Ageless: glowing up

[MUSIC PLAYING]

RITA MORENO: I'm all for Botox, I'm all for of plastic surgery if that's what makes you comfortable.

I worry that people who overdo it are afraid of aging,

therefore are trying to solve their problems by-- but you know, your hands are always going to give you away, dear.

I have really good skin for an old lady. I am 90 and I have amazing skin as a matter of fact.

And it has a great deal to do with being from the Caribbean. I think that aging is a gift.

You know, I always tell my patients that what we're not trying to do is make you look drastically younger. We're trying to make you look as good as you feel

and make you feel like your best self. So I don't approach aging as a disease.

I think to become older each year is a gift, and I think we should treat it and honor it in that way and try to be our healthiest inside and outside.

There's always an argument of people saying, I want to age gracefully. But what is that? Gracefully means, to me, aging in a way that

makes you feel good, that makes you feel graceful. And that's a different definition for everyone, you know?

Some people say, I don't mind my wrinkles, I am fine. I subscribe to a school of thought that it's absolutely OK.

And some don't. But what's most important is that they are not receiving that solely from outside pressure, that it's a decision that they made on their own.

When I look at Botox fillers and lasers, I think of them more as minimally invasive procedures or techniques. I don't think of them as plastic surgery.

They are treatments that are, by and large, reversible, that gives you a temporary opportunity

to feel better, and decide if that's something you want to do and commit to a more permanent solution which might be surgical.

So I really love this space because we can really make women feel better or empower them to change themselves in ways that are not permanent, but are

meaningful ways that they can make themselves look on the outside the way they feel on the inside. So I think of them as kind of tools of empowerment.

What are the basics to keep your skin healthy? And so when we think about our skin, our skin is, first and foremost, a barrier.

And it's the largest organ in our immune system. And so it functions to keep us safe, to waterproof our bodies, to keep the bad things out, the good things inside.

To act as the foot soldiers to keep out the bad bacteria, the bad viruses, the bad yeasts that

want to compromise our skin, compromise our skin barrier, and flourish by causing infection. And so in order to keep that barrier looking, feeling,

and functioning optimally, there are a few things that I recommend. A good cleanser, a good moisturizer, and an excellent sunscreen is critical.

And then of course, we build from there when we start looking at your unique and targeted skin concerns. We've learned to see ourselves the way

we might look at a mother, a sister, a best friend, just to see our face as a face, no matter

what we decide to do with it, we're going to feel better about our face because we see our face for what it is rather

than something to be manipulated in order to please someone else.

Women are starting-- when they start to see signs of aging in their face, they become very unhappy because they-- it's only going one way,

it's not something that's going to reverse itself. And they understand what the pressures are,

they understand what the biases are toward older women. And I think it's very troubling to most of us

when we see the signs of aging in ourselves. If you can tolerate looking into your own eyes

and allowing your feelings to come up, you-- eventually if you do it regularly as an exercise,

you begin to have better higher self esteem, better feelings about your face, and more positive feelings about the way you look.

I went over to the mirror in my office and I looked into my own eyes, and I just kept looking at myself until I actually

saw myself-- in other words, I saw the human being who lives there. And I felt completely better.

What it does and what it did for me is it helped me learn how to deobjectify the image

I see in the mirror, which is super, super important. When I look in the mirror, I don't see an old woman. I probably am in denial.

I think being in denial is fine about some things If it makes you feel better. Botox, filler, liposuction, plastic surgery.

Are you guys team yay, team nay, and why or why not?

I think you have to know what your motivation is and your reason for it. And I think that we all should have a choice if we want

to engage in that or if we don't. Are we now really being negative about how we look and that this is the thing that makes it better?

Or is it something that is more positive and just affirming and makes things feel better for a while? I want to caution them that it can be addictive,

and addictive behavior is very difficult to recognize in its early stages. Well, maybe I need a little more filler,

maybe the Botox needs to be done sooner. So I really believe in anticipatory guidance about that, that there is a place,

let's make sure that it's giving you the reward you want, but be aware of slipping down a slope with going too far.

I have to say, I'm team yes. I can't lie, Botox, filler, whatever people want to do-- I shouldn't say whatever.

The truth of the matter is I feel the way you two about all the things that you said so insightfully. I just happen to go down the rabbit hole all too

often on Instagram watching like videos on filler and Botox and I am absolutely fascinated and I don't have a problem with it.

There's nothing wrong with aging. Nothing at all. I think it's beautiful, I think it's incredible.

The whole idea of aging has become such a taboo topic. We have all of these products and all of these ways

to age less. I think that we need to get more on board with how to age and how to be excited about aging, how

to age gracefully as opposed to how to try and turn back the time. How incredible is it that we get to be aging.

And I think it's important for us to really just change our perspective on aging.

I think it's important for us to be more mindful about how we--

what does being ageless actually mean for us? Does being ageless mean I need to look like I'm 20?

That's never going to happen. And it's such an unhealthy way of looking at life. I love who I was in my 20s, but I don't--

I don't need to go back there. I'm more excited at who I'm going to be in my 40s

and in my 50s and in my 60s. Like that's exciting to me. We need to be more excited about how we're

going to honor that part of us. Society has created this stigma around aging

that it's like a bad thing. We need to reverse it. We need to not allow our gray hair to come out

and to make all of the way we look-- we need to look younger because this is what society

is telling us to do where-- I think looking and feeling good for yourself

is the key to aging gracefully. [MUSIC PLAYING]