Take Your Face To The Gym!

I have never liked my skin. I know this sounds like a very first-world problem.

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It’s always just been dull, patchy and uneven. When I’m having a bad day, I’m pretty sure you can see my pores from space. Like every woman I know, I have tried close to every product that swears it’s going to fix all those issues and to be honest, the best that’s ever happened is that my skin was better while the product was on because it made my makeup go on a little smoother.

Some years ago, I think I just figured, maybe my skin is so bad that I will never look like the women they put in tampon commercials with the natural glow. The joy of being 50 means I care less. In my 20s, even though I was the size of a toothpick, there were events I’d missed because of random breakouts that I couldn’t cover up. I spent years not putting my face in the water when I swam in case my makeup came off. This is embarrassing to admit, but I was engaged in my late 20s, and that man never once saw me without a face on because I would set the alarm for an hour before he was

due to wake up, get up and do my makeup and go back to bed like I had been asleep the whole time. Not only does it sound pathetic to me now, but it also seems like a lot of pressure to put on a bottle of foundation.

Even though it’s not for me, it’s part of the reason I would never criticise people who do Botox or fillers. I get that they want to look better, and maybe that helps with a problem no one else sees, but they see in the mirror. I don’t do it because anyone who knows me knows that if there is a one-in-a-million chance that something stupid will happen, it will happen to me. Everyone else does it with no issues, but I’d end up poisoned or with lip filler settling in my cheek. I have friends tell me it dissolves into your body. What!!

Just before my birthday, a friend I have known since my 20s who has always looked like a goddess sent me a message about a free consultation for a place called Skin Gym in Hamilton. They asked me to come in with no makeup, which even now was a bit anxiety inducing, but I did it. I met Madeline, who was lovely. She said lots of words like enzymes, and I was hardly paying attention because I was so distracted thinking quietly to myself, “this woman does not have one pore on her entire face”. She scanned my skin, and to be expected, it was a mess. She gave me four products from Serum Laboratory that she and her business partner Oscar formulated themselves, told me how to use them and I thought that would be that. She told me to come back for another scan in four days.

I’m somewhat stubborn, and I thought, I’m going to use this religiously so that if it doesn’t work it’s not because I was using other products or not using it properly. By day two, my skin was so soft and healthy. It was like I had watered a plant that had been hiding in a dark cupboard. By day four, I had to run an event and, for the first time in decades, did it without makeup. It is like I have joined a cult - I keep asking my workmates and the occasional stranger to touch my face.

I think the difference is this stuff made my skin look better rather than making my makeup look better. I like that every treatment they do in the clinic is natural, so no fillers. The other thing I love is that they are supporting Westpac Rescue Helicopter. The four-pack of products I used are up for auction at the Upper Hunter Westpac Rescue Ball, and you can bid online at https://app.galabid.com/uhrescueball24. This way, you can support a great cause and sample the product at the same time. Who doesn’t want to feel good from the inside? It's not about trying to look 20 years younger, It's about being your age and bloody fabulous