Some good things + resuming a skincare routine….

It feels good to be home.

I already told you how I launched myself right from vacation -> back into work mode. Ivan and I both felt pretty sleep deprived for a few days due to the red eye flight, obviously, but also I’m sure just the time change (2 hours earlier on Vegas time) and many late nights + tons of walking.

As a result, I slept in every morning this week (normally I set an alarm for 5:15, but I didn’t this week and just woke up naturally around 7 am.) I needed the extra sleep. However, I also felt “off” without my usual morning time to get organized.

The evenings have been rather occupied with the World Cup, too, so I have been slow to do much else besides work + watch soccer. ha.

Exercise was slow to resume. I hate that I always do this! I always have such a hard time “getting back on the horse” after time away. But alas, I did it yesterday- I hit the gym on my lunch hour. I have a new plan for July that I’m excited about, and I think we’re back on track.

Some good things from the week:

Wearing Mexico jerseys and watching the game together (at Buffalo Wild Wings) Tuesday night. No, after a 10 day vacation we did NOT need to go out to eat again…. but we basically had no food at home.

The U.S.A. win!!!!!! on Wednesday. Woohoo. We watched this one at home; Ivan made homemade nachos and his mom came over. (In town now for the summer, staying with us sometimes and with his sister sometimes.) Lisa and I were texting anxious texts back and forth throughout as it looked touch and go there for a while!! haha.

Resuming walks. I’m determined to up my steps a little bit. I always notice how nice it feels on vacation to be much more active than usual!

This week:

Being back together with Charlie 💕💕:

It was his 3rd birthday on Tuesday!! Can you believe it? 3 already?!

I hit my 20th Anniversary at work. !!! This came in the mail the other day.

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Skincare

*Disclaimer: I’m no skincare expert, most of the below is basic drugstore level, and I don’t even have great skin. 😅 Ha. So don’t read this as “advice”…it’s just me talking on my blog. 😉

I decided recently that I want/need to resume a more formal skincare regimen. I’ve been admittedly very lax lately- just washing my face and moisturizer, that’s it.

If anyone remembers, I’ve dealt with hormonal acne for the past 5-6 years. It absolutely sucks and I hate it. Thankfully, it’s finally been pretty well controlled in the last year or so since I went on oral Spironolactone (100 mg daily).

While I was adjusting the Spiro dose, I basically went off all other products temporarily, just so I could get a clear picture of what worked or didn’t. Now that things have been better (finally), I want to reincorporate some other products, for a more complete routine again.

Skincare is not an area that I’m interested in spending a fortune on, mostly because the dermatologists I met with all seemed to say that’s not really necessary, and that overall, less is more. (And we spend a lot of money on other priorities, and buying $100 tubes of anti-aging creams is not one of them.)

I do want to be mindful of my age (42 1/2) and put a little more effort in here again, though. I think my face could use a little “brightening”, plus some help to slow down aging, and I also struggle with melasma (hyperpigmentation), too, which also sucks. Despite having a history of adult acne issues (ironically, never had in my teens… 🙄), my skin is not oily at all anymore (especially since going on the Spironolactone), so I want to do a better job at keeping it nicely hydrated, also.

Here’s what I’m currently doing:

Morning:

• 1. Wash face with Neutrogena face wash bar
• 2. Apply CeraVe Vitamin C serum (thanks Sarah J for the rec- I had tried a Drunk Elephant Vitamin C in the past, which was $$ and this one is perfectly nice and feels great on)
• 3. Apply 15% Azelaic Acid gel (this was prescribed to me by my derm for both acne and melasma treatment)
• 4. Finish with CeraVe Ultra-Light Moisturizing Lotion (SPF!) (when this one runs out, I might try the Elta MD sunscreen people always talk about… but this one seems fine, too.)
• 5. Final layer: old school Ponds Dry Skin Cream! Ha. I feel like an old lady when I put this on, but I tried it in the winter at my mom’s house and it felt so good and smooth and hydrating on my skin (AND it didn’t break me out!), that I’ve kept using it. (Literally for the last 6-9 months, all I was doing was washing my face + Ponds dry skin cream.)

Before bed:

• 1. Wash face with Neutrogena face wash bar
• 2. Apply 0.05% Tretinoin (aka Retin A, a prescription from my doctor. The derms seemed to say if you use ONE product on your skin, use Tretinoin. )
• 3. Rub in Palmer’s Skin Therapy Face Oil. TBH this is something I’m mostly just trying right now, because it saw it recommended and then spotted it at the grocery store(!), but I love how it feels! It gives me a nice “glow” but then soaks in and doesn’t leave my skin feeling greasy.
• 4. Finally, finish with CeraVe Skin Renewing Night Cream.

It feels luxurious to treat myself to an actual skincare routine (even though none of the products are lux), and I’ve been finding myself looking forward to it. My skin feels happy so far, too. 🙂

What’s your skincare routine? I know there are a million opinions on this stuff, so, like I said- I’m totally not telling anyone to do what I’m doing! So far, so good, though. 🤷‍♀️

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful that the 4th falls on a Saturday, which means I get a “floating holiday” day, or bonus 8 hours of PTO time in my bank. (Working today.)