TGIF book review: How not to look old at work

Or, you could seek employment in an environment where they value experience over youthfulness and ability over appearance. Tight skin and glossy hair can't hold a candle to mutual respect.

Remember a couple of years ago, when everyone was talking about how recent college graduates don't know how to dress for the office? The low-cut tops, the hiking boots, the sparkly makeup? Maybe this is a backlash to all of that; now instead of looking too young, the focus is on looking too old. Possible?

I started getting gray hair at 18, was salt&pepper at 24, and was totally gray by 34 (with the same amount of gray as my mother at the time). While my hair was pretty, people assumed that I was the same age as my then-husband (who was 15 years older). People also assumed that my small children were conceived via fertility treatments. I looked washed out so my stylist colored it at 34 and loved my new reddish color. I'm now 48 and have been coloring it myself for about 10 years using permanent dye available at the grocery/drug store for $8/application. It takes me a total of 35 minutes prior to washing my hair and I do it about every 4-5 weeks. I totally understand why nobody wants the expense and inconvenience of going to a salon to have your hair colored (been there, done that). If the salon route were the only one available, I wouldn't bother doing it either -- my time and money are too valuable to me. But this is cheap and convenient and I never hide the fact that my hair is colored. When people compliment my hair color (which does look natural as it's got a little red in it and I have very fair skin and freckles), I always tell them, "You, too, can have this hair color!"

Your haircolor should be the one that makes you happy -- you're the only one who counts.

Actually, age discrimination is very real. Any recruiter in the technology industry can vouch for this. Older people have higher medical costs, so it’s typical for companies to target older workers in layoffs. Once out of work, most will never work again because no one will interview them, much less hire them. You can’t prove that it’s due to age discrimination unless someone actually says something incriminating, which of course they are trained not to do. If you need to work, you HAVE to look young. It’s not vanity, its survival.

Can't you be both? Have experience and a youthful appearance? I haven't read the book, but according to the review, I could've written it. I'm almost 48. People consistently think that I'm 15-20 years younger than my age. I look at my peers and wonder how did they get to be so old. It's like they've given in to the perception that maturity can't look like twenty-something. It can, and it does. And I'm not talking about hair color or wrinkle remover. I can't stand anything fake. I'm talking about good old-fashioned exercise, a sensible diet, and style. Honestly, I think most women use their age as an excuse to give up because it takes discipline not to. If they try at all, they settle for the quick fix the culture offers: surgery. Remember what you were like in your 20s? Do that again.

The musings of those in their 30's is interesting. Oh, to be 36 again. When you've crossed the threshold of 50, come on back and comment.
"Age" is a state of mind. In my mind's eye, I'm in my late 20's and my body has stood up to the test of time (so far). I can assure you that my mother didn't look like me when she was 53.

At work, I still have a boss who is older than me and while the youngsters do bring talent to the table, they do not possess the wizened experience that rounds out a successful employee.

Hannah is right.

More evidence of the downfall of our intellectual society. Some barely-literate trophy wife writes a book about how to fool people into thinking that you look young, (and weren't just recently rebuilt as a younger woman,) and it warrants space in a "book review" column. I don't think this counts as a book review though, it is just a few paragraphs of whatever popped into the "reviewer's" head when she sat down to write this article.

If you "don't do book reviews because [you] don't read books" you should try reading a book review before you write one, this "stream of consciousness" isn't an article on a book, it seems to be an email to a friend.

Uh, Jessica, this is a blog, not a book review column. Blogs are meant to be "stream of consciousness". Perhaps you should try reading a few blogs before you write a comment on one. Titles of blogs are often meant to be satirical - see Lisa's recent post on Obama's Asian problem :)

I saw this book in the bookstore yesterday. The funny thing was, it caught my eye because of the title superimposed over this woman's picture. My first thought was: if she's 55 or older, she looks great for her age and this is a nice selling point for the book. If she's younger than that, she looks about average although clearly heavily photoshopped and soft-lit and I'm not sure why she'd post her pic so large on the front cover. You're going to advertise something, make yourself the best advertisement.

I have friends who are 48-50 and say they look 15 years younger, too, and while I smile and nod and tell them they're beautiful (which they are) the truth is they look just like what they are: women in their 40's who take good care of themselves. No shame in that. Look back at highschool yearbook pictures from the 1950's. Those 18 year olds looked 40. Nowadays women in their 40's look different - better, softer, leaner and more feminine, but they are rarely mistaken for 30- or 20-somethings who incidentally look proportionally younger themselves these days.

I like the idea of putting together a book containing ideas for keeping healthy and glowing, but IMO it's not going to make you look "younger" as much as it will make you look simply better cared for.

I find it creepy that Time would advertise such a book simply because of the woman's husband's job. I would check the book out of the library myself to glean any tips so I don't reward Time's overt nepotism. How tacky.