Appearance Upgrade for Older Mom

April 2004

I'm an older mom with an aging appearance and exhausted features. Anyone else feel that way? So... I'd like to find someone who might assist me in coming up with a hairstyle, color combo style and whatever else could help accentuate my better features and decentuate (such a word?) the not so good ones. Is there some miracle salon that could assist me in taking this aging corner a bit more elegantly??? Please, please please, any and all ideas sought.

My friend Kipp Hamilton, owner of the new Maru Hair Salon at Shattuck Commons on Shattuck and Rose can do what you are asking for. His number is 549-3610 Kipp will look at your hair, look at your features and work magic (well, maybe not ''magic''). He'll tell you about your hair health, how it should be cut to enhance your features if and why and how you should color it. I recently went to him for the first time.He changed my style saying that because I have a front cowlick I should have side part instead of a middle part, which I'd always had so that the cowlicky hair would enhance my face and I wouldn't be fighting with it. No one had ever told me that. His specialty is color and he is SOOOO good at it. He's very skilled....he's got a great feel for hair design and styling. I can't recommend him more highly. And he's an incredibly sweet and kind person as well. He just gave my hair a trim today and showed me (again) how to work with it. I love it and I feel so great (not too enthusiastic here!!!!) Good luck, and have fun. a younger more beautiful feeling June

Hi. If you want a general, all over style upgrade, I'm going to suggest that you do the following: Get your hands on a copy of Trinny and Suzanna's Book: ''What not to Wear.'' They cover everything. They are honest. They use their own bodies to break down how they find the things that work best for them and minimize the parts of their bodies that they don't like. Take it with you in the store. It fits well inside your purse,but study it first before you go in to shop. Also, they have their own TV show on BBC America also called ''What Not to Wear''. They are brutally honest with their subjects but you can learn a lot. Don't be fooled by cheap imitations like The Learning Channel's lame imitation of the original. Another tip, go to Nordstroms and Nordstroms Rack. Nordstrom has several lines of their own clothing. Some are just the Nordstrom brand name. Others are called the Caslon line etc. I find their clothes fit better and cost about the same price (maybe a bit more) as something you would find at Macy's, Penny's etc but more hip.

My younger sister is a style maven and she made my parents look pretty darn hip. I was next in line and I didn't resist too much. Once you learn the rules that work for you, you can't go wrong. P.S. Shopping like they suggest in ''What not to Wear'' is exhausting because you are putting energy/effort into your appearance. You'll be oh so thankful for the effort though Beth