I had my first quarantine tantrum yesterday. It wasn’t too bad…but it was just like when all the annoyances and worries of the past three weeks converge in one moment. I think it started with my trip to HEB yesterday morning. I’ve been going to the grocery store more than I think is safe, but I don’t have a large refrigerator (or a second refrigerator), or a deep freeze, and I have a small pantry, so it’s not like I can buy in bulk and not go out for a month. Plus we eat a lot of fresh food anyway which doesn’t last long. SO…that said, I decided I would make an attempt to buy as much as I thought I could store in an attempt to stay out of the stores as long as possible.
I got to HEB Westlake about 9:30 and the line was already to Tyler’s. I had my mask on, as many did, and we just waited, the line moving slowly. A security guard was at the entrance, per the usual, and they had an employee with a new job: giving us guidelines for how to shop. Which, THANK GOD they did, because I feel like people are losing their minds not just in big ways, but also in small ways, like they’ve forgotten how to drive, or how to not leave their grocery cart IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE! The lady who was giving us shopping guidelines actually addressed that particular cart issueJ. The repetitiousness of her message made her sound like a flight attendant: Exits are located at the front and rear of the plane, as well as over the wings:). But at HEB it was: Shop with purpose, do not leave your cart in the middle of the aisle, and if you are wearing gloves, please throw them in the trash when you exit the store.
As I waited, my thoughts wandered. I thought of how many people have lost their jobs, of people being in the hospital with COVID and their loved ones not being able to visit, of how grateful I was that I could stand in line to buy groceries for my family, grateful that I HAD money to buy food. Then my mind caught on the memory of a story I read a few days ago about several HEB employees being COVID positive. Then I started down the rabbit hole: What happens if a lot of them become sick? These people are just doing their jobs but they are so at-risk! What if it spreads quickly…who will run the stores?!! At this point I started to tear up, standing there in a line of 30 or more people. The emotions came from gratitude for my own situation mixed with worry about the future and the challenges of so many. I had to get a hold of myself so I could take the cart wipe from the nice man at the door without him wondering why I was crying!
It’s hard to keep the fear and worry at bay these days. I decided to try to focus mainly on gratitude, and in doing my part to stay home. Honestly my quarantine days haven’t been much different than my regular days. My small house is packed with what feels like seven people, but really it’s just four people and three 60 lb+ dogs. I work – although at home, I workout – at home – and I walk the dogs. My daughter is home and she and her boyfriend go between their houses, so we share our quarantine germs with his parents. My boyfriend is here in the evening and then goes back to his house during the day to do his therapy sessions with clients. It’s a good flow and I’m happy they are all here. But lordy when I got home from HEB yesterday it felt like everyone was up in my business, and then the quarantine tantrum ensued that afternoon. Oh well…at least it was my first one!
One of the things I am grateful for is that, because I’m working at home, I’m able to focus on the part of my job I love the most: content creation. Educating about our products and services, sharing our before and afters, and writing a little more. Things have been so hectic at work for almost the last year that this portion of my job has fallen away. And since we can’t do treatments now, I can educate about products, which you can buy online, and YOU can get a little bit of instant gratification when you pick it up!
Often times I know medical-grade skincare takes a back seat to treatments, even though they truly are skin game changers on their own. Now is a great time to see how they really work. Today I’ve chosen Skinbetter’s Lines to focus on. Their before and after pictures are 4-week results – perfect quarantine timing. Start it now and by the beginning of May you should see some impressive results. Maybe even take your own before and after…most of the time we forget what we look like “before.”
A prelude to how Lines works: hyaluronic acid, as an ingredient, seems to be on almost all skincare labels. So why spend $100 on one product when there’s something at Target that cost $25 and they both have hyaluronic acid in them? Here’s why: many ingredients, like HA, have a molecule size too large to penetrate the skin barrier, and if it can’t get into your skin then it’s not going to work. Skinbetter has Interfuse Technology which is their patented delivery system that works to help their ingredients penetrate the skin barrier and get that medical-grade HA into your skin.
We suggest using Lines as sort of a spot-treatment product. Pick an area like your smile lines or your forehead lines, and apply your Lines twice daily. The results are impressive, and I know that since we can’t get filler treatments right now, every little bit of moisture and volume helps!
Here are the Skinbetter Science bullet points on Lines:
Patented, state-of-the-art delivery technology drives high molecular weight, injectable-grade hyaluronic acid faster to topically fill the appearance of expression lines.
Four additional types of hyaluronic acids of varying molecular weights work to bind water to the surface of the skin to improve moisture retention to plump the appearance of lines and wrinkles.
Expression lines appear immediately smoother with a blend of two neuro-calming peptides.
A collagen-nourishing complex of an amino acid building block, messenger peptides and vitamin C works synergistically to support collagen.
Helps reduce the look of deep wrinkles and expression lines and is complementary to in-office treatments (if you use this product after a filler treatment, it can help the longevity of your result…keep that in mind when we are out of isolation)!
Starting this Monday, April 13th, we will be offering 20% off all our products and we will be doing CURBSIDE PICK-UP on Wednesdays from 1-5 for the duration of our quarantine. Additional details will be in our Monday email. If you don’t want to wait until next week to grab Skinbetter product, you can purchase from Skinbetter.
Stay well, use your skin care products, take your own before and afters!