In honor of our predecessors, President John F. Kennedy and the National Council of Senior Citizens (N.C.S.C.) designated May as what is now known as Older Americans Month. The aim is to recognize older Americans and those who have gone before us while addressing their needs and concerns. Each year has a different theme, with our favorites being “Age strong, after all, the future is aging!” and “Aging Unbound.” As a clean beauty brand, we are dedicated to providing sustainable solutions that foster resilience and beautiful longevity as people embrace their personal aging journeys. To legitimately appreciate one another and how far we’ve come, we must revisit what we have and where we've been! This consideration is indispensable when honoring older generations’ contributions, wisdom, and experience. Join us in a retrospective on what our forefathers (and mothers!) taught us, creative ways we tried to improve our skin, body, and hair, and what we do today with what we know now.

Honoring Older Adults
As part of this trek down memory lane, we are obliged to honor older adults for showing us the way, as we all benefit when they remain engaged, independent, and included. Here are some impactful ways to show them their due respect:

• Engage older adults: Ask your mom, dad, or grandparents how they managed their appearance when they were younger and get ready for some crazy things they tried to stay looking their best.
• Recognize older adults: Remember that they taught us the importance of personal hygiene, instilling daily grooming habits to become healthy adults. When we were little, they took the time to teach us how to brush our teeth and coaxed us to take baths.

For many of us, our mothers were the first to teach us how to care for our skin, body, and hair (not social media!) They bought us our first facial cleanser and showed us how to wash our faces before bed. When puberty hit, they made sure we had an acne cleanser for teens so that we wouldn’t struggle like they did. Then, your parents may have prodded you to shampoo, condition, and comb your hair to look and smell fresh.

• Return the favor: Now it is time to give back and show parents or grandparents our gratitude by guiding them to maintain their cleanliness and independence—an excellent way to honor their selfless tutelage.

So, when mom or dad resists or has difficulty bathing and grooming themselves, follow their lead by summoning that same loving patience and understanding they generously displayed towards you. They earned and deserve it!

Look Back to Move Forward
Recalling the historical landscape of cosmetics and personal care, along with the vast advancements, is good for us all! We can learn a thing or two from the mistakes and successes of our ancestors' past skin care practices and haircare trends. The deadly lead, mercury, arsenic, and radium-laced creams, make-up, and hair dye, along with unsavory animal fat and dung in skincare and haircare were dangerous mistakes—proving that we have indeed come a long way! Little did they know the price they would pay for their misguided pursuit of beauty! Thankfully, with scientific innovations, today’s cosmetic regulations and safety standards continue to evolve as we learn more about ingredients and formulation processes. Ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks are to thank for their successful use of Aloe Vera, Cucumber, Rosemary, Chamomile, Lavender, Rose, Olive Oil, and Honey—non-toxic, safe ingredients that are still beneficial today!

Yesterday’s Skincare Swaps
Still, many of our “must-have” items or “must-do” beauty habits revered by earlier generations (with some in our not-too-distant past!) weren’t as healthy as we thought. Remember what we used to think was good for the health and appearance of our skin? A prime example is tanning. Although skin cancer was first detected as far back as the 1800s, it wasn’t until a few decades ago that most people finally stopped baking in the sun to attain what was considered a “healthy-looking” tan. Many tanned with iodine-tinged baby oil, applied Vitamin E oil or toothpaste to pimples, and tried other cockamamy DIY skincare at home, finding that their complexions ended up worse than before. Still, there are worse things we could have done. Thankfully, most of our efforts have morphed into something wholly different—and better. Now we have some perspective and can look back with humor (rather than judgement) about the crazy things we did as we simply didn’t know then everything we know today about skin and skincare. Here are some skincare habits to leave behind with swaps that utilize the knowledge we have gained for better, healthier skin and bodies.

• Drop your mom’s drying bar soap or grandmother's heavy cleansing cream in favor of Sulfate Free gentle cleanser options that will preserve our skin’s moisture levels.
• Stop exfoliating with abrasive and alkaline baking soda, which can alter your skin’s pH, strip away its natural protective oil barrier, and cause irritation, dryness, itching, rashes, hives, and inflammation, leaving you vulnerable to infection. Instead, use a well-formulated Sulfate free exfoliating cleanser to gently slough away dead skin cells while preserving your skin's health.
• Rather than whipping up egg white masks to tighten skin, try a more results-driven natural skin care serum followed by a science backed Peptide moisturizer in the morning and Retinol cream at night that yield smoother, tauter, and tighter-looking skin.
• Keep the Colgate for your teeth, and use a blemish cream specially formulated for rapid, yet gentle breakout control.
• Instead of using harmful “whitening” agents on your face, use an illuminating Vitamin C Serum, moisturizing cream, ocean safe sunscreen with UVA, UVB, and blue light protection, or a tinted moisturizer to blur and even out discoloration.

Old School Hair Care Tricks
Do you recall washing hair with beer or painting it with lemon juice for sun-kissed highlights? Or perhaps you used a DIY hair care mask with avocado, egg yolk, or mayonnaise for softness. While we appreciate the thriftiness of using what’s on hand to care for your hair, as we know more now about the importance of manufacturing, everyone might want to rethink these DIY hair care recipes:

• Drinking beer may (or may not) provide nutritional benefits; however, keep the bottle capped when it comes to hair care, as its topical advantages are not backed by science.
• Lemon may brighten hair and reduce excess oil, but it strips it of its natural oils and disrupts the scalp's pH balance, causing dryness, irritation, and damage.
• Avocado Oil, mayonnaise, and eggs have moisturizing, soothing benefits, but may clog the follicles and leave the hair with a greasy residue, requiring rewashing and styling that much sooner.

So, if you don’t want to smell like a brewery or avocado toast and get frizzy, lank strands, today there are better scalp and hair health products to explore. Pevonia’s hair growth and thickening shampoo promotes density, volume, and shine, while the conditioner for thinning hair moisturizes and smooths. Both impart natural, fresh, and uplifting aromas from Rosemary, Saw Palmetto, Nettle, and Celery Extracts. And instead of messy, oily masks, finish with the scalp serum for hairgrowth - no dulling residue or rinsing required!

Include Older Adults
Show them that they matter! Including older adults benefits us all as we continue learning from one another. As you embrace today’s products and self-care rituals for yourself, include your parents and other aging family members with you as you build upon the grooming lessons they taught you. Here are some ways to contribute to the older generation that paved the way for us and remind them that the skin and body still need their devoted attention:

• Share with them that today's non-toxic, clean skincare, body care, and hair care products with safe ingredients are better for your health.
• Explain that there are safe ingredients and natural formulations that refrain from harmful chemicals and manufacturing processes that impact skin, hair, wellness, and longevity.
• Offer to buy their personal care items for them to ensure their well-being and pay it forward! Many older Americans struggle to make ends meet, so helping in this one way can help bridge more than just the age gap!
• Reassure them that you appreciate the hygiene life lessons they taught you and that you trust they would have gotten them for you if they knew then what we know now!
• Take them to a Pevonia spa near you and book them the following so they can experience the healing power of touch:
• Full Body Polish Treatment or Silky Skin Seaweed Body Scrub Treatment for next-level skin smoothing
• Enhanced Relaxing Massage with Magnesium to ease stiff, aging muscles and joints
• Hydra-Sea Seaweed Wrap Treatment to help detoxify and invigorate
• Crepe-No-More Body Wrap Treatment - No Rinse for its revitalizing effects
• Lumafirm® Lift & Glow Freeze-Dried Facial Treatment so they can witness the reparative power of professional facial care.
• Pevonia’s Signature Hand and Foot Treatments with Pevonia’s Collagen hand cream and natural foot cream for the finishing touches

Support and inspire them as they navigate this chapter, helping them live their best lives in the present.  Who knows? Your mom or dad may just become the newest Pro-Aging ambassador to take over social media!