It's Taken Me Almost 49 Years To Fall In Love With My Face

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I’ve been thinking a lot about confidence lately.

Ever wish you could see yourself the way others see you? Like from the outside in?

What do you expect to see when you look in the mirror? Do you think you are going to see your “young” face, the way you feel deep down inside, or do you expect to see the reality? The real you, the face the world sees, the... older you?

Obviously this isn't me and me. But it is my niece, who looks like the "young" version of me.

I have always felt like a little kid deep down inside and I kind of expect that is the way that everyone sees me. A little geeky, a little unsure. (The girl with braces, glasses, the big sticky outie ears and way too bushy of eyebrows.)

So when I look in the mirror I always expect to see that younger me, and all my perceived flaws. The “Zits”, which came on the scene when I was 18, (okay I was a really late bloomer), popped in and have never really gone away. They are so much a part of my life that I have to capitalize their collective name because some have been so big they even have their own names. Anyone remember the one we called Bindi on New Year’s Eve 2010?)

The 2010 Bindi zit. See it? And weird angle too, so I also have a double chin. 
(Probably should not even have posted this pic).

For years I washed my face with Dial soap, then used rubbing alcohol to dry out my oily face even more, then I slathered on the big blobs of white Clearasil. (I know you are cringing right now, I am, too). But that is what I did. I thought that drying out my face would stop those zits from coming. Little did I know, it really had the opposite effect. Drying out your skin encourages it to produce more oil to soften it up, thus leading to the clogs in the pores and the inevitable blemishes.

I didn’t know. No one told me this back then. There was no Internet to google answers from and in my family we didn’t use makeup, so there were no visits to salons for facials or skincare consulting. I did what I thought was logical. Dry up that oil.

Someone set me straight in my early 30’s, post pregnancy and still slathering on the Clearasil. My little sister had a do-it-yourself facial party with products for sale. (She’s 13 years younger than me, and she is the only girl in our family to wear any makeup other than mascara).

So my other sister Shelly and I, were forced to attend this party which on a good day I would hate to go to. (Events like this make me super conscious of my lack of beauty knowledge and I feel extremely inadequate.) But this day was made even worse by the fact that for some unknown reason, I had huge hangover. I had little kids, what the heck was I even doing drinking at all?

Since I was a bit fuzzy to begin with, and since I had never let anyone touch my face for a facial, after all I had my special drying out routine, I was making sure to listen to the party leader so I did not screw up and create more of a zitty mess on my face.

Very carefully I followed her directions about applying the green facial mask everywhere on my face except the tender area around my eyes. Then, as I waited the required amount of time for it to dry, I looked up to see how Shelly was faring.

You can only imagine my shock when I saw that she had done exactly the opposite of what the lady said.

She now had green rings around ONLY her eyes, like a raccoon. Yep, you can’t make stuff like this up.

Pretty sure at that point I screeched…..noooooooooo….and everyone in the room looked at me like I was a little nuts, after all I had been pretty quiet, hangover and all.

I pointed in horror at my doofus of a sister. The party lady rushed over to calmly tell her to get it off, get it off now!

Yeah, go ahead and laugh, we still do. Another legendary Shelly story.

Eventually a friend of a friend who sold Mary Kay products explained to me that I needed a soap designed for faces. And I needed to moisturize. What? Really? Add more oil to my already oily face? Who knew?

So I tried it. And after a while things got a bit better. Not one to change up my beauty routine for years on end in case it might make things worse, I relied on this Mary Kay face soap for another decade and a half. In fact, I changed it up only slightly over the years to add in some moisturizer with anti-aging properties. Pretty smart of me, eh?

But to be honest, my face still never felt…well, confident.

That is, not until I attended the Gleek Retreat Blogging Conference in May, and Therapon Skin Health was one of the sponsors. I tried a Therapon mini facial and I fell in love.

With my own face.

The way it feels, the way it glows. (Okay so maybe I am exaggerating a little about the glowing) but you know what… since it feels to me, like it glows, it gives me more confidence.

I’ll admit I was a little scared to try the complimentary mini facial at the conference…I had not allowed anyone, until that day, to touch my face. And I was nervous she’d take one look at my skin, cringe, and yell at me for all the abuse I have given it over the years. But she didn’t. She was awesome. She gently applied the products and after a quick mini facial my face felt better than it had ever felt. Even as that little kid. 

I could not stop touching it.

Three days later after using the free samples she supplied, I was scared NOT to buy the system for fear my face would never feel that good again.

Sold. Only three days after trying it. It is easy, quick and makes my face feel fantastic. Wish I would have discovered it years ago!

I am normally not a product reviewer, but I asked if I could do this review in exchange for another set of the Theraderm Skin Renewal System to take to my cottage. (The hauling it back and forth from home to the cottage every weekend was getting a bit old). 

And woo hoo, Christina from Therapon agreed.

The Theraderm Skin Renewal System is worth every penny I spent on it. Not only for how great my face feels, but also for the confidence I now have in my own face. I encourage you to give your face, old or young-- whichever you see in that mirror, some Therapon Skin Health love.

Check out the Therapon Skin Renewal System on their website at: www.Therapon.com