Yesterday, across my TV screen was a warning that said “don’t drown.” that statement, I knew it would cause me to blog. I live in the “Barbie Doll” state. We have more plastic surgeons here in Utah than any other state, and I might add, they are doing quite well.
On a recent trip to my medical spa for a pedicure, I heard the most interesting conversation between my manicurist and others there that she knew. As is turns out, I was there during a “sale” on laser liposuction. I am glad that I didn’t have a full stomach.
My manicurist had undergone the procedure and was ready to go back. I asked what she had had done. That trip was to work on lower abdomen trimming. She told me that you want to ask for a certain doctor because he won’t give up even when it becomes so painful that you think you can’t endure more. I asked what was the outcome. She said that she was 1/2 inch less around the lower abdominal area.
I asked if she has lost any weight. There was no weight loss, but she could tell that her jeans fit better. It was only $800 right now, so the other 30+ year-old women that were in the room were signing up. She would also go for round two. I asked what happens if you eat some bread and wash it down with a soda? Won’t you blow up again? Yes she said, but it is still worth it. I left horrified, but with a pedicure and much better feet.
She also had botox injections from her eyes up. Her upper face had no more movement. She loved that she would never have wrinkles, if she managed to stay on top of it. She said she always knew immediately when it was time for more injections. She could move her eyebrows again. She is 32.
One of my artistic passions is decorating. I even like decorating me. Everyone knows that when you decorate one room, you see how many other rooms need tweaked. You are always chasing improvement. The same goes for your appearance. Fix your belly and your thighs need fixed. It never stops. Only your plastic surgeon reaps the benefits. (There is only one good thing that I can think of there.) To become a plastic surgeon, you need to be number #1 in your class. They are the smartest, not necessarily the best, doctors that you probably will ever have.
Whatever happened to wanting to be the “best YOU that you can be?” Why aren’t you okay with who you are? Just tweak that a bit. Diet, exercise, some great make- up products, and less sun exposure will help create the better outside package.
Whatever happened to working on the inside of you? I am happy to say that with years of inside work, I doubt that my inside looks like swiss cheese with holes any more. I hope it has begun taking on a bit more of a “holier” appearance now, one that includes loving myself. Don’t you love the Dove campaign, “Love the skin you are in!” I hope that some of those swiss cheese holes have closed up with lessons that I have eventually learned from the school of hard knocks. Not that I am a finished product yet, but I am not chasing “laser lipo” with a masochist physician that works through the moans and cries of his patients. There is something wrong with that picture that at thirty years old, we feel we must endure that to love who we are.
Living a mile up under the Utah sun takes a toll on everything. (And I mean everything!) The bottom of my feet dried up, peeled off, and left years ago. I thought that I would never find them again. At Bed, Bath, and Beyond, they sell a product called Heel Tastic. It works so well that my feet have returned, and I can once again wear shoes. (And I do have shoes........I am not the woman that “lives in the shoe,” but I am the woman that owns them!
My sister, the Avon lady, asked me to try a few products this summer. She knows that I love products! When I grow up, I want to be the make up lady that works at the Chanel counter.
Much to my surprise with their advertising, Avon insists that the cream and gel lifts the eyelids and evens out wrinkles under the eye. It works! The product did what it said and lifted my heavy eyelids up where they used to be. It ten minutes, my eyes were back. I love the stuff! I won’t have to go under the knife, or buy a seeing eye dog to get around! (I have known women who have to have their eyelids repaired because they have drooped low enough to affect their eyesight.) Not this girl.......I ordered a vat of the stuff! It is Avon’s ANEW Clinical Eye Lift Pro. I won’t leave home without it.
If you are going to be a person that “loves the skin you are in,” you will love the product Avon’s ANEW Rejuvenate Glycolic facial treatment. My skin is better than it has ever been. It is used at night, so you get up with glowing skin.
When I first moved here, someone said to me “you can’t believe what living in Utah is going to do to your skin.” Just walking to the mailbox, you can feel the sun burning away at your scalp. It is so very unforgiving. There are many wonderful outdoor activities to do here, and because of that, we have a high incidence of skin cancer. (I had squamous (skin cancer) at 36 years old.) There are people here that have skin that looks like beef jerky.
It isn’t hard to take a few minutes to apply sunscreen. I have found Lubriderm’s Advanced Therapy Lotion with an SPF of 30 works great for every day. Buy a vat of that while you are in a spending mood.
I hope that when I move from Utah, I leave with wonderful memories of all the people and friends that I have made, the activities that I have enjoyed, and that I didn’t drown in the movement of improvement that is $800 a pop. “Don’t drown” is a good rule......glad it brought me back to reality...........Yes, Dove..........”we will love the skin that we are in!”
