How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years Younger, 10 Pounds Lighter, 10 Times Better

Just because you're old, doesn't mean you have to look it! I thought this was an extremely well put together book with lots of ideas on makeup, hair, clothing and attitude to help you look a little younger than you actually are. I particularly liked that the suggestions were shown for low, medium and high maintenance tips. After all, some aspects of our looks are more important to some than it is to others. For example, a few wrinkles here and there aren't too big a deal to me, at least yet. But hairstyles always are a big question mark. What looks too young and what looks just plain dowdy? Or dated? What products actually make a difference and which ones can be harmful? I liked that she suggests products in all price ranges and by name so I can look them up and order from Amazon. (Who wants to dig through all the teeny bopper makeup in the drug or department stores looking for the stuff?) I thought her ideas were realistic for each level of maintenance and I've already bought a few things she recommended. She also gives detailed information on things like support undergarments, prescription skin "fixers" and other things that you may have been afraid to ask about. Or maybe you aren't quite at the "droop level" where you need them yet. I read ordered another book, Staging Your Comeback: A Complete Beauty Revival for Women Over 45 which I thought had some great makeover photos and some good advice, but wasn't nearly as detailed as this one. But then how could a man know as well as another woman what works and which products are appealing? I find How Not to Look Older far more useful. This is a great book for baby boomers. We may have to start acting our age one of these days, but there's no reason we have to look it! Two thumbs up for this great book.

This book offers a lot of tips--from the very simple and inexpensive to the costly and surgical-- that in the opinion of the author and experts help a woman not look old, but rather "young and hip." I'm gonna say right off, that while I don't want to look old and passe, I can't at 48 look young and hip. That would be silly and even desperate seeming. I simply want to look better for my age. This might serve as a career enhancer, however, for women in competitive careers where staying youthful is a necessity, not a luxury. Ageism sucks. The cover pic of the author, btw, looks highly processed (as in airbrushed). The blond hair is fake (too light) and has darker brown roots showing. The teeth look done (ie capped or lumineered or something). Her figure is trim and her out fit is, indeed, flattering and youthful. Charla Krupp is an attractive woman who does, indeed, look high maintenance. You can tell she works at it. However, when I saw dark roots and overbleached hair and overly white looking teeth and airbrushed looking pics, I start off thinking, "Did I buy the wrong book? Is this the person to advise ME?" I know, that's not a generous response to a pic, but that is what I thought. I don't want to be bleached blond, bleached teeth, and botoxed. Most of us just don't have the inclination, time, or money to keep up with such things. I set aside my response to the photo and looked inside. Yes, she does offer helpful tips... On to the book's specifics and pros and cons: The tips are often part of the chapter headings, which are as follows: 1. Are you high, medium, or low maintenance? 2. Get bangs. 3. Lighten your hair. 4. Tame your brows. 5. Chic up your eyewear. 6. Lose the heavy eyeliner. 7. Unmask your foundation. 8. Manage your wrinkles. 9. Put on pink lipstick. 10. Whiten your teeth 11. Wear your own nails. 12. Unmatch your wardrobe. 13. Shorten your skirts. 14. Slip into the perfect pair of jeans. 15. Follow the three-bling rule when dressing for evening. 16. Learn to love shapewear. 17. Show some leg. 18 step into sexy heels. Each chapter then goes into specifics, and ends with a "brilliant buys" page that gives you specific items/products that can help you bring the tip to fruition. The book has a fun factor, for sure. It's easy to read, nicely laid out, lots of illustrations/photos, and helpful lists, such as "Ten things you can do in the next ten minutes to take off ten years" or "Ten things you can do for less than $100 to take off ten years." She offers recommendations for products and also city-specific beauty professionals. Because of this book, I did add back some bangs, which I'd missed using, but thought maybe I was too old for them. I also tried various shades of "pinkish" lip glosses and found some I liked. Previously, I avoided pink as too "white girlie girl" (I'm a dark-skinned Latina). I felt it was okay not to perfectly match bag to shoes--against the rules of my upbringing. And I began to try to define an arch in my already neat eyebrows (that took time and work!) Before buying the book, I had already incorporated certain of things that show up as tips--dark-washed jeans, no dark nail polish on hand nails, shorter nails, shortened skirts, tamed eyebrows, anti-aging skin lotion. I already knew I was medium-maintenance, not high and not low. But most of the tips don't work for me. I won't wear stilletos. Sorry. Pain is not something I relish, not are recurring trips to the podiatrist for foot ailments from wearing high-heeled killer shoes. I also am not gonna spend tens of thousands for teeth work. I'd rather not immobilize my face, either. And I will not give up red lipstick, even though I've added pink to my repertoire. :) On the limited side: Charla didn't seem to go beyond her own color range to offer recommendations. It would have been nice if she'd had, after each chapter, recommendations not of just what she uses, but what excellent complimentary products were used by Latina and Black and Asian women in her circle. What would flatter a fair blond like Charla is not what would flatter a cafe au lait skin tone like mine. For example, Nars Orgasm is a very famed makeup product (the lip and cheek colors). But they're mostly suitable for the fair range of the scale. Darker women simply cannot carry them off. I give this 3.5 stars for that limitation. If you're gonna write a book on looking younger for a wide audience, more care should have been taken to give better product recommendatiosn for a wide audience. Still, for its good tips, the user-friendly set-up, and the loads of pics, this book is worth consideration by women of a certain age who want to hold at bay the effects of time and gravity either a little bit, a mid-sort-of bit, or a lot (depending on how much time and effort and discomfort and money one is willing to invest). Mir

I just turned 60 this year and and I've made some significant and insignificant investments in my appearance over the years. I look great for 60 but we can all use advice and I really appreciated this book. Normally I would read a book like this in bits and pieces but never from beginning to end. I find I'm I'm following the rules that put me all over the chart from low to high maintenance. I'm mostly medium to low. Charla gives a great, actually pretty low key and organized presentation of those very simple changes we can make in terms of clothing, shoes, makeup, underwear, etc. Most of the suggestions are quite simple. For readers who are perhaps a great deal younger than me, one word of advice, blond really does look better on just about everyone when they start to enter the later years of aging. Redheads I know have gone to blond strawberry. Brunettes (like me) are wearing warm, higlighted colors. Women I know that have had black hair have taken the blond route and it still looks great. Truth is softening our color and contrast does reduce the appearance of wrinkles. I used to poo-poo this until I started to look like Cruella DaVille because my hair didn't gray. The blond highlights now blends the later gray fabulously. Perhaps you younguns' aren't feeling the real effects of age that you do when you enter your 60s. Trust me...alot deteriorates in those last years of the fifties. So use Carla's advice with an eye toward what you want to do and what you can afford. If you really read the book you'll find that most of her recommendations are "illusions"...tricks of the eye. Don't discount them even if you envy her very large budget for dermatologic fillers, lasers, etc. I think she has written a seminal book if one can describe a beauty book in this vein!

This book, "How Not To Look Old", has BEAUTIFUL shiny paper, and an inviting template style, reminiscent of "InSTYLE" magazine, for which the author, CARLA KRUPP, once worked. Also included are many pictures of popular movie stars, music stars, and models of today. (All females, for some reason). It's interesting to look at these "star" pictures. Yes, they look "glamourous"...but not "elegant". I suppose it depends on the "look" one wants, I guess. I've always been one who favours elegance, and thus, this book, for all its many truly helpful hints, is not the "fashion bible" I expected it to be. Then again, I'm really not one who likes "fashion" -- which is effemeral and changeable. I'm more one for "style". Classic style. As explified by Jacqueline Kennedy, Queen Elizabeth II, and, more recently, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden. On page 111, for instance, the reader is advised to wear long, bell-bottomed black pants, a tan, open tweed jacket, white blouse, and many chains of long, obviously fake gold, and carry a semi-hobo style black bag, rather than wear the same jacket, with a matching skirt, string of pearls, with the traditional upper-class acoutrement of a small lapdog in hand. The caption, (referring to the matching jacket and skirt), reads: 'TOO OLD - matchy matchy'. However, it is interesting to note -- in this comparison picture, as in others throughout the book, that the "Just Right" lady seems to have have lightened her hair, had her teeth whitened, has lost her tan, has a far more natural-looking smile, and is given a more flattering, three-quarter stance, than that of the other picture, where the same woman looks at you dead on. I tried picturing a switch inn clothes for each picture and stance. The result? The lady on the right looks elegant, the one of the left, very tired looking, as if she had partied far too much. "Matchy-matchy" is NOT necessarily a ageing way to dress. It is often an ELEGANT way to dress! Mentioning, (on page 170) that "Nothing Ages You Like....Ugly Orthopedic Shoes" is truly a disservice to those who must wear them! (How about mentioning that a sunny smile can over-come this?) At the end of every chapter, is a section called "Brilliant Buys", mentioning recommended producrs in the category spoken of in that chapter. One is left wondering whether the producers of these recommended products helped fund the production of this book! This said, there ARE good hints in this book. One need just look for them. (The picture on page 60...of a white model and a black one, both with "I long for beauty, love, youth and success" looks on their faces, should be a national poster for the fact that ALL humans, basically, want the same things!) But the "advice", in any book is, to me, like a menu -- one can look at all that is put out in front of one, then pick and chose, according to one's own taste! And fashion is fleeting... Not too long ago, it was anathema to wear high heels with blue jeans. Now -- on page 133 -- the author states: "Please don't wear gym sneakers with jeans" (!) My advice is to get this book out of the library, and glean what good advice it has. If it fits your style, than that's fine. But true elegance is what I search for. To me, one can look younger by losing weight, enjoying life, keeping a broad mind and an active one, being realistic, (yet very optimistic), having friends and family nearby, sleeping well, and smiling often. The best cure for wrinkles is simple, inexpensive MINK OIL. The best cure for ageing is realizing the truth, that age is just a number. So, instead of buying this book, buy biographies of famous beauties who did, and are doing, good in the world. Angelina Jolie, Jacqueline Bovier Knennedy, Millicent Fenwick, Audrey Hepburn, Catherine the Great, HSH Princess Grace, etc. If you do great things, beauty isn't really all that important, (Golda Meir, Mother Theresa, Charles Steinmetz). If you are beautiful, but empty-headed, the world may at first beat a path to your door...but then it will beat a path AWAY from your door, (the tragic GINA, the first celebrity to die from AIDS). For the rest of us, beauty is important because it will help on the road to material and career success....which is what most people, (except perhaps for nuns, aesthetics, and hippies, old and young) down deep, really do want. There's nothing wrong with wanting this...if you don't knock others down for it, (or, as PROFESSOR JAMES SHENTON once observed, "My freedom to swing my arm ends where your nose begins".) So, get rich, get beautiful, help people. Bill Gates has his handsomeness inside, as well as outside. Ivanka Trump is quietly building an empire...but also building a life. So is Athina Onassis..... Each of us can be sure of having only one life. Make that life uniquely and totally yours. This book can give great ideas...but you need not follow all of them.

At first it might appear that this book is only for women over 40, but I guarantee you, this book is for everyone, young and not-so-young. And it's worth it! With contents like: 10 things you can do in the next 10 minutes to take off 10 years; what's too young, what's too old, and what's just right; high, medium and low priced clothing options; plus, tips on make-up (should never wear too much, but some), shoes, accessories. In addition to giving tips on looking younger, Charla Krupp's book is a great guide for achieving an overall professional appearance. As a career strategist for women in the corporate world, I've seen many a woman have difficulty moving ahead, not because she looked old (although there still are issues with that in the work-world), but because she didn't have the right leadership presence for the job. Yes, it's still an annoying world out there when we know that we might be judged on how we look. But baggy pants, baggy tops, and a bad job of hair highlighting can give the impression that you're not leader material. Krupp provides solutions to all these challenges. You may not need to read the entire book, but there may be a few chapters that are right up your alley. They were for me. And the pictures are great, though it's a bit L.A.-style with photos of a number of celebrities. But overall, a very helpful book.

There are plenty of fashion books and magazines on the market but very few are specifically geared towards the over 40 set. But today's aging baby boomer population is looking better and younger than ever - and authors are beginning to take notice. Books such as Bobbi Brown's "Living Beauty" dispense sage advice on how to age gracefully and still look slick despite a few wrinkles or gray hairs. Charla Krupp's newest offering "How Not To Look Old" is one of the best (if not the best!) books for women who are aging but don't want to hang up the jeans and become a frump in elastic pants and helmet hairdos. Written in a friendly and conversational tone, Krupp points out all the little things that can make one look old and dated but then kindly shows you how to hide the flaws and look "up to the minute" but not like you are "trying too hard". There are suggestions for hair (grow it out, get some bangs, etc.), teeth (whiten them, veneers, flossing, etc.), makeup (lighten up the foundation, switch to cream blush, etc.), clothing (skirts should hit just below the knee, avoid high rise jeans, etc.) and more! At the end of each chapter, she lists favorite products, designers, and stylists. It's a brilliant book and Krupp sure knows her stuff - she's been in the beauty industry for years and writes an excellent column for "More" magazine, which is written for women who are mature and savvy. I'm going to put a few of her suggestions to use - specifically cutting my waist length gray hair (parted in the middle!) into something chicer and less "old hippie". This will be a big scary change for me but after reading this book, I realize how passé and aging it really is. I've already ditched the dark lipstick and the powder blush and have to say, she is right. I am recommending this book to all my friends! (By the way, this is a book on fashion only - there is no exercise routine, vitamin recommendations, etc.)

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. As someone upon whom age has snuck up, to some extent, it was great to have this reference. It seems like I was twenty yesterday, and now that my children are in school and I have a few minutes a day to breathe...well, it's time to re-invent myself (on the outside at least). It's not as easy as it seems, though, as there's a fine line between looking stodgy and looking foolish (ie. too old and too young) and I must admit I was making a few mistakes on both extremes. Ms. Krupp did a great job of breaking down the different areas to work on, and gives tips, examples and practical advice (including product suggestions) for each area of interest. She also provides cheap, moderate, and expensive solutions, so you can choose your spending comfort level. I just went and had my hair cut and highlighted, according to the book's suggestions, and I must say it may be simply that "change is good" mentality, but I really do feel that one thing helped make me look a bit more youthful. In that instance, I spent some money, because I wanted it done right, but I asked a lot of questions, and I think I can maintain it at home, for a bit of a savings. Another ager, yellowing teeth, can be fixed fairly cheaply and easily with whitening strips, so I'm going to try that first, as I don't have badly stained teeth, just slightly. The list goes on...how to choose shape wear, how to keep your nails manicured, how to adapt your make up to your changing skin and coloring, and how to accessorize were just some of the areas I personally found helpful. At any rate, the upshot of this book is that women can and should pay attention to their appearance as they age. The idea is to project grace and "youthfulness" not to try and look and act like a teenager. For that reason alone, I highly recommend this book. Too many books and magazines emphasize looking like a young person, instead of looking YOUR confident, youthful best. There is a difference and it's a big self esteem booster to start receiving compliments again (that don't involve a glowing pregnant body. lol). All in all, I didn't agree with every single recommendation (for example, I don't think super long hair looks good on the over-forty crowd, but I do wear a small ankle bracelet, which she says is a no-no) but I think she presents her opinions well, and gives solid reasons for the whys of her rules, allowing for some leeway in interpretation. Ms. Krupp has obviously spent a lot of time in the beauty industry, and her writing style is both authoritative and "girlfriend" honest and straightforward. She also presents interesting and thought provoking reasoning for going through the "bother" and expense of looking good in the first place. Her tone and content make it easy to take or leave her advice. In the end, it's up to the reader to make up her mind how seriously to take all this. The book gave me the confidence to maintain my sense of individuality while experimenting with new and more "fabulous" ways of dressing and presenting myself, as well as many tools to do so without the tedious trial and error that these things sometimes require.

I was looking for some good, sound, advice on fashion and grooming for the over 50 set and I found it in this book. Ms. Krupp draws on her extensive experience to produce clear, easy-to-follow advice. Contrary to what another reviewer said, her advice is not just for the rich with tons of money to spend on cosmetic procedures. In every chapter, she makes suggestions for the high, medium and low maintenance gal. Some of her suggestions cost as little as $10 and pack a punch. I followed her advice and ditched all of my lip liners, half of my lipsticks and my purple nail polish, went to the makeup counter and bought one new lip liner, one new nail polish and, voila, I looked considerably better. Some of Krupp's suggestions were not new - such as lightening my hair, or cutting back on the powder. But, some solved dilemmas I had wrestled with. Her 3-bling rule gave me just the right amount of guidance when dressing for a New Year's weekend wedding. Each chapter ends with lists and descriptions of products that Krupp especially likes. I have found some great new underwear and cosmetics by following her advice. Throughout the book are photos of over-40 celebrities, plus a few real people models to illustrate her suggestions. While most of the celebrities are in their 40s (and I'm beyond that), she also throws in pics of a few savvy looking 50 and 60-somethings. The photos serve to show me that I can still pull off a trendy look without looking ridiculous. As in any self-help book, not every suggestion will work for everyone, but for those of us who aren't ready to look the part of an aging dowager, most of them are worth a try.

"How Not to Look Old" by Charla Krupp is an excellent book. She covers everything from make-up, hair, wardrobe, glasses, shapewear, jewelry, shoes and boots and tells you what's very OL (Old lady) and what is Y&H (younger and hipper). Our daughter bought the book, and I could not put it down. I read as much as I could while visting her and took tons of notes, but I just had to have a book of my own. Right away I got compliments, four in one week, and people do think I am 10 years younger. I am still working on what Charla Krupp suggests and it is so rewarding.

Really Great tips in this Book for make-up and Dressing super smart! :)

This is a very useful book. The photos are extremely helpful, and I blushed to see all my black tie event mistakes (I've only been to one black tie, but oh boy did I look a mess). The book starts with the rationale that it's not vain to want to look young, it's financial sense - if you're working with lots of younger people they can be judgmental of older colleagues. I must admit, this rang true for me - I'm often the oldest person in the room. The recommendations aren't difficult to follow and are mainly about grooming and updating your wardrobe to flatter and look modern without trying to follow the latest trends. There is one chapter on facial fillers which obviously isn't for everyone, but otherwise I found the book to be relevant and very helpful.

Un max de conseils bien précis, bien terre-à-terre, n'ayant pas peur des détails qu'on n'ose pas toujours évoquer même avec ses bonnes amies ! bref, un livre à l'américaine.. on peut y piocher de bonnes idées, faciles à mettre en pratique.

É interessante, mas ha muitas marcas descritas que nao temos no Brasil