The “It” Factor
Photography by Sawyer Photography
We all know the spiel for buckling down against the affects of aging—take care of your skin, pack your plate with nutrients, and exercise regularly. Is that all there is to preserving youth? What about those women who have the wow factor? They are beautiful, yes, but also radiant and full of life. Their influence is felt long after they’ve left the room and you never can quite figure out how old they are. Learn life-changing secrets from five Atlanta women that epitomize true agelessness from the inside out.
Nirjary M. Desai
For Nirjary M. Desai, 36, owner/principal project manager of KIS (cubed) Events, an event company that’s a favorite among Bollywood actors, it’d be easy to put self-care on the back burner. Taking time to realign her chakras, plus a few Ayurvedic tricks, keeps this young entrepreneur as stunning as the experiences she creates.
Best In Beauty
Has your beauty routine changed since entering your 30s?
A lot! I really believe in investing in your skin. People get intimidated by good skin care products because they think they’re too expensive. But if you divide it [the price] up based on the supply, or how long the products are supposed to last, that’s all you’re spending on your skin on a daily basis.
What are some of your favorite products?
I love the skin care line by Rodan + Fields. I also use an Ayurvedic turmeric wash. Turmeric is anti-inflammatory and great for cleansing. I take turmeric vitamins every day and a lot of other natural vitamins. Since I’ve been taking turmeric pills, I’ve noticed a big difference—less breakouts.
A Smart Start
What’s been your biggest mental shift since entering your 30s?
You have to remove toxic people from your life that can affect your best self.
What do you love about being in your 30s?
You know yourself better. In your 20s, you’re still a butterfly. You’re still trying to figure out which flower you want to land on and stay on. In your 30s, you’ve done that part. You’re more confident in where life is going.
Health Is Wealth
How do you stay active?
I work out about three times a week. I do a variety of full-body workouts at Iron Tribe Fitness. And I live on the BeltLine so my fiancé and I bike and walk it.
A Soulful Sync
How have your spiritual beliefs evolved during this decade of your life?
I’m Hindu by birth and I’m a very spiritual person. Hinduism isn’t my religion, it’s my way of life. Now, I focus more on the things I need to do with my spirituality—meditating, realigning myself and my chakras, and all of that. That’s important.
Does spirituality help you stay younger?
Oh yeah! When you’re cleaning your subconscious mind out, it’s like your skin. Your skin is like an onion, it has layers and, when you peel off those layers by doing meditation, you remain refreshed.
Wise Words
What advice would you give your younger self?
You have to remember that your longevity and your life depend on how well you take care of you, now.
Lisa Gabrielson
For Lisa Gabrielson, 48, interior designer and founder of Lisa Gabrielson Design, her 40s are all about energy. She keeps pace with her growing company, which has been featured in a variety of regional magazines, by practicing yoga regularly and putting societal expectations to the side.
Best In Beauty
How has your beauty routine changed since entering your 40s?
The most notable difference is in the amount of time it takes to style my hair. Now I have a longer routine of blow-drying and styling my hair with a round brush, adding about 30 minutes to the process. Frizz is not flattering!
What are some of your favorite products?
I cannot live without a wet brush for detangling my thick, textured hair. Moisturizer is key. I love using Cetaphil Gentle Skin cleanser, Aveeno Positively Radiant moisturizer with sunscreen, Revlon PhotoReady BB Cream Skin Perfector, and Nivea lotion.
A Smart Start
What do you love about being in your 40s?
I love having older children to interact with. They have their own opinions, yet are still curious about the world and value my opinion as well. I also love the stability of this phase in my life from a career standpoint. I have worked hard to get here, and am enjoying focusing on building my business now that my kids are more independent.
What do you think is underrated about being over 40?
There are millions of strong, smart, successful and beautiful 40-something women out there, yet this demographic is missing from the media’s representation of fashion. I don’t get it, and I don’t buy fashion magazines anymore because they don’t speak to me.
Health Is Wealth
How do you stay active?
I lift weights with a trainer three times a week. On my off days, I do yoga and aim to get my 10,000 steps in each day.
Have you become more or less interested in health and fitness since entering your 40s?
I am much more interested in health and fitness than I used to be, mainly because it is significantly harder now to stay in shape. They say that yoga is the fountain of youth and I believe that is absolutely true!
A Soulful Sync
How does spirituality help you stay younger?
In yoga, setting an intention and placing your worries aside is much the same as prayer. The act of de-stressing helps keep wrinkles at bay.
Wise Words
What’s the best advice you’ve received since turning 40?
To lose weight, you have to eat more. I put on 20 pounds last year by not eating enough, thus sending my metabolism to a screeching halt. It’s all about balance—in everything.
Brenda Nair Page
Confidence is sexy and Brenda Nair Page, 53, wife of wrestling pro Diamond Dallas Page [DDP], feels more secure in herself than ever at this time in her life. The breast cancer survivor feels the same way she did at 25 and knows that not sweating the small stuff is the key to effortless aging.
Best In Beauty
What is one of your favorite skin care products?
I use the REFINEÉ skin care line.
A Smart Start
What’s been your biggest mental shift since entering your 50s?
I’m two years and nine months clean from having breast cancer. That didn’t change my mindset, but as far as my age and how it affects my mindset, I have just gotten more positive. I have an even deeper faith in God and confidence in myself … breast cancer just empowered those things more.
Has your perception of what someone over the age of 50 looks and feels like changed?
Absolutely. I don’t see myself as an age. I still see myself as 25, but it’s starting to feel more like 30. All these years, the numbers have clicked off and it’s just a number to me.
What do you love about being in your 50s?
I’ve learned to worry less. It doesn’t matter what comes my way. It’s all going to end OK. I wasn’t like that in my 40s.
What do you think is underrated about being over 50?
Definitely physical ability. There are too many women that think ‘I can’t do that! I’m in my 50s.’ The physical ability is absolutely still there, you just have to work at it and find something that works for you. My mom is 72 and she tries to do DDP Yoga! The big thing is to stay healthy and to have that inner glow, which really comes from how you eat.
Health Is Wealth
How do you stay active?
I do DDP Yoga—and that’s all I do. It’s all encompassing. It has cardiovascular movements, strength training, yoga positions, and has multiple old-school calisthenics.
A Soulful Sync
How have your spiritual beliefs evolved during this decade of your life?
I have more confidence in myself, my God, and the universe. My beliefs haven’t changed—they’re just more solid.
Wise Words
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since entering your 50s?
I’m focused on giving back what I’ve learned as a mature woman by mentoring younger females, starting with my 20-year-old daughter.
Cynthia Good
Cynthia Good, 57, has worn, and continues to wear, many hats as the founder & CEO of Little PINK Book. She’s also a writer, activist, speaker, and the list goes on. These days, her luster comes from her purposeful pursuit of what makes her happy.
Best In Beauty
How has your beauty routine changed since entering your 50s?
It’s harder to look great when you get older. You have to pay attention to how you apply makeup. You have to spend a little bit more time.
What are some of your favorite products?
I’m a one-product person. I can’t do the eye cream, the day cream and the night cream. I don’t want to make time in my life for all of that. So I just go to one product. It’s probably whatever my dermatologist recommends at the time. I use sunscreen because I’m always out in the sun.
A Smart Start
What’s been your biggest mental shift since entering your 50s?
My kids grew up and went to college, and that gave me permission to stop worrying about everybody else all the time and rediscover what brought me joy. As a mom, a business owner, a dancer, someone who’s involved in the community, and all of that, I just didn’t focus on myself. I was doing everything I thought I had to do for everybody else. Now, I’m just trying to learn what brings me joy—and that’s dance. I recently joined a dance group. That was part of my mental shift because in the past, I wouldn’t allow myself to do it. I’ll graduate with my master’s degree in fine arts from New York University in Paris in January 2019.
Health Is Wealth
How do you stay active?
I teach yoga once a week and I do that for mental purposes. It’s the reminder to breathe. What I also do, and absolutely do not do to look good, is dancing. I’m a dancer and I love dancing. I dance probably four to five times a week. The secondary benefit is that I’m strong, but that’s just a secondary benefit. I only do it because I love it and for me, the idea of exercising as a means to an end doesn’t make me happy.
A Soulful Sync
How have your spiritual beliefs evolved during this decade of your life?
If you want some peace and serenity in your life—go with that energy. Let the energy that already exists and the momentum that already exists work for you.
Wise Words
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since entering your 50s?
If it doesn’t make you happy, don’t do it.
Jacqueline Clay Chester
This septuagenarian in her late 70s still embodies the glamour she once had when she graced the pages of LIFE, EBONY, and TIME magazines as a model in the ’60s. Now, her inner beauty emerges in new ways as a playwright, author, painter, jewelry maker, and all-around artist.
Best In Beauty
How has your beauty routine changed since entering your 70s?
I have always loved makeup. I find it accentuates the positive and eliminates the negative, as the song goes.
What is one of your favorite skin care treatments?
I love facials. I get one as often as possible. The best facial I ever had was by a young American cosmetologist who worked for Helena Rubinstein. She gave me my first facial during the American National Exhibition in Moscow. She seemed to know the location of every muscle or nerve in my face. Since then, I have had facials nearly as good by going to spas in and around Atlanta, like Spa Sydell.
Health Is Wealth
How do you stay active?
I love the freedom of walking. I like the feeling of my body in motion and walking requires so little effort—you just do it! Good walking shoes, comfortable clothes and you’re on your way! In the cool of the evening, Piedmont Park is a great place to walk. I start out thinking 30 minutes is my goal but I end up enjoying the walk so much I walk for twice as long.
A Smart Start
What’s been your biggest mental shift since entering your 70s?
I’m still waiting for that mental shift to happen!
A Soulful Sync
How have your spiritual beliefs evolved during this decade of your life?
I have always been a spiritual being. I don’t think my spiritual beliefs have evolved but have become deeper. I find church a tremendous continuing education on the Word. It seems impossible to walk away not having learned something or had an emotional load you’ve carried through the week lightened.
Wise Words
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since entering your 70s?
To live passionately. To passionately love the choices you make in everything, from books, movies, friends, and art. If you feel something is not right for you, keep walking. Something better will come along! One of the most miraculous events that has happened in my life is my discovery of my ability to write … I never knew this growing up. Or, I might’ve known it and I was afraid to tackle it. I’m sorry that I had that fear because I let it control certain decades of my life.
