We go to Branson as a family every year at Christmas time. Our annual trip was this weekend and it was a doozy. Saturday morning my 20 month old little darling puked all over the breakfast table. The smell was so bad the waitress brought me a washcloth and a bucket of water with the advice “napkins won’t take care of that”. I stayed in and snuggled her until she felt better that evening and then we headed to Silver Dollar City to see the lights-she wasn’t better, she puked there too. We left early and missed the parade. On the way home my 3 year old told me she needed to pee while we were in bumper to bumper traffic. I begged her to hold it and denied her request to “get out and go in the grass”. While stuck in traffic my one year old started to vomit. I crawled into the back seat to try to catch some of it and console her. My husband remained in the front seat where he gagged from the smell. He kindly rolled down the back seat windows to let the smell out and the freezing cold wind in to blow against our soaked in puke clothing. At this point my three year old yelled out the window “someone help us”. I said a little prayer that no one would call the police to check on the situation. We finally made it back to our home away from home where my three year old could no longer “hold it”. As we all sat there soaked in a variety of body fluids I laughed and cried hysterically, simultaneously. There is not one single parenting book or piece of advice that could prepare me for that moment. Thats life, Mom life to be exact. The kids went to bed and the adults stayed up playing cards, just hours later we were all laughing so hard about it our bellies ached. Talking about how no parenting advice can prepare you for those moments.
I give skin advice everyday. Whether with my patients, friends, family or blog readers. What makes you take my advice? Do you weigh the benefits versus the risks? Do you take into account my licensure or certifications and their value? I am thankful for those of you that trust me and take my advice on skin care. Often times people don’t take my advice because there is a cheaper option, easier option, less time consuming option or just simply because they disagree from personal experience. Today I want to share tips that people often don’t follow but in my opinion should be taken seriously. Skin advice that some people have disregarded previously.
- Sun protect even when you don’t think you need to. I tell people to wear sunscreen everyday and I often hear “but I don’t go in the sun”. We all go in the sun. Do you drive a car with windows? Do you see the light of day? How many parking lots do you walk through every day? If you see the light of day the suns rays see you. Even if you think you don’t need it, use sunscreen!
- Don’t tan to get ready for a beach vacation. I hear this all the time, like it’s okay to tan if it’s just one month per year. Would you smoke for one month per year? The best a tan could get you is an SPF of 4 which means you’re still going to burn. The American Academy of Dermatology says “Using indoor tanning beds before age 35 can increase your risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 59 percent; the risk increases with each use.” Melanoma kills people. It’s proven, researched, scientific facts- don’t get in a tanning bed if you don’t want skin cancer.
- Use retinol even if you think “it isn’t working”. You may not have used it long enough, you may not be using the best retinol (I use SkinMedica 1.0 Retinol) or you may be preventing more than “fixing” problems. Researchers have taken biopsies of skin and then applied retinol and taken a new biopsy and there is proven change in the skin underneath the microscope. When you are using retinol you are preventing acne, brown spots, enlarged pores, dull appearing skin and more. This is one case where if you use retinol for a year and can’t tell the difference, it’s you- not the retinol so I wouldn’t break up with it. Be married to retinol and the difference in what your skin will be in 20 years compared to what it will be without it will be mind blowing! Promise- I got the science to back that!
- Be gentle even if you want to “feel something happening”. I advise you guys over and over again not to scrub and use harsh products. Repeatedly I hear “but I want to feel the burn, the tingle, feel something happening”. You’re letting marketing techniques manage your skincare products instead of me. Companies know that if you feel something happening you will connect that to results. It’s a crock of poo. That ingredient that is burning or tingling your skin is actually more likely to be causing inflammation and dehydration of your skin rather than helping it. I know you are all too smart for that ploy though.
- Dont pop your pimples. “But Nina what do I do then when it’s full of pus and has to come out?” Answer: Apply your prescribed medicine, let me inject it, let me laser it, let me peel it, let me put it under a blu-u light! Whatever you pop out you’re popping that much in too. You’re causing inflammation and worsening of redness. You’re making it stay longer and scarring your beautiful face. It doesn’t NEED to be “popped” this is a common myth and I need you all to raise your right hand and repeat after me “I will not pop my pimples”.
The point is I give a lot of advice that people don’t like and that’s hard to take to heart. But as I sat in Branson in the worst possible Mommy situation, I had no parenting advice regrets. On the other hand, you are likely to regret ignoring the advice I have put here today. I don’t want you in my office in 20 years saying “I wish I would have worn sunscreen”. Don’t let that patient be you. Or maybe you will be that patient with skin regrets. I’m just a girl trying to save skin….. you may have different dreams and desires.
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all find yourselves crying until you laugh and laughing until you cry with only those regrets that are worth learning a valuable lesson.
xoxo, Nina
