Friday, November 9, 2012

Regimen Building: Beauty, Skincare Edition


It has been many months since my last henna and indigo.  Hence, I have a giant, honking white hair right up in the front.  This hair is even wirier than the rest of my hair-the better to stick out no matter what style I attempt.

It's giving me major angst.

It really does look like a trick of the light when you look at it.  Unless you KNOW.  If you know it looks like this.

Personal Image
What's funny is that I never thought I would be the type to freak out about aging-probably because I never really thought I would.  I have a chubby baby face and good genes.  I have aunts who haven't seen thirty in decades who still look like they are in their late twenties.  Why can't my hair get with the program?

As I was ogling my gray hair in the mirror, I noticed something else.  I have a smattering of blackheads and a few things that look suspiciously like pimples.  What the hell!  I have never had issues with these things in the past.  Is this what edging up on thirty will bring?  Will it be wrinkles and turkey neck next? 

Okay-I knew I had some issues.  This bad boy has been stressing me for months.

Personal Image
All of my efforts to remove it have met with varying degrees of failure.  Wes and I tried squeezing it out with an extractor tool.  That was working, however, the pain of pressing against that particular area was too much for Wes to take.  (It hurt like a mother so I couldn't force myself to do it.)  Wes backed out when my eyes started to tear up.
Me: Seriously-is this what birth is going to be like?
Wes: Are you comparing squeezing a blackhead with birth.
Me: Don't change the subject.
Wes: You know, you could do this yourself.
Since that episode, I've left the spot, and my hair, alone while I did some of my trademark internet research.  (This consists largely of product reviews on Makeup Alley and youtube)

Can I just add-googling "blackhead" will send you to some of the grossest, nastiest . . . . horrible videos on the internet.  It's late for Halloween but OMG.  You really might not want to click that link.

My next henna treatment is going to have to wait until we have our own place because it's an involved process and my application skills are still a little messy.  As for my face-I determined that what I really needed was to establish a skincare regimen.  

Personal Image

A regimen is defined as a way of life or diet for the promotion or restoration of health.  A skincare regimen for me, specifically, would include those factors I believe necessary to restore the balance of my skin and maintain that balance.  

I decided on cleaning, treatment, and maintenance as my key areas.  I also decided to invest.  

1, 2, 3, 4
For regular cleansing, I decided to go with (2) SheaMoisture's black soap because it doesn't contain any gross stuff.  That is my general term for sulfates, parabens, etc.  This soap is not drying and it can be used for face and body.  However, it is pricey so I have only been using it on my face.  It is also black soap which means the lather will be black.  This can be a little jarring the first time you use it.

On the treatment end, I also picked up the (1) St. Ives Apricot Scrub.  It contains salicylic acid which is used to treat blackheads.  Additionally, for direct application I went old school with an (3) astringent from Clean and Clear.  I only apply this on affected areas-so that giant polka dot on my nose gets the treatment two or three times a day.  

The centerpiece of my new regimen is this little at-home microdermabrasion tool from (4) Olay.  This one was pretty expensive at 29.99.  There are less expensive machines out there by other brands but I chose this one because it was the most flexible and most cost effective over time.  You can use this with the exfoliating product it comes with or the product of your choice.  Additionally, the brush is multi use and replacement brush heads are ten dollars.  Similar products require you use their replacement products and I really didn't want to commit to that.

The first time I used this I was surprised that it was much more gentle than I expected it to be.  It was actually more gentle than most facial scrubs I have used.  After using it though, I noticed that my face was brighter and noticeably smoother.

My tentative skincare routine will include morning cleansings with black soap followed by astringent on problem areas and moisturizer.  Three evenings a week I will use the microdermabrasion tool followed by moisturizer.  The remaining evenings I will clean with soap, treat with astringent, and moisturize.  (After this attack phase, if you will, I think I will switch to using the St. Ives scrub two or three nights a week, followed by astringent and moisturizer.)

In other words.  . .  out, damned spot; out I say.

I'll let you know how it goes.

*As far as moisturizers go, I generally prefer Cetaphil.  I do have a sample size of a Eucerin moisturizer that I have been using but I'm really not feeling it.

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