Nothing brings people together like celebrating their American freedoms.  Drinking firewater all day in the sun with a quick game of chicken fight in the pool before stuffing your face with junk food can really take the shayna out of your punim though. Here are a few tips for independent, as in DIY, remedies for post-weekend cures.

Sunburn: There’s nothing better than real aloe to sooth the burn and heal it fast if you ask me. Plus it’s an easy plant to care for while adding that ‘organic’ touch to your home. I cut a piece off and filet it, rubbing the goo all over the burn. It’s sold all over the place-Target, Home Depot, etc.

Fireworks Burn: Assuming that you didn’t actually maim a friend or have to use the phrase ‘stop, drop and roll’, try mustard to soothe a minor burn.

Chlorine Hair: For a quick moisture infusion use a mix of honey and olive oil for a leave-in treatment.

Dehydrated, ‘Stressed’ Skin: Yes, skin gets emotional too when it’s over-worked. Drink a ton of water and treat yourself to an oat, lemon, and honey mask. The oats will absorb ‘toxins’, the honey will moisturize and the lemon will kill bacteria. But you can’t use fake honey like the kind that comes in the bear. Get the raw, unfiltered honey… more expensive but has tons of anti-oxidants and stuff that the flavored sugar water crap doesn’t have.  

I live in South Florida, and while not having a winter can be pretty cool sometimes (or warm that is) I’m not sure the skin damage combined with the acne from the humidity is worth it.  Once a being of fair and radiant porcelain skin many would wonder at, I am now one of the derma-suffering. Friends and strangers try to help.

“I heard swimming helps. The chorine really dries you out.”

“What are you eating? Stay off the milk and cheese.” 

“Are you drinking enough water?”

They mean well. And I’m sure that there are some things that can really help, but once you’ve ruled out diet and exercise, it’s time to take a look at better products.

First I was using salicylic acid, which in all my research gets great review. I have to say that it will reduce the size of pores and refine skin minimally. This was with strongest dose of 2%. The product, Neutrogena’s ‘Fight and Fade’ boasted that it would also reduce scaring and damage. Again, not so much. I think for someone with very minimal problems like blackheads or enlarged pores this is a good product.

To work it out, I went to the dermatologist today. He quickly provided me with a prescription of a low dose of Retin-A. This is a better route for both skin damage and acne because unlike salicylic acid it peels the skin and helps the skin produce brand new, healthy cells. Salicylic acid is only a drying agent. Because of this, it can also be a wrinkle aid, as in aids in creating more wrinkles. So really a better product for the teens.

I’m not entirely convinced the doctor isn’t part of a greater Retin-A conspiracy, though. When I went to fill the script, the pharmacy informed me that he wrote ‘medically necessary’ for me to have the name brand instead of the generic. Generic=$10 copay Name=$60 copay …… What exactly is this medical necessity? Does each ‘medically necessary’ script score lobster tail and a randy girl?  How would I find that out? 

He also suggested using Dove *BAR* soap and Cetaphil moisterizer with spf.

For now I’m going to try the Retin-A. I’ll update in a month with progress. Here’s my ‘before’ pic. It doesn’t look like much, I know, but it’s terrorizing I swear, especially for a makeup artist!