Deborah's Story

Remember Deborah? Our featured model is back, and she’s sharing her 40-year journey to feeling confident, sexy and courageous in her 60s.

Video Transcript:

Deborah Fong. I'm 63, soon to be 64. I think 20s and 30s were fun, I was more bothered by 40 and 50. And 60 is, "I'm here, and let's make the most of it."

I'm using this time to challenge myself, to do things I've never done before. I think, you know, you turn 60 and suddenly people are saying, "Oh, you're 60?" It's almost as if they're expecting you to pull back, and I didn't wanna pull back so I started pole dancing.

Here I am, I'm looking for an exercise to keep healthy, I want to do something that's good for me. And my cousin-in-law's niece is a pole dance instructor and she promised me a free class.

It never happened, so I looked for a studio, and I started and I go five days a week. I think I was a little intimidated. I mean, there are all these poles and you're supposed to climb them, and I just said, "Keep at it." And now I can climb and I can do certain tricks. I'm not inverting but that will come.

Sexy is when you're confident. If you're feeling confident, you're sexy. When you're feeling confident, you look good. When you're feeling confident, you smile more.

Being in a group and challenging myself to do something physically difficult, and it is difficult, reaching certain goals, reaching what you want to do, that's fabulous.

And yeah, the whole pole thing is a little sexy, sure. When you're 20, you are sexy, you know, you're lovely, you're young, you're new, everything is a new experience.

I think in my 60s, I know what sexy is and I don't have to try at it, I feel it because I know what it is. And I'm confident about my own self in that skin.

My lines are my life. Maybe there are little lines over here, that's because of I've worried, and I've also laughed, and I've cried. And all those other things that I'm doing that I've never done before and that I'm enjoying now, that's more important than the lines.

I make myself feel vital and alive.

I think you have to find your own vitality, you have to find your own truth, you have to find out who you are. You have to be your own force of nature.

Don't go to bed with makeup. Wash your face, put a toner on, put some cream on at night.

In the morning, wash your face, put your toner, put your moisturizer on and get the heck out. As easy and simple as it can be.

I didn't wear makeup my whole life because my mother was really strict, and when all my teenage friends were wearing makeup, she said, "No."

And then somewhere in my mid-20s, she looked at me and said, "Why aren't you wearing makeup?" "Because you told me not to." So I went through most of my life without makeup. You know, you do it every once in a while, big occasions, but it's really very basic. As easy and simple as it can be.

I tried the mask last night, and I had a friend over so we both tried it, which was really cool. And we were both walking around with really chocolatey faces, it was kinda cool. Smells really, really good. The consistency was really interesting and it smells like honey and I love honey. And then we took it off. I had a sheen, just looked alive.

And while the mask was on, you felt these little kinda tingles. It didn't hurt, you know, just a little tingly like there was a little massage going on. My skin looked very smooth

And then we took it off. I had a sheen, just looked alive. And while the mask was on, you felt these little kinda tingles. It didn't hurt, you know, just a little tingly like there was a little massage going on. My skin looked very smooth afterward, and supple.

After I did the mask, then I put the Boomsilk on and that too gives you a different type of sheen. And then I tried the color stick. This morning, I even went amongst my friends and I just, kind of, had it on a little bit before I came. And they said, "Yeah, your skin does look more vibrant and it's a little bit more supple."

My younger self was really not as confident or as sure of herself as she should've been, and she certainly should've been.

I would definitely tell her not to be so timid. I would definitely tell her that she should trust her instincts, she should trust who she is, and to take a really good look in the mirror and be happy with what you see.

I was given a lot of freedom to do things but I don't think they really understood where I could've gone with what I had going. I didn't have that type of courage by myself. But I would definitely tell my younger self, "Go for it. Let it all out."

You know, I may retire in a couple of years, so I have to see what I'm going to do. And I've already started laying plans for that as well because that's what you have to do.