Physical and emotional scars
A common topic that has been brought up to me over the last few weeks has been scarring. Whether it’s a physical scar or just the emotional aftermath of a bad breakout, this topic is very difficult for anyone who has suffered from an inflammatory skin condition. Remember when we thought scars were cool when the rugged bad boys from the movies would proudly wear one? Scars have a bit of a backstory and most of them can be worn as a badge of honor. That is unless they are a painful reminder of a previous breakout or other skin imbalance. So many clients are concerned about potential scarring from their previous acne that they would literally do anything to make it go away. For the client whose main concern is scarring and I tend to ease their mind by reminding them that not all scars are created equal and with the right homework they will turnover their cells enough to smooth out their skin. In order to to do there are a few questions to be taken into consideration first:
Happy Spring Equinox...now mix it up!
When I was a young girl I use to be obsessed with drawing. I always had a pencil and sketch pad with me for road trips, play dates and would even draw during family movie night. I was fascinated with drawing people and their faces. It gave me a chance to be creative because I had never met two people who were identical. I can even differentiate between identical twins because I can pay that close attention to minute detail. I normally have to take a deep breath when someone tells me that they have been using the same skincare since high school. Unless you only graduated a year ago that really terrifies me. There are so many common misconception of how we need to treat our skin but one that seems to be recurring is the concept that your skin needs never change. We eat different foods seasonally, we mix up our workouts, we change shampoos and other body care often so why don’t we apply that same concept to our skin. Our skin can help us determine what is going on internally and our face is our most recognizable feature. We each develop unique facial features that evolve over time and can help develop character as well as become part of your personality.
Unsolicited advice from uber drivers
Not having a car in LA means that most of my days I have to take uber or lyft to get around. I tend to get car sick so I often sit in the front seat and this opens up an opportunity for my drivers to ask me many questions. I totally get it, most people treat these drivers like they would a taxi driver or bus driver and don’t dive into dialogue other than basic chit chat. The first questions are always related to what I do or where I’m going. Over the last few weeks I have been prepping for my upcoming wedding by taking classes at a local yoga studio (Set and Flow if you're interested! I highly recommend!) so naturally the conversation leads to why I’m doing yoga and how I like it. Throughout this dialogue I have been advised to try the “lemonade” diet (this is not a Beyonce diet either...it’s a version of the master cleanse I guess) and to download an “anorexia” app (not an actual anorexia app, but those were the words it was presented to me by). This is when I started paying attention, not because I was interested in the suggestions but because I was startled to think who else gets this kind of advice.
My Deal Breakers
We all have deal breakers in life, love and work. They are the things we just absolutely do not put up with and will not tolerate no matter what. As a skin coach my deal breakers went from non-existent to a concrete list of no-no’s. It seems odd that a service provider like myself should have any boundaries as I am in the business of providing care to anyone who needs/wants it. The truth is if I were to be agreeable to everyone no one would progress. No one would see change and I wouldn’t be doing my job. So let me let you in on my skincare dealbreakers.
sugar addicts anonymous
Growing up I was always sick and had a severe addiction. The kind of addiction that no one talked about, worried about or even knew about. I had an addiction to sugar. Sugar doesn’t seem that bad you may think, but looking back over my entire health history it is clear that I was one of the many kids who suffered for no reason. From unnecessary illnesses, non-stop anxiety and many unexplainable symptoms I specifically remember feeling helpless and it was all due to inflammation. I always wondered why most kids were never as sick as I was. The vicious cycle of going to the doctor and constantly getting prescriptions (some packed with added sugar) for benign issues made me feel like I was an anomaly of a kid. This led to severe depression I battled for years. The crippling pain of not understanding why I was feeling as nervous, anxious, sad or even immobile at times was so much to take while all I wanted was just to fit in and have fun. One of the main issues I struggled with with my non-stop, highly inflamed acne. I struggled for 11 years with what felt like my “normal” skin and once I was able to dive into my health and really dig for some answers I was shocked at how simple the fix really was.