So long sucker...oh wait, that's me

When I turned 30, which I admit was a horrible birthday for me, I stopped and took a long look at my life. I was not at all where I imagined I would be. I had a job I enjoyed, wonderful family, great friends, and a wonderful soon-to-be husband, but my life did not resemble the one I created in my mind when I was nineteen. Are they ever?

I decided to make some changes. Most of them good, a few exceptional, a few not so much. One of those "not so much" was my distorted idea that to retain my youthful appearance I needed to toss my drugstore-off-the-shelf cosmetics and skin care and begin using products that were healthier, better for my skin, and highly recommended by the latest style, health, or fitness magazine. Read "expensive."

I've always been told that I do not look my age, so why I thought introducing cosmetics and skin care lines that advertised "take 10 years off" would be appropriate is beyond me. At least now. I began with Clinique. I made an appointment and had the whole make-over, afterall their line is hypo-allergenic, fragrance free. Good for your skin. Their stock rose 35 points that afternoon. I had to take out a small loan.

After 5 years, I heard that Arbonne was better, all natural. At the home party I attended they even passed around a jar full of oil, an example of what goes on your face each day with those other lines. Gross. I had to make room on our vanity for all the orange opaque bottles, the face cleanser, the toner, the tightening serum, the deep hydration face cream, the eye cream, the only at night cream, the untinted sunscreen. I might be missing one. All I know is that after a month I could have deep fried a turkey with all the oil on my face. Okay, maybe not a turkey. How about chicken livers or mushroom caps.

Speaking of mushrooms, the next line I mortgaged my home for was Origins, the Dr. Weill all natural line, the Mega-Mushroom face cream, the Mega-mushroom face serum, Mega-mushroom eye cream, Mega-mushroom face scrub...My skin may have appeared supple and smooth, but the smell of the stuff was hard to get used to. Plus, I kept waiting for the hallucinogenics to kick in.  It was like washing your face with river water and then applying a creamy paste. Again, I ended up buying their cosmetics as well as the skin care line, from foundation to lip liner. Oh, and don't forget the $20 eye makeup remover pads.

I admiit there are items from the Origins line that I truly like. The frothy face wash is awesome. My face always feels squeaky clean and revitalized, and I do like their Youthtopia eye cream. But seriously, do I really need products with sunflower extract, or the oils of some flower I can't pronounce from Zimbabwe, or mushrooms from the floor of the rain forest in South America?

No. Especially when these products cannot guarantee eternal youth-like skin and annually cost the price of a small hybrid car. Okay, maybe not a car. Maybe a Vespa.

Either way. I'm finished. No more expensive skin care and cosmetic lines. It dawned on me yesterday as I was scraping the bottom of my Mega-mushroom face cream that the reason I was practically using a spatula to ensure I used every bit was because of the price I had paid for the putty-like stuff. What was wrong with me? Then I remembered those hazy days just before I turned 30 and how I vowed to change things in my life, go back to school, start writing again, take better care of myself, buy incredibly expensive miracle-touting cosmetics and face creams to stop the clock.

We do foolish things at certain times of our lives. Thirteen years later, I like the face I see in the mirror. And I truly don't believe that those skin care lines are the reason. It's what you put within that shows on the outside and I'm not talking just physically, like drinking water instead of soda, eating veggies instead of french fries. I'm talking physical and spiritual. It's the breath we choose to take, the smile we choose to give, happiness we allow ourselves, the faith we carry.

I just left Target with a $6.00 moisturizer with sunscreen and a $2.00 eye make-up remover in hand. What will I do with all my extra money?

Comments

[Chandra]

This life-altering decision is definitely going to require an update. Please let us know how you're feeling two weeks or a month from now.