90 Day Challenge: And the winner is…

After months of chemical peels, new serums to teach people about, and photos to analyze, we finally have a winner selected for our SkinMedica 90 Day Challenge. Her name is Jennifer Bengston, and her dramatic results over the course of 90 Days impressed everyone here.

Congratulations, Jennifer, on committing to the goal of changing your skin, and sticking with the process! You’ve earned 6 months worth of FREE TNS Essential Serum from SkinMedica, and we hope you’ve become a fan of taking care of your skin for life.

90 Day Challenge: What I’ve Learned From 3 Months of Skin Care Bootcamp

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

Going from someone who barely had time for moisturizer, to a skin care addict in 90 days provided me with some valuable insights into my new routine. It’s not the easiest thing in the world, to start a regimen that’s healthy, but it’s worth it, as long as you remember a few things.

1. Going to bed with a dirty face full of make-up is a big no-no.The first time I saw the Visia pictures of my face, with my pores full of bacteria, I wanted to cry. It doesn’t take long, wash that junk off. You don’t need a fancy cleanser. Save your money for the serums and creams, get some drugstore cleanser if you need to, and scrub off the day. If your pillow is multi-colored in the morning, you’re doing it wrong!

2. Sunscreen is important, even in the winter. I never, ever imagined I’d be the person to say this, but even when the weather’s cold and dreary….you need sunscreen. Driving around, walking from your car into buildings, it adds up over time, and sun damage is the number one way to ruin your skin. In the warmer months, it’s imperative, so slather on a daily SPF of 20 or 30. And don’t even get me started on tanning.

3. There’s a method to the madness: the order you put products on your face makes a difference in the effectiveness. If you’re confused, ask, ask, ask! Certain serums need to be on clean skin, others can be layered. If you’re spending a considerable amount of money on the right products, you need to make sure you’re using them for maximum effectiveness, or it’s all a waste of cash.

4. If you don’t like something, or feel it doesn’t work, ask an esthetician. You might be using it wrong, or they can recommend something that will work better if you’re having a reaction. But don’t just cut it out of your routine without talking to them.

5. It’s not all or nothing. If you fall off the wagon, don’t just stop! If you’re out of one product, don’t skip it all, put on the other two. If you miss a week, start back up. Anything is better than nothing….your skin will still benefit.

6. Water, water, and more water! One of the biggest problems I have is getting enough water in throughout the day, and it shows in my face. Dehydration causes taut skin that shows aging and fine lines a lot more easily than skin that’s properly hydrated. Get yourself a fun, colorful water bottle (I prefer one with a little bling myself) and carry it around all day. Your skin is always easier to fix on the outside if your inside is taken care of as well.

Thanks to everyone who has followed me through this journey, especially those who have done the challenge themselves! We will officially announce the winner in early March, who will receive a six month supply of SkinMedica TNS Essential Serum (my all-time favorite product!)

90 Day Challenge: Jumping in and Making Mistakes

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

For a tactile learner like myself, staring a new project is always exciting. Instead of reading directions or asking for help, I just like to jump in and get going. I’ve never read through a manual for a computer or a phone, I don’t properly lay down cloth and edge tape when I paint, and shelf diagrams just confuse me so I toss them in the trash before I set out to build them on my own. I’ve always found that if I can just get my hands on the material, I’ll figure it out significantly faster than if I go through someone else’s steps.

While this works fairly well with an iPhone, it doesn’t work too well with skin care.

Once I signed up for the 90 Day Challenge and got my photos taken, I was utterly mortified at the condition of my skin and vowed to fix it immediately. Armed with an arsenal of products that I had never even seen before, I set out to get fixed overnight. Before bed, I washed my face with some $5 drug store cleanser and then promptly slathered on thick layers of everything in my SkinMedica bag. The next morning, I did the same. I felt GOOD. I felt EMPOWERED. I felt PROUD of myself for taking steps to get healthier.

Upon entering the office later that day, I found an esthetician and excitedly went on and on about my night and morning experiences. Just like my five year old son when he writes his name perfectly and wants praise, I preened for Wendy and waited for her to pat me on the back like a good pupil when I told her what I had done. Imagine my surprise, however, when she told me I had done it all wrong.

Wrong? How could I have messed this up already, I asked? It’s cream! You rub it in, boom, done, right?

Not right…and if you ever want to see a skin care expert freak out, say to her “I’m not sure how many times I applied the Tri-Retinol formula to my face.” Frankly, I’m lucky she caught me when she did: Because skin care is a science, there’s a method to the madness, and left to my own devices, I might end up looking worse, and not better.

Number one, I was using an exfoliating scrub to wash my face instead of the gentle cleanser I should have been using as part of the program. Number two, I put everything on in the wrong order. A product like SkinMedica TNS Serum, for example, needs to go right on clean skin, and I was putting it on last. Number three, I was using WAY too much product. I rubbed so much TNS Eye Repair cream in that the concentrated ingredients were aggravating my contact lens-wearing eyes; apparently very small amounts rubbed gently in around the eye works just fine. Number four, the Tri-Retinol Complex is powerful stuff and only goes on at night….not numerous times during the day.

So this continual learning process carries on. Lesson learned this week? Sometimes, I can’t just dive in. Sometimes, I need to consult the instruction manual, read the diagram, and actually TALK to the experts…after all, that’s what they’re there for.

90 Day Challenge: Challenging what I see in the mirror

Posted by: Rhonda Shrum

About a month ago, when I decided to do this challenge publicly, I was still very naive. Bolstered by my friends and co-workers and excited to have something huge like this to kick off my blogging experience here, I confidently chose to put myself out there as a guinea pig, assuming embarrassment would be minimal.

Then, I got my first digital photo analysis of my skin, and I went home and cried.

I was shocked. Bewildered. I’m a fairly pale girl, always have been. I’m the one people make fun of on the beach, wearing big floppy hats. Sunburn is not enjoyable to me, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been in a tanning bed (and I’m not proud of those few moments). So while I was braced for the possibility of a few wrinkles and big pores, what I was not expecting was this: That’s my pale skin. With sun damage! A million little UV spots just biding time till one day, unbeknownst to me, they’ll show up ready to party.

Surprisingly, the wrinkles weren’t bad. I had one, so I won’t complain. But I was severely dehydrated, and full of bacteria, thanks to my awful habits of drinking 4 cups a coffee a day and not always cleansing before bed.

So yeah, I cried…because I had to realize that I’ve been lazy and unappreciative. I just expect my skin to always look like it looks now, with no effort whatsoever given to keeping it that way. And the truth is, that will always backfire. If I don’t correct it now, I will wake up in five years with that spotty face.

So not only do I have to publicly stare down my own vanity, but I’m being forced to recognize and rectify habits that don’t serve me well. Sure, I love coffee, and I joke about my addiction daily. However, I never once considered that it would have a negative effect on my skin. Apply sunscreen daily? I’ve never bothered, why would I? I’m not tanning or anything. Stupidly, though, I didn’t count on the endless hours of driving with sun blazing through my window, or all the times I’ve spent with my son outside at the playground. It all adds up, and it’s not pretty.

It’s slowly sinking in that the challenge I decided to do for fun, to just “look better,” will ultimately turn into a vehicle for massive introspection and analysis of not just my habits, but my concepts of health and beauty as well. Eventually, my hope is to not just have better skin, but a better understanding of how to care for myself, both inside AND out.

If you’re interested in the 90 Day Challenge, you can still sign up until November 30th. The cost for all the products and treatments is $695,  valued at almost $1300. Call 636-530-9020 for more information.