I am sitting here with a knot in my stomach.
Call it nerves.
Call it excitement.
Call it too much pizza for dinner.
I’m pretty sure, however, the knot has something to do with the fact that I just agreed to be a consultant with Rodan + Fields skincare, and it is now public knowledge.
So what about this is scary?
Ev.er.y.thing.
What if I fail? I don’t like loathe failure. Even a rock-paper-scissors dual gone wrong can tick me off for an hour.
What if I look silly? Who really needs more selfies in their newsfeed?
How could I possibly help anyone with skincare? My husband is the doctor, not me.
But, as Kendra, the friend who inspired me to try the skincare simply by sharing her own personal results, told me — it is simply sharing what you like with your friends and family. That is all.
And I already do that here on this blog. I’ve told you how I fill in my nearly invisible eyebrows with this brow set. I’ve shared with you that the only way to get Noelle’s hair detangled is by using this cream. I’ve shared where we rent our strollers at Disney World, and, hell… I’ve told you where to pick up your child’s birth certificate (when she is already 8 months old).
I am probably a bit of an over-sharer.
Like the time I told you my cervix sucked. Or I’m sure you remember when I drank poop-flavored water.
So, I guess sharing is my thing.
I like to talk. I like to buy things. And when the things I buy do what they are supposed to do, I like to talk about that. I suppose it’s a match made in heaven.
You may be wondering why Rodan + Fields? Why now? Why sell it when I can just buy it like a regular customer?
Or you may not be wondering any of that, and that’s cool, too. I’m glad you stopped by anyway.
I think I have shared (hehe) with you that the year 2015 was a bit of a cluster for me. I don’t look back fondly on it. I don’t have many fun memories. All I remember are a series of events that lead to emotional stress in my life, and when I am stressed, my body tells the world, “HEY GUYS! SHE IS A FREAKING MESS! LOOK AT HER FACE! LOOK AT HER HAIR! LOOK AT THE WEIGHT SHE HAS GAINED!”
Yes, it’s true. My hair was falling out. My body was not happy living on Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A and Snickers bars. My skin was erupting into a series of grouchy volcanoes. All I could do was stare in horror as my complexion looked as bad as I had ever seen it.
You know what else wrecks your skin? Having babies. Lots of babies. Like 3 babies in 4 1/2 years. Hormones don’t help, but lack of sleep, lack of water, and survival eating (you know, like eating that remnant of a chicken nugget from your kid’s Happy Meal because WHY WOULD SHE LET THAT GO TO WASTE?). It all adds up to a yucky, dull complexion that started to take a toll on my confidence.
I tried a lot of different things to help my skin. Do you all remember when I put coconut oil and apple cider vinegar on my face? I really liked the way it made my skin feel, and I did notice some improvement in my breakouts, but I got tired of the mess of my homemade skincare. There’s just nothing luxurious about scooping some coconut oil out with a spoon and shmearing it on my face, and then removing it with vinegar. I got bored with it and went on to the next thing.
I tried Ava Anderson nontoxic skincare in addition to Beauty Counter, another natural skincare line. While I saw brief success with these brands, I quickly realized that my skincare needs far surpassed what these natural products could do. (I do still really enjoy the Beauty Counter lustro oil from time to time when my face feels especially dry)
I tried face washes from the drug store, and my skin just became extremely dry and sensitive. I was basically all out of ideas when Kendra posted her own personal before and after photos of her skin now that she uses Rodan + Fields. I was extremely surprised and honestly impressed that she posted something that had made her so self-conscious for all the (Facebook) world to see.
This is something I have never been able to do — go bare-faced in public. I always, always, always have makeup on my face, and I have always, always, always been envious of the women who I perceive to be natural beauties. They don’t wear makeup, and if they do, it is very light and minimal. I am sure it doesn’t take them as long to get ready in the morning, and I am sure they feel so free knowing that their skin is glowing without the help of a shimmery powder (not that there’s anything wrong with shimmery powder. I freaking love shimmery powder).
My girls watch me get ready in the mornings, and they see that it takes a layer of primer, foundation or BB cream, concealer, and powder to make my skin look remotely acceptable (in my eyes) to be seen. This process not only is time consuming, but it also brings about a lot of questions from my girls.
“Mama, what are you putting on your face?”
“Why are you doing that?”
“When can I wear makeup?”
“I want to cover up my freckles.”
I always say, “You’re beautiful enough without makeup,” but this message inherently says, “but Mama can’t be seen without it.”
This isn’t the message I wanted to send to my children, so I decided to get over myself and my general disapproval of things people sell on Facebook and just try the skincare that gave Kendra her impressive results.
And the rest is history.
I would have 60 days to try the skincare line, and if I didn’t see the results I wanted, I could send it back and get a refund.
