What Does "Letting Yourself Go" After 50 Really Mean?

Hey there Glo Gang! I read an article in Allure this week that really got me thinking.

It started with Bethenny Frankel walking the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway at 54. She looked incredible, and the internet had plenty to say about it.

The interesting part wasn’t Bethenny. It was the conversation that followed.

The writer of the article admitted she’d always imagined turning 50 would come with a little relief. She thought she’d finally stop caring so much about beauty. Maybe she’d spend less time in front of the mirror, stop worrying about every new wrinkle, and finally give herself permission to relax.

Instead, women over 50 seem to be raising the bar. They’re on magazine covers. They’re running marathons. They’re lifting weights. They’re getting cosmetic treatments. They’re looking younger than women in their fifties did a generation ago.

It made her wonder if women are ever really allowed to relax.

I found myself nodding along…right up until I realized I don’t actually think that’s the question.

The question isn’t whether we should still care.

The question is, what do we care about?

At 27, I cared whether everyone else thought I looked pretty.

At 57, I care whether I like the woman looking back at me in the mirror.

Those are completely different things.

I don’t wake up wondering if I measure up to Bethenny Frankel. Honestly, good for her. She looked fabulous.

I wake up wondering if I’m becoming the best version of Lisa.

Some women feel amazing with silver hair.

Some women book a standing hair color appointment every six weeks.

Some women love Botox.

Some women would never touch it.

Some women wear lipstick to the grocery store.

Some women haven’t worn makeup in ten years.

I honestly don’t think there’s a right answer.

I think the right answer is whatever makes you smile when you catch your reflection in the mirror.

Am I trying to look like I’m walking the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway? Absolutely not.

I also don’t think elastic-waist Costco pants need to become my entire personality.

There’s a whole lot of room between those two extremes.

That’s where I want to live.

I want to feel put together. I want to feel healthy. I want to like what I see in the mirror. I want to feel proud of the woman staring back at me.

I think that’s why the philosophy behind Glotrition has always felt so personal to me.

We don’t believe beauty has an expiration date.

We don’t believe you’re supposed to spend your fifties chasing the face you had in your thirties.

We believe in becoming the best version of yourself, wherever you are right now.

That version isn’t built in a day.

It’s built through the small daily rituals you repeat over and over again.

The morning walk.

The skincare routine.

The lipstick that makes you feel pulled together.

The Super Beauty Elixir you drink every day.

The decision to keep showing up for yourself, even when nobody else is watching.

Those little rituals have a way of becoming the woman you see in the mirror.

Maybe that’s the real gift of getting older.

You stop asking, “How do I compare to everyone else?”

You start asking, “Do I like the woman I’m becoming?”

That’s a question worth caring about at 27.

It’s worth caring about at 57.

And I have a feeling it’ll still be worth caring about at 77.

I’d love to know where you land on this.

Did getting older make you care less about beauty? Or did it simply change what beauty means to you?

XO,

LIsa