If you’re living a hectic, busy life like most of us do these days, I’m sure you’ll appreciate getting two benefits with one action.  The older I get, the wiser I get and part of this wisdom has led me to fit multitasking into my day. When it comes to how I look I do this in several ways.

Over the years I’ve read numerous reviews and tried many products to battle aging and promote a healthy, natural looking face. Now whenever I try something new, whether it’s skin care or makeup, I choose products that serve me in at least two ways.

For example, why use a moisturizer, a foundation, and then a sunscreen when you can get one all in one product? I use a tinted facial moisturizer with SPF 30 and kill three birds with one stone every morning.   It saves me precious time not to mention needed cash.

Same goes for my under eye concealer: it has anti-aging peptides in the formula along with pigments in a creamy base so my delicate eye area gets anti-aging treatment all day while it does double duty hiding dark circles.

This trend is everywhere. From shower were gels that have SPF to moisturizing lotions that gradually tan your skin.

When we developed Five in 5 we had these multitasking benefits in mind.   First we researched numerous facial exercises -  testing and selecting the most effective exercise for each part of the face to keep the workout short and powerful.

But did you know that when you exercise your face you not only tone the muscles, you also help improve the skin texture and appearance? This happens because when you work a facial muscle it brings extra blood to that part of the face.  You can see the “blush” that shows the exercises are working.

This is the twofer you get with the Five in 5 exercise system. This additional blood carries nutrients that your skin needs on a daily basis. Because you’re bringing more blood to the surface, you will notice healthier, fresher, prettier looking skin.

So give yourself a double dose of anti-aging, skin freshening exercise daily.  Save, time and money while you turn back the clock.

Your poor skin has so many factors against it. So many things just itching to get in there and do some damage. Heredity, lifestyle, stress, aging, illness and yes, even environment. There is no way to escape all the villains ready to attack and destroy the youthful, healthy appearance of our younger days. In previous posts I have addressed every issue except for environment. Today that is what we will focus on.

Does environment merely mean where you reside? Does it mean the surroundings where you spend little of your time? Does it mean the surroundings where you spend a lot of your time? Does it mean the great outdoors? The answer is yes; to all of them. Your environment is where ever YOU are. Outside in the sun? Bad. In a crowded, smoke filled room? Bad. Surrounded by chemical fumes? Bad. Extreme heat? Bad. Extreme cold? Bad. Sometimes even sitting in a ventilated office can be slowly doing damage to your skin. (Example: mold in the air conditioning vents). Those are just a few of the situations your skin may find itself in, helpless to do anything to protect itself. Aside from living in a plastic bubble with pure fresh air pumped inside, nearly every minute of your life is spent in an environment that is breaking down the suppleness and health of your skin.

What can you do? Do you need to move to an isolated jungle far away from the reaches of civilization? Well, no. Not yet. First I want you to try the five in 5 facial exercises. Combined with a healthy lifestyle consisting of putting plenty of good water and healthy food in your system and following a gentle routine of outer cleansing, the five in 5 facial exercises will reverse the damage done by environmental factors. Healthy cells below the skin and increased blood flow to the strengthened muscles in your facial and neck area will bring about a radiant, youthful, glowing complexion free from lines, wrinkles and tell tale signs of aging. The toned muscles will tighten and lift sagging and washed out areas to turn back the clock.

So don’t pack up your pith helmet and mosquito spray and head out to the wilderness just yet. Take care to be aware of your surroundings and do what you can to avoid the invisible dangers lurking in the air. Utilize the five in 5 facial exercises. Civilization wants to keep you here with us.

Okay guys, this one is for you.  You have the gray peppered throughout your hair.  You have the wisdom of experience reflecting in your eyes.  You have the knowledge of life that you have learned from many years of trial and error.  You have wrinkles.  Wait a minute. Wrinkles? No, that will not do.

You guys have it made. You don’t have to spend a fortune at a barber getting those gray hairs hidden. You’ve heard of the ‘distinguished’ look? Well, that’s largely in part because of the gray hairs.   A weathered, ruddy complexion is quite sexy to the ladies.  Some of that extra weight you may have accumulated only accentuates your ‘beefiness’ factor; again, quite sexy to the ladies.  We like our men strong. (And a little secret? When you are bigger than us, it makes us feel protected and safe and not so self conscious about the few extra pounds we’ve acquired). Yeah, like I said you have it made.

Wrinkles on the other hand, don’t have any beneficial factors at all.  All they do is make you look old.  Yep, I said it: Old. Not Distinguished.  Old.  Period.  Now why in the world would you want to have such a wonderful looking way about yourself and then have it all blown apart with lines and crevices and floppy skin on your face?

I have a secret for you.  The wrinkles can be only temporary.  And fixing them does not involve a bunch of girly creams and products or going under the knife.  You can get rid of those wrinkles the way a man gets rid of wrinkles.  Exercise.   Facial exercises to be precise.  Five minutes a day, doing five simple exercises to tighten and tone and smooth out those wrinkles.  The Iphone Fivein5 facial exercises will get rid of that one thing that keeps you from carrying the title of Distinguished Gentleman; those blasted wrinkles.  Yep, gone.  That’s what they will be when you drop only $4.95 and get started with the Fivein5 Exercise Program.  Don’t deserve it?  We ladies think you do.

At age 24 I married. At age 25 my first daughter was born. At age 30 my second daughter was born. During those years I owned my own business, kept house, loved my family and fulfilled my duty as a wife the best way I knew how. At age 39, my life changed. I had recently lost my grandmother and was having a very difficult time coping. I began to see my life as someone looking in would view it. Some of the things I saw made me realize that something had to change. At age 38, my marriage of 14 years was over. I was starting a new life.

How does someone find what they need inside of themselves to go out there and face the world as an individual when all they know is being part of a unit? How can someone that looked in the mirror for so many years, not liking what they saw, open their eyes and see a vibrant, happy, emotionally content person? How is someone able to find the confidence and self assuredness they once emitted as a flirty, younger woman with their whole future ahead of them?

Life is not an episode of Sex in the City. Four of our closest girlfriends are not going to show up at our door, dress us in a sexy outfit and take us to a club where we dance, meet the latest J.Crew model who adores us and solve all of life’s challenges in a 60 minute condensed version of happily ever after.

It takes baby steps to pull yourself back up and reorganize your world. There is a transformation that occurs within as you rediscover your strengths and prioritize your needs. To some extent, you need to reinvent yourself as you get comfortable with being an individual again.

As you work on your insides, something begins to happen on the outside. You become stronger inside and begin to gain self confidence. Your smile shines, perhaps a new wardrobe is in order, eventually you want to put yourself back out there in the dating world.

Looking in the mirror, you see the strides you have made. You also see the lines that have been drawn, the wrinkles and creases that didn’t seem to matter before. Do you have to carry those leftovers with you as you begin anew? The resounding answer is NO. You are starting over; you are transforming all facets of your life; including your facial appearance.

The Iphone Fivein5 facial exercises are designed to be effective, chemical free, simple exercises that will erase the tell-tale signs of your previous life. A one- time fee of only $4.95 and five minutes of your day is all you need to strengthen and tone the muscles in your facial and neck area. Blood flow will increase to rejuvenate the strengthened and toned areas to bring back the vibrant, healthy appearance you once had. Lines and wrinkles will disappear. It won’t be long before the day comes when you will look in the mirror and realize… You’re back. You’re ready. You have come full circle.

Oh, what a wonderful day that will be. Trust me. It will happen. It happened for me. Here I am, on the cusp of my 42nd year, and life is good. I have rediscovered myself, and am now happily married again.
The journey was frightening but you know what? It was totally worth it.

Nearly everyone has a period in their lives that was or currently is a challenge or struggle. Some folks have had much harder times than others. We get through those hard times and challenges. We somehow manage to find the strength within ourselves and get out of bed to face the day. Some of us put on the ‘happy face’, hiding our inner turmoil and worry from others, others deal with problems recreationally, escaping momentarily by doing things we know are bad for us.

No matter how you deal with your challenges and struggles, eventually your face is going to tell the truth. You can put on the façade and fake your way thru every day, but somehow, from the inside, wrinkles and worry lines emerge from beneath the surface.  We know that when we don’t behave in our best manner, doing things we know are bad for us depletes valuable moisture from our skin  and the resulting dehydration will magnify fine lines and circles beneath our eyes.

Hopefully, the stormy times of your life have passed and things are better. Now what do you do about the effects to your facial area? You’ve pulled yourself together in other areas of your life, now it’s time to work on your skin. First step, hydrate. Drink lots and lots of water. Plain water. Replace the moisture lost and flush the toxins from your system. This will give you a clean base to begin the transformational results from utilizing the fivein5 facial exercises. Healthy, hydrated tissue will respond to the simple facial exercises you do for only five minutes of your day. The sallow, wrinkled complexion will rejuvenate as blood flow is increased to reawakened muscles in your facial and neck area. Those reawakened muscles will tighten and tone your skin, erasing the fine lines and crevices created by worry and poor coping choices. Your tired eyes will brighten as the eye brow area is firmed to lift and open.

Another effect of the fivein5 facial exercises is the calming sensation, as you relax for five minutes and focus on the task at hand. Breathing evenly, clearing your mind, and essentially allowing your mind to regroup.

There are so many things in our lives that are out of our control. How we deal with them is not one of those things. You can get through those rough times, and not have to see a reminder every time you look in a mirror. Take time to do the fivein5 exercises, do it for YOU.

Ok, so when you ask someone if they want to see pictures of your grandbabies, what reaction do you get? Do they ooh and aah with sparkling eyes? You know, the way peoples’ eyes sparkle when ever babies or fuzzy kittens are mentioned? Or do they take a step back, with eyes wide and mouth agog as they exclaim, “YOU’RE A GRANDMA????”; totally forgetting that you were about to show them something to make them ooh and ah.

Most of us have memories of a soft, cheerful old woman with graying hair and the capacity to spoil us rotten; a woman with creases around her mouth and crows’ feet across her temples. The woman who in our child like eyes, always looked old.

Well, Ladies, the times, they are a changing!! Today’s grandmas are hip, energetic and not staying home baking cookies all the time. They’re chasing those grandkids around the park and going to rock concerts. They drive sporty little cars and do karaoke. They ride motorcycles and dance the night away.

And, the creases and crows’ feet don’t have to be in your wardrobe.

The wrinkles, creases and crows’ feet will disappear when you use the Iphone Fivein5 application. Five minutes a day, every day, to erase the signs of time and bring out the right appearance to match the energetic, on the go grand mom that you are. A tauter, smoother, healthier complexion will emerge as you tighten the underlying muscles of your facial and neck area and increase the blood flow to your skin.

These simple facial exercises can be done while driving around town in your sporty car, while waiting for your turn on the karaoke stage. Even while checking your e-mail on your Iphone. Because, hey, face it, you’re THAT kind of grandmom!

Gone are the generations of soft spoken, frail, aged looking woman that sits in her chair sewing a quilt while she watches her afternoon ‘stories’. In her place we now have the vibrant, youthful, I-can’t-believe-shes’s-someones-grandmom woman. Now you can look the part of the grand moms of today and give yourself a little chuckle when you get the eyes wide, mouth agog reaction when you mention those grandbabies.

Some people are quite disciplined when it comes to an exercise regime. Others, like myself, wrestle with donning the work out attire and call it a day. Good intentions are always at the top of my list as far as exercising goes, but the motivation just never seems to come.

With the common exercise routine there is always the waiting. You sweat, you hurt, and you push yourself to thin your midsection or your legs, and don’t have anything to show for it until you’ve tortured yourself for a few months. I’m a big whiner when it comes to pain and overexertion, so making it through just one of those months would be an accomplishment in itself.

Finally, I have found an exercise program that works for me. I’m talking about the Fivein5 facial exercises. It’s the sort of workout that doesn’t involve uncomfortable positions on imposing equipment or sympathetic stares from others as you huff and puff on a treadmill. There isn’t a need for the sleek spandex attire that, when I’m wearing it, reminds me of an overcooked bratwurst.

You don’t have to factor a big gym membership into your budget. The fivein5 Iphone beauty application is a one time fee of only $4.95. Best of all, the Fivein5 facial exercises show results very fast. By taking five minutes out of my day, I can begin the process of transforming my face into the version of me I saw in the mirror many years ago. Wrinkles are smoothed out, creases are diminished, and a healthy glow begins to emerge as the blood flow is increased to the toned muscles of my entire facial and neck area. Sometimes, depending on your own muscle tone, your eyebrows are lifted after the first workout! Those are my kind of results! And here’s the best part: I can do the exercises in my pajamas! (Try showing up at a gym in a nightgown and see how fast they escort you out)

This is my plan. Work from the head down. Once I rediscover the younger, youthful appearance of my face and tighten up the floppy stuff on my neck, I will find the motivation to continue my transformation right on down to my ankles that I know are lurking somewhere beneath the skin.

It’s good to have a plan.

Oh, the honeymoon’s over. Those quiet times snuggling under the covers seem fewer and further between. Work, kids, and other obligations seem to take precedence on our time. It is so easy to get caught up in day to day responsibilities and not have time to spend with the significant other in our life.

As stress and not enough minutes in a day cause our last nerve to frazzle, the exhaustion we feel on the inside begins to show itself on the outside. We look in the mirror and barely recognize the vibrant, fresh faced, energetic younger woman who caught his eye so many years ago. As we stand there looking in the mirror, we come to the often times wrong assumption that woman is gone forever. Our insecurities start to bloom and often subconsciously we project those insecurities to the people we are closest to. Pulling away, not making time for the snuggling quiet times; poison to a relationship.

Now you have an easy solution. Boost your self confidence. Find the woman who turned his head so many years ago. She’s still in there. With the Fivein5 facial exercise program, the only thing that is gone forever is the tired washed out woman you once saw in the mirror. Amazing results in less than a month will lift your eyebrows and your spirits. Your skin will glow and radiate as the blood flow is increased to the toned muscles that smooth and diminish wrinkles. You will soon start to see a more youthful face with sparkly eyes and a more frequent smile. Five minutes a day are all you need to begin your journey. Sitting at a red light, waiting on hold on the telephone, in the shower, doing the dishes—no need to find a free five minutes, the exercises can be done during any of these other activities.

You’ll notice. He’ll notice. Your mirror will notice. The flirty lilt in your step will come back and so will some more time in your days as the renewed interest in each other awakens. Time for each other. Quiet snuggly time to reconnect and come to the realization that the honeymoon is indeed, NOT over.

How much of your mother are you?

You have her eyes, you have her smile. You have her personality. You have her shape. Whatever the traits that definitely shows the mother daughter connection, one trait that doesn’t have to be passed on is how you show your age in your face.

Appearances are altered by many factors. Stress, lifestyle, environment, heredity and aging to name a few. How well you carry your appearance as you age is heavily reliant on how well the other women in your family carry theirs.

Just because your mother has signs of aging, doesn’t mean you will show the same signs when you reach her age. There are steps you can take to reduce the amount of wrinkles, lines and puffiness you have.
Sunscreen has been proven to reduce the damage done to our skin. When mom was younger, sunscreen was hardly spoken about. That’s something your generation has that hers didn’t. Ways to reduce and manage stress are more readily available to women of these days that weren’t as prevalent when mom was dealing with her day to day issues. And mom didn’t have the IPhone.

Technology has brought us many luxuries and conveniences not available to our moms. The Five in 5 iPhone application is one very important resource we have to battle the signs of aging. For a low, onetime fee of only $4.95, you can have the Five in 5 facial exercises delivered right to your phone and turn back the clock.

Five minutes a day, five simple exercises. Visible results. Lift your eyebrows, diminish the wrinkles, and freshen your skin tone for a radiant glow. Blood flow to the facial area is increased with the exercises as you sculpt and tighten your whole face and neck area.

You will still have her eyes; they will just stand out better, not hidden beneath saggy droopy eyelids. You will still have her smile, just without the creases around your mouth. Take advantage of the one thing that can set mother and daughter apart.

We have all heard the jokes that question a blonde’s intelligence. We have all seen the cartoons of the washed out, tired looking individual standing there with a ‘duh’ look on their face. Society has labeled and stereotyped nearly every style and look you come across.

Don’t allow yourself to feed other’s preconceived notions and stereotypes. Just because you have had a few more birthdays than your co-workers, doesn’t have to mean you lack the same knowledge. In most cases, you are far wiser because you’ve had more learning experience with those additional birthdays. Sure, you may not look like you did several years ago, but that doesn’t mean you forgot all the things you know. People are funny. A first look at someone bears so much weight on what that first impression is based on. If you walk into a business presentation looking worn out and haggard, chances are the intelligence of your presentation will have already lost some merit because of your appearance.

Wouldn’t it be great to walk into that presentation with your head held high, your face looking refreshed and energized, and your eyes bright and sparkly? By utilizing the Fivein5 facial exercises, you can see results that will give you the confidence needed to march right in there and make a presentation that will knock their socks off. The results you see will be the same results your audience will notice. They may not be able to pinpoint exactly what the difference is they are seeing, but they won’t be able to help but notice the youthful, fresh faced, presenter in front of them. You will have their attention, without the distraction of an aged appearance. They will hear and see that the person standing in front of them knows what they are talking about. Hey… Beauty and Brains. They can go hand in hand. “Who would of thunk it?”

Five minutes a day, doing five simple exercises, will strengthen the underlying muscles in your face and neck. By strengthening those muscles, you will tone and tighten to reduce lines and wrinkles earned from many hours spent fine tuning the knowledge of your trade. The blood flow is increased to your facial area, resulting in a healthy, glowing appearance reminiscence of youth. Your eyebrows will magically lift to open up your eyes and smooth out the weary puffiness below them.

Don’t allow your expertise go unnoticed because those darn birthdays keep on coming. I say it’s time we let folks know there is such a thing as brains AND beauty.