Skin Care After Fifty

Skin Care After 50

On Friday afternoon, I caught a glimpse of my face in the bathrrom mirror as I was taking a quick break before teaching my last class. On Wednesday, I had forgotten my hat; my part had sun-burned and so had the end of my nose. Two ugly zits had appeared on my right cheek, and a parade of white-heads had appeared in the ever-deepening crease beside my nose. Worse than that, the skin on my cheek-bones itched unbearably.

In August-shortly before the new school year-I was congratulating myself that my skin had cleared up, and had a healthy glow about it. Now, it seemed, I was right back where I had started. What was causing the change?

A little internet research and some added thought brings probably answers:

1. Added stress. During the summer months, I am only working at my part-time job and writing. My schedule is my own, the only humans I deal with are my room-mate and my family-other than the occasional shop clerk.
2. Diet changes.
   • Eating lunches from the school cafeteria is inexpensive and easy. However, those meals are usually calibrated for the healthy growth of children.
   • More meals eaten out. Time factors reduce the amount of time available for meal preparation. French Fries is a known aggravator of my perpetual skin condition.
   • Seasonal changes in availability of certain food types-particularly fresh foods and vegetables
   • Caffeine. Increased intake to keep awake and keep up.
3. Less exercise
4. Fewer hours for sleep
5. Borrowing my room-mate’s head and shoulder when I ran out of Dove Age-pro shampoo
6. Mid-day exposure to the sun

During the summer, I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. Berries are my favorite summer snack. I usually make teas instead of drinking soda; my home-prepared meals are lower in sugars and refined carbohydrates than those I can normally obtain eating at school or at fast-food restaurants.

I do most of my own yard work. This means I am out-of-doors much of the day; but my lawn is shaded by five large trees; thus, I work in filtered light. At school, shade is minimal-and this week, I forgot my hat! Furthermore, yard work resembles aerobic exercise-stoop, bend, lift, reach-and it causes perspiration. Little as we may wish to think it, sweating is a good pore cleanser. Follow up an exercise session with a quick risk in the shower with a mild soap-happy skin!

I like my part-time job; and I love writing. I also spend a lot of time plunking around on my guitar, doing little artsy projects, digging in my garden or the flower-beds-all happy, positive activities. Evenings, I play final fantasy, listen to music over the internet (gotta love Live 365 and You Tube), or watch a movie.

The school-year brings coping with rules and regulations-both following them and enforcing them, meeting dead-lines, being on-time, dealing with many varied personalities, standing still and alert in all kinds of weather-outdoors and inside, and coming home exhausted without having had any real exercise.

I’m allergic to products containing lanolin, citrus or coconut oil; this eliminates a lot of cosmetics, lotions and soaps-including sunscreens.

The solution? Well, it will have to be somewhat long term. The plan is to write lots and submit articles not only to Triond, but to other publishers. Keep putting money into my retirement fund, and keep paying the bills as fast as I can. Remember my hat, and try home-made skin solutions such as green tea and cucumber for the acne out-break. See what I can do next shopping trip to improve the balance of my diet. Most of all, find something fun to do that doesn’t involve sitting in a chair in front of a computer.