Judy Mowatt uses aloe vera on her skin.By Winston Wilson, Jr., Staff Reporter
WHETHER IT is stunning diva appeal, boyish good looks or a youthful maturity, several entertainers have denied time its ravaging revenge. In an era where image is everything, they seem to have been hand-picked by nature to live free of lines, wrinkles and the other tales of time.
Take Weston Haughton. The creative director is not your typical 50-year-old he has a dazzling smile, easy laugh and skin as smooth as a baby's bottom. Stand aside lines and wrinkles.
"There's no secret... laughter is absolutely the best medicine. Proper diet and exercise are also important to good health," he explained.
Dairy products have no place in Weston's diet and he has not had a soda in over 30 years.
"I sleep a lot. Sometimes when I wake up I just lie in bed and relax," he said.
"I make sure to get professional facials at least once every two months and a massage once a week," he revealed.
"I feel good, I look good, and I am 51 (years old) this year. Hello!" he boasted.
Songbird, Marcia Griffiths, has an occasional massage and facial to keep her skin in tip top condition.
"I really don't know what is the secret; I think I look older than my years," said the 48-year-old performer.
The former I-Threes member said she sometimes go to the gym and "just try to keep healthy".
For singer, Leroy Sibbles, the secret is "living a clean life" and having a "clean mind".
"If yuh keep all the burden of revenge and dem tings dey on yuh mind, they will whither you down!" he emphasised.
Each day the singer spends 30 minutes on a stationary bicycle, does push-ups and other exercises to keep trim.
"Fish is my main diet and lots of vegetable juice. I don't do a lot of 'bleaching' or late-nighting. Me cut out all a dat," he told The Gleaner.
For some entertainers it is an "unexplainable blessing", or a pay-off from rigid dieting and exercise over the years. For others it is a matter of genes, or wizardry with cosmetics.
Jazz singer Myrna Hague has the requisite dash and spry to rival any younger woman. This '40-something going on 16', she credits her preserved good looks to good genes and her ability to use make-up proficiently. She eats a lot of fruits and vegetables as well.
"I buy good clothes and good cosmetics. I go to the beauty shop a lot and I get regular facials it's called maintenance, it's a part of the job. If you can use make-up well, you can play down what is not too good and enhance what is. I did a course in make-up techniques with Max Factor in London, so I know what colour to put to what parts of the face and other technical things," Myrna told The Gleaner.
Actor, broadcaster, Charles Hyatt is a sprightly gazelle. Despite his three-score years and 10, he still moves from difficult acting roles, where he is famous for his exaggerated facial expressions, to turning cartwheels (as in his burst of enthusiasm at a recent birthday tribute to him).
"I can't explain why I look as I do because I have broken all the rules I used to drink too much, smoke too much, and eat and drink all the wrong things," he said.
'Charlie' has changed. Nowadays, he eats a lot of fruits and nuts, topped up with "lots of rest".
What of facials and exercise? "Good Lord, no!", was his response.
He was a body-builder in his youth, now he plans to re-visit the gym.
Bank operations supervisor and singer, Phyllis Dillon, spoke with The Gleaner from her home in New York. "I have never had a facial. Sometimes I use lime juice on my face; I don't get enough sleep, so I just don't know what it is. I used to swim a lot, maybe that helped," she said.
"I am blessed with good genes," Alton Ellis said from his home in London, England. Plus he rides a bicycle every day to keep fit.
Judy Mowatt who is "over 45 ", said her clean, smooth skin is hereditary. In addition she drinks a lot of water, gets "lots of rest" and goes to the mineral bath a lot.
"I was taught by Bob Marley to do a lot of physical exercise," she said.
It is a combination of heavenly blessing, the food and "how yuh move" said Derrick Harriott.
"I take a lot of Vitamin E tablets, which is good for the skin. Recently I have been using a lotion called Cuten, which protects the skin like a sun block," he revealed.
While refusing to disclose his age, the 'Chariot' started rolling somewhere between 1938 and 1944.
