40-Something Beauty Secrets: Eating Whole Cranberries

I'm a busy mom in my forties. Some days I look okay, but other times I think I appear rather haggard. RBF (resting bitch face) is something I'm unfortunately well familiar with.

("No, I'm not in a bad mood! I'm just over 40!") 

When you're over 40, people will ask you if you're upset, when actually you're just trying to think. If this doesn't happen to you, then congratulations. It means you are more attractive than me!

I guess it's luck of the draw at my age. There are those times when the hormones may not be kicking on, or you had a late night, or the barometric pressure is off, or the sun ducked behind a cloud or something.

Every once in a while, someone will tell me I look good. When that happens, I find it a bit startling, and tend to glance around uncertainly, thinking they must be talking to someone else.

HA! No, really, a woman's looks do become a bit more of a concern at this age when the crow's feet become crow legs and the beer belly is beginning to rival your husband's.


Anyway, I recently got a compliment from my Dad who told me he thought that I had lost weight and looked really pretty the last time he saw me. Sadly, I was trying to figure out why that could be. Why would I have looked good? Was it something I ate? Didn't eat? Was it wine? Maybe I should drink more wine! 

I figured out it must be cranberries. I keep frozen, whole cranberries in my freezer and I swear to God they take about ten years off my face when I remember to eat them. I'm pretty sure the cranberries help to clear me of any extra bloat I may be carrying, which, at my age can be a very helpful thing, you know, eye bags and such.

So, to all forty-something ladies wanting to look your best, and by look your best I mean not look like you stayed up all night partying when in reality you slept a full 8 hours... pop some whole cranberries. They're extremely tart, but you're tough, you can handle it can't you? Any woman who in her youth used to down tequila shots at 3 am can, in her mature years, power through six frozen cranberries in the afternoon.

One day I'm going to do a cranberry experiment where I take a photo of my face pre-cranberries and post cranberries, so you can see the difference. Well, actually no, I am probably not going to do that ever. But maybe you should! Take the Cranberry Challenge. Cranberry before and after selfies for everyone!

PS: Dried, sugared cranberries do not count. If you really, really hate the taste of unsweetened cranberries, try cranberry tea instead.