My Beauty Story

After college I started to pay more attention to my skin again, while I was in college, however, I did a few things that, looking back, probably weren't up to my baby bottom standard. I drank a lot of alcohol, and sometimes I slept in my makeup. I also got a lot of sun at Arizona State University . . . I even sat in a few tanning beds, yikes! Really, I broke all the rules, but then I started to get my life on track when I discovered a passion for acting while accidentally taking a drama elective at school. This accident turned into a theater major which in turn got me an agent in Los Angeles which resulted in auditions and roles in television and film. (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1690589/)

When I began my acting journey, I became very aware of my age and how young I was able to play. This brought the focus back to my looks, and more specifically, to my skin. Rule: The camera doesn't hide anything, and the camera does not lie.  I learned this quickly in my on camera acting classes where we would watch ourselves on tape. There were, as you can imagine, millions of other blondes trying to be actresses in LA, and beginning my career after college put me "behind the game" as the other actresses I was up against had been acting through their teen years  and building their resumes, so I definitely wanted to look as young as possible!

I would often audition for high school roles and sorority roles, so I cut down on my drinking, started drinking more water, and - of course - began the usual Grandma Jo regimen.  But I started to also apply more tricks.  The one thing my father told me when I was a kid was that I was very observant. It's good to notice things about other people and to learn from other people's mistakes. I would look at the wrinkles on someone else's face and wonder why they were forming there and not elsewhere. That lead me to realize there are three main categories of wrinkles: 

Crying wrinkles
Smiling wrinkles
Squinting wrinkles

Crying wrinkles develop between your eyes and make you look like an angry school teacher - the cure is NOT BOTOX!! Whenever I would cry (off camera), I would immediately pull my forehead muscles apart to precent them from clenching!! This is a great tip for preventing those "between the brow" wrinkles. Also after crying, wash your skin off with water and apply more moisturizer.  Tears dry out the fragile skin under the eyes.

Smiling Wrinkles

Definitely do not stop smiling, do not stop watching comedy, do not stop going to comedy shows. These are all so wonderful for both your outer beauty and your inner beauty.  Laughing is the best medicine. One of the best ways to prevent smiling wrinkles is to just make sure to use a nice eye cream. Moisturize!! Also, whereever you have make up that is either under your eye or on your face, take a Q-tip , dipped in water and take whatever make up you have on out of those wrinkles underneath your eye.  Everyone should have a few lines there naturally, and you don't want your make up to sit in those lines all day, especially if you're going to be smiling. A final tip to avoid strong lines under the eyes is to stop people from tickling you!  When you get tickled, you hold a smile for a very long time, and the longer you hold it, the deeper those eye wrinkles are going to get.

Squinting Wrinkles

Eye Cream! Always wear good sunglasses in the sun, and just try to become aware of the faces you make outside.

The one type of face wrinkle that never bothered me - or in my opinion doesn't really make people look older - is the horizontal forehead line.  Some peoples' faces are just shaped that way and their expressions unavoidably create those lines. I've seen 16 and 17-year-olds with forehead wrinkles, and they don't look old because they have them. I know a lot of people that freak out over these lines, and they really shouldn't because if they're natural they're beautiful.  Drinking water, moisturizing, and wearing sunscreen should reduce these also see "secret tips".

The key to having great skin is preventing damage before it happens. Once the wrinkles are there, and once the sunspots are there, and once the sagging is there, there are things you can do to restore your skin. But I'd like to teach young girls about preventative measures.
But again, life happens and thank goodness we live in a day where we have great products, social media to spread remedies, and dermatologists!