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Friday, July 16, 2010

Favorite Things Friday: Face Gunk

I don't like putting gunk on my face.  I have been blessed with super-sensitive skin plus allergies to most soaps, lotions, and fragrances.  As a general rule, the more crap I pile on to help my skin, the worse it actually becomes. 

By the time I landed firmly in my thirties, I had come to terms with my less-than-perfect, easily irritated skin.  It went from one extreme to the other and back again.  I dealt with the monthly, cyclical break-outs and was fully aware of the consequences of chocolate indulgence.  Such is life.

I stopped trying to solve the mystery and obtain that magazine-cover flawless-looking skin.  I was old enough and wise enough to realize it was most likely all in the photography...and the touch-up session afterward.  Women don't really have skin like that.  Do they?
 
When I got pregnant with Punky, one thing I looked forward to most was the "glow" expecting women supposedly have and the beautiful, hormone-enriched radiant skin that creates it.  What a load of bullshit that is.  In reality, my skin went the opposite direction and got worse with each passing preggo week.  It was awful.  Quarter-size dry patches that would flake and peel throughout the day.  Acne in painful clusters popped up everywhere.  Ongoing redness that I couldn't conceal with any amount of make-up.  My skin was a complete mess.  So much for the glow...

After Punky's birth, I waited for all those hormones to subside and return to my normal, moderately shitty skin.  When it didn't change in a few months, I thought maybe it wouldn't until I stopped nursing.  Months after that milestone, there was still only a slight amount of improvement.  Dammit.

My nephew got me a gift card for my birthday and against my frugal judgement I decided to take a leap and spend it on some more expensive face gunk.  I hate spending money on stuff like that period.  I think the entire cosmetics industry is full of ridiculously over-priced junk that doesn't live up to the miracle claims made by the manufacturers.  But I was desperate.  I needed to try something.

While I was growing up, my mom always had a bottle of Oil of Olay in the bathroom and she used it faithfully.  After studing the aisle of options at the store, I chose to give it a shot.  I bought the Regenerist series and headed home to wait for my miracle.

I decided to use the scrub only once or twice a week.  My skin was so dry at the time and it seemed to only bring on more irritation in the beginning.  But I did start using the facial moisturizer and under-eye serum every day under make-up...new, more expensive make-up than I would typically use but also forked over the cash for to help aid in the miracle process. 

Days passed.  Weeks passed.  Then, about two months into my new routine, I had a sudden realization while glancing in the mirror.  My skin looked...great!  I was so wrapped up in everyday life that I hadn't even paid attention to the fact that the break-outs had subsided.  I didn't notice the disappearance of the flakes and itchiness.  It hadn't dawned on me that I no longer needed to re-apply make-up throughtout the day to mask all the imperfection.  For the first time since pre-puberty, my skin was clear.  Soft.  Healthy.  Maybe not magazine-cover airbrushed flawlessness, but close enough for me.  I even detected a hint of a glow...sans fetus.

In the back of my mind I couldn't help but think it was a fluke.  I prepared myself for the next monthly tide of hormones that would normally cause a problem, but no problem arrived.  It's been about four months now since I embarked on the journey, and all is well. 

So, I have no choice but to draw the conclusion that the Olay Regenerist products really worked for me and made a world of difference in my skin.  And my self image.  And my self confidence.  It could've been just pure coincidence I suppose, but I'm not willing to give up the gunk and find out.  I like this gunk, and I'm sticking with it.  

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