French Women Don't Get Facelifts

I have and love Tish Jett's Forever Chic, and Anne Barone's Chic and Slim Toujours, which are great books. This is a welcome addition to the bookshelf on the topic of common sense approaches to aging using the whole French approach which is at it's core common sense.Does this book repeat ideas? Is it redundant? No to both. I think it's worth having all three. They complement each other well, and I wouldn't want to be without any of them. I've been looking forward to this book a while, being a fan of Mireille's books for some time. I have all of the diet and cooking ones and this is the book that answers my non dietary questions about what Mireille does to cope with aging --skin, wardrobe, exercise and supplements.She covers it all with a healthy dose of what she calls attitude. That "attitude" is perhaps the most important part of the book. She Anne Barone and Tish Jett, cover how important it is to have a confident attitude towards age. Lines will happen, things like face lifts which obliterate the lines often leave a weird impression on the onlooker. The face is younger, but the body it is attached to isn't. There is an odd plastic effect , a disconnect of reality.Where there is a repetition of ideas, it's an agreement on important points. In my review of Anne Barone's book I pointed out that the North American approach to aging seems to be a take no prisoners, all or nothing extremism while the French prefer to accept a few lines, while making sure the underlying skin is as healthy as possible and gently made up to look naturally glowing and age appropriate.All 3 of these books agree.The approach that each book recommends is complementary, meaning I learned something new in each book.I deeply enjoy the common sense and bubbly effervescent sense of humour that runs thru ALL of Mireille's writing, this book being no exception. Typical of her, she can't resist throwing a few new recipes into the book, and I love her for that. She comes across like a bubbly glass of champagne, full of life, sparkle and joy! Each chapter gets that happy free wheeling approach and I so appreciate it. North American books on aging well are serious, even scary in spots. Not Mireille.I particularly enjoyed the discussion on estrogen. Her experience mirrors mine, and I'm happy to see positive stories backing up the latest research which is now swinging back to the intelligent and measured use of hormones for those who want them.Something that has long concerned me is supplements. She gets into that too. I'd heard French women don't, preferring to get the vitamins and minerals in a balanced form suspended in the food you eat rather than a mega dose pill which may end up causing shortages of other vital nutrients that nobody realized people need in order to process large doeses of Vitamin E or Vitamin B as an example. In theory that works well, but she balances this out with current research into Calcium and Vitamin D which depending on your body chemistry or where you live may need supplementing. Good sound advice.I liked her bit on the use of yoga and breathing exercises to maintain a healthy body. She gets into some more nitty gritty advice on weight control as I expected, and has a LOVELY bit on skin care, makeup and clothing.I'm glad I bought the book, love it and it's sitting on my kindle right beside Anne Barone's Chic and Slim Toujour as well as Tish Jett's Forever Chic. I'll be referring to this trio CONSTANTLY!Thanks Mireille! Great job! Love the book!

I enjoy reading anything Mireille Giuliano writes and according to this recent addition to her lineup, she is obligated by her publisher for another book beyond this one, which I will look forward to reading. I have a copy of all her previous offerings and look upon time spent with one of her chatty books as a pleasant part of my day.That being said, I got the impression this book was rather hurriedly dashed off between intercontinental trips. It seemed to hit the high spots, wasn’t much on detail, and although I can understand a rehash of some of her previous material for the benefit of new readers, I also felt she relied too heavily on past efforts. Frankly, I expected, and hoped for, a little more. So much more could have been done with this book, that would have been helpful, and a number of opportunities were missed to expand what it had to offer. I sincerely hope that her next book will not be a rehash of past material with a different title. My comments follow.Exercise: Walk, swim, climb stairs, do some yoga. All from previous books. Although she admits to now having added some Pilates exercises to the mix which she does at home, and mentioned strength training, she does not share her new found knowledge or anything of her personal routine with us. Disappointing. The most worthwhile part of this section was a detailed instruction regarding four yoga breathing exercises, which was very well done. Everything else was short on detail, hit the high spots.Diet: The author’s personal diet appears to be primarily vegetable, low protein, low carb, low calorie, heavy on dairy using that for a lot of the protein, which would not set well with a goodly percentage of the readership. The only alternative suggested was to eat Mediterranean, which we have been hearing from a variety of sources for the past 20-30 years.Recipes: This book has fewer recipes than any of her others, so there is not much in that department to whet anticipation.Makeup and Hair: Useful admonition to look appropriate for one’s age instead of like a circus clown with things that are too obvious, amusing anecdote to illustrate this. Typical advice from previous books to get a good, professional haircut several times a year, as well as professional color if gray is not for you.Supplements: Author displays fearfulness and lack of knowledge in this department. Could have done without this totally useless chapter that espouses the 1920’s ideal of getting everything from one’s food, and says nothing about the European bans on GMOs; organics, depleted soil and comparisons of nutritional value in food from 50 years ago versus today.Facelifts: Part of the title of the book and this chapter could be boiled down to, don’t get one because it won’t match the rest of you, just use creams and lotions the way my mother and grandmother did and you’ll be fine. To be perfectly honest, Raquel Welch’s book, which is available on Amazon, did a much better, more informative job with more detailed information on this subject, and I highly recommend it, Raquel: Beyond the Cleavage.Employment: Although a minor section toward the end, rather an afterthought, it should not have been included due to the lack of knowledge on the part of the author of the hardships the majority of people 50 and over face in the U.S. regarding employment during these times. I can understand that because the author’s life and finances insulate her from harsher realities, and this is part of the charm of her writing; however, it would also have been best to leave this bit out altogether.Advice from older women of her acquaintance: This is definitely an area of missed opportunity. These wise, elderly ladies of class and substance were briefly mentioned, all too briefly quoted, and served only to whet the appetite for an entrée that never appeared.

I really enjoyed this book. First of all anyone who has captained the ship of Veuve Clicquot can tell me anything she wants and I will respect it. But kidding aside, I found this book both very personal, (sharing memories of her mother, times with her husband), well researched and informative. For many of us the sensibility of the European attitude to ageing is far and away superior to the 'forever young' demand of North American beauty culture. It's partly why I have chosen to live in Europe myself. I loved Guiliano's wise advice to 'eat your colours' to make sure we get the range of nutritious vitamins and minerals in our food every day. Her amazing simple, and sumptuous recipes are a delight. The admonition to keep it simple and elegant for both wardrobe, skincare and makeup will quell many woman's anxiety about what is enough and how to avoid costly mistakes.As a writer living in Greece, I see that a saner attitude to maturity allows those of us past our fifties to embrace our prime. While Mireille may recommend a maillot rather than a bikini after a certain age, I'm hanging on because I didn't have the courage to wear one (because I wasn't absolutely perfect) in North America - but here I am one among hundreds of proud women of all descriptions enjoying the sea and sun. The book is rich in advice for all aspects of a fulfilled life at any age. Read it an be assured that your beauty, allure, confidence and contribution to the world have nothing to do with age. And the best is yet to come!

I really enjoy Guiliano’s books generally. I love the vintage covers and am partial to French culture. Giuliano does not pretend to write objective books. She clearly presents her point of view. However. I was really surprised how bitchy she gets at times, unnecessarily so, and I felt it takes away from trying to support women in the later stages of life. At one point, she writes about seeing an older woman with carrot red hair and bright blue eye shadow during Paris fashion week and makes it quite clear that, in her opinion, those types are completely ridiculous and not a good example for dignified aging. It made me think of Iris Apfel who I think is amazing. Appel, for example, says she always knew she’d never be pretty so she might as well be outrageous. Some old women, and men, don’t care about being conventional. They don’t want to be invisible and just maybe in old age they can finally do what they want. Or have always behaved like that. No need for Ms Giuliano to turn her nose up with her extremely conventional approach. Those types of women also probably wouldn’t buy her book. Giuliano is also vehemently opposed to wearing jeans - really no one should, especially not old people. And her shining example for great taste in fashion is designer Beatrice Ferrant. Obediently I looked at some of her creations and thought they were absolutely frightful. In summary, I did not get much out of this book that either I did not know already or had not thought of, but also did not feel was much use. French Women Don’t Get Fat was more enjoyable, more practical and also written with more care.

Some good sensible points that we already know but this edition acts like a good reference point as a reminder of how we should be taking care of our faces. In addition a few tips that the French women have always known ( passed down by their mothers mothers etc like have a piece / taste of everything, deny your self nothing - the trick is in the word ‘taste’ not ‘devour’April 2023 just revisited this book and it has perked a middle aged women up no end - a book for us

I do like her books - it is charming and informative with some interesting recipes but quite a lot of what she says is covered in other beauty articles and books. However, it is the French touch that I liked having lived in France for 2 years - we are also a similar age so I enjoyed reading how she copes with various aspects of ageing!

A disjointed read which relies on recipes and repetition to fill space. Perhaps if I hadn't read French Women Don't Get Fat, I wouldn't have had such high hopes for this book.

Parcel arrived before stated date. I love Mireille Galliano's books, especially as I am an ex-pat living in Paris but have travelled the world.