I have been waging war against my face most of my life. I guess I should clarify- war against the skin on my face is a better way to put it. And lately the war has gotten worse.
When I look in the mirror I first see the things I don’t like- I think most people do. I notice the bump/ ridge on the top of my nose that runs in my dad’s family. I see freckles that didn’t used to be there. I see my mouth, teeth and lips which I have always thought were too big for the rest of my face but lately seem to be what I get complimented on. I see my eyes which are a weird color (mostly green) and that I still think are my best feature even thought my smile has been getting the attention lately.
But the first two things I see are the ones that I am constantly fighting- wrinkles and zits. A medication change after surgery last year has changed my chemistry in such a way that I now have both of these things to handle at the same time. Joy. I have spent far more time and money than I care to admit in the skin care aisle trying to figure out what ammo to bring to the fight that day. Most acne treatments are not designed for 30 something skin and leave me peeling like a bad sunburn or with an odd rash after a couple days use. Most wrinkle treatments are not meant for skin that still breaks out and many of them seem to make my breakouts worse.
This week I bought a jar of good old fashioned Noxema Skin Cream that I first used in 1985. I used that for years until my skin got too dry and I switched. Now that I don’t have THAT problem anymore we’ll see if it works any better than all the new and improved lotions and potions I’ve tried in the past year. It can’t do any worse and apparently if I just smile a lot I’m the only one who will notice anyway.