The Real Girls Reality Check(list) - Beauty Secrets Exposed

Why confidence beats contour every damn time.

When I was younger, beauty meant control. It meant being quiet, understated, and in a lot of ways silent and small. I didn’t put much time into my appearance: same curly hair since 1985, barely-there makeup (on a good day), and for reasons I still can’t explain, I shoved myself into thongs that felt like dental floss... all in the name of “looking hot.”

But now? I’m in my 50s, and the mirror hits different.

These days, beauty isn’t something I chase (though let’s be real, I am exploring options for dealing with the whole gravity situation). Beauty is something I claim. It lives in how I carry my years, not in how well I hide them.

Even when I didn’t know it, I was already owning the rooms I walked into, with messy curls, blue eyes, and a full-face smile. What’s different now? I know it. I feel it. I say it out loud.

I’ve rejected the idea that youth = value. That once things start to sag, shift, or soften, we become invisible.

Hell no.

The truth I wish I’d known sooner? The real glow-up starts the minute you stop shrinking and start taking up space. Confidence is the best damn contour there is.

The Real Girls Midlife Beauty Reality Check(list)

(Coming in hot, no filters required.)

1. Sunscreen. Every Damn Day.
   Wrinkles, sunspots, and skin cancer aren’t cute. Slather up like your future face depends on it, because it does.
   

2. Hydrate and Moisturize Like a Boss.
   Dehydrated skin makes everything worse. Lotion up and drink water like it’s your side hustle.
   

3. Early Maintenance = Power, Not Vanity.
   Facials, a little Botox, whatever makes you feel like you. This isn’t about pretending you’re 25, it’s about owning the glow at 55.
   

4. Microneedling = Midlife Magic.
   It’s tiny needles for big results. Collagen-boosting, texture-smoothing wizardry.
   

5. IPL for the Win.
   Because sunspots are not souvenirs. Blast 'em and move on.
   

6. Yes, Even the Salmon Sperm Facial.
   It sounds unholy, but it works like a miracle. Midlife erases the line between “ew” and “why not?”
   

7. Switch to Liquid Makeup.
   Powder settles into lines like a nosy neighbor. Liquid gives you dewy realness, not dusty regrets. A few favs: Basics by B Liquid Dew Drops, Holme Beauty Base Primer (both thanks to an Aussie Real Girl friend who has skin to die for) and Charlotte Tilbury products which I’m loving!
   

8. Move That Body.
   Walk. Dance. Stretch. Lift. Move in a way that reminds you you’re alive, not for the scale, but for your spirit.
   

9. Upgrade Your Underwear Game.
   Toss the scratchy, ride-up nonsense. Buy panties that feel like freedom, not a medical emergency.
   

10. Edit What You Want with Zero Shame.
    Eye lids, lip lines, jowls - and what, and I can’t stress this enough, in the actual fuck happens to our necks?! If it bugs you and you want to fix it, do it. If it doesn’t, leave it. The power is yours.
    

Real Girls Midlife Mindset Shift: You don’t need permission to take up space, feel sexy, or change what you want. Beauty at this age isn’t about approval and staying young. It’s about feeling damn good in the body you’re living in, on your terms even when gravity and hormones are rude as hell. You get to define what beautiful looks and feels like now.

I want to hear from you: Got your own Real Girl tips, treatments you love, or myths you’ve burned to the ground? What beauty lie did you grow up believing? What’s your new definition now that you’ve lived a little and earned every line?

Drop it in the comments or share your stories with me at realgirlsguide55@gmail.com. Let’s rewrite the rules, one badass truth at a time.

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We’ve earned every wrinkle. Might as well make more laugh lines together.
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