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

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 teeth11. 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 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.

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.

Not nearly as good as her other book. The advice here is a bit obvious, involves botox and the product recommendations are American and by now, dated. Pity as i really liked the Fat book

Much of the advice is common sense but it’s helpful to be reminded of the basics. Product recommendations are helpful. The information can be found in many other books of this nature so nothing new here. The one aspect which I really did not like was the format; the wording within the coloured sections is dreadful to read and added nothing to the appeal of the book which is the reason for the three star rating.

This was the first of Charlas books Ive read and I couldnt put it down. I read it in about 3 sittings, all of it, I didnt miss out any chapters which in a self help book is unusual for me. I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants advice on what to wear and what will suit them, yep I know its an American book written by an American but this lady is truely in touch with what a woman needs to know and if youre not sure whether to buy it or not i would say go for it, its not too expensive and is well researched with good pictures that show you the look and ideas she is suggesting. So on the whole I dont think you can go wrong

Not great ! Better to check out u tube ! Wouldn’t buy as a present !