raw "glow"for us older folks!

[cara4art]

Does anyone have it, or does that only happen for folks in their teens through 30s? I have sun-damaged skin(spots, but few wrinkles) that tends to look a little anemic(despite a slightly olive tone) without a little cosmetic help, normal to oily(but not acneic). It doesn't look any different yet after 3 months. I wasn't a heavy junk food eater before, nor did I smoke. Alcohol has been out of the picture for many years. I do exercise plenty, too! Maybe for us 60-year-olds it takes longer - however, my eyes do look a little clearer though! I know the spots take treatment, but I'd love to have the "glow"!

[Blazin'Jane]

I bet it's sneaking up on you and you just aren't noticing it! :p :p

[lodestar]

i'm 54 and told i have "the glow"...i'm with Blazin'Jane... bet it's sneaking up on you! :)

[tiffanybiffanypiffany]

aww childhood memories*


my mom always uses the word "folks" and "yaw" very minnesotan like

haha. oh mother dear, she so very white.

[stteardrop]

Call me a dummy, but I thought only pregnant women "glow". LOL

Actually sometimes I think its the color of clothes we are wearing too. When put on red, a lot of my friends and coworkers say my face brightens. I feel the same, but that red must be bouncing off my face.

[Revvell]

I'm 59, worked in the sun for YEARS and have no problems with my skin that I can tell. My husband tells me I should be a hand/foot model and calls me "beauty". I don't see what he sees and I don't care. He loves me just the way that I am.

Revvellicious

[cara4art]

"I'm 59, worked in the sun for YEARS and have no problems with my skin that I can tell." - Revell
You might have the kind of skin that doesn't freckle or get spots from the sun - very fortunate! You look good in your photos! Some people who are not olive toned at all but get some color, don't freckle, but they might get the normal wrinkles. I'm the opposite, since I have somewhat oily skin that delayed the wrinkles, but I have sun spots from tanning too much when I was younger, as I did so at the drop of a hat. If it weren't for the spots, my skin would actually look very good! As far as skin color goes, my skin has always had a slightly golden undertone and tans VERY well(Mediterranean background for ya!), and now it gets sun spots(like largish freckles, but they don't go away with sun protection), instead of tanning evenly the way it used to. I've never had rosy cheeks, unless exercising hard, got too much sun, or out in very cold weather. The minute I stop, those rosy cheeks go right away.
As far as the "glow" goes, I'm working on that. After last week's what I think was a detox episode that lasted 10 days, my eyes at least look a LOT clearer, and my pants fit looser, both good signs!

[Nini]

I am 52 and ...

my friends say I glow! In fact I went with my daughter to Sephora and the clerk asked me what I was using because she couldn't get over how soft and smooth it is.

My daughter told her I am raw and only use jojoba oil and coconut oil. Before we knew it 4 clerks were asking me questions!

I didn't believe it about the glow until my son showed me 2 pics - before & after - and I had to admit that my skin looked way better.

Do you have "before" pics? I bet you are glowing!

:)

[cherries]

Now I'm confused, I thought that "the glow" was an emotional/spiritual/energy thing and had nothing to do with skin.

[Blazin'Jane]

It's all of it! but when I first went RAW, one of the first compliments that I got was, "You're skin looks sensational!" I amd 67 and have fairly ordinary freckled skin. :D

[evegan]

I went raw last year in February. Then in November I started doing daily raw smoothies. Within a month, everyone asked me if I had just come back from Florida (we were having a cold, snowy Nov/Dec in Boston). But I hadn't left town!

So I'm thinking that the vitamins and minerals in the leafy greens made a big difference.

The other thing I have noticed is that everyone is different. Try different things in your diet. I guess each of us gets what s/he needs, or we move on.

[Bethanie]

That makes me feel good:D
I'm much older than he is and being raw has made me feel younger and i guess look younger.
Sometimes he'll ask me how old i am:) he says he forgets.
So i do believe in the "Raw Glow":D
You're never too old to look young!
B.

[Ilse W.]

I'm looking forward to the "glow". In the meantime the way I deal with spots, wrinkles, sagging this and that...I don't have any mirrors in the house, except the one over the sink in the bathroom, which I ignore...

[cara4art]

My sunspots haven't changed(didn't really expect that they would anyway)but people have mentioned lately that I look "vibrant", and yes, I think my overall skin quality has improved all over, not just my face. Part of this I attribute to using simple stuff like coconut oil and shea butter though. I'm sure this will all improve even further the longer I am on this path too...

[lafsalot]

I'm 54, lean towards an olive complexion, and still get the sun freckles (always did, even as a kid), and I like 'em - doesn't bother me one bit. As far as that glow, it does suddenly sneak up on ya, and my dr was the first to notice as have many family members/friends I have reconnected w. ~ Cathy

[Errigal_lass]

I am 56 and have been on a predominantly raw food diet for three years now. People continue to remark on the glow of my skin. I unfortunately worked outdoors most of my life with horses, smoked for 38 years, but quit two years ago and was a sun worshiper, so I do have some wrinkles, but they have really improved over the past three years. I am hoping that this trend continues. :)

[truthfairy]

The coconut oil and shea butter sound like a good idea. I live in a dry climate so use raw oils every day all over my body (usually flax, coconut, or olive oil) and my gynecologist told me that I have the skin of a 30-year old (I'm 65). I am more raw outside than in, as my diet is not 100% raw, but I am leaning toward a more raw diet too.

[RawKnitster]

Spent a year raw when I was 50. I had lost 50 lbs, looked and felt top notch. Saw a couple I hadn't seen for awhile. They couldn't get over how great I looked. My old friend kept saying, it was because I lost weight. Her husband kept repeating, it was more than that. Of course it was more than the weight loss. It was "the glow"!

Now I'm 54, raw again, in my 4th month. In the process of losing that same 50(+) pounds again. At this stage I'm experiencing what I call the alternating faces of detox. Some days I look in the mirror and am surprised by how fabulous my face looks, then other days there is my old self staring back at me.

[Ilse W.]

RawKnitster,
I'm glad you mentioned alternating faces of detox. I thought I was going mad. One day I can't get over how good I look, the next day my mother is staring at me, lol.

[rosepetals]

I saw a man with Dementia who appeared to be around 80. His daughter is a raw food natropathic doctor. She had him on raw food and he is glowing. Is skin is clear with roses in his cheeks and he is extremely happy. Very pleasantly confused. She says his dementia is improving.

[alicemagooey]

i have those doggone sun spots also, and there is apparently nothing a person can do about them..

I liked Emmas post when she said:

In the meantime the way I deal with spots, wrinkles, sagging this and that...I don't have any mirrors in the house, except the one over the sink in the bathroom, which I ignore...
__________________

precisely my method.

But i do make it a point to eat at least one avocado a day, and that really makes my hair grow, and is very shiny and thick, and the face does not look that bad ( what do i know, i do not look in the mirror)..

i am looking for the 'glow'.. but i think it has a LOT to do with general attitude and bright and positive and uplifting thoughts..habitually indulged in.
I do not yet have that habit.

cheerio.
to our elusive but growing 'glow'..
alice

[cara4art]

"i have those doggone sun spots also, and there is apparently nothing a person can do about them.." - alicemagooey

I hear ya, but there ARE things you can do, but it really depends on how aggressive you want to get. A comprehensive topical program of Rx stuff like Retin-A, hydroquinone, as well a strong alpha-hydroxy cream or lotion and or intense pulse light treatments. This is what was recommended for me when I went for a consultation at a local medical spa. I didn't feel at all comfortable with that and it's a good thing I didn't get involved in such a program, because my skin reacts enough to stuff that's nowhere near that aggressive. However, recently I was with my next-door neighbor from Kazahkstan who just completed a cosmetologist's course here so she can do basic skin treatments. Her orientation is holistic and in fact, she has a whole little booklet from her country featuring treatment-oriented masks made from common food items. Anyhow, about the sunspots, after she was working as a lifeguard in Dubai, where the sun is harsh and hot, she found herself after awhile with excess pigmentation and she was going to go and have it treated. She visited her mother at home, who advised her not to do that, but to use a simple mask made of equal parts of fresh lemon juice and ordinary mayonnaise(not raw, but common). Within two months, of an every other day regimen of this left on the face for 10-15 minutes, her pigmentation was all better. In fact, to look at her now, you would never know that she ever had skin pigmentation problems, and she's not even raw either! She advised me to stay away from the medical spas as well because all that heavy chemical stuff is compromising people's skin, even if it initially makes them look better. I intuited this anyway which is why I never got near that.
Sunspots aside, lately people have told me that I have a nice glow and energy, and that my skin looks nice, so the whole deal is finally working!

[Ilse W.]

Ok, so I went to see former coworkers a couple of weeks ago. I had not seen them in over 2 years. I heard from quite a number of them that I look great and "glow". So, there! I'm 58 and have been raw for just 2-1/2 months.

[RawVegRon]

I'm also getting sunspots, but I think the cure for them is mental. I'm looking for friends who don't care about them; friends who understand the realities of getting older.

You might think that is a simpler cure than going to a health spa, but it is not. Most of the old folks these days die their hair, paint their faces, etc., so it's hard to find anyone "natural" these days. My mother went to such extremes with rouge an make-up that she began to look more and more like a clown the older she got! Then her mind went, and she WAS a clown!!

Ron

[DebB]

Hi ~ I'm 53 and I'm sooo-o curious.. My skin is dry (new rawbie) and we live in the desert. I kept reading rave reviews of using coconut oil, so I gave that a try (organic, cold pressed, etc.) and it's just too drying for my skin! I tried 2 different brands.

I've also tried organic ex. virgin olive oil and that doesn't cut it either.

Am I the only one that this happens to? Like I said, just curious.. *Ü*

[Raw Joy]

I have really dry skin and coconut oil never did too much for me, at least on a consistent basis. My skin would look good one or two days, and after that, it always looked like the coconut oil was just sitting on my face and not getting absorbed. Plus my skin would seem really dry.

I've switched over to using cold-pressed avocado oil, shea butter and jojoba oil. Avocado and shea at night, and the jojoba of a morning. The jojoba is really light and seems like it really absorbs well.

Hope this helps.

[Raw Joy]

Seems like I've read something about the molecules in coconut oil being large and thus sometimes not being able to be absorbed well??? I could be wrong, but I'm sure someone will point that ou. :D

[cara4art]

What I use for my daily face cream is my own mixture of unrefined shea butter, extra-virgin coconut oil with a bit of vegetable glycerin and some drops of lavender essential oil whipped in. I make this in small batches for my own use, and my husband's. My husband got relief from this from dry itchy skin when absolutely nothing else did the trick, and I believe that the sum is greater than the parts in this case. A couple of months ago, I started using this on my face after I had a skin disaster involving a treatment product that was too strong for me that basically gave me a chemical burn. My combo(applied to damp skin), plus daily TLC with my homemade oatmeal, honey and aloe mask REALLY helped. So I just continued using my shea and coconut combo after my skin healed up it was that good for general care.
The trick to using coconut oil straight, which I do on my body as that is the only thing I use on it these days, is to apply while the skin is very damp - it works much better that way. Also, be sure that you exfoliate your skin from time to time, otherwise anything you put on it just sits on top of dead flakes.
For my once weekly powerful exfoliation I use the Aztec Secret bentonite clay mixed in equal parts(a level tablespoon of each)and applied at night for a half-hour until almost dried. Just be sure there are no small children around as you WILL look like the mud monster while this is going on - LOL!!

[DebB]

For my skin (which is sensitive) it's almost like the coconut oil burned it...

I like the sounds of your homemade mixture cara4art. Can you tell me where you get the unrefined shea butter please? *Ü*

[cara4art]

Hi DebB!
I get my shea butter from www.sheabutterhut.com - excellent product and prompt service too. If you get the 1lb. tub it's really reasonable, and far better and cheaper than any shea butter at the natural foods store.They're a small company. At outdoor flea markets in African-American communities in my area there are sometimes vendors who are selling the fresh unrefined shea butter in tubs for a reasonable price too. It should have the consistency of mashed potatoes, and will often have a smoky aroma. Some people don't like this, but I do - it's earthy and primal, IMO!

[DebB]

Thank you cara4art! I appreciate the information you posted. Boy, that stuff looks good enough to EAT! *Ü*

[GlimR]

Hey Cara...do you get the unrefined west african butter??? Thanks~:)

[cara4art]

Hi Glimr - yes, that's the one I get. The East African one is much more expensive, so I haven't tried that. The West African unrefined shea butter is the one most commonly sold online anyway of the unrefined products. I've always been pleased by the stuff I get from www.sheabutterhut.com.

[GlimR]

Thanks very much...I am going to place an order with them~:)

[StarFire]

So cara4art... howz the glow factor going? any changes that you have noticed yet? ;):D I"m sure you're glowing all over the place ... it does have a way of 'sneaking' up on you and others notice it before you do!

[cara4art]

Hi StarFire!
Check out my pix here:
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=45458
People are telling me in various places now that I look like I'm enjoying my life and they're picking up on good energy too. Skin quality overall, not just my face, seems to be better too!

[StarFire]

You HOT lil Goddess!!! No way you are in your 60's.... :eek:....
Um... yes my dear - you ARE GLOWING... !!! You look FANTASTIC...!!!! Gosh you must be soo happy! You look so beautiful... !!!
well done! RAWk on girl ... RAWk on! http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s43/FireStar_830/Kissin1.gif

[cara4art]

Thank you StarFire for your compliments - you don't look so bad yourself, and you also look very happy! Raw rocks, no matter what one's age!

[Colorawdo girl]

The "glow". I found simply letting go of all outcomes in my raw life...other than the day to day choice to stay raw,there is no struggle for my looks.Choosing living foods is what makes one glow(besides inner joy and happiness) and especially green juices.Colon cleansing is huge for glowing too. The greener and cleaner your diet,the more you will glow.
Heavy raw weighs one down and the skin looks dry and crumply(new word,I love it) and ages you.Light and airy and green lifts you and blisses you out and the glow just happens..Enjoy the glow

[cara4art]

I agree with you artgirly - have found for myself that actually eating fairly simply with those ever-present greens and fruits has been a good base, with denser stuff only as adjuncts, to add some variety. Most of my meals are pretty simple, including green smoothies, a bowl of just two fruits with just a handful of nuts, or some sort of green veggie wrap or salad, or maybe some home-made crackers with avocado, greens and chopped tomatoes. I find this way of eating by now actually pretty easy and very satisfying too. Yes, letting go of outcomes is good too, because by going raw, one is setting such a positive chain of events going that something good is going to come about anyway. It's almost like all you have to do is "just show up for raw", and the rest will take care of itself. There's a spiritual component to this too - the more one connects with the clear, divine aspects of oneself and nature, the easier it is to stay raw too. Just my thoughts here!