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I’ve developed a bit of an obsession with my face. It all started back in March when I had the first completely unexpected and totally nasty breakout (mouth/chin area). Now, I usually get a zit or two during that special lady time of the month, but this breakout came nowhere near that time and it was far worse than the usual hormone induced monthly excitement. I approached the breakout with my usual methods (tea tree wash & oil) and while it cleared up, the reprieve didn’t last for long. I broke out again in April and in May (despite attacking my face with all of the skin clearing techniques I know). At that point, not only was I completely fed up, I was also a bit desperate… standing in front of multiple classes each day all while trying not to think about your fifteen-year-old-esqe face can really get to you. I did a little research and found a very highly-rated esthetician. She gave me the best facial of my life and recommended that I think about switching to Dermalogica products (but she wasn’t pushy about it at all, which is partially why I loved her so much). I did buy a mask that she recommended, but I decided to stay with my blend of Murad and Body Shop products for the time being. She also said that my breakout was due to a combination of hormones and stress and that I should try to stop stressing so much… of course, just thinking about not stressing makes me stress even more because I can’t stop stressing (sigh).
After the facial, my skin looked great for a few weeks and then it all went bad again. I was right back to where I had started… and in full freak-out mode once again. This time, I decided that instead of using the same products (that had seemed to stop working – not only was I broken out, my face was incredibly dry), I would try out the Dermalogica line. Holy crap, it was expensive! I thought Murad was bad. However, when one is having a skin crisis, price isn’t so much of a factor, right? Well, guess what? After almost three weeks of using Dermalogica, my skin is clear, moisturized, and seemingly happy. I still have a few nasty dried out spots (former painful under the skin zits), but I just have to wait for the cells to regenerate in order for them to fade.
Dermalogical is awesome. Dermalogica is also hella expensive. I have a love/hate relationship with expensive beauty products. On one hand, I want it work wonders (it should be magical!), but if it does work, then I must commit to it (which equates to more $$). On the other hand, if it doesn’t work, I feel like a sucker for spending so much money on BS. Ugh. Why I am dealing with this crap in my thirties? What happened to the lovely skin of my twenties? Am I regressing back to the teen years? Ahhhhhh!
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- I've officially hit the festivals/birthdays/trips stretch of the summer. Woo-hoo! As exhausting as it can be (I know, wah wah, I have too many social activities), it's also crazy fun. Upcoming events include a hiking trip to Starved Rock with D (I am sooo excited - I haven't hiked since last fall!), a trip to Indianapolis to visit another awesome friend, and a blogger meet-up tomorrow (I'll leave you in suspense on this one for now, but if you follow either of us on twitter, you already know who it is). :-)
- I'm still drinking Shakeology for breakfast. I've always liked it, but now I've grown to love it. Well, I love everything about it except for one small thing (something they don't tell you about)... it gives you crazy gas! It makes sense because it, uh, well, it cleans you out (it's quite shocking to see how much is packed up there). However, I think they need to consider repackaging their mix with "Warning: this product will cause you to leak toxic sewer gas at the most inconvenient times" label. Oy.
- The battery in my watch died three weeks ago. I pulled out my secondary watch and discovered that the battery in that watch was also dead. I could have pulled out my third watch (a beautiful Hello Kitty Japanese import), but I decided I would just go watch-less for the time being. Three weeks later, I am still sans watch. I've been faithfully wearing a watch ever since I was twelve-ish. I've never not wanted to wear one, but now that I'm not, I feel liberated! I still always know what time it is (thanks to the overabundance of clocks in my apartment & office and my handy iPhone) and I'm still on time for everything... I'm just doing it all without a watch strapped to my wrist. It's strangely freeing. We'll see how long it lasts though, as I may freak out and have an anal change of heart.
- I finally got around to updating my mint.com account and setting up a budget. Thanks to my skin obsession/Dermalogica spree, I was $50 over my personal care budget only two days into June. Ugh. That website is depressing.
3 comments:
I stopped using watches when I started using a cell phone. Same reason, the batteries were dying or the bands were breaking. I'm pretty sure I had close to ten of them at the time, and two were uber expensive.
Now, like you, I still manage to be on time wherever I need to be. But I no longer have that automatic wrist movement to see what time it is. All. Day. Long.
And it *is* very freeing. We know what time it is when we need to know it, but we are no longer ruled by it. Personally, I believe there was some stress built into that automatic wrist movement, so I'm glad I'm not using it anymore. Took a little while for it to go away, too.
My watch battery also died about a month ago, but it was at the crazy end of term, and I simply didn't have (or didn't take) the time to get a new battery. And I'm really getting used to not having a watch and feeling quite freed by it. I decided to keep the watchless thing going during the summer, and I'll reevaluate as the school year begins.
It's so strange because I never thought wearing a watch was a burden or stressful. In fact, I felt discombobulated/naked on days that I would leave home without it. But now that I haven't worn one for weeks... wow, I really feel the difference!
I've decided to stay watchless for the time being. I do occasionally still glance at my wrist for the time, but I'm doing that less and less. It's a big shift for me, as I've consistently worn a watch for the last 20ish years, but it's definitely a good thing (surprisingly!).
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