Emer O'Callaghan: Beauty advice for women and men at retirement age 

I was walking over the rocks at the beach with one of my nephews recently.

I think having four older brothers and being the baby and only girl growing up in my family made me quite resilient in nature, but also quite a tomboy at heart.

Now, I know you won’t think that by my profession and the fact I always look done up on this page, but we all have different sides to us.

Being on the beach and swimming in the sea has been a great love of mine for my whole life.

My nephew asked me what were the big yellow markers out in the sea and I said they were buoys for the swimmers to go round.

He pointed to the furthest away one, which looks like it’s not too far from Roches Point lighthouse, and said: “Look at that one, ah jeez, no- one would ever swim out that far, like!”

“Oh, they do,” I said, “and that’s the toughest one too if you saw what’s out there.”

He was giving me a look, but I’ve swam round all the buoys several times, they are tough and it’s scary out that far in the sea, it’s like a mass of black underneath you. I just close my eyes and swim like hell, but you do it in a group - never alone.

I could see my nephew was impressed, but I pointed out that safety was always important and just because you can do something, doesn’t always mean you should.

I used be so fearless when I was his age, and I think a huge part of getting older is having that awareness you do not have in your younger years, to know you’re not invincible and life is fragile, and we must all take care of ourselves.

I work with clients of all ages and every year I have a few who retire. It is a huge milestone in anyone’s life, and I see how some embrace it and truly love it, and others find it so hard to adjust and often grieve their working life and routine.

So, this week I’d like to give some beauty tips and advice for both men and women who are at that retirement age.

Can I say this to anyone who is about to or who is retired - well done, you made it! So many never see 65 years of age, God has spared you and you have done your time, now let the play time commence because your time is now your own.

65 IS NOT OLD

New research has categorised what old age is, and it’s not 65, I can tell ya. Old age is now classed from the age of 80, and I know plenty in their eighties who are flying it and are far from frail and fragile.

Now that we have determined you are not old, you can focus on your free time and not your age.

So many of my female clients over the years have said to me. ‘Oh, I don’t want anyone to know I’m retired, I don’t want everyone to know my age’.

I tell them: ‘Ah, would you stop, just say you took very early retirement so!’

The age thing is certainly a hang-up for many, and of course that’s each person’s individual thing, but you should know that retirement is a privilege, so embrace it.

YOUR JOB, YOUR IDENTITY

Research also told us that those who said they feared or did not want to retire felt their work was their life, their identity. With that gone, who would they be? I’ll tell you who you will be, YOU.

I’m first and foremost Emer O’Callaghan and then a beautician, not the other way around, but I know many for decades put their job as their only identity and this is where they get stuck.

This is why psychologists now stress the importance of having a work/life balance that includes a life outside of work.

A NEW ROUTINE

From my observation of clients retiring, I see two types: the ones who love it, and the ones who are not embracing it and are struggling.

If you asked me the difference, I would say it is routine. You see, work gives us all a set routine, we have a time to be up and washed and out, a time to start work and finish, and our day is structured this way, which is normal. So when that set structure is gone, what happens? Well, you make your own new routine.

For the people who are loving retirement, it is because they made themselves a new routine fast and did not just fall into each day not sure of what to do or how the day will go.

The people who are enjoying retirement are planning and managing their weeks efficiently and getting out and doing things. So, plan your weeks, set goals, make plans, and use your time effectively, and this is what will keep you young.

TIME TO PUT YOU FIRST

Some people doing facials with me for years stop when they retire.

Basically, they are giving up and happy to let the old women into their psyche.

This woman thinks now she has got free travel, she should be suddenly embracing lines, wrinkles, walking sticks, cataracts and everything that comes with being older.

Rubbish! Those who do keep doing their facials are reversing the ageing.

SELF-CARE

Research shows three out of five people do not shower daily after retiring, they felt there was no point.

Hair was also neglected, with four out of five saying they would only opt to wash their hair now once a week.

Those who once waxed every six weeks once retired moved to a twice year waxing. Men shaved less and women used make-up less.

Even basic skincare regimes of cleanse, tone, and moisturiser every morning and evening were reduced by women.

Look, you now have the time to spend on your beautiful skin, so don’t stop.

Many women will tell me: “I’m not trying to have a 25-year-old’s face on a 65-year-old’s body, I just want to look as well as I can for as long as I can.”

This is realistic, this is attainable beauty as I call it, not unrealistic and plastic faces.

Retirement is a fantastic chapter in so many lives, but many of my clients say they feel there is still a big gender gap between men and women, even in retirement.

The women still have to work at home, and mind the grandchildren, a dinner still needs to be put on the table daily, the washing done, the house cleaned... Meanwhile, the men spend more days on the golf course.

If you are coming up to retirement, or you are retired, I hope you embrace it and value it.

Make a good new routine for yourself, keep up the self-care and beauty treatments, don’t avoid the washing and grooming, and put the best version of yourself out to the world every day.

Because, as every wise person knows, tomorrow is not promised to any of us, and that’s why today is called the present - it is a present you just need to unwrap.

You can watch Emer’s weekly beauty video on this on the Emerald Beauty Clinic Facebook, Instagram, TikTok pages now.

Emer O’Callaghan is a beauty doctor and skin specialist who won Irish Beauty Therapist Of The Year and works at Emerald Organic Beauty Products Ltd, trading as Emerald Beauty Clinic, 021 4365949. A multi award-winning Gold Standard clinic, 2008-2025, www.emeraldbeautyclinic.ie, follow us on Facebook/Instagram/TikTok.