Red in the Face

Things Two and Three have felt left behind a good bit this week as Thing One and her peers launch a great many "fifth-grade promotion" activities: special photos, class shirts, day at the County Fair and a field trip to Philadelphia. I could see my younger ones struggling to manage their envy and disappointment.

I chose to have a special day with them on Friday. Keeping them out of school for the day, we began with a trip to the nail salon for manicure/pedicures. I have never bumped into so many neighbors in one place in my life: the president of our PTA, Anna's classroom parent and three other neighbors. Nervous laughter and red face, that was me. We went out to lunch and to Michael's to pick materials for afternoon crafting...except we all fell asleep instead. Lovely day.

Rosacea
well, my face really HAS been red lately. Rosacea SUCKS. In the sunlight, in the heat, drinking coffee or alcohol...wow; its been awful. Like, embarrassing. This is kinda new for me, I was the kid who survived adolescence with less than a handful of unsightly blemishes. I'm going to see a dermatologist (again) in a few weeks but based on what I already know and what I've gathered on the web, this is what I'm supposed to do to minimize the appearance of redness:

1. Wash face with hands and lukewarm water using whatever cleanser works for you; I use Aveda's All-Sensitive.
2. BLOT dry, do not rub, gently. Allow skin to dry completely for five minutes before step 3.
3. Apply topical ointment (Metrogel). Allow to dry thoroughly...at least 5 minutes.
4. Moisturize with appropriate moisturizer for sensitive skin, including sunscreen of SPF 15 or more.
5. Redness can be counter-balanced by using green tinted foundation primers, like Smashbox's Photo Finish Color Correcting products. Of course your face will have to be thoroughly dry before and after application...
6. And if you're going to put a green-tinted primer on your face, you definitely have to apply at least a powdered foundation.

I'm thinking this is about a minimum 20 minutes and 5 products to get to "natural" skin. Jeez Louise! Let's not even think about cost...none of this stuff is cheap. There MUST be a better way to manage this.

But since I've gone on and on about my face, I should probably follow up on a previous makeup report: L'Oreal Extend Lash Mascara. Its good stuff. It definitely plumps up and lengthens lashes by creating those tube-things that are actually kind of weird. It doesn't smudge even if you forget to wash off before bedtime...nice bonus---good lashes tomorrow without application. I don't particularly like that it requires application of two solutions and it can be kinda tough to remove them completely. Sometimes I find those little tubies hanging out in my sink or on my cloth afterward...it kinda weirds me out. But not enough to give up on it. I tried an alternate product, Too Faced's Lash Injection that is reported to build extension tubes with just one solution. Its not as good as the L'Oreal product although it is easier to remove...it does smudge, though. I think the L'Oreal product is the better of the two, especially as this is the time of the year when my family practically lives in the swimming pool.

I thought you'd want to know.