Hi Everyone,

Tina here (+1 662 830 8246, info@nakedactives.com). Here is our latest blog, and Chapter 3 of our recently published book. As you might know, our sister company Terrain Publishing has published a book with Formule De Soin, with a few of our founders from Naked Actives. Every week, we will publish all 10 Chapters from this great read and published book. The title of the book is called Skincare Collective- Conversations with Friends: From all natural skincare to the impact of social media in the beauty industry.  Click the link if you want to buy the book. 

Chapter 1 of the Skincare Collective

Chapter 2 of the Skin Care Collective

Chapter 3 of the Skin Care Collective

Chapter 4 of the Skin Care Collective

Chapter 5 of the Skin Care Collective

Chapter 6 of the Skin Care Collective

Chapter 7 of the Skin Care Collective 

Interview with Marilyn Cottrell

Aging Gracefully

Chapter 3

Founder of Formule De Soin, Marcus Fuchs and Sarah Pritula sat down to speak with Marilyn Cottrell. Marilyn is a long-time friend and mentor to Marcus. When you think of the saying, “Age is just a number”, you automatically think of Marilyn. Marilyn, in her 70’s is vibrant, energetic and full of life. Read more about her tips on Aging Gracefully.

Marilyn: Your face is just beautiful; you have such gorgeous skin. Just shows you know what to do and how to get results! I love your little ditties that you're putting up on Facebook, I enjoy watching, listening, and reading the knowledge you have on skincare, just excellent. 

Sarah: Good! I'm glad that it’s resonating with you. So, thank you for joining me today, and thank you for sharing your tips on skincare. I really enjoyed the tip about the under-eye because I feel like I have some under eye darkness so I am keen to learn more about plumping under the eyes to reduce dark circles.

Marilyn: A lot of people go to dermatologists or doctors who inject and use this gal Dr. Megan.  She is someone that I visit, she’s fabulous at injecting. I’ve used her several times for different parts of my face and I just love her.

Sarah: That's fantastic. You look lovely. Some of the questions we have for you, and the first one you've already answered but let’s touch on it again. What was the one piece of advice you'd give to your younger self?

Can you take us back to your routine when you were young? Like maybe in your 20s? Or 30s? Did you think about skincare?

Marilyn: You know, I think about when I was in my 20s, I was like a makeup remover, cleanser, moisturizer, that's it. I didn't do any of the serums. In my 20s, soap and water and nothing really else. Yeah, in my 30s, maybe late 20s I started putting moisturizer on like the Clinique. I lived in Calgary and  I found the air in Calgary, Canada very dry. I knew that I needed something. Especially in the winter.

Sarah: That makes sense. And then after what turned you towards serums and anti-aging? Was it just finding that you had little brown spots developing? Or did you come across some great product lines that you wanted to try? Walk our readers through that.

Marilyn: Well, mainly, it was because I like to try new things, new products and I did it for a little while. And then I just started to forget it and over time developed a nice little collection of products.

It's unreal, I kept thinking I'll get to them when I really should just pitch those products because I had so many. It  was when I got the brown spots, aka age spots that I starting talking to Dr. Jay. H was the one who told me why I should be using vitamin C serum, more so than anything else. Even if I didn't do anything else to my face the vitamin C cream was imperative. And that's what I told my friends.

Sarah: Fantastic. I'm really glad to hear that the Naked Actives Vitamin C serum also worked for you. What is your favorite product? What do you always recommend?

Marilyn: Well, I like a tinted moisturizer. I don't like foundation. I don't really wear that much makeup, but every single day, I do put on a tinted moisturizer. And that's my favorite thing in the whole world with at least SPF 40 to protect me from the sun. I like to make sure that I reapply it after lunch so that at least twice a day I've really got some protection on my face.

My niece who is a doctor was selling some of these lipsticks that don't smudge and don't get it on your clothes and things like that. ( I do appreciate kissing my grandchildren and not leaving marks) And they do appreciate that because they're boys and boys don't like lipstick.

She also had an undereye concealer that she told me to try and it’s opaque. And it's the first one that I found that just hides those brown marks which have been the bane of my existence.

Sarah: I understand this feeling. Can you tell us what your favorite product line is? I know some people like to mix and match but do you have one that you're loyal to? For example, your concealer, what line is that?

Marilyn: I had a Lipstick that I love.  It’s called Love at First Swipe. I was at Thanksgiving with her family, she had a big dinner and I dropped in afterward to see her new house. And why am I telling you this? Well, my niece ate her dinner, and the lipstick didn't move! So, I asked her what kind of lipstick she was wearing and that's how it all started. I got lipstick and under-eye from her.  I do a little bit of a shadow. And it's Bobby Brown, I like the Bobby Brown eyebrow pencil. It goes on, I'm not fussing around. So those you know, those are the few things that I tend to put on and not much else.

Sarah: Well, whatever you are doing you look fantastic.

Marilyn: You're too kind.

Sarah: Can you tell us a little bit about your thoughts around diet and skincare? Do you think there's a correlation between the two?

Marilyn: Definitely. I'll admit to you. I'm a diabetic and I am much better when I don't eat white. No sugar, no bread, no rice, no pasta but I sometimes sneak a little bit of pasta. My whole body seems to get listless after those foods. I'm almost out of diabetes but, you know, I still have eight or so pounds to go to feel better about it.

One thing that you wouldn't realize, and I love fruit, I've always eaten so much fruit, but because of my body, I can't take the fruit. One of my neighbors who is a doctor said to me to stop eating fruit if you really want to lose weight, and he said, have olives, lemons, limes, avocado, these items will actually get me my vitamin C without having that excess sugar. So, I've been doing that.

The other thing I've done, and nobody's told me to do it, but you know, sometimes when you're a little listless, or you're dragging yourself around it was because of my  disease, I started taking vitamin B12, vitamin B complex. The one my pharmacist recommended was a B 75 because it's not the slow release one, but it was the one that you just get it jam-packed right away. I also take glucosamine with chondroitin to help my knees and my hip. I take 2000 IU of vitamin D. I should be better with the calcium, but that's hard because calcium, you must take it at a different time than anything else, and most of the time I forget. When I remember to take calcium, you have to have magnesium with it, so I have magnesium glycinate, and I take that just before bed.

It’s primarily those two B's and then I take CoQ10 for my heart. But it's primarily the two B's that sort of give me more energy and I find okay, I'm a little bit better when I go on the treadmill.

Sarah: This is great. I recently started taking B 12 and I just put it under my tongue and I love it.

Marilyn: Oh, I swallow it, I don't place the B12 under my tongue.

Sarah: Let’s talk facials. Do you treat yourself to a facial often to sort of keep up with your skincare?

Marilyn: I just started, I never had a facial till about six months ago, and I had my first facial at 75. Now, my daughter, she's Marcus's age. And she’s had a number of facials and is a frequent spa-goer. She decided that she will bring me too, so now I’m getting facials.

Sarah: Fantastic. They're always nice. It's just like a treat for your face.

Can you tell everyone a fun fact about yourself that no one would know about you that you are okay to share as we write this book?

Marilyn: A fun fact hmm.

Marcus: She used to lecture in front of 1000s of students, I think she can come up with something

Marilyn: Oh yes, I would always start my first day of lectures in economics by coming in with a boa and dancing to the Dancing Queen by Abba. I once had a boy come down, and his mother had been on welfare, so he came there feeling like he didn't belong. He had this perception that everyone else was more knowledgeable than him. He was actually brilliant, but he felt you know, out of place. He told me that when I came in dancing to Abba like that he said, okay, I'm here. It's okay, I feel comfortable in this room. Other people, I heard thought, Oh, this strange lady, this is economics, I don't want to be in this class.

Marilyn: Oh, you know, people didn't forget that formula and the fact that they had to take taxation out because it left such an imprint on their mind. And people 20 years later, or kids later that I ran into will tell me that's the one thing that they truly remember.

Sarah: That's awesome. You can tell you would have been an excellent Professor, engaging and fun, especially for economics.

Marilyn: I tried because it is dry. Although I would never admit to that.

Sarah: Just a couple more questions for you Marilyn. What kind of trends Would you like to see in the skincare industry in the next decade?

Marilyn: What kind of trends? I think you're onto something where I wish that there was something like that there for me when I was younger. So that I would have known what to do. You know, my mother washed her face I think with Ponds and Oil of Olay. When she put them on, I had no idea, she never wore any makeup really she put a little lipstick on. I really would have liked that if she passed on her tips and knowledge.

I feel bad to an extent that I didn't give my daughter more direction, but then I had a tomboy, and she was not interested. I think Marcus will attest to that; she just was not interested. She virtually never wears makeup if she's going out somewhere she will. I tried, to this day, to let her do a few things that make her look a little bit better. But for the most part, she just won't do it.

Sarah: That's understandable, some people like skincare and makeup, some people shy away from it.

Marilyn: You know, I kept hoping for a granddaughter so that she would be maybe more like me because I'm very much like one of my aunts. My niece Andrea is like me. We get along well, we like to dress up, we like to be a little Avant-garde. You know, but not my daughter, which is the way she is, but what can I say?

Sarah: And the last question for you is, what do you think is more important? Do you think skincare is more important, or do you think makeup is more important?

Marilyn: Skincare, because without decent skin, the makeup, it’s just going to mask a few problems and it's only temporary especially when you have to take that makeup off. If you're young, and there's someone special, you'd like him to see you at your best all the time.

The other thing I wanted to mention because I've written down a couple of notes.

One of the things I would like to touch on is wash your face, and make sure to pull your hair back. Make sure we wash around at the edges because the makeup will land there but we are not getting it off. I found that I had had a couple of skin tags at the edge because I wasn't getting it all off. I would suggest that girls make sure that they put their head back and they get their facewash right to the very edges.

Sarah: That's such a great point.

Marilyn: Another thing, when I went through menopause, my skin just felt rough. It cleared up afterward, but during menopause, there was a rougher nature to my skin. I should have been applying more cream and all.

You know, sometimes we have freckles, and we don't worry about those freckles, we figure it's just a freckle or beauty mark or something like that. Then it ends up pulling in as one of these brown spots.

The other thing I wanted to share is, I was told I have this brown mark on my leg, so I asked Dr. Jay to look at it. He says you know what? He says I think this probably resulted from an ingrown hair. Just so your readers know that an ingrown hair can turn into a brown spot which can get worse. And then if you shave your legs, you cut off the top and you still get the brown spot. Those brown spots are costly to remove. Do something now and avoid the expense later, especially if you'd  like to save more when you're retired. I didn't have this removed for other people, I had it removed for me because I didn't like what I saw in the mirror.

If you keep looking and seeing this old lady in the mirror, then it can be quite depressing. A funny story to share….I went to get my glasses fixed, I have all these wild & crazy glasses. Afterwards, I went to a girlfriends for lunch and she had invited this friend.  The friend is the same age as me. She dressed like an old lady and didn't have much makeup on. The wrinkles were there.  I asked her how old she was and she shared she was 75, the same age I am. My girlfriend said to me on the way home, the difference is the way I dress, the fact that I have got a little something on my face and that I'm taking a little better care of myself.

We both had the aches and pains and whatever else, but there was such a difference between the two of us, it was unreal. I had forgotten she was the same age as me. I thought she was, you know, several years older. You have to like what you see in the mirror. It stops you from being depressed, you also want to dress to make you feel better.

Sometimes I think, well, I've only got 10 years left, basically, so I give my kids heck if they don't come to visit us, but during this pandemic has been hard. Just the little things that you do for yourself.

Oh, I found a new mascara and I've had trouble with mascara, but it is called Better Than Sex Mascara. You know who told me, the girl who sort of sells their stuff at the dermatologist’s office. We were talking and I said I need something, and she says I use the brand Better Than Sex Mascara. And I started using it as the best thing ever. Wow! I was pleasantly surprised that I found it but the problem is I can't use anything on my lower eyelashes anymore. I get raccoon eyes.

The last thing I wanted to say is if you're young, look at those areas that an older person has that you say, oh, that person is old. Ask yourself why are you saying that person's old? Maybe they have brown marks on their face or brown marks on their hands, brown marks on their chest. Those are the kinds of things that you want to say to yourself, I want to avoid that. I put the Vitamin C cream on my face, I put it on my upper chest, I put it on my hands. So I've tried to avoid those things so I can fool some people, that I'm not as old as I am till they see me walk.

Sarah: Those are really wonderful tips. Thank you so much.

Marilyn: Oh, you're welcome. It's been a pleasure.

Sarah: Such great insights. I think we're going to do a really great conversation story about what you've shared with us.

Marcus: Thank you, for your time and for your answers Marilyn. This will go a long way in educating others about their skincare journeys.

Marilyn: Excellent, I am so happy to help.

About Marilyn Cottrell

Marilyn worked in the Economics Department of Brock University for 32 years. Seventeen of those years were part-time as she raised her four children and fifteen years were full-time lecturing microeconomic principles and macroeconomic principles.

During those years, Marilyn was noted for her contagious enthusiasm for economics due to her scintillating and entertaining approach to teaching. Many students became fascinated in economics and pursued this major. Students overwhelmingly reported that Marilyn has a “unique, effective, and interactive way of getting through to students”. Her openness and patience with students were remarkable.

Marilyn developed numerous visual simulations for both microeconomic and macroeconomic principles; she began Walk-in Clinics prior to midterms and finals; she wrote modules for economic mathematics in conjunction with Academic Zone; added alumni profiles to textbooks to enable students to become accustomed to various employment choices; wrote and published workbooks for both microeconomics and macroeconomics to better acquaint students with economic problems; made many presentations to the American Economic Association and to the International Atlantic Economic Society.

From 2011 to 2016, Marilyn was a member of the advisory panel to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank; and from 2012 to 2016, a member of the advisory committee to the Brock University Faculty of Education.

Marilyn retired in 2017 after having won numerous awards: 1998, Award for Part-time Instructors and Teaching Assistants; 2003, “Making a Difference” Award; 2006, The Council of Ontario Universities Award for Excellence in Teaching with Technology; 2007, Brock University Students’ Union Teaching Award; 2009, Don Ursino Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Large Classes; 2013, Brock University Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching; and 2014, Brock University Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Marilyn now spends her time taking painting classes and doting on her four beautiful grandsons.