As a breast cancer survivor, I have this heightened awareness of the effect of chemicals and toxins on the body.  It has also made me think about cosmetic surgery, because quite frankly I was barely out of surgery and women were telling me what I could  get “fixed” in addition to my now lopsided breasts. This evening on television I looked at Marie Osmond and her body of “work” and I couldn’t help but wonder why.  She was always a beautiful woman, but now she looks a wee bit pulled too tight and a lil’ frozen. I kept thinking if Ramona Singer of the Real Housewives of NYC got run over by a bus (or another housewife) she could step into the odd face category on the show.

I have pretty much decided I am not going for any Hagatha the Horrible award, but how I am going to age is how I am going to age. I am not going to try to look 25 when I hit the big 5-0 is what I am saying.  I am not going to be dumpy frumpy, I am going to be me…maybe with some wrinkles and some gray hair.

Yes, that means being really boring as far as some are concerned and doing things like using the crystal and Tom’s natural deodorant vs. smelly wonderful antiperspirants.

I am beginning to sound like my own mini campaign for safe cosmetics – but seriously?  There is a website called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. Check it out.

Sweet Jesus I am beginning to become like that Adam Ant song – Good Two Shoes (don’t drink, don’t smoke what do you do?)

And yes, I was never a big drinker before the big C, and I definitely watch it now because even one lowly glass of white wine causes hot flashes and the Tamoxifen is bad enough all by itself – so there is that risk/reward thing. No more occasional ciggies, either.   (Yes, really.)

But after a back and forth discussion with my sweet man, you can count on the fact I will never be a Botox or Juviderm queen, and I have kind of sort of decided that if my hair wants to eventually turn grey or white than that is what is going to happen.

My hair is only threaded with grey and I was using semi-permanent color every couple/few months and then I thought if I am scouring shampoo labels and deodorant labels I might as well think about the hair color of all.   And I know some women only slightly older than I whose grey/white hair is simply beautiful and they don’t look old.  My sweet man said he would rather have that then color out of a box because it was natural. Same with lopsided versus perfect plastic breasts.  (Yes he is pretty awesome and supportive.)

So we shall see if I can do this.  Hair is kind of  a vanity thing with me.  The lop-sided breasts don’t bother me so much. Kind of a badge of honor.

In other news, is it November yet?  The pink of it all continues to make me nauseous.  And I am trying to be patient when non-survivors want to tell me about breast cancer….sigh….been there, done that, have got the t-shirt.

In that vein, let us discuss what “pink washing” is:

Pink Washing:

Pinkwashing: A term used to describe companies that position themselves as leaders in the fight against breast cancer while engaging in practices that may be contributing to rising rates of the disease.

We’ve all seen the beauty products dressed up with pink ribbons and cute promotions. Unfortunately, many of these same corporations continue to use chemicals that are linked to cancer.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has repeatedly asked Avon, Revlon and Estee Lauder – the three largest users of the pink ribbon in the cosmetics industry – to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledge to remove chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other harmful health impacts from their products.  The companies have been unwilling to make this public commitment to eliminate carcinogens and other chemicals of concern from their products.

If they are serious about being champions for women’s health, the pink-ribbon ringleaders must stop buying carcinogens and other harmful chemicals from the chemical companies.

Just sign me irreverently yours and graying ever so slightly.