We’ve totally loved creating and publishing nearly a year’s worth of tips for you—all told, close to 1,000 how-tos, pointers and snippets of what we’d like to call wit and wisdom, delivered with good humor and from a genuine desire to share and swap our secrets, remedies, and good luck charms. You held up your end, too. Not content to leave it at subscribing to our emails, you sent us back your comments, questions, ideas, and, yes, sometimes criticisms, all of which inspired us to do a better job. Women in their middle years are an underserved audience, and it’s been a privilege to serve you. Thanks for being part of our gang this year. We’ll miss you.

With affection,
The editors of Best You

For deep grooves: Treat with a fractional ablative CO2 laser, like Lumenis ActiveFX or DeepFx. The laser vaporizes small portions of the top layers of skin, which smoothes and tightens skin. Your skin will be very red, swollen, and flakey for about a week; some redness may last another month, Arielle says, but you’ll be able to cover it with makeup. Cost: from $800.

For “early” lines: Have a dermatologist inject small amounts of a filler like Restylane or Juvéderm into the border of the lip (where you put lip liner). That prevents an accordion effect when you purse your lips or talk. Cost: from $600.

Don’t want a procedure? Use a retinoid at night, followed by a moisturizer that contains peptides—both boost collagen production. In the morning, apply an antioxidant serum. And if you do nothing else, Arielle says, always use an SPF 30 sunscreen.

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The easiest way to enjoy risotto is seated in a restaurant. The only slightly less easy way: Do as our friend Joe Bastianich, restaurateur and a judge on the TV series MasterChef suggests. Instead of slaving over the stove to turn Arborio rice into risotto, boil the rice in water like you would pasta and drain. “I make this recipe at home for myself and my kids when we need a satisfying and healthy dish,” says Joe. “To make it a complete meal, I sometimes throw in grilled pieces of sliced chicken breast or skirt steak.”

Arborio Rice with Veggies

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

2 cups Arborio rice

1 cup steamed chopped carrots

1 cup steamed chopped celery

1 cup of rinsed, drained canned cannellini beans

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, if desired

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Cook rice until al dente in boiling salted water, drain, and return to pan. Keeping the heat low, add the carrots, celery, cannellini beans and olive oil and toss together with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste, and remove from heat. For a little zing, you can stir in up to ¼ cup of red wine vinegar.

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Soft and lumpy may be good qualities for a pillow, but we’d prefer our legs not be mentioned in the same conversation. To keep our bottom half feeling strong and toned, we consulted with our friend Allison Baver, who, as an Olympic bronze medal winning speed skater, knows all about staying fit, on and off the ice. Her advice was simple: Make like a skater. No, don’t wear head-to-toe spandex. Just keep your legs bent at a 45-degree angle while doing three of Allison’s favorite moves described below. “Bending your legs keeps your hamstrings, quads, and butt engaged which will help you tone up quickly,” Allison tells us. Now we’re talking.

Do the workout as a circuit—complete each move as described, then move directly to the next move without resting. Do the entire circuit twice.

Calf Raise: With your feet shoulder-width apart and knees bent, rise up on your toes, then lower. Continue raising and lowering for 30 seconds.

Skate Position: With your knees bent and feet about three feet apart, shift your body toward your left leg as if you’re skating. Shift your weight toward your right leg to complete one rep. Do 20 reps.

Leg Lifts: Stand with your knees bent, legs shoulder-width apart and hands on your hips.

Balancing on your left leg, slowly lift your right leg and straighten it in front of you. Lower your right leg to return to the starting position. Repeat the movement with your left leg, slowly lifting and straightening it in front of you. Return to the starting position to complete the rep. Do 20 reps.

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To take graying brows back in time, resist the urge to pluck (you risk ending up with patchy brows), says Best You friend and New York City beauty and fashion maven Charla Krupp. Instead, camouflage grays with a brow gel, pencil or powder that matches your hair color. If that isn’t enough to hide grays, Charla says you can have them dyed at the salon when you’re getting your hair colored. “Have a professional do it,” she warns, “you don’t want color to drip and get in your eyes.”