Recovering English Major

Ideally, I wouldn’t consider myself a vain person, though I know I can be. I don’t know if that is a remnant of my awkward period (which, let’s face it, lasted from the time I was 9 to about 20), or something else, but between my hair and my skin I never seem to be completely satisfied.

As a kid, I had stick-straight hair. And then one day at thirteen, I pretty much just woke up with a whole head full of curls. No one in my family had curly hair—my mom’s hair was only ever vaguely wavy, if anything—and I had no clue how to deal with it. Luckily, my best friend from childhood was going through exactly the same thing, so over the years, we found products and techniques that seemed to work for us.

And then, of course, as soon as we perfected a curly routine, our hair magically lost its curl.

Yet, all throughout my tragic hair experiments, even during the times when I had a triangle for a head of hair, my skin stayed pretty smooth. I considered myself a lucky teenager, as puberty hadn’t seem to affect my skin too much at all. I didn’t start wearing any foundation or cover-up until I started college, and my skin seemed pretty happy that way. But my junior year of college, just as, of course, my hair was beginning to figure itself out, my skin decided to rebel and I had more and worse breakouts than ever.

I went through years of dermatologist appointments and prescription dugs and lotions. The summer before senior year, I spent my holiday in Kuwait, visiting my family, and my skin got so bad that I made an appointment with a dermatologist at a local hospital there. After pretty much calling me fat and insinuating that, as an American expat, I didn’t know how kilos and the metric system worked, she prescribed me several topicals that I was not supposed to use if I would be exposed to high heat or direct sunlight.

It was Kuwait. In the summer. There was no possible way I could avoid heat or sun.

Numerous doctors and solutions later (aforementioned curly-haired friend now works for LUSH Cosmetics and bought me a whole regimen of skin treatments for my birthday), I finally found a dermatologist who listened to my concerns and wants. So here, at 23, after years of dealing with crappy skin and crappier solutions, I have finally found a solution that (mostly) works for me.

Old lady cream and Greek yogurt.

Of course, retinoid creams are not just for wrinkly skin, and are often effective in treating acne, as it has been with me. It has honestly been a miracle product. And to top it off, I discovered, through a huge free sample that might be indicative of my Sephora addition, KORRES Greek Yoghurt Advanced Sleeping Facial. I don’t know what differentiates a “sleeping facial” from regular old night moisturizer. But whatever it is, it works.  Perfectly moisturizing, even when dealing with flaky dry skin caused by the retinoid, and most importantly, it doesn't break me out.

images from personal, sephora.com