I turned 38 in March.

No pretty pictures or videos in this post. Just some of my observations about life and beauty as the clock ticks on :-)

 1. Your eyelids lose volume.

They say the eyes are the widows of the soul, but what they don't tell you is that they can also tell your age. I've noticed over the past 6 months that MY eyes have lost volume, or more particularly my eyelids have. Unless I've eaten a lot of salt or am looking puffy for some other reason,  my eyelids are no longer a plump, smooth, uninterrupted plane...they actually now curve over my eyeballs. 

Since noticing my eyelids, I have been keen on checking out everyone else's eyelids - especially Asian lids because well, I'm Asian. And I've found it's true. No matter how young the rest of your face/body look...no matter your race...your eyelids can give you away.

I googled many actresses and because of makeup and angles and such, it proved difficult to find a set of pictures (1 younger, 1 older) of the same actress to illustrate what I'm experiencing. You don't always notice it when someone is smiling, or when their eyes are wide open...sometimes you only get a glimpse when it's a certain light or angle, or when their lids are 3/4 closed...but it's there. Surprisingly when I'm on the plane I notice it a lot because I'm standing and doing my Stewardessly duties while passengers are sitting - talk about an advantageous viewpoint when eyelid gazing!!!

 2.  Coming to terms with going grey kind of sucks.

I had my first grey hair in my very early twenty something years. It was strange because I remember my first many grey hairs actually came in blonde before they turned grey!! The grey was so stark that whenever I would wear my hair in a ponytail, people would ask if I had paint in my hair LOL!! 

Fast forward to the present and I have a lot more grey. I haven't tipped the scales yet - a majority of my hair still remains un-grey. But so much of my hair is grey now that I have changed my part a couple of times to minimize the full frontal impact. And I hardly wear my hair in a ponytail now because that's when you can really see it!! The grey is most highly concentrated at my temples, and about halfway back it tapers off. It's come in ferociously in the last year or so.  

I dyed it for about a year. Okay, not all over dye, it was 'highlighted' meaning my stylist alternated my natural color with dark brown and black - only on the top 1/2 of my head, from the crown forward. This was meant to kind of ease me into the idea of going grey...you could still see the grey, just not as much.  

I gave up after about a year because I found it a pain to keep up with. That was about a 1 1/2 years ago. My lovely and sweet stylist always compliments my grey and says she wishes more women would keep their hair natural. Since then I've been on a journey to try to embrace my impending grey state. If Linda Rodin can do it, so can I. If Cindy Joseph can do it, so can I. Right???

It would be a lot easier if I didn't read magazines or bombard myself with beauty blogs, but that's not gonna happen! In the meantime, I've been on and off reading the book Going Grey. I've also been observing what other women have done...are they proudly rockin' the grey or are they 90 and still dying their hair jet black. It's a personal choice with no right or wrong answer. I just wish more of us could be happy embracing our grey, selfishly to make it a bit easier on women like myself who struggle with it now and will struggle with it in the future. 

I worked with a woman awhile ago who was beautiful to begin with, but she also had this stunningly gorgeous head of full on grey hair. She got compliments from everyone...young, old...men, women. It was pretty amazing. Without knowing it, she's become my role model of grey acceptance. 

I have my good days and bad days. My goal is to have no bad days!!! If anyone has tips out there please share!!

 3. I can't do my makeup in 5 minutes.

But I wholeheartedly applaud those of you who can!!! Now I can spot conceal, powder, blush and gloss with the best of them...but I don't consider that actually doing my makeup. That's called not wanting to look deathly while running errands.  

It takes me several minutes just to do foundation and concealer. Add an eye look (NOT a single wash of color), bronzer, blush, lipstick, powder, eyebrows, mascara, highlighter...eeeeek!!! I'm staring at the clock 15 minutes later and I'm still not done.  

 4. I like to take my sweet ol' time. 

Perhaps it's age, perhaps it's my job (where on time is late!)...not sure...but I like to take my time to do things. I enjoy the process of doing and being, and don't like to be rushed. Wanna get on my bad side? Tell me to hurry. Then see if you're still breathing after you get lasered with my stink eye.  

I used to be a watch fanatic, but I never wear one anymore. When I get to the hotel room and remove my uniform, the watch is the very first thing that comes off!! In my personal life I'm usually late...5-10min is a good bet, though my Husband will probably tell you it's more like 15+.  

My very good friend Maggie is always late too. If we set a time to meet up, we always know it will be at least 1/2 an hour later. Ok, ok...probably 1/2 - 1 hour later. But she wears a watch all the time, so I'm not sure what her excuse is. Ha ha :-)  Just kidding...Love you, Maggie!!! 

 5. I'm continually in semi-shock by what people say to me.  

I'm Korean. I can't hide my slanty eyes. And I'm always amazed at what people think is ok to say to me!!

A black woman at work, a passenger, said to me "...whatever you are". REALLY??? Seriously. I'm pretty sure I would've been pulled from my trip and fired on the spot if I had said that to her. 

The other day in the Pei Wei line in the Las Vegas airport, the man in front of me tried to say my name (it's on my Stewardess wings). He pronounced it wrong of course, so I correctly said it for him. He asked, is that a pretty common Asian name? I said no, it's an uncommon Hawaiian name. Again - really???? Short version, in case you are wondering - I am Korean but have a Hawaiian name because I'm adopted. 

I had a woman one time order an adult beverage from me and follow it up with, me love you long time. REALLY??? When she realized what she had done she was entirely and profusely apologetic...still.  

Here's a classic illustration...and I have favorited this video (ok, my mistake there is a video in this post!!)...

 6. Getting older is pretty cool.  

Saggy eyelids and grey hair aside, getting older is fun!! There's a certain calm and love about being happy with how your life has turned out, and you aren't worried about where your life is going :-)  Sure, you may still have things you want to do and accomplish, but if those things never happen...eh, no biggie!! As they say in one of my favorite John Candy movies...Cool Runnings!! Peace be the journey!!!  

7. I like what I like. 

I love avocado on toast! I love eggs & rice & soy sauce!! I love Cracker Barrel Sunday dinner!! I love skincare!!! I love makeup!!! I love luggage and anything travel related!! I don't like red onion! I don't like kale chips! I looooove to sleep!!!

I like what I like and please don't try to dissuade me otherwise LOL :-) 

 8. My Husband is my best friend.

I used to think it was strange when someone would say something like that. I'd think...how can they be one and the same...isn't that kinda crazy?? But then it happened to me!!! My Husband is my best friend and I wouldn't have it any other way :-) 

 9. Blogging is kind of hard sometimes. 

Sometimes I don't feel like blogging. So I don't!! LOL!! Sometimes I bemoan feeling like I have to take product pictures before using the products themselves. Sometimes I'm not sure why I'm blogging? Sometimes I feel like quitting. Lots of times I wish I could take better pictures (I'm trying to learn!!). Sometimes I question my content and wonder if people like it? Sometimes I wonder what my end goal is or if I even have one???

But then I remember that I simply love talking skincare and makeup in general. I could talk for hours and hours about those 2 things and not even bat an eyelash!! My 1 real life makeup friend (Maggie) and I often will text back and forth for those actual hours, much to the wonderment of both of our Husbands ha ha!! So...what blogging has done for me, and continues to do is be a resource and an outlet that I can't always express in my day to day life with my non-blogger friends and family. And I have met so many wonderful and kind and beautiful friends through blogging...and I'm very happy and grateful for every one of you!!!  

Twitter me this...Instagram me that...THANK YOU for your friendship :-)

10. Hope everyone is having a happy Summer!!!