Warning: Girly talk about skin care and cosmetics ahead.
The antibiotic from my dermatologist appears to be working. I hardly have any new pimples, and the ones that I do have are little and near the hairline on my forehead, which is where I usually get them. But then last weekend, I started to notice that I was getting some dry skin around my eyes. Which presented a problem, since I don’t own any type of moisturizer that one would use on one’s face. Don’t yell at me for this, I know it’s a major girl no-no, but come on. Why does an already oily-faced person need more moisture? I just never saw the point, so I never used the stuff. To be honest, I tried using it a few times in high school and college (I don’t remember the brands I tried, I’m pretty sure it was usually cheap drug store stuff), but it always made me break out more, so I dropped it. I’ve just never seen the point.

But then, I got the dry eye thing, and it hurt, and it was ugly, and I didn’t like it. I heard really good things about Clarins, and how it doesn’t cause breakouts like other (cheaper) cosmetics do, so I decided to check them out. I made Dave come with me because I am totally intimidated by department store cosmetics saleswomen. I can’t explain it, but they scare the shit out of me. It could be the lab coats. And maybe it was because my husband was with me, or maybe I just lucked out and got an unusually nice saleslady, but she didn’t try to tell me that I was a horrible person for not using moisturizer every day since I was 13 years old, and she didn’t try to push an entire line of crap on me. That last part was almost definitely because of Dave, who was looking bored and fidgety the whole time, exactly as I had instructed him ahead of time to do because I wanted to get the hell out of there fast. The nice saleslady did lose points by telling me that after my face gets used to their sensitive skin formula, I might want to move on to the anti-aging products (bitch), but she made up for it by giving Dave some free samples from their men’s line.

So I bought a very nice eye balm, which I have now used for 3 days and oh, how I love it. No more dry skin around my eyes, and it seems like the shadows under my eyes are fading too. Awesome. I also got a day cream for sensitive skin, which… ok, now I understand why you’re supposed to put on moisturizer under your make-up. Yes, it makes everything go on smoother. And it seems like I’m using less make-up because it’s easier to make it all look even. Why didn’t my mother tell me that when I was in junior high? All this time, I had no idea.

Now, if it turns out that even this Clarins stuff makes me break out after I have experienced the bliss that is smooth make-up application, I am going to be one unhappy camper. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.