Another First... Skin Challenges!

This past year has been a tough one dealing with my skin... Pimples that just don't go away. Having survived my teenage years unscathed this was fairly traumatic... While I attempted to solve the problem I spent oodles of money on cover-up, cure-alls and creams!

MAC of course for foundation... and my new FAV - Benefit! Who has a product called "Lemon- Aid" which is a yellow based cover-up that when used with the tip of a brush handle can pinpoint a magical dab to completely disappear your red spot! That said, I must admit, each time I applied these products I feared I was making it worse... So began my adventures in medicine.

It began at my GP's office... She took one look at my chart (not my face) and said, "I see you are hmm... (which is when he gives me an eyebrow) this is just what happens." She advised me to use a mild soap such as Cetaphil for 4 weeks and see how that works. Hmm... no miracle cure here!

Needless to say I ditched that advice and took the advice of Jessica Simpson and joined the Pro-Active team. I must admit I had used this before... almost a decade ago, while I was going through my divorce I had a bout of psoriasis and this product did wonders in clearing up my skin. That said, now I found it way too harsh. I called their "hotline" and was told to reduce my usage to once a week and build up to it, but even that made me feel like I was stripping the first layer of my skin off and not in any way reducing the intended blemishes.

My next attempt was seeing a private dermatologist: Dr. Aliastair Carruthers who started me on a Retin A product called RETISOL-A which comes in varying strength 15 & 25 percent. This made my skin feel great but did not address my pimples. Oh, and did I forget to mention that he suggested that I get some botox while I was addressing my aging skin - aargh!

As fate would have it, I found myself next flying back and forth between Kauai & Vancouver and my skin did not react kindly to the on again, off again sunscreen and air conditioning torture - something I rarely had to deal with in Vancity. My breakouts worsened and my cover-up got stronger. Now I had ramped up to Dermablend a product designed to conceal birthmarks etc. I was getting serious now.


One day I was visiting my parents and my Dad asked me what was wrong with my face! Don't you just love that? I explained I was having some "issues" and that I was working on it and he starts to freak me out by saying he once had similar issues - but upon further inspection discovered they were skin cancer, though he phrased it as, "pimples that went nuclear". He gave me a name of his dermatologist (who it turns out is now retired) but I went to his replacement and he said - NO PROBLEM - the words I had been waiting to hear for months! Then he pulled out this long needle and started walking towards me... Yikes, I froze as he grabbed me by the chin and injected steroids into each pimple - what he called "papules" and once done told me I was all set. Wow, was it that simple? No, of course not... as I was hopping off his table he said, "Oh, I should tell you, there is a 50/50 chance your spots will become divits. DIVITS! He said DIVITS - what the heck was this? Don't you think he should have asked me before he poked me full of steroids if I was open to having DIVITS?

Well... in the end 1 out of 4 spots became a divit and within 3 months it filled back in. That ALL said, the spots - no longer "bumps" that resemble pimples, remain red, and you will still find me using my Lemon-Aid. I'll keep you posted if I come up with any other miracle cures!

Now I know what they meant in the Sex & The City episode when Carrie was looking back through an Album at her youth - and she said, "Gone are the days of even skin tone"!

Wish me luck... If I find a miracle cure, you will be the first to know ;P
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