Posted on

Starting over

I suddenly arrived at a difficult crossroads on my blogging journey. I didn’t like where all roads were taking me, so I’ve decided to leave Instagram and start over in a new direction with my blog. Crazy I know, considering I had 75k followers late 2021 (which was slowly decreasing and melting away as I’d stopped posting so regularly). Instagram is changing, rebranded ‘Meta’ and now rapidly going in a new direction which I don’t think will be good for my soul. It started as a photo sharing platform, a way to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Someone who could take better photos from interesting angles and add a few words to share their journey. I really do miss that about Instagram.

Meta (formerly FaceBook and Instagram) makes its money from advertising and selling data from users and creators to provide the product – for free. It’s a great business strategy and worked well until they started censoring the content, based on input and restrictions put on them by their clients. Accounts were shadow banned or disappeared overnight, with no resource or humans available to resolve or even discuss the issue. After all, you are getting the platform for free, so why should they provide you any ‘customer’ service.

Click here to buy my T shirts on my FiftySister store.

Influencers post highly filtered photos which everyone seems to appreciate. Post a photo without one and people will be horrified and share their unfiltered feelings on your timeline in record time. Verbal abuse never bothered me, but the effort deleting, blocking or reporting the accounts was such a waste of precious time.

This place name, without fail, always makes me laugh.

So here I am, back on my blog, all new, starting over from scratch. I am both relieved and excited. There’s no mystical algorithms, trolls or pressure to post daily, but I will post regularly as I miss telling stories, writing and sharing a photo here and there. If you sign up for my mailing list I will send you an update once a month and hopefully will be adding offers, vouchers and promo codes if any companies want to work with a silver haired, unfiltered, cruelty free, midlife woman. Let’s see…

Have a beautiful day.

Gail x

Fresh water swim spot just outside Tavira, Algarve, Portugal.
Posted on

Finding freedom

“When you stop worrying about; the grey hair, squidgy belly, flabby arms, wrinkles, crinkles and all that comes naturally with ageing, you have found freedom, and most importantly, more time to enjoy life without self imposed limits”. – Gail McNeill.

A fresh makeup free morning today. I love wearing makeup, but I also love for my skin to feel wild and free. Just a generous application of @ravenbotanicals Raven Botanicals facial oil, after shaving my face – yes, shaving my face is normal! (I shave every couple of months to prune my flooffy face. It feels good!).

Have a beautiful day!

xxx

#ageing #aging #ageingskin #ageinggracefully #agingskin #matureskin #midlife #positiveaging #positiveageing #agepositive #freedom #wrinkles #midlifeblogger #midlifewomen #midlifecrisis #midlifeinfluencers #silverhair #grayhair #greyhair #goinggray #middleage #40pluswomen #40plus #50plus #50pluswomen

Posted on

Changing faces

Changing faces.


Wrinkles, age spots, scars and broken thread veins now adorn my face. Gone are the thick eyebrows and blemish free tight-fitting skin.


I receive many messages from women who hate their changing face. Slowly melting whilst their hair invades the space below their hairline, leaving it ever thinner on top.
My eyebrows need a pencil, my skin needs a good foundation, a swipe of lipstick, a wave of the magic wand of mascara, a bit of blush and dab of highlighter and I’m ready for the day. Happy with the new face which has a little more skin each year. I’m certainly not complaining, I’ve had a lot of use out of this face, it’s had quite a lot of wear and tear!


Don’t you think it’s incredible how you can guess a person’s age so easily? Most will guess within 1 year or 2 a person’s age. That’s how I know it’s a natural process I cannot and will not fight. I’m not attempting to turn back a clock which is naturally and happily advancing forward, day by day, giving me more wonderful days on this earth.


My grandma wore floral dresses (never trousers), had soft silver hair, her eyes were a little cloudy, she was short, squidgy and a soft pillow when I needed somewhere to rest my head. I adored her, and I want to be like her. She had a marshmallow belly, bingo wing arms and wore an industrial strength bra – with a stash of a folded paper tissues tucked inside, always ready to wipe away a tear when needed.


She was perfect.


#ageing #aging #proaging #agepositive #midlife #midlifecrisis #wrinkles #agespots #grandma #middleage #over50 #over40 #50pluswomen #positivity #proageing

Posted on

What am I selling?

I was asked recently ‘what are you selling?’ I’m selling a healthy midlife body and positive mindset. The cost is your time and commitment. It starts today with you appreciating you are still here and have the ability to change, to embrace and adore your perfect ageing body.
One of the saddest things which has increasing monetary value and is highly sought after, is a toy which is decades old, still in it’s perfect box. No scratches, scuffs or creases. Unplayed with. Untouched. Unloved.
That toy never fulfilled its purpose.
I think the secret to positive ageing is to live in the moment. Not in the past. Not in the future. We are here. Now.

I cannot compare my face or body to the newer showroom shiny one I owned (and didn’t like so much) when I was a teenager. Nor should I. I now have plenty of miles on the clock, lots of scratches, bumps and prangs gained from joyriding my way through life.
It takes more of an effort to spruce myself up each day, no longer not just a quick flick of a mascara brush and away I go. But I’m happy I can still see with the help of my glasses. My hearing is diminishing, so I will be in need of a hearing aid before too long – thanks to many car journeys screeching along with Evanescence for hours on end.
Today I pruned my peach fuzz face with a razor. Plucked my brows which grow everywhere except where I need them. Put in my velcro rollers, then slapped on some makeup to create the best version of my well worn crinkly face.
I don’t look younger, I look my age and I’m completely happy with that.
It’s so important to love your wrinkles, crinkles, scars and all. Never aspire to be the toy in the box.
#ageing #aging #agepositive #positivity #bodypositive #midlife #vegan #plantbased #healthyaging #silverhair #grayhair #over50 #over40 #wrinkles #positiveaging #matureskin #maturewomen #peachfuzzface #womenwhoshave #maturemakeup #olderwoman #fitover50 #pastelbluehair #bluehair

Posted on

Wakeup Mid Lifers!

I’ve been hitting the bottle again today. Don’t panic! It’s the same temporary vegan hair colour I’ve used before. Instead of adding it straight out of the bottle I’ve mixed it with my shampoo for a softer effect. It will wash out within 1 week, quicker if its sunny which it should be for the rest of the week.

My sister sent me a recipe for dandelion honey yesterday. I was intrigued but not convinced it would be a successful experiment. Seb jumped over a high wall and collected lots of flowers for me from a meadow next to Churston Woods. I could have jumped over but didn’t rate my chances climbing back as I don’t have his Spiderman climbing skills.
I’ve been getting a bit frustrated lately, I just can’t help it. I hear so many people talking about supporting the NHS by staying home or clapping once a week but they still smoke or are grossly overweight. They don’t consider or appreciate, the additional load their poor choices or lack of care places on the NHS.

I struggled with my weight all my life and never gave my body the care and attention it craved. It eventually crashed and it was only then I realised how stress and neglect was affecting my body. My life chasing the next goal was taking me closer and quicker to my grave.
The only goal I want to achieve now, is to wake up other mid-lifers up to the long terms effects of their current lifestyle and diet. If I can do it, anyone can.
What inspires you to make positive changes?

#vegan#plantbased#aging#healthyaging#violethair#purplehair#over50#over50style#maturebeauty#matureskin#maturemakeup#50plus#healthyeating#midlife#middleaged#wellbeing#fitover50#over40style#silverbraids#braids#maturehairstyle#over50hairstyle#silverhair#olderwoman#ageing#ageingwell#agingwell#aginggracefully#crueltyfree#selfcare