Hi everyone,

We’re in peak-SPF season, and it’s difficult to escape the tyranny of dermatologists throughout the land reminding us to use sunblock. Every. Single. Day. Reapplied every two hours. Ostensibly, it’s about skin cancer, but it’s not not about looking old, too. 

Anti-aging pressure is baked into every facewash, moisturizer, foundation — and, yes, sunscreen — on the shelf. But this week’s writer, Julia Craven, imagines another way: embracing wrinkles and all the signs of a life fully lived. Her secret? Regular time with her great-great-grandma.

(West)Coastal Grandmothers at heart,
The Prism Team

Julia Craven is a writer and editor whose work has been published in The Best American Science and Nature Writing, The Washington Post, New York Magazine, and more. She also leads The Library of Black Wellness and Healthy Futures, a health and science newsletter. Most importantly, Julia is a whiskey-loving, loud and proud Tar Heel.

One thing that makes Julia feel well: “A hot shower before I slather on my favorite lotion and get in bed to play Sudoku until I pass out. I’m not that great about no screens before sleep, and I don’t care to be.”

I’m not worried about how I’ll look when I’m older. I grew up surrounded by four generations of women whose beauty only got better with age — faces etched by laughter and late nights, not botox and fillers. Their lines told stories. Their loosened skin carried decades of living. They’d been here a while, and it showed in the best way. There was my great-great-grandma Vinnie; my great-grandmother, nicknamed Muss; my Nana; my Mama; and me.