Here's the thing. . .

The thing of it is this: I've been on a quest for perfect, flawless skin since I was thirteen and my father - yes my father - walked into my bedroom after a trip from the drug store with a tube of Oxy10, a bottle of some type of toner or astringent and something called a buff puff, which was supposed to restore my face to it's former baby softness. The fact of the matter was that I had acne - nothing severe mind you, just normal run of the mill teenage acne, exacerbated by certain times of the month and the half of can of Rave hairspray required to sculpt my bangs each morning - and he was giving me some tools to help.

I remember my fascination with the cool, tingly feeling that the toner (no idea what brand it was) gave my oily face, and the slightly scratchy texture of the oval, pink "buff puff" which was really sort of like a very gentle brillo pad for the face. I was hooked. That bottle of toner lasted maybe a month. It was the start of a life long obsession with skin care products, and an ongoing battle with my face. There have been highs and lows in the war for perfect skin: I've eradicated pimples only to be hit with blackheads, banished oiliness and then gone through periods of excessive dryness. Occasional periods of glowing skin have been followed by the realization that my eyes are puffy and I have terrible dark circles. It's a catch-22 that Joseph Heller never imagined - how to fight blemishes while simultaneously staving off fine lines. Over the course of my journey, I've tried practically every brand on the drugstore aisle, and a fair amount of the ones at Nordstrom. The first time I went to Sephora it was like coming home. I've been devoted to single lines, and used cocktails mixed from various lines. In short, I've tried a lot of products, and feel the need to share my knowledge with the world.