The Grace Factor. Deborah Williams

isn’t trivial! If you don’t believe me, listen to Deborah Williams, who says about her new book, filled with so many truths and tips about makeup, that she believes it “will give women permission to be their best.” I agree. Makeup is an important part of how we feel about ourselves. In our own studies, we have had women say that when they feel good about the way they look, they do everything better.

      Deborah has a simple and effective way of making sure that you optimize your natural beauty. In her words, “Celebrate what you love (about yourself), and what you don’t love will fade away.” How do you do this? It all has to do with adhering to a few simple makeup guidelines and choosing the right colours.

      “Oh, dear,” I hear you say. “How do I know what the right colours are for me? There’s so much choice!” Don’t worry; Deborah has the answer for that, too. She teaches you to find your most flattering colours by learning to recognize your underlying skin tone and how to work with it. No more guesswork. Certainty and confidence will reign.

      When I had my “colours done” years ago and found out that I was a spring (warm undertones), it answered many questions for me. Why did so many of my friends look great in black and I looked drab? Why did my teeth look whiter when I wore coral lipstick and yellower when I wore pink? Why did white against my face accentuate the unevenness of my skin? It also helped with shopping. Oh, how it helped. No more combing through racks and racks of clothes hoping that something would catch my eye. I could zero in on the colours that worked best for me—colour swatches in hand. And it always worked.

      This colour philosophy is backed up by science. We are all born with a gene that influences the colours throughout our bodies—skin, hair, the irises of our eyes, teeth, even our blood. These genes impart a blue (cool) or a yellow (warm) cast. (Some people think that changing the colour of their hair changes what colours they can wear. It doesn’t. Your underlying gene never changes.) Deborah and I believe that working with your underlying colour will enhance your natural beauty; ignoring it can lead to horrible mistakes. For example, purple lipstick on me looks as though I’m headed for the morgue. My warm undertones mean peaches, corals, warm reds.

      Some eye shadows can pop the colour of your eyes; others can make whites look yellow and accentuate bags. Foundation shades can look like your skin, only better, or appear to be masklike. Blush can give you a healthy glow or look as though it were painted on.

      Using this as her underlying philosophy, Deborah has written a guide to makeup that includes the best tools for application; how to work with the shape of your face and the shape of your eyes; what products work the best for different skin types; and how to celebrate your age. She is a proponent of not trying to mask the features you don’t like but rather accentuating those you do like. I am certain you are going to find answers to questions that have plagued you for years, and you will come away with knowledge that will help you to be the best you can be.

      Jane Iredale

      Founder and President,

      Iredale Mineral Cosmetics, Ltd.

      .

      Chapter 1

      The grace Philosophy:

      Beauty from the Inside Out

      .

      “Don’t forget

      to fall in love with yourself first.”

      —Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

      .

      I have a suit that I call my signature grace suit. Forty years old, a lovely soft ivory, it belonged to my mother and, like my mother, is timeless in its elegance. To me the suit epitomizes the classic graciousness that imbues age and aging that is embraced.

      Thank you, Mum, for lending me your “graciousness.”

      This is a book about beauty for women who are aging—us!—in a world that embraces and values youth. I can’t make you beautiful in the way you were when you were younger. I can’t make you young. But, I can help you appreciate what you have. I can help you be the best you can be.

      “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”

      Oscar Wilde

      Such excellent advice, and oh so hard to follow!

      Even though it’s not always easy to accept ourselves as we are or to be happy with who we see in the mirror—yes, acceptance gets harder as we see the wrinkles and the grey hair—it’s something I believe we should and can achieve.

      The grace Factor is about aging as gracefully as we can. It’s learning to be happy with ourselves by actively doing everything we can to look our very best, and it’s learning to appreciate our beauty, even when it’s a little “wrinkled.”

      Let’s face it: wrinkles and lines, the pull of gravity, losing what we don’t want to lose (like hair) and gaining what we don’t want to gain (like weight) are part of getting older.

      Beauty is not simply about how we look. It’s also how we feel. We have to realize that every woman is beautiful even if she doesn’t see that beauty.

      The grace Factor can show you how to uncover and accentuate your individual beauty, and grace will strive to help you appreciate and take joy in the world around you.

      Benjamin Franklin said there were only two things certain in life: death and taxes. But there is a third certainty, if we’re lucky: getting older. We do that one every day.

      Every day we’re also faced with a choice: to embrace the process or reject it. If you choose to embrace aging, then grace is for you.

      G generous/gracious/grateful

      R radiant/respectful/remarkable

      A aware/active/ageless

      C courageous/confident/compassionate

      E empathetic/elegant/extraordinary

      “Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical.”

      Sophia Loren

      “Youth is happy because

      it has the capacity to see beauty.

      Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty

      never grows old.”

      Franz Kafka

      All right. What does embracing age mean?

      It isn’t about anti-aging or denying the aging process. (If only it were that simple!) It is accepting getting older, in a way that enhances life and self. It is accepting getting older and appreciating the gift of it, because it is essentially the gift of living. It’s about exuberance and fitness, about confidence and peace of mind. And the right makeup!

      While we can’t stop the aging process, we can make it an amazing and gracious journey. And, with the right shade of lipstick and the right attitude, we can have fun doing it.

      The fun part comes after this next colour analysis step.

      It’s a bit difficult: uncover.

      It’s the single most important thing you can do.

      Uncover your face and really look at yourself in the mirror. Something all of us are loathe to do, I know. Really look at your face and be honest, but be kind. (Kindness to self is very important on this journey.)

      Uncovering, looking in the mirror, and liking what you see—hmm. Not always an easy thing.

      Each of us has something about our appearance we’d like to change. But if you look at your friends, don’t you see something they have that you would like? Those beautiful eyes? That gorgeous hair or skin? That beautiful no-double-chin profile? Yes?