My Skin

I was blessed with good skin. It is a gift from my grandmother, Christine. She became more luminescent over time and had a glow from the inside. It appeared that the dimmer amped up a touch each year right until she approached her centennial and left us.

Because I have been blessed with good skin, I have also taken it for granted. I didn’t have a girly mom who taught me how to take care of it. Rather, as it were with most things, I raised myself trying to figure it all out. My skin was no exception.

But it occurred to me this year, at the age of 53, that it might actually be time to consider it. It is the beautiful satchel that keeps me all in, that hides me when needed, that touches and is touched. And it appears, like Grandma, that the dimmer is amping year over year. So, why not polish it?

I’m learning how to feel again, quite literally. And this seemed a logical place to start as it is my largest organ – even bigger than my heart - and fully accessible to the world. So, I courageously called an upscale boutique as a Skin Rookie and enlisted the help of the owner – a woman just my age. I started by confessing my lifelong French sins of Clinique and Garnier or, worse yet, their American stepchild, Clean and Clear. Mon Dieu! She listened without judgment and asked me to come at the end of that same day. When I arrived, she closed the shop and sat with me.

She didn’t judge that I couldn’t afford the most expensive line. And she didn’t remark about my lines or even the scars from the few sun-induced mishaps I have had removed. She simply spent time with each bottle and dropper and tub, one after the next, explaining what they are, how to use them and why they work. And then, one after the next, with gentle kindness she applied them to my face.

And in that moment, I felt. Both physically and otherwise. The cleanser made me feel present. The peel – alive; the neutralizer - nourished. The serum seemed to seal that in and the moisturizers softened me. But, the woman? She made me feel seen and honored and connected.

Because of my courage and her compassion, I have taken to a daily regimen of skin care twice a day. While the products are really working the important thing is the time that I am taking for myself. Simple. 20 minutes, twice a day.

Tiny circles with the cleanser, a cold rinse. They both feel good. A look at myself and the ‘assertive’ gray streak in my hair (which I love by the way!) while I wait for my skin to dry enough to apply the peel. A long and proper tooth brushing and flossing before I apply the neutralizer and the serum. Then another pause and appreciation for the gift my Grandma gave me before applying the eye cream and moisturizer. The regimen makes me softer in every way.

While I learned a great deal from that lovely woman, the lesson she left me with most of all was to look forward to this time because it’s a joy and a privilege, not a burden, to care for oneself. So, I do! And with that, perhaps even because of that, I shine a little more each day.