Getting Under Your Skin (Not Really)

Call me skeptical but I never believed in the “sonic” revolution. Why do the bristles of my toothbrush need to spin at the speed of light? Is it going to give me Sofia Vergara’s smile? Probably not. I was equally unimpressed when my dentist raved about them because, really? Aren’t you getting a cut of the proceeds? Then I saw the Philips Sonicare toothbrush at CostCo and while my interest in oral hygiene doesn’t go much beyond ‘brush-rinse-spit-floss’ if it ends in $$.99 AND I have a coupon I will buy it. Now I’m evangelical about this thing but as someone who stands by their misconceptions to the bitter end I thought ‘OK, fine, this is good for teeth, but skin?’ nope, just a scam to sell pricey face scrubbers. Hello, people, it’s called a Buf-Puf and some extra effort. 

Again, I have been proven wrong. My SIL gave me the Clarisonic Mia face cleanser and after the first time I used it I checked the bottom of the sink because I was certain there was a pound of groddy dead skin there. There wasn’t but my skin has never felt so clean and soft. You could get that with a Buf-Puf but not without a certain loss of blood from the abrasions plus it’s a Petri dish for bacteria.

My final reason for this endorsement (which is absolutely without pay- unless you’re reading, Clarisonic folks) is that once you reach a certain age what you gain in wisdom is lost in skin cell turnover. Using your hands or a washcloth doesn’t cut it. You need to remove the dead skin both for the health of your skin and to prime it for whatever anti-aging skin products you’re then going to slather on. Enough said.

On the lighter side of skincare I want to mention a group of products that has come to me via my other SIL (seriously, there are no other SILs like my SILs when it comes to generosity and gift-giving). I’m a huge fan of buying local whether it’s food, accessories, books, you name it. Sue feels the same way about Cleveland, OH and so far she has sent me some gorgeous jewelry and now various products from this yummy skincare line called Beecology. It’s all natural and paraben-free (which is important if you’re a woman), is environmentally conscious of the plight of the bee (again, if you don’t know you ought to read about colony collapse disorder, because how do you think crops/flowers/trees pollinate?), locally owned and manufactured.

If NONE of that matters to you (philistine) then here’s all you need to know: smells great and does exactly what it says it will with a minimum of fuss and ingredients. Their soaps come in such delicious scents as lemongrass hemp and honey/lavender and their olive oil/shea butter hand/body cream moisturizes without leaving you sticky or slippery. Their lip balm is on my chap stick addiction roster (thanks to this gift from Sue, who is an enabler). If all that isn’t enough they also donate 10% of their profits to a charity of your choice. My only teensy issue there is that one of their choices is Komen and I’m finished with them. I simply don’t believe in using organizations that promote their personal agendas via the organization. Not right. Thankfully, there are numerous other choices I do support.

That covers my seminar on how to keep your skin smooth, soft, and chemical free. Check back on Monday when I’ll head back into the land of superficial and discuss who wore what at the Oscars. Thankfully, they don’t get to judge me.