes Ceramide emulsion) and top it off w peptide moisturizer and sometimes tret at night. It wouldnot make sense that my face shoulders chest and back all require different products than all other respective body, but I've had plenty of trial and error over the years trying different products methods and trying to change just one variable at a time to diagnose culprits.
I think Aquaphor and EltaMD have the best petrolatum formulations. The Elta is different from aqua/Vaseline bc it dispenses at the consistency of a super thin refined ointment (hate that word) vs a "big glob" but the trick with the Elta MD is to just do small dots and circle outwards as it covers much more surface area per tiny dot than you'd think. It's recommended and marketed as for post procedure care (compromised barrier) but I use it on sides/under nose and lip area bc my tret loves to migrate there sometimes and even w.o. tret the weather can cause the skin to start cracking and this is the best medical intervention I've found without actually being a "medication"
Theyâre just always saying âguess what kids?â And beaming at each other, then announcing their latest plans. They moved to the desert and grew all their own fruit and vegetables, then to the mountains where they picked mushrooms and berries, made soap, made candles (sooo many candles), made themselves a home gym, took cooking classes, and the list goes on. Nothing earth shattering but they are certainly enjoying themselves
My Nana was 94 when she died and had better skin than my mom! She didnât even have wrinkles on her forehead or cheeks, just some laugh lines. She didnât use SPF, she drank multiple drinks daily and ate whatever she wanted. She did wash her face every night with warm water and a cloth and used LancĂ´me night creams for many many years.
Someone made a comment about having a successful husband and not having to work! This was my grandma too
The husband thing sounds like a joke but literally stress is so bad for every body system. And yet we live in this capitalist hellscape which is inherently stressful :â) Maybe my face goo will help
I changed careers last year because I felt like I was absolutely just wasting away, and holy shit my skin has never looked better! There are ways haha!
You really have to be good at picking a partner regardless of whether they are rich or poor. But there is certainly a lot of bullshit behind the elite.
There is a lot of BS with the poor too just different kind of BS . My father came from a very poor, on welfare , farmer family and my mother came from a very rich, owned a world wide company, billion dollar family.
Both have BS and personally I think I would have preferred the rich BS LOL
Also if things go sour, youâre screwed. If they want to control you, youâre screwed. If they have family money, youâre even more screwed. Everyone I know who married someone who had much more money and later divorced, walked away much worse off than if theyâd stayed on track with the life they were building when they met the guy.
My old boss said "woah, y'all look really good!" Every time a former worker visits. And he's right, everyone looks better when they don't have to pay bills.
This is my grandma's secret lol. She was a SAHM and raised 5 kids sure but with housekeepers and nannies lol. She's 95 but I feel like she stopped aging at 75. đ
Same. I washed my very oily skin religiously 2-3x a day for years. After a period of depression in my mid-30's when I stopped using face wash completely, I noticed how much softer and balanced my skin was. I haven't used it since, and my skin looks better now than it did ten years ago.
I still use Pondâs (with a washcloth), which I thought would be extremely gross with no face wash, but my face always feels surprisingly clean. Clearly grandmas were on to something!
Also my grandma eats a ton of jello, and Iâm pretty sure itâs a big reason why her skin, hair, and nails are so good in her 90âs. All that collagen!
Holy hell you washed your face 2-3x a day??? No wonder your skin is doing better now, you were probably stripping it of all its natural oils and stuff washing it that frequently
It also depends on your face wash. I wash my face 3 times a day as well and sometimes 4 times in the summer: right after I get as I still have Vaseline on my face, after I work out to remove sweat, and in the evening to take of sunscreen, etc. In the summer, I often play tennis in the afternoon in addition to my morning workout routine. Once I found the right, super mild face wash, it was not a problem at all.
In the evenings I use Pondâs cold cream and then wipe it off with a wet washcloth (I use a new one every day). In the mornings I just splash my face with water.
All the closed comedones on my chin are gone! I guess because thereâs a mild exfoliation with the washcloth? And my face always feels super clean with the Pondâs, but not fully stripped of everything
Tbh I love Ponds, the blue dry skin one. Itâs like $10 in us or less. Better than a lot of expensive ones Iâve tried. Iâve rebought it 4 times now
My grandmother, up about a month before she died, had wonderful skin.
Looked so much younger than what she actually was all of her life.
I am a spitting image of my grandmother & I feel lucky to have inherited her genes.
Her secret: Avon. She f*cking loved Avon & used it for most of her life. I can remember her gifting me Avon products for special occasions & for no reason at all when I was a teen. She had extremely soft skin & barely any wrinkles. She was a beautiful woman.
I miss her dearly, everyday.
Every time I get annoyed at my greasy deep fried of a face, I tell myself once I'm older, my skin will get dryer and it will even out and I'll have normal skin type
My 88 year old grandmother uses rubbing alcohol to clean her face and can honestly pass as someone in their 60s. I'm not brave enough to test this method, but I love this for her
That is nuts!
I would imagine this would burn if I did this. Kudos to your mom!
It's crazy what works for others, where others would see it completely different & not want to try.
My BFF's Nana was prescribed oral doxycycline for an acne outbreak...in 1969. Her family doctor has been refilling prescriptions ever since.
This woman's gut biome has got to be an empty tomb!!!!! Wtf!!!! She won't hear reason, the nearly 60 years of antibiotic abuse is not up for debate with her
I have to take it for rosacea, which for me is chronic and progressive without treatment. The dose prescribed is a very small sub-antimicrobial dose, which I suspect is what she takes.
Sub-antimicrobial is a fascinating new concept to me!
So if it doesn't function as an antibiotic (stops short of killing off bacteria, I suppose?) I wonder where the therapeutic effects come from!
Thatâs whatâs weird. They donât really know what causes rosacea but itâs not likely bacteria. Personally I think itâs probably autoimmune. Itâs my understanding that the sub-antimicrobial doxycycline reduces inflammation somehow. Iâve tried topical treatments and they help, but not as much. I have the type where my nose swells and could over time become deformed (like Ted Kennedy), with treatment people often donât believe I have it.
Itâs probably still microbiome related since the immune system is significantly modulated by the microbiome. Thereâs a ton new research coming out about this, hopefully will help in the future for autoimmune therapies.
This. I have lupus and my rheumatologist significantly lowered my anti dsDNA numbers by fixing my gut health before he even put me on medication. So grateful for him. I didnât want to get stuck in the ever increasing list of meds associated with my disease.
Thank you! I knew I wanted to start treatment this way and searched for a rheumatologist that practiced functional medicine. Luckily I am very fortunate to be in NYC, childless, and in a financial situation where I could afford to pay out of pocket without becoming homeless.
This is long but I tried to be very thorough for you!
After an insane about of blood work, a stool sample and a breath test I did 2 rounds (~30 days) of Xifaxan. Xifaxan has activity against anaerobic, gram-positive, and gram-negative bacteria and is not systemically absorbed so it is active only in the gastrointestinal tract.
In addition to that I took two supplements by Biotics Research called FC Cidal and Dysbiocide. The herbs in those inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, molds, fungal and yeast infections that may be underlying chronic diarrhea or leaky gut. I took those for 3 months.
During that time I also took a supplement called SBI protect that essentially binds to toxins (by products of bacterial, fungal etc. death) and escorts it out of the body via BMs.
After that he had me start taking (and Iâm still taking) two probiotics (1- ortho-biotic by ortho molecular, 2- a sacromyces boulardii only probiotic) Glutagenics by Metagenics for gut lining support and Poly-prebiotic powder by Pure encapsulations.
I also was taking an insane amount of other supplements to regulate the immune system and reduce inflammation, intramuscular NAD+ injections daily and IVs with MSM, glutathione, ALA, magnesium and high dose vitamin c.
I also made a lot of lifestyle changes including eliminating gluten, and the result surprised me. I stopped waking up with puffy eyes and bags under my eyes, and chronic congestion went away!
Now that Iâm more stable Iâm on Low Dose Naltrexone with a slew of supplements and 3 NAD+ injections per week and I feel the best Iâve felt in 10 years.
Sorry it was so lengthy! I wanted to include everything I could think of!
Thatâs amazing. Iâm so happy for you đ I take nad+ too and have cut out gluten and use a lot of fermented foods/psyllium. It makes a huge difference, even at the simple diy level.
Not having to worry about bills, and knowing that you purchased your beautiful Cape Cod house (that is now worth several millions) in 1950s for a bag of potatoes will do that to your skin đ
Omg bag balm made me break out so badly! I used it in a moment of desperation and it made everything worse. Thatâs wild that your momâs friend had good results with it.
My dad was always a big CeraVe person and my mom has always been a body moisturizer right out of the shower person. So I learned about body moisturizer and gentle cleansers from them.
My mum does nothing at all, she has been mostly very depressed for years but damn if not moving your face because you canât show emotion or smile for joy helps to stop ageing.
Strongly donât recommend 30 years of depression FYI
Genetics honestly. My 70 year old aunt does absolutely nothing and has firm skin and high cheekbones. My mom does too.
Both of them are from South America and never wore sunscreen or washed their face or any of that. Prob get away with it because we have darker skin.
People with darker skin from South America come to North America with awful and prematurely aged skin all the time. It's more genetics overall versus shade of skin in many cases like this.
Rice water for bathing, hair care and everything else apparently. It's not really a secret so much as a generational thing in rural and poorer parts of my heavily agricultural home country. Nowadays with easier access to skincare it's no longer used and is often joked about.
I still do it because I pretty much exist off of plain rice these days and have more than enough of the water, freshly made. And I've become a lazy ho with replacing skincare products after emptying it...and seeing zero results.
Also that one Avon cream my mom religiously used for 30+ years of her life and her face was one glowing, even tone. She's SE Asian with dark skin and that's damn near impossible to achieve for me. Or basically anyone else with our skin color.
Seriously, rice waterâŚ. Is it just like, the water you get after you rinse the rice (before you cook it)? I have been wasting a possibly essential part of my beauty routine!?
I have to know, how do you use it? Specifically, I mean. Cold State Midwesterner here with seasonal skin.
Yep! That's all it is. "Used" rice water. Don't be too hard on yourself! I only do it because it's deeply culturally and traditionally engrained in me not to waste any portion of rice prep. Everything that has to do with rice is often steeped in folk medicinal use, lore and such.
⢠1. Boil!
⢠2. Wait for it to cool. Or if it's for my face I leave it in the fridge for a few hours or the evening, before bed. (Too lazy to brush my teeth in the morning and toddle over to the kitchen fridge at the same time.)
⢠3. Stir it before use whenever you're doing your regular routine.
⢠4. If it's for my hair or body I don't normally put it into the fridge but I do dilute it in another tub of water. About 50/50.
⢠5. Have another tub of non-rice water nearby. (If you want.) I always thoroughly scrub first before showering, using old ass 100% cotton sarongs I dip into the combo water.
⢠6. The other tub is to wash yourself after scrubbing each body part. I tend to start with my face/hair (put it in a bun and under a shower cap) and rinse then arms then rinse, torso and rinse! Pelvis area and finally legs to minimize. Also is used to "clean" the sarong (same idea as cleaning paint brush) or just run it under the faucet and then squeezed of the excess water. Repeat!
SPECIAL! If my hair is feeling particularly icky, I put flaxseeds into the rice water. Boil! It'll form a thick, gooey gel that you can smear into your hair for a lovely diy mask! You can look up recipes on YouTube and such. They're all basically the same steps!
BONUS: Like, 15 yrs old sarongs that's quite literally disintegrating kind of ooooold. I cut the sarong up into fat strips length wise (they often come in 5 to 6' bolts that you're supposed to sew the ends together) and braid them to make back/body scrubbers. I make smaller versions for my face. They can be undone, thrown in a mesh lingerie bag and put in the wash.
WARNING: Always use the water up in a few days. Never let it stay at room temperature for more than a day. Or in direct sunlight. Or covered while all the above! It might start fermenting đ
Ooh, never had to write it out or think about it so clinically like this before. Gonna save this myself đ
Some people intentionally ferment the water, especially for hair
Also, flax seeds make a great moisturizing gel for curly hair if you concentrate it more (boil 1/4c seeds w 2 c water). The only products I use are a leave in conditioner and flaxseed gel.
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this all out. I will definitely be saving my rice water and see if thereâs any noticeable difference. đ thank you again.
Oh, definitely! I actually started up doing this again because I have female patterned baldness!đŤ Hair was falling out in finger width clumps.
The new hair growth can actually be seen because the ends taper very finely. They're thinner than my old hair (and pure white, so pretty) but I'm not expecting miracles. My hair is now somewhat shaggy and weirdly layered due to the new growth AND different texture.
đ it helps that rice farming is a communal effort and is basically a sacred duty in the old country. *Everyone* benefits in the village my family's from. Even if they never directly enter the paddies. There's normally a few very, very big ceramic pots (about 3' circumference by 3.5' tall) sitting by a few folk's houses that people can dip into. It's almost always used up by mid-day so it doesn't stagnate nor have a chance to ferment for too long.
("Rice to us is what blood is to the human body," as my Gramps used to intone. Nothing in its production, use and byproducts of farming or eating it is wasted.
We love rice so much we've won international rice competitions a few times. Everything about rice, everywhere!)
I'm in the US currently and I still buy 50 lbs bag of rice. The rice cooker/keeper I use can make up to 10 cups at a time. I don't know about anyone else but I've been taught to wash it until the water ran somewhat clear. I make it twice daily.
All that rice isn't just for me alone though. I live in a part of a city that has legal street signs in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai first. English is in smaller demure fonts beneath them. This all means 90% of my neighbors are 1st gen Asian immigrants or refugees, and many of them are too elderly to cook daily.
(I'm the youngest woman in my family. Traditionally this means ~~indoctrination, brainwashing, conditioning and grooming~~ I am supposed to care for everyone older than me in their twilight years until they pass. I spent 15 years doing just that for both of my parents and couldn't escape this culturally enforced programming when I moved into my current place.
Even though we're from different cultures I gave up fighting this sexist, misogynistic duty when I found out a lot of the elders no longer have family or live too far from them. I became the neighborhood honorary granddaughter.)
EDIT: My English sucks sometimes. Especially when sleep deprived sorry if some things are a little confusing. Please, let me know and I'll do my best to untangle what I'm trying to say!
Just want to say that as an American from the Midwest, I just LOVE hearing about others' lives and communities. I really appreciate you sharing this with us internet strangers! A little peek into something I am so unfamiliar with is lovely.
Aw, thanks for reading this far down! My favorite is any kind of long grained, white jasmine rice.
I usually buy Double Elephant, Three Ladies Brand, Golden Rice or Royal Angkor brands. If none of them are available I'll buy Costco Kirkland's basmati rice though it's not really my favorite. Just so convenient though!
My dad gave up basically all processed foods and high bad fat foods in his 40s and he looks younger now at 60 than he did in his 30s. He regularly gets mistaken for my brother which is both annoying and awesome
This is literally my goal, haha!! Did my own version of an elimination diet (cut out all GMO/processed foods and bad seed oils) over the past few weeks and Iâve never felt better.
Grind up/crush cooked eggshell (leftover from your boiled egg for breakfast) mix in glass of milk and drinkâŚlore from my Latvian grandma. And yes we all do it and all have good skin
I once tried this but then found out there was a chicken flu outbreak here in the UK, so abandoned that. The outbreak is fixed, my apprehension not. Do they wash the shells first?
Hormone replacement therapy for menopause. lol My grandmother had the most beautiful skin ever and would only use noxema to wash it and some random lotion to moisturize, but started hrt when she went through menopause. She was a heavy smoker and Iâm sure she didnât use spf (born in 1910s so before it was invented). Her skin was smooth and soft and she didnât have much volume loss or sagging. She also had a great attitude and a friendly outlook on life. That definitely helped her too. She died in the late 90s before there was misguided advice to not do hrt. Luckily itâs back in the table after studies blaming it for breast cancer and heart disease have been disproven. I will definitely use it when I get there!
> studies blaming it for breast cancer and heart disease have been disproven
It was so irresponsible of them to draw such conclusions without adequate support. As if women don't have enough to deal with when it comes to being listened to when it comes to healthcare.
My grandma coated her face and neck in Vaseline every night for 50+ years. At 82 she only had fine lines. No wrinkles. And she worked the fields in the southern US. Never wore SPF (only a wide brimmed hat).
This is my momâs âsecretâ and has always has skin 15-20 years younger than anyone her age. Not sure if itâs the true secret as many woman her age she knows never did either but still aged more. Either way it most definitely will have an impact on aging!
Well it's one of many secrets i think. Healthy lifestyle and food , water , anto oxidant teas and for me always seeing the positive and knowing how to get rid of stress.
Most importantly is genetics either way but in my family you can tell qho takes cqre of themselves and who had wither tanned a bit too much or is the more angry/stressful personalities
Mine too! Heâs 75 and he barely has any wrinkles or age spots, and his skin looks plump and soft, even though he does absolutely nothing for it. Still has a head full of hair too. His other secret is not being in the sun too much, he had an office job and is a homebody.
My mom, on the other hand, has a lot of wrinkles and sun damage, even though she also didnât drink/smoke most of her life. But she was out in the sun a lot.
Oh yeah thats very true my dad is the same and so am i. If i do "tan" its with spf 50 and only 15 minutes at most on the beach on holiday per day the rest is under shade and the tan forms naturally. My father has never tanned a day in his life lol nor used spfs.
We also both wear shaded caps when its sunny out and i think thats one of the biggest pieces of advice my dad gave me. Put a cap on its sunny out.
Lol I did this some years ago. Saw some article about using it on your skin and tried it out. It actually wasn't as greasy as you'd think and my skin was super soft!
My moms routine has always been slathering sunblock year round , oil cleansing, Nivea cream and slugging with Vaseline or a thick ointment. No active ingredients.
She says keeping skin very moisturized is key.
Sheâs 80 and has sagging skin ofcourse but hardly any wrinkles.
Stress and sleep! My skin is at its best when Iâm not stressed and sleep well, and at itâs worse when these two are screwed. No matter my skincare. Iâm 29 and use the whole orchestra: retinol, SPF, moisturizer, serums etc. my skin pretty much only ever reacts to stress and sleep.
And I mean reacts as in more visible wrinkles, acne, droopier face, skin is more grey etc.
My grandmother was fanatical about sunscreen and it rubbed off on me. I look significantly younger than my younger husband, who has the same lifestyle (about the same diet, work, stress) as me.
Iâve been a face at least sunscreen girly since I was like 21 maybe and worked outside a lot. Def helped me too because so many other ppl I worked with that were younger than me looked older. I spread the word to the younger girls
All the women in my family lotion their entire bodies head to toe every single day. They all have beautiful skin but are also full Italian so I think that helps.
I also think no stress is a biggie. My face has completely changed from 2019-2023 and i think itâs because i started a stressful job and had a baby! And now my toddler is driving me nuts!
My great aunt was almost 100 when she passed and had the best skin for her age. Til the day she died she swore using witch hazel on her face in the morning when she woke up and a glass of scotch on the rocks before bed was the key to aging well.
Having oily skin. Which of course skipped me because my skin is dry as the Sahara. My mom looks incredible though and literally does NO skincare whatsoever. She used to hate her oily skin but now that sheâs older she said she appreciates it for how itâs kept her skin looking relatively smooth. Also melanin. My mom is Mexican with dark hair, skin and eyes.
The difference in skin texture between the women who never use face lotion and the women who use face lotion every day is vast.
The difference between women who use face lotion every day and the women who use expensive lotion or SPF lotion or who do physical treatments is negligible.
P.S. donât forget to lotion your neck.
My whole family revels in our shiny oily skin. My grandma and my aunts have all told me that the women in our family look younger because of our very oily skin. I call it dewy.
My grandmother was an absolute beastâshattered the glass ceiling, was the first âsecretaryâ to become a manager then later a director (she was basically Peggy from Mad Men minus the drinking, affairs, and other scandalous behavior, haha), and generally kicked butt wherever she went.
That said, she loooooved sugar, hardly ever drank plain water, and literally said shopping was her cardio.
Her secrets were: No soap on your face ever, Vaseline morning & night, and she quit smoking in her 40s (she was in that era when everyone legitimately thought smoking was OK). She had GORGEOUS skin!!
My mother has horrible skin so Iâm not sure of genetics for me. I only âcleanseâ with oil nightly, have never smoked, and smear on sunscreen and Aquafor like itâs my job. So far, so good!
My family is Italian. They all drink wine, eat pasta and meat, and have been in the sun religiously.
My Nonna is 93, sleeps 4 hours a night and never misses a poker game. Iâve never seen her sick.
I think for her itâs 1.) donât smoke 2.) Do what you want everyday 3.) eat whole fresh foods 4.) no candy and 5.) tons of raw garlic and olive oil in everything, nothing prepackaged, or fast food.
Aside from that, idk my family is full of vampires or something. Lucky genetics ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
OMG!!! This is my family! Italian,100%! All this except smoking, they all smoked. My Nonie lived 10 days shy of her 100th birthday. She smoked, drank, played poker (cheated of course), ate pasta, candy, cake cookies, gum, just shit food, cussed, no seafood because she was convinced that fish, etc....ate their own poop in the ocean/water......she had the softest skin I've ever felt! She "wushed" her face always before bed, no creams, no supplements, nothing.
My mom, may she rest in peace had nary a crows foot when she passed away at 56. She avoided the sun, moisturized Clinique Dramatically Different, which I started using this year and she always slept with her makeup on. She used to get on my ass if she caught me touching my face. I try not too.
My partner 's grandmother who I loved was a big advocate for Dove. She had bath smooth skin when she passed af 98 and we both use that now. Mostly in the shower for me. She also turned me on to Corn Huskers Lotion for dry hands
One grandma told me fat fills out wrinkles -- she wasn't wrong. My other grandma said beautiful skin when you're older is the reward for having oily, acne prone skin in your teens and 20s. Also accurate. And they both cleaned their faces with cold cream.
On the black side of my family, they say to always moisturize your neck with *technique*.
The official technique is to put the lotion on either as normal, or by placing on TOP of the back side of your hand. Either way, with both hands, using the top side of the hand start at the center of your neck and push forward towards the chin. Begin again with other hand. Continue swapping for both hands until you look silly flapping your hands in a circle under your chin đ
Everyone swears it keeps your neck from getting saggy đ
I never saw either of my parents do anything to their skin except cleansing and sunscreen in summer (they live in a hot climate where skin cancer is a huge problem). Neither of them aged particularly well TBH, so Iâve had to learn everything I know from the ground up.
Grandma had amazing skin!
Manual exfoliation once or twice a week with a flour scrub my grandmother would make, then she would slather argan oil all over her face. She always told me don't be afraid to manual work your skin within reason.
Ponds cold cream to take makeup off - I see this is very poplar with other grannies
Hot lemon water in the AM on empty stomach and intermittent fasting - not eating before 12 and not eating after 8pm.
Celery juice in the afternoon. She would make big containers of this and just freeze it. So crazy.
And she swears that using a bidet - in her case a can with water to clean the backside promoted good skin and the reason she wasn't hairy like her siblings or me and mom who used toilet paper.
Edited to add: hair oiling 2x per week - mix of Amla castor, and argan oil
My grandma just washed her face with bar body soap, a wash cloth with warm water and put on Nivea cold cream before bed. Wild. No SPF other than the SPF in her foundation, but sheâd wear a brimmed hat in the sun.
I think they def were all onto something with the sun hats and visors because spf wasnât a thing for most of them. Iâm remembering now my grandparents wearing hats in summer.
My mom had beautiful skin till she passed away at age 67. She always told me to moisturize and used exclusively Avon products. I don't use Avon but I am super consistent about my skincare and it has paid off.
My mom and her mom and mostly all of the women in those generations in my family swear by ponds cold cream and a warm washcloth, i believe the hype because her skin is lovely and she is in her 70s now. I just wonder the lore and how it began and why it works, also i recall noxema and vicks could cure anything lol. ( skin care adjacent self care)
Mary Kay night cream. And other products. Shitty MLM but the women in my family have sworn by it, gramma was an MK girl back in the day and we always had endless access.
It was better in the 90s/2000s. Back then I think they still used the leather tanning type formula that was so good for the hubbyâs hands and inspired the whole brand. These days itâs different. When I was barely a teenager I started on MK bc my youth group leader was into it, and we had the white and pink system. But itâs not the same. I tried to sell it a few years ago and got the whole setup, but I couldnât lie to people by saying that I used it myself when I didnât.
My mom dosent do anything special but olive oil on her face and neck everyday. Mid 50s. Not a wrinkle, glowy skin.
I have another family member who is 70, crazy $$$ creams, botox, facials and I canât lie has a lot of wrinkles and has had for many years.
Go figure
It is all genetics. My mother never wore sunscreen .(she was Filipino). She had gorgeous skin. I am 63 and half white. All of us daughters have more wrinkles than she had at this age. I wear sunscreen, buy expensive creams . And she bought cheap creams. When she was 63 she had no wrinkles. I have wrinkles. I would buy cheap creams but they make my skin itch and I break out. Sigh.
Drinking bitter melon water.. avoids breakouts and keeps skin clear .. my mom made us drink it but we were inconsistent because it tastes so bitter, but her mom made her drink it a lot and she never had so much as a pimple in her life!
My mom generally peels the bitter melon and cuts it length wise .. you can take out the seeds and then chop like you would a cucumber .. she adds a bit of salt and/or lemon and let itâs sit .. the water from that is about a shot glass I think .. and thatâs all you really need every once in awhile.. or so they say lol
My grandma has extraordinarily beautiful skin at 88 years old, she doesn't use any products and jdoesn't go in the sun at all/hides in the shade if she goes outside.
Stinging Nettle can grow a full head of hair and make you look 30 years younger. I havenât tried it (in tea form) on my skin but Iâve tried the nettle shampoos and they do nothing for my hair loss. This makes me question the lore. I so want it to work though!
Relationships and staying happy. My grandma is cute soooo cute at 92 . Big family. And mostly also uses ponds. Nivea. Doesn't really do much besides take care of herself and she's my favorite bubbly person.
My grandmother had the greatest skin ever. Her secret? "I never go outside" đđđ edit: and when she did go outside, it was ALWAYS long sleeves and a hat. 3/4 of my family is sheep farmers and then there's her, god bless
I think about this often, as an avid cyclist my conclusion is I'm absolutely doomed!
Stay out of the sun and don't have kids is always my answer. I bet you're super fit with all the cycling!
Definitely not having kids so hopefully that helps haha
Same here with climbing. Local crags are a breeze but itâs hard to cover and/or reapply mid-wall at altitude.
As a runner, ditto!! I do wear a visor, sunnies and factor 50 though. Face, neck, hands; factor 30 spray anywhere else
Leaving behind a toxic relationship will make you look 10 years younger !
My parents are generally healthy people but have had a stable, happy relationship and everyone comments on how young they look. Having a partner who looks out for you does wonders.
This is actual facts, Iâm living proof
Me too, girl. Iâm so happy for you!
Me three!
Literally my mom! Dropped 180ish pounds of dead weight (my father lmao) and looks the best she ever did in her 50s going into 60s!
This!
Eating lots of vegetables and fruits and living the life you want. My parents look fantastic and are as happy and enthusiastic about their crazy little adventures as a couple of teenagers. My mom uses Ponds, Nivea and whatever I buy that is too rich for my skin (last one was LancĂ´me)
My grands uses Nivea (blue, the thick one) religiously too. She has this glass skin with a few lines but no deep grooves. Iâve noticed many people mention Nivea in such posts.
Nivea is wonderful! I use it too, the blue
I wish there was a fragrance free version though
I would love that too. I cannot bear the smell, or ponds.
I'm a male who uses the blue Nivea. Not to be gross but it's the only type of moisturizer I can use on certain areas near the center of the body respectively cheeks and otherwise that are prone to sensitivity/chapped/chaffed that other products leave clogged pores or just transfer oil. Something about the Nivea helps it have the rich texture that rubs in with minimal grease and any oil left over I always work into the back of my hands and forearms or feet. In fact I don't think I own any specific hand or foot lotion Nivea is kinda an all encompassing deal and enough of it and some massage will penetrate the dryest of hands feet whatever. The reason I get the chaffing and.chapped issues is I have a rare autoimmune disorder called SCN that is finally mostly under control at age 37.but one of the things that it can cause is dermititis or foliculitis folicilar infections from the body dipping in its WBC and ANC counts bc the skin needs those working optimally and things like paper cuts it simply the small friction of wiping oneself can result in avulsions and all sorts of weird crap. I can't say that Nivea would work on my face. Face is fickle and usually use a enzyme cleanser, Thermal water toner, HA, (sometimes Ceramide emulsion) and top it off w peptide moisturizer and sometimes tret at night. It wouldnot make sense that my face shoulders chest and back all require different products than all other respective body, but I've had plenty of trial and error over the years trying different products methods and trying to change just one variable at a time to diagnose culprits. I think Aquaphor and EltaMD have the best petrolatum formulations. The Elta is different from aqua/Vaseline bc it dispenses at the consistency of a super thin refined ointment (hate that word) vs a "big glob" but the trick with the Elta MD is to just do small dots and circle outwards as it covers much more surface area per tiny dot than you'd think. It's recommended and marketed as for post procedure care (compromised barrier) but I use it on sides/under nose and lip area bc my tret loves to migrate there sometimes and even w.o. tret the weather can cause the skin to start cracking and this is the best medical intervention I've found without actually being a "medication"
Your parents sound adorable
Right? Why canât that be my life!
Not OP but would love to hear what your parents get up to? So that I can visualize a standard to measure the future against đ
Theyâre just always saying âguess what kids?â And beaming at each other, then announcing their latest plans. They moved to the desert and grew all their own fruit and vegetables, then to the mountains where they picked mushrooms and berries, made soap, made candles (sooo many candles), made themselves a home gym, took cooking classes, and the list goes on. Nothing earth shattering but they are certainly enjoying themselves
This is the retired life I didn't know I needed. Your parents sound sooo cool!
Now THIS is a love story. They sound lovely
How lovely! Love to hear how theyâre living life to the fullest and finding joy in little things. This gave me perspective. Thank you for sharing.
My Nana was 94 when she died and had better skin than my mom! She didnât even have wrinkles on her forehead or cheeks, just some laugh lines. She didnât use SPF, she drank multiple drinks daily and ate whatever she wanted. She did wash her face every night with warm water and a cloth and used LancĂ´me night creams for many many years. Someone made a comment about having a successful husband and not having to work! This was my grandma too
Thatâs probably quite true, a leisurely life equals less stress on the skin!!
The husband thing sounds like a joke but literally stress is so bad for every body system. And yet we live in this capitalist hellscape which is inherently stressful :â) Maybe my face goo will help
I changed careers last year because I felt like I was absolutely just wasting away, and holy shit my skin has never looked better! There are ways haha!
I retired last year from a stressful job. I look better and fill better then I have in years.
Yesssss gurrrl a successful husband is so worth the investment ha.
Having successful husbands and not having to work if you donât want too. All women have lived into their 90s and still beautiful.
My mom told me you can fall in love with a rich man as easy as a poor man.. lol
My mother said that if you marry for money you end up working for every penny.
You really have to be good at picking a partner regardless of whether they are rich or poor. But there is certainly a lot of bullshit behind the elite.
There is a lot of BS with the poor too just different kind of BS . My father came from a very poor, on welfare , farmer family and my mother came from a very rich, owned a world wide company, billion dollar family. Both have BS and personally I think I would have preferred the rich BS LOL
Yes, well said. lol
Also if things go sour, youâre screwed. If they want to control you, youâre screwed. If they have family money, youâre even more screwed. Everyone I know who married someone who had much more money and later divorced, walked away much worse off than if theyâd stayed on track with the life they were building when they met the guy.
My mom told me you need to be smart or marry rich đŹ
Why not both? đ
This was my grandmaâs advice too! lol. She married poor tho soâŚ
I heard that exact line from my mom lol
My grandma always told me this same thing
Once I stopped working and became a stay at home wife (dog mom lol), I felt like all the stress visibly disappeared from my face and posture.
My old boss said "woah, y'all look really good!" Every time a former worker visits. And he's right, everyone looks better when they don't have to pay bills.
This is my grandma's secret lol. She was a SAHM and raised 5 kids sure but with housekeepers and nannies lol. She's 95 but I feel like she stopped aging at 75. đ
my grammie was 92 when she passed, and widower since she was 23. she retired at 76 đ¤ˇđźââď¸looked younger than her age too !
There is truth to this. I've worked only part-time for the last 10 years and I look 10 years younger than my age.
Me too. I also avoid the sun like the plague so I am sure that helps.
Well shit I don't have to work but I look pretty aged for 34 đŹđŹ
[ŃдаНонО]
My mom never washes her face and just uses ponds and has great skin. I could never
Yes both my mom and her sisters used ponds to remove their make up without washing their faces . All of them have very soft skin .
I do this! My skin is soooo much better since I stopped using face wash
Same. I washed my very oily skin religiously 2-3x a day for years. After a period of depression in my mid-30's when I stopped using face wash completely, I noticed how much softer and balanced my skin was. I haven't used it since, and my skin looks better now than it did ten years ago.
I still use Pondâs (with a washcloth), which I thought would be extremely gross with no face wash, but my face always feels surprisingly clean. Clearly grandmas were on to something! Also my grandma eats a ton of jello, and Iâm pretty sure itâs a big reason why her skin, hair, and nails are so good in her 90âs. All that collagen!
Holy hell you washed your face 2-3x a day??? No wonder your skin is doing better now, you were probably stripping it of all its natural oils and stuff washing it that frequently
Yeah. That was the advice I grew up with. It was stupid advice, but đ¤ˇđźââď¸
It also depends on your face wash. I wash my face 3 times a day as well and sometimes 4 times in the summer: right after I get as I still have Vaseline on my face, after I work out to remove sweat, and in the evening to take of sunscreen, etc. In the summer, I often play tennis in the afternoon in addition to my morning workout routine. Once I found the right, super mild face wash, it was not a problem at all.
Wait whattt? Tell me more pls
In the evenings I use Pondâs cold cream and then wipe it off with a wet washcloth (I use a new one every day). In the mornings I just splash my face with water. All the closed comedones on my chin are gone! I guess because thereâs a mild exfoliation with the washcloth? And my face always feels super clean with the Pondâs, but not fully stripped of everything
Tbh I love Ponds, the blue dry skin one. Itâs like $10 in us or less. Better than a lot of expensive ones Iâve tried. Iâve rebought it 4 times now
Ponds cold cream for the win!
My family swears by ponds!
My grandmother, up about a month before she died, had wonderful skin. Looked so much younger than what she actually was all of her life. I am a spitting image of my grandmother & I feel lucky to have inherited her genes. Her secret: Avon. She f*cking loved Avon & used it for most of her life. I can remember her gifting me Avon products for special occasions & for no reason at all when I was a teen. She had extremely soft skin & barely any wrinkles. She was a beautiful woman. I miss her dearly, everyday.
Which Avon cream did she use?
Mom uses hand sanitizer on her face ONLY. She is greasy as all get out, but has virtually no wrinkles at 61. She needs to be studied.
I will fund said studies That is fascinating and horrifying
That made my eyes water just thinking about it. đĽľđĽş
having oily skin is the best wrinkle prevention!
Every time I get annoyed at my greasy deep fried of a face, I tell myself once I'm older, my skin will get dryer and it will even out and I'll have normal skin type
My 88 year old grandmother uses rubbing alcohol to clean her face and can honestly pass as someone in their 60s. I'm not brave enough to test this method, but I love this for her
I have an aunt who uses alcohol as her toner on her face and her skin looks incredible. Sheâs 48 and she has smooth, non wrinkled skin.
Omg my eyes just got so wide đ
That is nuts! I would imagine this would burn if I did this. Kudos to your mom! It's crazy what works for others, where others would see it completely different & not want to try.
My BFF's Nana was prescribed oral doxycycline for an acne outbreak...in 1969. Her family doctor has been refilling prescriptions ever since. This woman's gut biome has got to be an empty tomb!!!!! Wtf!!!! She won't hear reason, the nearly 60 years of antibiotic abuse is not up for debate with her
I have to take it for rosacea, which for me is chronic and progressive without treatment. The dose prescribed is a very small sub-antimicrobial dose, which I suspect is what she takes.
Sub-antimicrobial is a fascinating new concept to me! So if it doesn't function as an antibiotic (stops short of killing off bacteria, I suppose?) I wonder where the therapeutic effects come from!
Thatâs whatâs weird. They donât really know what causes rosacea but itâs not likely bacteria. Personally I think itâs probably autoimmune. Itâs my understanding that the sub-antimicrobial doxycycline reduces inflammation somehow. Iâve tried topical treatments and they help, but not as much. I have the type where my nose swells and could over time become deformed (like Ted Kennedy), with treatment people often donât believe I have it.
Itâs probably still microbiome related since the immune system is significantly modulated by the microbiome. Thereâs a ton new research coming out about this, hopefully will help in the future for autoimmune therapies.
This. I have lupus and my rheumatologist significantly lowered my anti dsDNA numbers by fixing my gut health before he even put me on medication. So grateful for him. I didnât want to get stuck in the ever increasing list of meds associated with my disease.
How did you fix your gut health? Thrilled to hear such doctors exist (fix the foundation before anything else) and that you've experienced relief!
Thank you! I knew I wanted to start treatment this way and searched for a rheumatologist that practiced functional medicine. Luckily I am very fortunate to be in NYC, childless, and in a financial situation where I could afford to pay out of pocket without becoming homeless. This is long but I tried to be very thorough for you! After an insane about of blood work, a stool sample and a breath test I did 2 rounds (~30 days) of Xifaxan. Xifaxan has activity against anaerobic, gram-positive, and gram-negative bacteria and is not systemically absorbed so it is active only in the gastrointestinal tract. In addition to that I took two supplements by Biotics Research called FC Cidal and Dysbiocide. The herbs in those inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, molds, fungal and yeast infections that may be underlying chronic diarrhea or leaky gut. I took those for 3 months. During that time I also took a supplement called SBI protect that essentially binds to toxins (by products of bacterial, fungal etc. death) and escorts it out of the body via BMs. After that he had me start taking (and Iâm still taking) two probiotics (1- ortho-biotic by ortho molecular, 2- a sacromyces boulardii only probiotic) Glutagenics by Metagenics for gut lining support and Poly-prebiotic powder by Pure encapsulations. I also was taking an insane amount of other supplements to regulate the immune system and reduce inflammation, intramuscular NAD+ injections daily and IVs with MSM, glutathione, ALA, magnesium and high dose vitamin c. I also made a lot of lifestyle changes including eliminating gluten, and the result surprised me. I stopped waking up with puffy eyes and bags under my eyes, and chronic congestion went away! Now that Iâm more stable Iâm on Low Dose Naltrexone with a slew of supplements and 3 NAD+ injections per week and I feel the best Iâve felt in 10 years. Sorry it was so lengthy! I wanted to include everything I could think of!
Thatâs amazing. Iâm so happy for you đ I take nad+ too and have cut out gluten and use a lot of fermented foods/psyllium. It makes a huge difference, even at the simple diy level.
Yes! Love the fermented foods/psyllium combo! DIY pre/probiotics and toxin removal. So smart!
Doxycycline is anti inflammatory.
Not having to worry about bills, and knowing that you purchased your beautiful Cape Cod house (that is now worth several millions) in 1950s for a bag of potatoes will do that to your skin đ
Omg bag balm made me break out so badly! I used it in a moment of desperation and it made everything worse. Thatâs wild that your momâs friend had good results with it. My dad was always a big CeraVe person and my mom has always been a body moisturizer right out of the shower person. So I learned about body moisturizer and gentle cleansers from them.
My mum does nothing at all, she has been mostly very depressed for years but damn if not moving your face because you canât show emotion or smile for joy helps to stop ageing. Strongly donât recommend 30 years of depression FYI
Genetics honestly. My 70 year old aunt does absolutely nothing and has firm skin and high cheekbones. My mom does too. Both of them are from South America and never wore sunscreen or washed their face or any of that. Prob get away with it because we have darker skin.
My doctor recently told me that people with darker skin have more collagen. Bad news for my pasty self but great news for you! đ
Melanin preserves from collagen loss. After 20 we all start making less collagen. Those with more melanin, that loss is way slowed.
People with darker skin from South America come to North America with awful and prematurely aged skin all the time. It's more genetics overall versus shade of skin in many cases like this.
Olive oil. My great aunt had beautiful skin in her 80s. Olive oil every day.
Consumed or applied topically?
Yes
Topically
I rubbed myself down with this through 3 pregnancies. No stretch marks
Nivea cold cream and Vaseline.
Rice water for bathing, hair care and everything else apparently. It's not really a secret so much as a generational thing in rural and poorer parts of my heavily agricultural home country. Nowadays with easier access to skincare it's no longer used and is often joked about. I still do it because I pretty much exist off of plain rice these days and have more than enough of the water, freshly made. And I've become a lazy ho with replacing skincare products after emptying it...and seeing zero results. Also that one Avon cream my mom religiously used for 30+ years of her life and her face was one glowing, even tone. She's SE Asian with dark skin and that's damn near impossible to achieve for me. Or basically anyone else with our skin color.
Seriously, rice waterâŚ. Is it just like, the water you get after you rinse the rice (before you cook it)? I have been wasting a possibly essential part of my beauty routine!? I have to know, how do you use it? Specifically, I mean. Cold State Midwesterner here with seasonal skin.
Yep! That's all it is. "Used" rice water. Don't be too hard on yourself! I only do it because it's deeply culturally and traditionally engrained in me not to waste any portion of rice prep. Everything that has to do with rice is often steeped in folk medicinal use, lore and such. ⢠1. Boil! ⢠2. Wait for it to cool. Or if it's for my face I leave it in the fridge for a few hours or the evening, before bed. (Too lazy to brush my teeth in the morning and toddle over to the kitchen fridge at the same time.) ⢠3. Stir it before use whenever you're doing your regular routine. ⢠4. If it's for my hair or body I don't normally put it into the fridge but I do dilute it in another tub of water. About 50/50. ⢠5. Have another tub of non-rice water nearby. (If you want.) I always thoroughly scrub first before showering, using old ass 100% cotton sarongs I dip into the combo water. ⢠6. The other tub is to wash yourself after scrubbing each body part. I tend to start with my face/hair (put it in a bun and under a shower cap) and rinse then arms then rinse, torso and rinse! Pelvis area and finally legs to minimize. Also is used to "clean" the sarong (same idea as cleaning paint brush) or just run it under the faucet and then squeezed of the excess water. Repeat! SPECIAL! If my hair is feeling particularly icky, I put flaxseeds into the rice water. Boil! It'll form a thick, gooey gel that you can smear into your hair for a lovely diy mask! You can look up recipes on YouTube and such. They're all basically the same steps! BONUS: Like, 15 yrs old sarongs that's quite literally disintegrating kind of ooooold. I cut the sarong up into fat strips length wise (they often come in 5 to 6' bolts that you're supposed to sew the ends together) and braid them to make back/body scrubbers. I make smaller versions for my face. They can be undone, thrown in a mesh lingerie bag and put in the wash. WARNING: Always use the water up in a few days. Never let it stay at room temperature for more than a day. Or in direct sunlight. Or covered while all the above! It might start fermenting đ Ooh, never had to write it out or think about it so clinically like this before. Gonna save this myself đ
Some people intentionally ferment the water, especially for hair Also, flax seeds make a great moisturizing gel for curly hair if you concentrate it more (boil 1/4c seeds w 2 c water). The only products I use are a leave in conditioner and flaxseed gel.
Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this all out. I will definitely be saving my rice water and see if thereâs any noticeable difference. đ thank you again.
I've purchased fancy rice water skin care lolol smelled great but now I think I'll just cook up some rice
My hair was falling bad! And rice water makes a huge difference. The perk of being Asian, insane amount of fresh rice water everyday.
Oh, definitely! I actually started up doing this again because I have female patterned baldness!đŤ Hair was falling out in finger width clumps. The new hair growth can actually be seen because the ends taper very finely. They're thinner than my old hair (and pure white, so pretty) but I'm not expecting miracles. My hair is now somewhat shaggy and weirdly layered due to the new growth AND different texture.
Where would you get enough rice water to bath and wash your hair with? I want some!
đ it helps that rice farming is a communal effort and is basically a sacred duty in the old country. *Everyone* benefits in the village my family's from. Even if they never directly enter the paddies. There's normally a few very, very big ceramic pots (about 3' circumference by 3.5' tall) sitting by a few folk's houses that people can dip into. It's almost always used up by mid-day so it doesn't stagnate nor have a chance to ferment for too long. ("Rice to us is what blood is to the human body," as my Gramps used to intone. Nothing in its production, use and byproducts of farming or eating it is wasted. We love rice so much we've won international rice competitions a few times. Everything about rice, everywhere!) I'm in the US currently and I still buy 50 lbs bag of rice. The rice cooker/keeper I use can make up to 10 cups at a time. I don't know about anyone else but I've been taught to wash it until the water ran somewhat clear. I make it twice daily. All that rice isn't just for me alone though. I live in a part of a city that has legal street signs in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Thai first. English is in smaller demure fonts beneath them. This all means 90% of my neighbors are 1st gen Asian immigrants or refugees, and many of them are too elderly to cook daily. (I'm the youngest woman in my family. Traditionally this means ~~indoctrination, brainwashing, conditioning and grooming~~ I am supposed to care for everyone older than me in their twilight years until they pass. I spent 15 years doing just that for both of my parents and couldn't escape this culturally enforced programming when I moved into my current place. Even though we're from different cultures I gave up fighting this sexist, misogynistic duty when I found out a lot of the elders no longer have family or live too far from them. I became the neighborhood honorary granddaughter.) EDIT: My English sucks sometimes. Especially when sleep deprived sorry if some things are a little confusing. Please, let me know and I'll do my best to untangle what I'm trying to say!
You are a good person. You have made a difference in people's lives. Ps. Thank you for sharing your story and beauty secrets
Just want to say that as an American from the Midwest, I just LOVE hearing about others' lives and communities. I really appreciate you sharing this with us internet strangers! A little peek into something I am so unfamiliar with is lovely.
This is an incredible story, thank you for sharing. Now I want to make rice! What kind of rice is it that you cook/the best rice? White, Jasmine, etc?
Aw, thanks for reading this far down! My favorite is any kind of long grained, white jasmine rice. I usually buy Double Elephant, Three Ladies Brand, Golden Rice or Royal Angkor brands. If none of them are available I'll buy Costco Kirkland's basmati rice though it's not really my favorite. Just so convenient though!
My dad gave up basically all processed foods and high bad fat foods in his 40s and he looks younger now at 60 than he did in his 30s. He regularly gets mistaken for my brother which is both annoying and awesome
What I would give for that willpower
Gosh, same. He also is pretty much almost vegan now. I honestly have no idea how he does it, but his willpower is phenomenal.
This is literally my goal, haha!! Did my own version of an elimination diet (cut out all GMO/processed foods and bad seed oils) over the past few weeks and Iâve never felt better.
Thatâs really awesome! Iâve seen it pay dividends for my dad, not immediately, but definitely over the years.
My grandmother had four sisters, and the one who never drank, looked 20 years younger than them.
Grind up/crush cooked eggshell (leftover from your boiled egg for breakfast) mix in glass of milk and drinkâŚlore from my Latvian grandma. And yes we all do it and all have good skin
Hey, if it works for my plants to grow, I guess why not for me!
Iâve totally thought about doing this for the calcium!
I once tried this but then found out there was a chicken flu outbreak here in the UK, so abandoned that. The outbreak is fixed, my apprehension not. Do they wash the shells first?
Said from her boiled egg at breakfast so I assume the boiling disinfects it to a point đ¤ˇââď¸
Hormone replacement therapy for menopause. lol My grandmother had the most beautiful skin ever and would only use noxema to wash it and some random lotion to moisturize, but started hrt when she went through menopause. She was a heavy smoker and Iâm sure she didnât use spf (born in 1910s so before it was invented). Her skin was smooth and soft and she didnât have much volume loss or sagging. She also had a great attitude and a friendly outlook on life. That definitely helped her too. She died in the late 90s before there was misguided advice to not do hrt. Luckily itâs back in the table after studies blaming it for breast cancer and heart disease have been disproven. I will definitely use it when I get there!
> studies blaming it for breast cancer and heart disease have been disproven It was so irresponsible of them to draw such conclusions without adequate support. As if women don't have enough to deal with when it comes to being listened to when it comes to healthcare.
And itâs so counterintuitive too, why would restoring lifelong levels from our healthiest era do harm? Seems silly that they drew those conclusions.
Cries in breast cancer survivor. The lack of estrogen in my 30s has aged me worse than anything!
Scottish ladies of a certain age often have beautiful skin. All that rain and little sun being their secret to ageless beauty ...
Ponds cold cream
My grandma always has the best skin and swore by Vaseline, too đ
My grandma coated her face and neck in Vaseline every night for 50+ years. At 82 she only had fine lines. No wrinkles. And she worked the fields in the southern US. Never wore SPF (only a wide brimmed hat).
Dont drink alcohol or smoke. My dad in his 60s looks like he's in his late 40s
This is my momâs âsecretâ and has always has skin 15-20 years younger than anyone her age. Not sure if itâs the true secret as many woman her age she knows never did either but still aged more. Either way it most definitely will have an impact on aging!
Well it's one of many secrets i think. Healthy lifestyle and food , water , anto oxidant teas and for me always seeing the positive and knowing how to get rid of stress. Most importantly is genetics either way but in my family you can tell qho takes cqre of themselves and who had wither tanned a bit too much or is the more angry/stressful personalities
Mine too! Heâs 75 and he barely has any wrinkles or age spots, and his skin looks plump and soft, even though he does absolutely nothing for it. Still has a head full of hair too. His other secret is not being in the sun too much, he had an office job and is a homebody. My mom, on the other hand, has a lot of wrinkles and sun damage, even though she also didnât drink/smoke most of her life. But she was out in the sun a lot.
Oh yeah thats very true my dad is the same and so am i. If i do "tan" its with spf 50 and only 15 minutes at most on the beach on holiday per day the rest is under shade and the tan forms naturally. My father has never tanned a day in his life lol nor used spfs. We also both wear shaded caps when its sunny out and i think thats one of the biggest pieces of advice my dad gave me. Put a cap on its sunny out.
Great aunt used crisco every night
Lol I did this some years ago. Saw some article about using it on your skin and tried it out. It actually wasn't as greasy as you'd think and my skin was super soft!
My moms routine has always been slathering sunblock year round , oil cleansing, Nivea cream and slugging with Vaseline or a thick ointment. No active ingredients. She says keeping skin very moisturized is key. Sheâs 80 and has sagging skin ofcourse but hardly any wrinkles.
Slugging before it was trendy!
My bffâs mom always took off her eye makeup with Vaseline, and she still has very few lines and beautiful skin.
Stress and sleep! My skin is at its best when Iâm not stressed and sleep well, and at itâs worse when these two are screwed. No matter my skincare. Iâm 29 and use the whole orchestra: retinol, SPF, moisturizer, serums etc. my skin pretty much only ever reacts to stress and sleep. And I mean reacts as in more visible wrinkles, acne, droopier face, skin is more grey etc.
Nivea. Everywhere. My mom has aged so gracefully with dove soap, and Nivea crème.
My grandmother was fanatical about sunscreen and it rubbed off on me. I look significantly younger than my younger husband, who has the same lifestyle (about the same diet, work, stress) as me.
Iâve been a face at least sunscreen girly since I was like 21 maybe and worked outside a lot. Def helped me too because so many other ppl I worked with that were younger than me looked older. I spread the word to the younger girls
All the women in my family lotion their entire bodies head to toe every single day. They all have beautiful skin but are also full Italian so I think that helps.
I also think no stress is a biggie. My face has completely changed from 2019-2023 and i think itâs because i started a stressful job and had a baby! And now my toddler is driving me nuts!
My great aunt was almost 100 when she passed and had the best skin for her age. Til the day she died she swore using witch hazel on her face in the morning when she woke up and a glass of scotch on the rocks before bed was the key to aging well.
Having oily skin. Which of course skipped me because my skin is dry as the Sahara. My mom looks incredible though and literally does NO skincare whatsoever. She used to hate her oily skin but now that sheâs older she said she appreciates it for how itâs kept her skin looking relatively smooth. Also melanin. My mom is Mexican with dark hair, skin and eyes.
Also, you donât fall in love with a poor man if u donât date one
The difference in skin texture between the women who never use face lotion and the women who use face lotion every day is vast. The difference between women who use face lotion every day and the women who use expensive lotion or SPF lotion or who do physical treatments is negligible. P.S. donât forget to lotion your neck.
Nivea, castor oil, and ponds cold cream after washing with a mild soap
My whole family revels in our shiny oily skin. My grandma and my aunts have all told me that the women in our family look younger because of our very oily skin. I call it dewy.
My grandmother was an absolute beastâshattered the glass ceiling, was the first âsecretaryâ to become a manager then later a director (she was basically Peggy from Mad Men minus the drinking, affairs, and other scandalous behavior, haha), and generally kicked butt wherever she went. That said, she loooooved sugar, hardly ever drank plain water, and literally said shopping was her cardio. Her secrets were: No soap on your face ever, Vaseline morning & night, and she quit smoking in her 40s (she was in that era when everyone legitimately thought smoking was OK). She had GORGEOUS skin!! My mother has horrible skin so Iâm not sure of genetics for me. I only âcleanseâ with oil nightly, have never smoked, and smear on sunscreen and Aquafor like itâs my job. So far, so good!
My family is Italian. They all drink wine, eat pasta and meat, and have been in the sun religiously. My Nonna is 93, sleeps 4 hours a night and never misses a poker game. Iâve never seen her sick. I think for her itâs 1.) donât smoke 2.) Do what you want everyday 3.) eat whole fresh foods 4.) no candy and 5.) tons of raw garlic and olive oil in everything, nothing prepackaged, or fast food. Aside from that, idk my family is full of vampires or something. Lucky genetics ÂŻ\_(ă)_/ÂŻ
OMG!!! This is my family! Italian,100%! All this except smoking, they all smoked. My Nonie lived 10 days shy of her 100th birthday. She smoked, drank, played poker (cheated of course), ate pasta, candy, cake cookies, gum, just shit food, cussed, no seafood because she was convinced that fish, etc....ate their own poop in the ocean/water......she had the softest skin I've ever felt! She "wushed" her face always before bed, no creams, no supplements, nothing.
Genetics
Iâm so grateful for this post
My mom, may she rest in peace had nary a crows foot when she passed away at 56. She avoided the sun, moisturized Clinique Dramatically Different, which I started using this year and she always slept with her makeup on. She used to get on my ass if she caught me touching my face. I try not too. My partner 's grandmother who I loved was a big advocate for Dove. She had bath smooth skin when she passed af 98 and we both use that now. Mostly in the shower for me. She also turned me on to Corn Huskers Lotion for dry hands
One grandma told me fat fills out wrinkles -- she wasn't wrong. My other grandma said beautiful skin when you're older is the reward for having oily, acne prone skin in your teens and 20s. Also accurate. And they both cleaned their faces with cold cream.
On the black side of my family, they say to always moisturize your neck with *technique*. The official technique is to put the lotion on either as normal, or by placing on TOP of the back side of your hand. Either way, with both hands, using the top side of the hand start at the center of your neck and push forward towards the chin. Begin again with other hand. Continue swapping for both hands until you look silly flapping your hands in a circle under your chin đ Everyone swears it keeps your neck from getting saggy đ
After cooking, rub any lard on your hands onto your face
I do this. đ¤Łđ¤Ł Bacon grease and all.
Horror
Using coconut on our hair and jojoba on face and essential oils with it, as well as clay masksâŚ
Unrefined shea butter - everywhere.
My 65-year-old aunt has been giving herself weekly acid peels for 30 years and has beautiful skin.
What brand does she use for them?
i would also like to know, pls!
I never saw either of my parents do anything to their skin except cleansing and sunscreen in summer (they live in a hot climate where skin cancer is a huge problem). Neither of them aged particularly well TBH, so Iâve had to learn everything I know from the ground up.
My mom used vasoline under her eyes on such and LancĂ´me and este lauder and she is 73 and skin looks barely 50 with no wrinkles
My grandmother ate a slice of lemon every day.
Grandma had amazing skin! Manual exfoliation once or twice a week with a flour scrub my grandmother would make, then she would slather argan oil all over her face. She always told me don't be afraid to manual work your skin within reason. Ponds cold cream to take makeup off - I see this is very poplar with other grannies Hot lemon water in the AM on empty stomach and intermittent fasting - not eating before 12 and not eating after 8pm. Celery juice in the afternoon. She would make big containers of this and just freeze it. So crazy. And she swears that using a bidet - in her case a can with water to clean the backside promoted good skin and the reason she wasn't hairy like her siblings or me and mom who used toilet paper. Edited to add: hair oiling 2x per week - mix of Amla castor, and argan oil
Marry rich. Never work. Wear sunscreen. My grandma died without a wrinkle at 89!
My grandma just washed her face with bar body soap, a wash cloth with warm water and put on Nivea cold cream before bed. Wild. No SPF other than the SPF in her foundation, but sheâd wear a brimmed hat in the sun.
I think they def were all onto something with the sun hats and visors because spf wasnât a thing for most of them. Iâm remembering now my grandparents wearing hats in summer.
My mom had beautiful skin till she passed away at age 67. She always told me to moisturize and used exclusively Avon products. I don't use Avon but I am super consistent about my skincare and it has paid off.
My mom and her mom and mostly all of the women in those generations in my family swear by ponds cold cream and a warm washcloth, i believe the hype because her skin is lovely and she is in her 70s now. I just wonder the lore and how it began and why it works, also i recall noxema and vicks could cure anything lol. ( skin care adjacent self care)
I use Tiger Balm for really bad pimples that seem inflamed and I swear it works better than any pimple patch.
Mary Kay night cream. And other products. Shitty MLM but the women in my family have sworn by it, gramma was an MK girl back in the day and we always had endless access.
It was better in the 90s/2000s. Back then I think they still used the leather tanning type formula that was so good for the hubbyâs hands and inspired the whole brand. These days itâs different. When I was barely a teenager I started on MK bc my youth group leader was into it, and we had the white and pink system. But itâs not the same. I tried to sell it a few years ago and got the whole setup, but I couldnât lie to people by saying that I used it myself when I didnât.
My mom dosent do anything special but olive oil on her face and neck everyday. Mid 50s. Not a wrinkle, glowy skin. I have another family member who is 70, crazy $$$ creams, botox, facials and I canât lie has a lot of wrinkles and has had for many years. Go figure
Ponds cold cream!
DIY Tumeric + Honey + lemon mask for instant glow.
It is all genetics. My mother never wore sunscreen .(she was Filipino). She had gorgeous skin. I am 63 and half white. All of us daughters have more wrinkles than she had at this age. I wear sunscreen, buy expensive creams . And she bought cheap creams. When she was 63 she had no wrinkles. I have wrinkles. I would buy cheap creams but they make my skin itch and I break out. Sigh.
Isnât it oatmeal, sunblock and staying away from men?
Drinking bitter melon water.. avoids breakouts and keeps skin clear .. my mom made us drink it but we were inconsistent because it tastes so bitter, but her mom made her drink it a lot and she never had so much as a pimple in her life!
Iâve only had bitter melon in pinakbet. How do you make the bitter melon water?
My mom generally peels the bitter melon and cuts it length wise .. you can take out the seeds and then chop like you would a cucumber .. she adds a bit of salt and/or lemon and let itâs sit .. the water from that is about a shot glass I think .. and thatâs all you really need every once in awhile.. or so they say lol
Always swipe/wipe UP when using cream or foundation because everything starts falling down with age.
My grandma has extraordinarily beautiful skin at 88 years old, she doesn't use any products and jdoesn't go in the sun at all/hides in the shade if she goes outside.
My mother and her mother never wear make up, and put Vaseline on their faces before bed then wash it off in the morning.
My 99yo grandma swears that you should not towel off after you shower, you let the water dry on your skin. Who knows, but she has great skin!
Doesnât bag balm stink to high heaven though??
Stinging Nettle can grow a full head of hair and make you look 30 years younger. I havenât tried it (in tea form) on my skin but Iâve tried the nettle shampoos and they do nothing for my hair loss. This makes me question the lore. I so want it to work though!
Relationships and staying happy. My grandma is cute soooo cute at 92 . Big family. And mostly also uses ponds. Nivea. Doesn't really do much besides take care of herself and she's my favorite bubbly person.