Aging Is Rude
Let me say it plainly. Aging sucks. It sneaks up on you while you are busy living your life, raising kids, working, loving people, losing people, laughing, surviving. Then one morning you catch your reflection in unforgiving bathroom lighting and think, wait, when did that happen. The lines. The sag. The tired look that sleep no longer fixes. Aging skin does not ask permission. We are told to age gracefully, which is an irritating phrase if there ever was one. Graceful according to whom. According to lighting designers. According to Instagram filters. According to people who got lucky genetically and act morally superior about it. Wrinkles, fine lines, volume loss, texture changes, sun damage. These are not character flaws. They are biology. Gravity plus time. And still, it can feel deeply personal. The Guilt Spiral Here is where it gets complicated. You feel bad about how you look. Then you feel bad about feeling bad. You tell yourself there are bigger problems in the world. You are healthy. You are loved. Why are you obsessing over your face. But aging is not just vanity. It is identity. Your face is how the world reads you and how you read yourself. When it changes faster than your internal sense of self, there is grief. Real grief. For the version of you that felt familiar. So yes, aging is hard. And yes, it is possible to care about that and still be a decent human being. The Hard Truth About Erasing Times Let us be honest for a second. Short of a facelift, nothing truly erases aging. That is not pessimism. That is reality. No cream, no laser, no injectable turns back the clock completely. What they can do is help. They soften. They support. They restore a bit of what time has taken. Think improvement, not erasure. Maintenance, not miracles. Once you accept that, everything becomes healthier. Botox and the Wrinkle Conversation Botox gets a bad reputation because people notice it when it is overdone. When done well, it is subtle. Botox relaxes muscles that cause expression lines. Forehead wrinkles, frown lines, crow’s feet. It does not freeze your soul. It just quiets the overactive parts. It works best as prevention and softening. Deep etched lines will not vanish, but they can look calmer. Less angry. Less exhausted. And sometimes that is enough to feel like yourself again. Filler and Volume Loss Aging is not only about wrinkles. It is also about deflation. Cheeks flatten. Temples hollow. Under eyes sink. Filler replaces lost volume and restores structure. Good filler is invisible. It does not shout. It whispers. The goal is not to look different. The goal is to look rested, supported, like you had a good year instead of a hard one. Used carefully, filler can lift without surgery. Used carelessly, it can do the opposite. This is where expertise matters more than trends. Microneedling With RF and Texture Texture is the sneaky part of aging skin. Pores look bigger. Skin looks thinner. Makeup stops sitting nicely. Microneedling with RF targets collagen deep in the skin. It tightens, firms, and improves texture over time. This is not instant gratification. This is slow, cumulative change. Better skin quality. More bounce. Less crepey areas. It is one of the few treatments that actually works with your biology instead of just covering things up. IPL and Sun Damage Sun damage loves to announce itself later in life. Spots. Redness. Uneven tone. IPL helps clear pigmentation and redness, making skin look brighter and more even. It does not change structure, but it changes how healthy your skin looks. And healthy looking skin reads younger even when wrinkles remain. So What Can Be Done You can do nothing. That is valid. You can do a little. That is valid. You can do a lot. Also valid. The key is honesty. With yourself. With your provider. With your expectations. Aging is not a failure. Wanting to look better is not shallow. It is human. The real goal is not to look younger. It is to look like yourself again. Softer. Less tired. More comfortable in your own skin. Aging may be inevitable. Misery about it does not have to be.
Filtered Skin in Real Life
I have always been a little skeptical of machines that promise glow. I love skincare, I respect science, but I have been around long enough to know that some things sound better on a brochure than they look in the mirror. Microdermabrasion was one of those treatments I thought I understood. Gentle exfoliation. A little polish. Nice but subtle. Then I used the machine right before an event, and I had to completely rethink my attitude. Let me back up. A microdermabrasion machine is essentially a very controlled, very precise exfoliator. It works by removing the outermost layer of dead skin cells using either a diamond tipped wand or fine crystals combined with suction. That suction is doing more than just clearing away flakes. It stimulates circulation, encourages cell turnover, and leaves the skin smoother and more even. In theory, that sounds good. In practice, I did not expect what happened next. I had an event. The kind where lighting is unforgiving, photos are unavoidable, and you cannot hide behind winter scarves or strategic shadows. I wanted to look like myself, just better rested, calmer, and maybe a little airbrushed. I booked the treatment the day before thinking it would give me a mild boost. Instead, it gave me skin that looked like it had been quietly edited by a very tasteful professional. The first thing I noticed was texture. Or rather, the absence of it. My skin felt smooth in that way you normally only get after a great facial plus a good night’s sleep plus excellent genetics. Fine lines looked softer. Pores looked smaller. Not gone, because we are not delusional, but blurred. That is the word that kept coming to mind. Blurred. By the time I applied makeup, I understood what people mean when they say makeup sits better on prepped skin. Foundation went on evenly with less product. Concealer actually concealed instead of settling into little complaints under my eyes. I kept leaning toward the mirror expecting to see something I needed to fix. There was nothing obvious to fix. I looked filtered, but not shiny, not tight, not irritated. Just quietly excellent. What I loved most is that microdermabrasion did not announce itself. There was no redness screaming I had a treatment. No peeling phase. No downtime drama. It was like my skin had decided to cooperate for once. Friends commented that I looked great, refreshed, glowing. No one asked what I had done, which is always the goal. If people ask what you did, something went wrong. The machine itself deserves credit. Modern microdermabrasion devices are far more refined than the early versions people still picture. The intensity is adjustable, which means it can be tailored to your skin rather than bulldozing it. The suction helps clear congestion while boosting blood flow, so the glow is not just surface level. It is that healthy flush that looks like you drink water and mind your business. Another underrated benefit is how microdermabrasion helps your skincare work harder afterward. By removing that barrier of dead skin, serums and moisturizers absorb better. That night, my skin drank everything in. The next morning, I still looked good. Not post event good, which usually involves damage control, but genuinely good. Is microdermabrasion going to change your life? No. Is it going to replace injectables, lasers, or a good therapist? Also no. But as a treatment that delivers immediate, visible results with minimal fuss, it is shockingly effective. It is the kind of thing you do before an event, a shoot, a big meeting, or anytime you want to look like the best version of yourself without looking like you tried too hard. I went into that appointment expecting a nice exfoliation. I walked into my event feeling like I had hacked reality just a little. Clearer skin. Smoother texture. A soft focus effect that no app could replicate. If you have ever wanted your skin to behave like it has a built in filter, this is how you do it.
