Love the skin you're in

I have a love/hate relationship with my skin. On the one hand, being fair skinned means that I've been pretty good about sunscreen over the years so I'd like to think I have fewer wrinkles and sun damage. On the other hand, being fair skinned means I NEVER tan, so I'm always a sucker for the latest self-tan products, most of which look like I applied them without proper exfoliation.

One of the blessings of growing older is that those dreadful hormonal years of my youth are behind me, along with the angry pimples and prescription acne creams. Yet, just when I thought my thirties were the benchmark for clearer skin, I happen to look closely in the mirror after washing my face  one night and noticed an all out assault of blackheads lurking just below my skin. At first I'm like, it's okay they are just blackheads, but then I google "lots of blackheads," and realize they are just a different kind of pimple, but a pimple they are!

Okay, I know you're looking at this picture and you're like, what pimples?! It's the lighting. My skin is so dry and blotchy and what you don't see in addition to the gajillion blackheads is that I also have these small white and red bumps on my chin, smile line, between my eyebrows and around my eyes. When my skin is a mess, it totally bums me out. My latest flare up left me perplexed. I'm a sucker for product packaging so I've tried high end, low end, and everything in between. I finally google "tiny red bumps on smile line" and bam, there's all these blogs dedicated to the same thing! I self-diagnose Perioral Dermatitis or PD. No one seems to know what causes it and no one seems to know what clears it up (save yourself the trip to the dermatologist).  This blog gave me some natural solutions like Apple Cider Vinegar. The findings:  YUCK! Not only does it burn like hell, but I could barely stand the smell of myself. Another solution was to STOP exfoliation. The findings: This goes against nearly every fiber in my body especially with dry flaky skin, but I did lay off the scrub successfully. A third solution was to stop wearing make up and do as little as possible to your skin. The findings: After going back and forth between tinted concealers and various foundations, I found I was unable to go cold turkey on a completely unmade face, but I did stay true my Bare Minerals make-up, which true or not, I felt was better for my skin than the alternatives. 

The results: The PD ultimately went away, either on its own or through some combination of the above, but the blackheads persisted. At one point I swear nearly every single one of my pores was suffocating under a tarmac of black oily dirt.

Here's what finally worked for me:

1. I've kept on using my Aveeno Oatmeal Moisturizing Bar soap as a cleanser. It's cheap, does not dry my skin, and gets rid of most of my eye make-up.

2.  I started an exfoliating regimen inspired by Giada in her new cookbook Feel Good Food. She uses a rice flour/olive oil blend each night. Anxious to give it a try, I turned to what was in my pantry, which was NOT rice flour. I did have oatmeal so I blended it up to make a coarse flour and mixed with olive oil. It felt like coarse sand with crushed shells in it, which didn't feel very good on my face. Not wanting to waste the mash, I thought it would make an excellent body scrub in the morning. Wrong again. Not only did my shower look like someone vomited all over, it smelled like my son when he use to eat oatmeal every morning, with most of the oatmeal mashed into his hair, face, and clothes. I'll keep the oatmeal in my face bar.  

Next I tried a blend with chickpea flour, which I happened to have in my pantry after another home facial mentioned by Dr. Oz. . The Dr. Oz blend seriously made my face look like a oompa loompa because it had turmeric in it, but when I mixed the chickpea flour simply with olive oil, it was quite nice. It didn't have the grit I was expecting, and it did make me smell like a legume afterward, but it left my skin feeling really great.  

Lastly, after a trip to Whole Foods, I tried Giada's actual recipe of 3 tablespoons rice flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. This felt like fine sand and seems to be the happy medium. Despite the daily exfoliation, my skin feels awesome. My pores are actually smaller.

3. Afterward, Giada says she always splashes with cold water to seal up her pores. I do this, plus swab Witch Hazel across my face for extra measure. 

4. The last thing I do- and I really think this has been the game changer-I switched to a water based moisturizer by Kiehls. I use the Ultra Facial Cream at night and the daytime version with SPF 30 during the day. 

The most expensive part of this regime is the under eye cream, also from Kiehl's, but I swear it too has made a difference in the lines under my eyes and my crows feet. It's $40. Ouch. I know. Although, considering my cleansing bar is $3.50, the rice flour paste is pennies, the astringent is $5.00, and the moisturizer is $26; I felt there was room to splurge on the area that shows my age most-especially in the name of self-care.