Listen to Your Dermatologist

Dear 30 Year Old Me,

You are vain.   You like looking at the mirror admiring the view.  You like the compliments that you get from boys and girls – compliments that surprise you – but also makes you feel affirmed that other people actually think you are as beautiful as you think you are.

You are beautiful but you really didn't take proper care of your skin when you were growing up.  So now you have big craters on your face that will put the man on the moon’s face to shame.  You also have regular break outs of pimples, black heads, white heads and even – ugh – warts.  Many times you think you’re 30 and you should be way past this pimple thing.  You are not.  A big part of the problem is the environment that you live in.  Manila is a dirty place.  The pollution in that city is horrible.  Another factor that prolongs your skin predicament is your diet.   Go back to item number two – eat healthful food and you will also clear up the pimple and the allergies.  Stop eating processed food!

Don’t protest to me and say that you’ve tried everything and it’s a lost cause.  It is not a lost cause – you are just too stubborn and you don’t listen to the many dermatologists you consult with.  How many times have you started going for diamond peel sessions and stop after five sessions?   Many times – right?   The thing is, like the investments that I talked about – the good results for your skin will only happen when you continue with the treatments.   Recognize that you have craters on your face the size of Texas and it will take multiple treatments for them to get better.  If you start with those treatments now  and continue on it for the next couple of years,  I will not have to photoshop those craters away from pictures I post on social networking sites.  

Listen to your dermatologist.  Work with her (they’re all female – at least the ones that I met).  Their magic potions can do wonders for your skin.   Stop listening to your friends when they recommend those moisturizing creams for you.  You are a complex individual and a specialist needs to take care of your skin for you.  Over the counter creams don’t work for you because your face produces so much oil that it may actually have been the Philippines’ answer to the energy crisis in the 80s.   The creams that finally have worked for you have contents like Tretinoin and AHA.   When you first start using these creams you will have really flaky skin.  Again, don’t listen to your friends who will tell you to stop using the cream.   After two weeks your face will normalize and you will start noticing the following:  better skin for you, tighter pores, and no pimple break out.

I am not sure if you have already encountered this song with a man talking to young graduating people convincing them to wear sunscreen.   You must listen to that man.  Sunscreen is your friend.   Sunscreen is your friend even if you don’t spend time outdoors.  You work with computers all day and those computer screens can progressively damage your skin from prolonged use because of the bad rays they emit.  So you must wear sunscreen.

Now I must tell you a secret. Thank the universe for making you Asian.  We have received a gift – which we will call the Dorian Grey effect.  You have met a guy named Dorian five years ago – and you know where this name comes from.  Dorian Grey is the man who didn’t age because he made a deal with Death.  So he looked young for a long time – while his picture (or painting) depicted his real age.  For someone like you – you will notice that you will stop aging.  People you meet will say – you don’t look a day over forty.  They are right.  Thank them for those comments.  You will look young for a long time – but I must warn you.  The Dorian Grey effect comes with an expiration date.  When you reach the age of sixty – if you are like most people who benefit from this gift – you will age fast after that.   I have not received the letter from my sixty your old self so I’m not sure if this will happen to me. But please, I ask you to help me slow that aging process down and start working with your dermatologist now.   Listen to her – continue with your monthly check-up, use her magic potions, and wear sunscreen.

With  much love,

The 40-something Year old you

(Blogger's Note - this is advice number 4 for the 30 year old me and was written as part of a really long letter found here.)