Lifestyle

Meet Our Face of LFF Winners

Apr 5, 2018

by Tricia Cusden
LFF Founder

In the final chapter of ‘Living the Life More Fabulous’ I write about the need for more role models to show us how to have the very best possible ‘third act of life’ now that we are all living longer.

I suggest that rather than trying to deny or efface the ageing process or (worse still) throwing in the towel and surrendering to invisibility, we need to embrace a different way of being which is: ‘the ultimate expression of positive ageing and it’s about staying engaged with everything around us but on our own terms.’ So, in January we decided to seek out a ‘Face of LFF’ - an older woman whose attitude to life would reflect everything that Look Fabulous Forever seeks to encapsulate. This person would demonstrate great ‘joie de vivre’ which, loosely translated, means ‘an exuberant zest for life.’ She would also be a warm, enthusiastic and vivacious older woman who had taken risks which had pushed her well outside her comfort zone.

‘I am now retired, but was a self employed florist shop owner for 25 years. I raised 2 children while working 60 hours a week. I was widowed at 41 with 2 young children, having spent 7 years caring for my wonderful husband who died from Motor Neurone Disease. I now work as a volunteer for an MND charity and I regularly look after my 5 grandchildren. Having been a widow for 18 years, I married a wonderful man (this Christmas) before I hit 60!
I love to walk our rescue dog, play with the grandchildren, I love our garden and to bake cakes. Our house in Richmond, North Yorkshire, is always open to family and friends. I intend to travel and holiday a lot this year and enjoy my golden years with my new husband.
I love LFF makeup and having watched all the videos it has given me new confidence to change my makeup routine after wearing same makeup for 30 years.’

She has instituted a yearly ‘Autism’s got Talent’ competition and on the day she came to the photo shoot, Anna was waiting for the release of a recording of a song performed by a choir of 7 autistic teenagers (you can see it here and buy it here). We were all mightily impressed when we heard it! Here is what Anna wrote for her submission:

“I don’t feel my age! I will be 58 this year and still have lots of energy even though I only sleep a few hours a night because of my autistic son's poor sleep pattern.
I love to go to zumba and tap dance and I am a Director and Ambassador for charities and groups across the country. I walk miles and also take part in a sponsored 10 mile walk every year with my son to raise funds for 2 charities. I also organise events for families and speak across the country throughout the year on raising autism awareness and an anti bullying campaign. I am patron to Kilmarnock Horse Rescue, a lovely sanctuary for rescued horses, donkeys and ponies in Crawley. I am always on the go and looking around the corner for what's next. My motto is you can either give up, give in or give it all you've got and then some!’

I can honestly say that the first time I met Annee (68) after deciding to nominate her as the winner of our Face of LFF competition that she was everything and more than I was hoping for! Since then I have met Annee on several occasions and cannot believe our luck in finding such a perfect ambassador for our brand. Here is Annee’s story:

“After looking after my husband for 8 years and then his subsequent death, I had to build a new life for myself. I am a very sociable person so I took up Ceroc and Ballroom dancing and I LOVED it! It really gave me the chance to have a social life and stay fit at the same time. I have been on a number of dancing holidays at home and abroad and I plucked up the courage to go, on my own, on a Mediterranean cruise. I met interesting people, saw lovely places and waltzed and quickstepped the night away. Since then, I have been on a cruise every year with a like-minded woman that I met on one voyage. I have 3 little grandchildren whom I adore, a spritely 89 year old mother, a weekly yoga lesson and a day when I listen to children read in the school at which I was a teacher before I retired. I tried internet dating on several occasions but had to meet quite a few frogs before I met someone I really clicked with. Now we spend holidays and weekends together. I enjoy life and there is still a lot of fun to have, places to see, people to meet and I would love the chance to be an ambassador for LFF.”

I really admire Annee for deciding to go on a cruise alone, which is something I don’t think I would have the guts to do, despite being a confident person! I feel that Annee is the perfect example of someone who is ageing not only positively but also in a healthy way. I am taking my definition of ‘health’ from the one proposed by the WHO in 1948: ‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.’ Annee’s life incorporates a perfect balance of activities which ensures that she stays fit, nurtures the important relationships in her life and gives something back to a profession that she loved for many years. She is also a truly delightful, warm, vibrant and beautiful woman - in every sense of the word - and I hope you agree that she is the perfect embodiment of the LFF brand!

I realise that we will have disappointed some of you who no doubt feel that you would also have been the perfect ‘Face of LFF’, however we had to make a choice! Annee at 68, Anna at 58 and Hilary at 60 are all ‘living the life more fabulous.’ Each of them exemplifies the attitude to ageing that I was proposing in my book.

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What Do You Think?

Comments 42

Pamela Jun 13, 2018
Annee is ten years younger than I but everything she is doing to continue her life as a single older woman resonates with me as the last 18 years since retiring I have achieved as much, apart from the solo cruise. Well done Annee. Now however with health not what it was I find myself restricted in what I can do on my own and have to rely on others. But, at the moment I am planning another holiday on my own and I will enjoy the company of other people as Annee describes. No one ignores you if you have a ready smile and the willingness to join in. Well done all three, but Annee is my kind of girl. Pamel Boon

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Maureen May 4, 2018
Well,, I’m a dissenting voice . . . . Before I continue, let me say that my comments are not meant to reflect in any way on your winners. I may not be able to explain my point of view without referring to the fact that there are winners, but it’s not my intention nor my wish to say anything that might cause offense. It’s not personal. So, now let me say that I’m disappointed you decided to go the beauty pageant route, with an added lifestyle category, which is what your competition was. This is such an antiquated and unnecessary way to honor women. When we reach our later years, there must be few women who do not have a back story, one of courage and survival, one of trying new activities and finding solace in mundane, every-day chores, one of raising the grandchildren or living alone after the death of a long-term partner, one of fear of the unknown but joining a class anyway to make new friends, one of fighting illness and staying fit, one of volunteering to help others and having the grace to let others help us during our most difficult times. The list is long, of things great and small, kindnesses and unselfish acts, and every single thing on it is worthwhile. And you decide to choose just one woman to epitomize this sisterhood of wonderful older women, any of whom would be amongst the first to admire a peer for her work and her inner beauty but would feel no need to think of her as anything other than an equal, because we mostly know, at last and in our different ways, who we are, and that the way we value ourselves is what matters. You have formed a whole glorious club of such women and you had to pick just one. We are all The Face of LFF, every day, because you taught us how to do that and be that. Now here’s where I may get myself into trouble, which I’m not looking for, so please don’t misconstrue my words and assign meaning to them that they don’t have. If I had discovered LFF for the first time after this competition, I probably would not have become a consumer. I don’t look even one tiny bit like your winner, and, as I do with all big-name cosmetic ads with movie stars and models, I would have told myself that there’s no make-up on this earth that’s going to make my face look like her face. So why bother? Just another marketing company’s hype that alienates ordinary people like me. You and your tutorials are what convinced me that I needed LFF, and then my first order confirmed it. The ladies in those videos were the courageous ones – older women, no make-up, close-up, that’s pretty brutal but they convinced me that if they could do it, so could I. I am disappointed that you had the need to find A Face in a competition. Your own face, Patricia, was perfect and sufficient and I shall continue to be a customer in spite of that disappointment because I love LFF products. Anything else would be cutting off my nose to spite my well-made-up-with-all-the-right-colors-in-all-the-right-places face, now wouldn’t it?

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- Tricia Cusden May 5, 2018
  Hi Maureen Thanks for your very thoughtful and considered remarks. I think we should have called this 'A Face of LFF' - one of so many in all their honest, unaltered glory. We ran this competition with the magazine Woman & Home as a way to increase awareness of our wonderful makeup. It was one marketing initiative amongst many which we have initiated to get our message out there to as many older women that we can reach. We were looking for someone to embody the spirit of 'joie de vivre' and felt that Annee, our 'winner' was the essence of that quality. Annee is such a breath of fresh air in her attitude and approach having lost her beloved husband to Alzheimers when she was 60. That's why I chose her and that's why I feel she is an appropriate ambassador for LFF. I hope this goes some way to explain our rationale for the competition - it wasn't intended to be a beauty pageant. Triciax
  
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Liz Abildgaard Apr 22, 2018
I think it's wonderful that LFF promote ladies of a certain age and show just how good they (we) can look. These 3 ladies have had their challenges, and I can relate to two of them, having lost my husband in 2016 at the young ( I think) age of 67. Now at 68 I too am having to forge a new path forward for myself after 48 years of marriage. I thank God that I am a woman, who has always been interested in fashion and makeup, and that there's so much I can do to make my self look better, especially on the tough days. LFF products and your blogs are very inspiring.

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Vyvyan Apr 10, 2018
I am so disappointed that you didn't choose across the age range and that two of the finalists are so "young". Surely this is at odds with the ethos of your product?

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- MST Apr 10, 2018
  Perhaps there were more entrants from a certain age range. The target market is 50+ and the platform for selling the product is online. At the higher end of the age range less women buy online so unless LFF finds a way of bringing their product to this group then they are less likely to be represented. I do buy online but I am not that keen on buying make up online as I like to see the colours and texture. I do think that companies need to be careful with marketing to the older women as many do not like to be shoe horned into a category (me for one). Many do not like the 50 plus clothing line and the Marks and Spencer Classic range. I do like the idea of a make up range for older women as we have been sadly neglected.
  
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  - Tricia Cusden Apr 11, 2018
    Hi Maureen You are right that we made our choice from the women who entered the competition online having seen it in W&H and Annee, Anna and Hilary were the ones we chose from those entrants. As you may know I started LFF intending to sell the makeup direct via makeover parties. Within a few months and due to the success of our video tutorials on You Tube, the online business took off and we now have many thousands of happy customers worldwide. I believe that our success is down to four things: 1) older women don't feel welcome in beauty halls or on beauty counters which don't cater for their needs. 2) Having watched a few videos you can easily see how the products work and how to create the effect yourself. 3) We only show real older women and use positive language in everything we do. 4) We have a generous no quibble returns policy, so there is no waste of money if you need a replacement or a refund - even if you have tried the product. We also take lots of orders on the telephone too! Triciax
    
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MST Apr 10, 2018
The idea of a "Face of LFF" in principle is a good idea that has been used by many companies producing beauty products. I would not have applied as firstly I don't read Woman and Home and secondly I am quite a private person. However I would like the opportunity in future to nominate another person and the choice of the Face of LFF made by the followers of LFF. I think that would ensure more of a mix of women from different backgrounds and more representative of the target market. Ambassadors I am not so sure about. Problem is that if they get bad press it reflects on the company. These are just my observations and not intended as criticism.

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