S/S Skin Care Edit

Recently, I was casually talking and joking with my sister when she said these words that surprisingly stung.

Her: “ You don't rest 😟❗I’ve seen you, the bottom of the barrel, AND you will STILL be GOING 😳❗”

Me: 😶 🙄 😤

Five years come, August is my MSaversary. Some lessons learned have required a hard strangling, and others need me to slow down, taking a breath, and finding my space.

But at the moment, my skin is one of the biggest OPs in my life. I attribute some of my skin’s complications to stress. There will always be a stressor 🤷🏾‍♀️My body’s injection of steroids, daily pill-popping needs, level 3 opioids, and this sweltering humidity, my skin since last year has been going through cluster-formed whiteheads, daily breakouts, new scars on my legs, ankles, back 🙄, the list continues.

I've been in a chair for almost too damn long (no, too damn long), my RRMS hates me, the heat and humidity, but my legs miss being outside--I miss my high-waists, ruffled, above knee hemmed shorts, dresses, and skirts. Until then, a key element I intend to mend this year, this season, is my skin.

If you've been in my Stories via Instagram, you heard of the further debilitation of my MS. I now have drop-foot in both of my legs. Meaning? I have quite a bit of a trek to make to use my hips, legs, ankles, and feet 😳 to walk again.

In the meantime, until the rubber meets the road in that regard, I've become overly annoyed by MS’s destruction of my skin, so I've been going to the dermatologist and back to treatments that have worked before. I need to stay committed in my steps:

The first task is to keep my pores clean and unclogged. (1) Due to being wheelchair-bound, my digestive system, colon, face, and body have taken a dive, and I have the scars to prove it. From medicine rejection last year, which caused skin damage (blistered scars) to my ankles and back 😑, and second, once inflammation is calmed, work on these scars. I want my skin smooth like vegan milk chocolate, again 😩.

This disease can suck the pretty, attractive, hawt vibes out of you if you let it.

But I have vein tendencies, so...

In the meantime, I will be going back to a mask that has undoubtfully worked in the past—turmeric, honey and lemon juice 👌🏾 and changing skin care products. Every now and then, since MS, my face BLOWS 💥 up, uncontrollably. I believe it’s the pharmaceuticals, the amounts (which are high dosages), Florida’s humidity and the chaotic life I’ve now have with a chronic, painfully debilitating disease.

Here are my current trials, for my face my dermatologist wanted me to use Cetaphil. It’s a cleanser which is suppose to be a gentle cleanser that exfoliates and keeps pores clear of impurities. I have oily skin, which automatically clogs my pores so I went with the Cetaphil Oil Control Foam Wash, Paula’s Choice Pore Reducing Toner to minimiz these enlarged pores 😩, Fenty Skin Invisible Mositurizer to hydrate my skin and Laura Mercier Pure Canvas Primer-Blurring, I’m all for moisture, but I need to matte the skin, this lightweight formula keeps me with a soft matte with or without makeup. When I want a hard matte Smashbox’s Photo Finsih Oil & Shine Primer has been an all-time favorite . When my face was scar free, wearing it make up free provided a clean, matte finish to my face and evened my skin tone 😍.