Editors Note:

To get different points of view, we recruited two of Women at Forty’s contributors, Kim and Rachel, shipped them the Striking Skin Care System and asked them to give us their honest opinion – Love it or leave it?  Today, Kim shares her take on the product line, and on Thursday you’ll read Rachel’s point of view.

Kim’s Review

Crows feet and laugh lines are NOT something a woman looks forward to….so when I was offered the chance to test new skin care products called “Striking”, I jumped at the chance.They are made with the Smartpeptide technology which is supposed to target signs of aging to smooth fines lines and wrinkles while improving skin firmness.

I tested out the skin care line for approximately 15 days, applying once in the morning, and once at night.
Step 1 in the skin care regime is the “Multi-Vitamin Crème Cleanser”. This comes in an 8 fl oz bottle and is a milky white, lotion-like consistency. It is very gentle and does not produce a lather, but seems to clean and rinse away nicely. There is no odor to this product and it did not leave my skin feeling tight afterwards.

Step 2 is the “Multi-Peptide Serum” in a 1.13 oz pump bottle to be used right after cleansing. This is a gel like serum that you smooth over your face before the moisturizing products. I really liked this product…it was my favorite step because….as odd as this sounds, and I know it’s probably all in my head…but just the word ‘serum’ conjures up all kinds of magical potions and makes me think it will boost the effectiveness of the subsequent moisturizers used. Nevertheless…this is a very nice product to use – it is cool going on the skin and absorbs quickly. You are supposed to let it completely dry before applying the eye cream and moisturizer, so I would apply it, and by the time I brushed my teeth I would be ready for the next step.

Step 3 is the “Rejuvenating Eye Cream” in a .5 oz jar. I dabbed a little under and around my eyes as well as on my eyelids. I have to admit my eyes teared the first few times I used it….I’m not sure if I was putting it TOO close to my eyes, or if I just needed to get used to it. The product is of a thick white consistency, odorless, and absorbs quickly into the skin. I did notice that my eyelids seemed to tighten up a bit, which was very nice! I luckily don’t have too many lines or bags around my eyes so I didn’t really see a difference there.

Step 4 is the “Restorative Moisture Cream” in a 1 oz jar. This product is also of a thick white cream like consistency, and is odorless. It absorbs quickly and nicely into the skin without feeling like you slathered Crisco on your face. I don’t have too many facial lines yet (luckily and hopefully because I STAY OUT OF THE SUN!), but I do have fine laugh lines and I did notice I was getting one of those fine forehead lines. So, I made sure to target those areas with the cream, and I really do feel like my laugh lines diminished a bit as well as that pesky horizon line on my forehead, and I did feel an overall increase in the firmness of my skin.

Overall, I really did like the products and would recommend them to other women in their late 30s and up. The fact that all the products are colorless and odorless were a big plus in my book, and the diminishing of my laugh lines will only keep me laughing more!

You can learn more about Striking Skin Care by visiting them at www.strikingskincare.com.

Note: Neither participants nor ‘Women at Forty’ were paid or reimbursed for their reviews. Reviewers were allowed to keep the products tested.

Just Do It

I have a close friend who became an importer/exporter in a matter of months because someone told him he needed a product and my friend knew where to get it. He didn’t know anything else about the industry or business, but asked a ton of questions, made a bunch of mistakes along the way and found a way to meet the need. Will he do it differently the next time around? Yup. But the point is, he’s doing it. Meanwhile, I have folders full of projects that I literally “thought” to death. Sometimes you’ve got to move fear aside and just do it.

The Confidence Game

Remember the short lived TV series Kevin Hill? Neither does anyone else. But the show starred Taye Diggs as a handsome bachelor, making a great living as a top notch lawyer and raising a baby as a single dad. During the time the series was running, I worked for the state of Georgia. One day I was having a conversation with a male colleague who held the same position and was getting the same pay, (remember that for later.) He mentioned that his life was “just like Kevin Hill’s.”

My friends, this guy was no Kevin Hill. Not only did he not look anything like Kevin Hill aka Taye Diggs, he also didn’t have the child, luxury apartment, designer clothes or witty repartee of Kevin Hill. And as for the pay, did I mention we were working for the state of Georgia?  When I reminded my colleague of all of this, he said “yeah, but everything else…”  Men are really good at playing the confidence game. My colleague believed he was just like Kevin Hill and no amount of convincing on my part could persuade him otherwise.

Like water off a duck’s back

From middle school up until the time they’re married, most men hear the word “NO” a lot more than they hear “Yes.”  On a daily basis, many men deal with the type of rejection that would send some women into the fetal position for a month. Yet, they keep on asking! They learn at an early age that rejection can’t kill you and that hearing the word “NO” is a part of life. That lesson is essential to getting ahead in business and in their personal lives. Hearing “NO” isn’t easy, but understanding and accepting that it’s a word we’ll hear often throughout our lives is a step towards taking away its power to paralyze.

What are some of the lessons you’ve learned from the men in your life? Share them in the comment section or on our Facebook Fan Page.

Bank of America’s best kept secret, Museums on Us – As quiet as it’s kept, Bank of America customers get free general admission to participating museums, zoos, botanical centers and more, on the first full weekend of every month. That’s this weekend ladies! Visit BOA’s museum’s link for details.

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade – That’s Etsy’s motto, and if you design your own handmade jewelry, clothing or other items, but don’t want the hassle of creating your own webstore, Etsy might be the perfect site for you. On the buying end, if you’re a fan of one-of-a- kind, handmade items, then you just might find them on Etsy.

Got the travel bug? – Yapta conducts daily price checks on specific flights and hotels that you choose, and alerts you when prices drop or when they fall within your budget. Even if you’ve already booked your ticket, it’s not too late. Yapta tracks the price of flights you’ve already booked, and thanks to airlines’ “guaranteed airfare” policy that most travelers aren’t aware of, helps you claim a travel credit if one is due.

What will you write? – Blurb allows you to publish your own, bookstore quality books, one book at a time. Download Blurb’s Bookmart software, add your own artwork, images and text, and for as little as $4.95 you’ll have your own professional looking book in no time.

Speaking of writing – Luxe Paperie (pictured above) offers unique stationary for those still in love with the art of putting pen to paper. The site offers unique, boutique style greeting cards, announcements, boxed notes and more. In their own words, “send something chic…send something luxe!”

My most fascinating and unique cruise was to Antarctica – which is a totally different type of cruise experience that I’ll discuss in a future post. However, most of my cruising has been through the Caribbean. Some of the lines I’ve cruised on include: Princess, Carnival, Costa, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean. In fact, I helped my brother celebrate his 40^th birthday on a Royal Caribbean cruise to Cancun, Mexico. A few months ago, Royal Caribbean launched its newest megaship, Oasis of the Seas – the world’s largest cruise ship (pictured left) with 16 decks and 2,700 staterooms.

Most of today’s cruises offer 24-hour buffets, Vegas-like entertainment, casinos, spas, pools, and even activity camps for kids. But megaships offer amenities that you wouldn’t expect to see on a cruise ship such as an ice skating rink, rock climbing wall, and mini golf course. I must say ice skating in warm weather, and seeing the ocean from the top of a rock climbing wall was extremely exhilarating!

Did you know that during a cruise ship’s naming ceremony there is a celebrity “godmother,” who smashes a Champagne bottle against the ship as part of its official launch? Well, Oasis of the Seas is so big that it had seven godmothers, including: Gloria Estefan, Keisha Knight Pulliam, and Michelle Kwan.

Each time a new mega ship is launched, it ups the game for all other cruise ships to compete for passengers. And Oasis of the Seas is no exception with amenities that include: Central Park – the first living park at sea, a carousel, 28 loft suites with floor-to-ceiling windows, nine specialty restaurants with cuisine from burgers to fine dining, an oceanfront amphitheatre, and like Royal Caribbean ships before it; an ice skating rink, casino, children’s play area, and several nightclubs. (image: an inside look at the Oasis)

The ship sails to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Nassau, Bahamas. In May it will start alternating the eastern Caribbean route with a western one, with stops in Labadee, Haiti (a private resort on the northern coast); Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico. Rates start around $729 per person/double occupancy, and now is a great time to book a Caribbean cruise because of the deals available online.

Here are some sample cruise deals for May 2010:

• 4 Night Caribbean on Carnival Imagination – $239 pp – www.cruisesonly.com
• 7 Night Caribbean on Crown Princess – $490 pp – www.cruisedeals.com
• 3 Night Bahamas Cruise on Norwegian Sky – $169 pp – www.cruises.orbitz.com

In my next post I’ll offer tips to help you experience smooth sailing on your cruise vacation. And remember: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain  (Left: Kalin and family on Royal Caribbean)

Kalin Thomas is Women at Forty’s Travel & Leisure Editor. She is also Senior Writer/Photographer for SoulOfAmerica. Before starting her own multimedia company, Kalin spent 17 years at CNN where she won several awards for her work as producer/correspondent for CNN’s weekly travel program, CNN TravelNow. She is currently writing a book about her travels. For more information on Kalin, go to www.seetheworldproductions.com.

Editor’s Note:

This is a topic that is dear to my heart. You see, my mother, Marion Kane, is a food writer. In fact, she was the Food Editor of two major Canadian newspapers for a total of 17 years. So while most kids spent their evenings playing outside, I was busy dining in the finest restaurants of Toronto ordering lots of dishes to help my mum in her “tasting” ceremony which would either make said restaurant into the latest “hot spot” or else put it out of business within two weeks.

My mother, unlike me, doesn’t appear to struggle with what to eat, how much to eat, or knowing when she’s full. But still, I have managed to learn some important things from her when it comes to eating joyfully. In my mother’s house, eating is a celebration: a time set aside to painstakingly prepare and enjoy a good meal.

In my mother’s words:

We all have to eat. Most people prepare some of their own meals. Many of us are passionate about food and cooking. All of which explains why I love being a food writer: It so easily connects me with individuals of every age, colour, social status, shape and size. I’ve written about where and what Toronto taxi drivers like to eat- a story that led me to burger joints, an African take-out, South Asian eateries and a Jewish deli. I once checked our city’s cops’ top spots to nosh and, for another article, visited favourite haunts of local truckers. In a different vein, I talked to chefs who man high-end kitchens atop downtown skyscrapers for CEOs, and penned a feature about those who prepare the fare at local spas and health clubs. Food is the great equalizer and, from my experience, there’s no better way to lift one’s spirits or create a bond than sharing it with others.

My mother’s dearly departed friend, Julia Child, agrees:

“Dining with one’s friends and beloved family is certainly one of life’s primal and most innocent delights, one that is both soul-satisfying and eternal.”

A recent survey showed that Americans are eating more but enjoying it less. Just 39% of adults in this survey say they enjoy eating “a great deal,” down from the 48% who said the same in a survey in 1989. Also, the survey found that the decline in enjoyment of eating has been greater among those who consider themselves “overweight” than among those who consider themselves “just about the right weight.”

In other words, when you’re not happy with your body, you’re not enjoying one of life’s greatest pleasures- eating.

For homework, I’d like to you to write answers to each of the following questions on a piece of paper or in your journal:

Describe an ideal eating experience. Describe in detail the atmosphere, table setting, location, type of food you’d be enjoying, and whether you would be alone or with others.

Think about how you eat your meals now. Now write down some things that you can do to make your day-to-day eating experiences more enjoyable.

__________________________________________________________

Esther Kane, MSW, RCC relocated to the Comox Valley over two years ago from Vancouver. She is in full-time private practise as a psychotherapist in Courtenay. Esther has over a decade of experience counselling women and their loved ones with a multitude of presenting problems. Her main focus is helping women to become free of barriers which keep them stuck so that they can become all that they dream of being. You can learn more about Esther on her website www.estherkane.com.

This article was originally posted on www.estherkane.com. It is reposted with the author’s permission.

The irony in my resisting a positive lifestyle change is that when it comes to diet and health, I’ve been been making poor lifestyle decisions for much of my adult life. By not taking my health and well being into my own hands, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing – committing to a lifestyle – but a bad one. Why is it easier committing to doing bad for the rest of your life than committing to doing good? Maybe some of you who are wiser can shed some light on that for the rest of us. In the meantime, I’m beginning my work on doing the right thing.

For me, the right thing looks like reducing the amount of animal protein in my diet. It’s committing to buying and preparing only ethically raised meat and poultry when I do consume animal protein. And I’ve also decided to stick to a reduced monthly grocery budget. Having done it over the past month I’ve realized that I waste a lot less food and take less for granted. Another step in the right direction is returning to a time when I always gave thanks for my food. At the dinner table when we were growing up, my father would ask God to “bless this food to our bodies, and our bodies to your service.” It was a simple but powerful prayer, one that I’ve gotten away from saying as an adult.

So as I begin the process of permanently folding my new lifestyle changes into my daily life, I keep reminding myself that success in the long run comes, as with everything else in life, one day at a time. I don’t have to think about being healthy and living healthy for the next (hopefully) 50 years, I just have to make those little decisions today that add up to making the day a good one. Then repeat, one day at a time.

Destined to leave our own mark on history, The Women at Forty Project recognizes and honors the achievements of women, of all ages, around the world. In keeping with that spirit, today we’re spotlighting four women-run organizations that celebrate the power of women. These organizations are changing the world – one child, one person, one issue at a time. They inspire us to want to make our own history. Let them inspire you too…

• The The National Women’s History Project was founded with the goal of “making history accurate” by recognizing and celebrating women’s contributions to the world.  In their own words “Multicultural American women are overlooked in most mainstream approaches to U.S. history, so the National Women’s History Project champions their accomplishments and leads the drive to write women back into history.”  Any nation that fails to tell the stories of its women, fails.

• The FEED Project raises money and awareness for the UN World Food Program by selling eco-friendly burlap tote bags and backpacks (pictured above.) The goal of FEED Projects is to sell as many FEED bags as possible to help educate the world’s hungry children. Since starting in 2007, the organization has provided over 50 million meals for needy children.

• The Global Fund for Women was founded in Palo Alto, California in 1987. The foundation’s mission is to advance women’s human rights by making grants to women’s groups that work to gain freedom from poverty, violence and discrimination. Why focus on women?  “Investing in women is the single most effective antidote to the world’s pressing problems: war, poverty, disease.” We agree.

• The Women Moving Millions campaign aims to inspire gifts of a million dollars and above in support of women’s funds across the globe. The campaign is the concerted effort of 150 women’s and girl funds that invest in women-led solutions to social issues like poverty and safety. In 2009, through various partnerships, they were able to raise more than $181 million.

If you’re making history or want to spotlight a woman or organization who is, send your story to contribute@womenatforty.com. We’ll feature your history making story in a future post.

1. It’s freezing cold! You’re all bundled up, but you’ve got to make that phone call or get to that app on your iphone. Enter Etre Touchy gloves. The gloves are designed without thumb and index fingertips, allowing you to “touch, tap, stroke, slide and pinch your devices’ controls in any way you desire.” Sounds clever (and a bit suggestive.) The gloves, sold by a company out of the UK, are about $30 and come in four designs. It’s great for photographers too!

2. Fashionistas, there’s a search engine just for you! Glimpse.com (Now a part of TheFind.com) lets you browse for high-fashion apparel and accessories by look, category, store or brand. You can request sales alerts via email and even grab that great necklace or those perfect jeans you saw your favorite celeb wearing.

3. Magazines at 50% – 90% off cover – Everyone knows Amazon.com is great for deals on just about anything, but did you know that you can get magazine subscriptions like Cosmo, O Magazine and Newsweek for as little as $.65 per issue? And now through February 28th, there’s an extra $5 off some of their most popular titles.

4. Teach a man – or woman – to fish… Kiva.org’s goal is to help alleviate world-wide poverty by allowing micro-lenders like you and me to give as little as $25 to an applicant in the need of funding for their business. The site’s home page includes the faces and stories of men and women from all over the world (including the U.S.) for which a micro-loan can help jump start or sustain their businesses and in turn, their families. Kiva handles payment disbursements and boasts a 1% default rate and a 97% on-time repayment rate. Because Kiva’s a charity, you won’t earn interest on your loan – well, not the monetary kind anyway. We’re signing up today!

5. Project Gutenberg was the webs first producer of free ebooks. On Project Gutenberg, you can download over 30,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, iPhone, Kindle or other portable reading device. The books are available for free, and legally, because their copyrights have expired. Browse their online catalog by author, title or top 100. The site is great for classics including those from Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Frederick Douglass.

Editors Note:

Roadblock #1: Distracted Eating

I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about here. Who among us doesn’t “multitask” on a daily basis; especially while we are eating? I have noticed that in our North American culture, the preparation and consuming of food seems to be little more than an inconvenience in our stressed-out, busy lives. I, myself, have become particularly adept at eating while driving, which not only takes the joy out of a meal, but also is very dangerous. I liken it to talking on a cell phone while driving- a very bad habit.

How many of you eat while also doing the following:

• Watching television?
• Driving?
• Working at your job?
• Having an argument?
• Sitting at the computer?
• Walking?
• Talking on the phone?

You’re not alone! Here are some statistics:

• North American adults spend an average of 1 hour and 12 minutes per day eating, yet they spend between 2 ½-3 hours per day watching television.
• 66% of Americans report regularly eating dinner in front of the television.

Why should you eat mindfully?

You will eat less and get out of the habit of overeating

Americans have been gaining weight for quite some time. The most recent National Center for Health Statistics report found that 32% of all U.S. adults are obese according to the government’s Body Mass Index (BMI) classification system. By contrast, just 23% of adults were classified as obese in government surveys taken from 1988 through 1994. Government surveys also find that the increase in weight is in part related to an increase in calorie and dietary intake. In short, people are eating more.

• If the mind is focused on more than one task while eating, critical signs that regulate food intake may not be received by the brain. If the brain fails to receive important messages such as the sensation of taste and satisfaction, it may not register the event as “eating”. When this happens, your brain continues to send out hunger signals, increasing your risk of overeating.

• You will drastically improve your digestive health: Recent research has found that when our mind is distracted during a meal, the digestive process may be 30-40% less effective.

For homework, I want you to practice eating without distractions. To help you achieve this, here are my “top 10” strategies for mindful eating:

1. Only eat while sitting.
2. Set a place for yourself at the table with a placemat, cutlery, napkin, and a glass for a beverage.
3. Eat away from your work area- in a lunchroom, restaurant, or outside.
4. Eat with chopsticks- it will automatically slow you down.
5. Take a few deep breaths before you eat to calm and center yourself.
6. Chew each bite at least 30 times before swallowing
7. Give thanks for your meal and appreciate that you have food to eat.
8. If you are eating with others, avoid upsetting conversation over meals and instead, practise eating quietly and mindfully with the other person.
9. Turn off the phone at all mealtimes so you won’t be interrupted.
10. Eat at the same time every day for each of your three meals and make sure it takes you a minimum of 20 minutes to eat a meal.

__________________________________________________________

Esther Kane, MSW, RCC relocated to the Comox Valley over two years ago from Vancouver. She is in full-time private practise as a psychotherapist in Courtenay. Esther has over a decade of experience counselling women and their loved ones with a multitude of presenting problems. Her main focus is helping women to become free of barriers which keep them stuck so that they can become all that they dream of being. You can learn more about Esther on her website www.estherkane.com.

This article was originally posted on www.estherkane.com. It is reposted with the author’s permission.

For the past 3 weeks I’ve been able to buy healthy, whole, unprocessed foods, on a budget of approximately $25 a week. I promised to make my eating more about health and wholeness and less about carbs and calorie counting and I did. And, miracle of miracles, I have not stepped on the scale once in the past month. Was it a piece of cake? No. But it wasn’t that hard either. As is the case with most life challenges we undertake, I’ve discovered a few things along the way.

• For one, I’m very fortunate to live within a few miles of a farmers market, Trader Joe’s and a vegetarian food co-op. I’m very aware that being in close proximity to these places makes healthier, conscious eating, much easier. That realization is helping me not to take that fact for granted.
• Putting limitations on how much and what I could eat, made me much less wasteful and much more thankful.  I realized that, when it comes to food anyway, I’ve been confusing my needs with my wants for years. My “little” $25 budget is how millions of people live out of necessity every day. In fact, in most of the world, $25 a week for food is a luxury. Putting myself on a budget reminded me of just how blessed I am in that I have access to three squares and clean drinking water every single day.
• From as far back as I can remember I’ve allowed an over-emphasis on what and how much I’m eating to control my life. Calorie counts and fat content have become more important to me than where my food is coming from and what impact it will have on my health and the environment. At 39 1/2, if I don’t get a grip on that now, who knows when I ever will. Last week when I demolished those chicken thighs with 5 days left in the week, I was forced to sit with the fact that I do not manage food the way most people do. Getting a grip on what I should and shouldn’t do when it comes to food is key in my quest to be fit at 40.

The experiment might be winding down, but my revised way of thinking about eating healthier and more consciously is just beginning. At the end of the week I’ll update you on how my last week went and I’ll share my plans for moving forward.

If you’re involved in your own Fit at Forty challenge and would like to share it with our readers, send your story to contribute@womenatforty.com.