my thoughts on aging

as an afterthought i dug up the cover photo taken by chad johnston at age 15, 20 and 25 as part of a project he worked on when we first moved to canada. though scary i think it’s amazing to see yourself age, your eyes become wiser, your cheekbones more defined, you stop plucking your eyebrows and start shaving your mustache ha, we all do it!… i thought this would be the perfect candid opportunity to share these images with you. my 30th birthday will come sooner than i expect and another image will be added, until then you can view the entire 15 photo series here

when i was asked to write this article and share my emotional challenges regarding aging i embraced the opportunity. there are not many chances to be completely candid on the blog. most of what we write about is superficial isn’t it? i mean this in the least offensive way, to myself and you as readers of course but that’s just what fashion + beauty are kind of all about. it’s an industry i grew up in and love, superficial or not, because i have learned to tread through it’s thick waters. but it definitely took time and i am still learning. everyday something happens that challenges the way i look at myself and the whole process. it’s an industry based on youth, and i swear, sometimes it literally sucks all the energy out of you and if you can’t hold on it just spits you out and never looks back. not to be discouraging though, there are so many beautiful aspects of working in fashion and i wouldn’t trade it for anything. but where looks are concerned it’s something i have definitely started paying attention to.  when modelling you are told that you are too old at the ripe age of 23, if you are lucky you have chosen the commercial path and  your career has some longevity still. if you take good care of yourself in terms of diet and beauty routines you can still pull it off much into your thirties. i’m eastern european and i look it, so my path has always been editorial, in fact i didn’t really discover my smile unitl after i decided to no longer subject myself to the trials and tribulations of the international modelling scene. crazy! i started being concerned with aging at 25, my ex boyfriends’ mum mentioned something about always moisturizing your neck. always being quick on picking up tips and tricks this one was engraved in my mind. that piece of advice + starting my blog had me hooked on beauty products and testing out what works and what doesn’t. already, aging doesn’t sit well with me, my face really takes the beating when i don’t get enough sleep and i think about being preventative more than ever. this means catching all the z’s i can, staying hydrated, and eating well.

working with estée lauder products has been quite the pleasant surprise for me. being introduced to the brand by way of aerin and working my way through to their makeup counter i have fallen in love with the perfectionist foundation line. double wear gets raving reviews online by nearly every beauty blogger out there and their advanced night repair is one of the most sought after products (over 800 reviews on their canadian site and all 5 stars). it’s no surprise that i was excited to test the new dimension shape + fill expert serum. it promises to ‘help define the look of contours to help lift the look of cheeks and the jawline by improving both visible volume and structure’. new dimension also takes the product testing stage to a new… well… dimension. to understand people’s emotional response to the product, estée lauder underwent a number of consumer testing in it’s relation to the brain and the nervous system. 91% of the panelists experienced a positive change in attitude after using new dimension shape + fill expert serum and felt more enthusiastic about the way they looked.

despite all of this, nothing beats putting it all to the test yourself. so when my bottle arrived in the mail that’s exactly what i did. i started reading other reviews to understand what ‘they’ mean by this skin volume everyone is talking about. so out of all places i found my answer with an accountant. he explained it to me like this: imagine your skin as a piece of bread and all the holes as your pores and imperfections. essentially the serums’ job is to fill and lift your skin and restore its youthful appearance. the bread is no longer porous but young and healthy looking. just like that… as explained by a man. the more i learned about it and the more stories i heard from other women using the product the more i started to look at myself in the mirror and re-examining the benefits i was getting from using the product. in my experience with beauty products, consistence is key, as well as time. there is no magic elixir that will work for you overnight (not one that i am familiar with anyway). with the little amounts of sleep i have been getting i am thrilled to have new dimension shape + fill expert serum in my hands every morning to make the struggle a little more bearable. it works hard to help diminish the appearance of fatigue on my skin and as a result i feel less guilty for working overtime and getting less sleep. goodbye eye puffiness. in the end ladies, i will just say that nothing works more magic on your skin and appearance as a healthy amount of sleep (i’m talking ditch the alarm clock and wake up on your own terms a couple of days in a row and you will be able to tell the difference) but we all know life often gets in the way of this. so i’ll put estée lauder and new dimension on my go-to list for now. if anything changes i will let you know. xoxo

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disclosure: this post was brought to you by estée lauder via mode media canada. the opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of estée lauder