A SKINCARE JOURNEY - ALL TOO FAMILIAR
Like you, I was addicted to makeup, skincare products and specific foods and drinks, spending thousands of dollars for most of my adult life. As a retired healthcare administrator, I felt confident that I had been using the best of the best, spending top dollar for my skincare, makeup and food that I'd use religiously on a daily basis.
But really, were these products the best for me, or for any human, for that matter?
WHAT!?!?!?!
You mean I'll have to get rid of what I love to eat and what I thought made me presentable. YIKES!!!
Now that my career in nutrition had come to a close in 2014, I had more time to investigate what had been making me feel run down, sick, bloated, and still experiencing pimples and breakouts like a teenager.
My "makeover" over the past 10 years has been a process. It has involved taking a critical look at what I was eating, drinking and putting on my body.
These are the life changers for me that decreased the toxic load of junk that assaulted my body on the regular and cleared my skin and helped me feel better overall. Some things may ring true for you:
AS ABOVE ... On the outside:
1. Stopped coloring my hair.
2. Stopped using benzoyl peroxide on my face (used daily for 25+ years to keep breakouts at bay).
3. Started reading labels of all my food, makeup and personal care products (toothpaste, deodorant, soap, facial cleansers, makeup removers, toners, moisturizers, foundation, powers, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, lip gloss, hair dye).
4. Did my research and one by one I eliminated products based on the questionable ingredients.
5. Stopped wearing makeup, which was clogging my pores like crazy. Now on occasion I'll wear some lipstick made with organic, safe ingredients (even using it as a makeshift blush).
SO BELOW ... On the inside:
1. Stopped taking SSRI for my anxiety. Paroxetine (Paxil) was my drug of choice. This was no easy task as weaning off this med, that I took for 10+ years, was one of the hardest things.
2. Stopped drinking Diet Pepsi, switching to water and herbal teas. Also, not an easy task, I may add.
3. Stopped eating gluten which included my favorite breads, pastas, cereals and snack foods.
4. Stopped eating foods containing sugar, such as candies, desserts and other sugar sweetened foods like “healthy" yogurt.
5. Switched out all my seed-based oils (sunflower, safflower, corn, peanut and canola oil) and foods made with them for olive oil and avocado oil and avocado.
6. Got rid of the ultra-processed foods and started cooking all foods from scratch.
7. Switched out conventionally grown foods for organic.
I thought I had been doing things right. Forty years as a registered dietitian made me smart, a person with good judgment about health issues .... right?
Turns out, I was wrong about ALOT.
Once I learned more about safe, more effective skin and body care I found I couldn't "un-ring that bell". There was no going back. This is for keeps. Everything matters when it comes to health, which includes the health of my skin.
Seven years in the making, I co-founded VERDAUD with my son and daughter-in-law. Through our research, trial and error with what worked best, VERDAUD was created.
This is the only thing, along with better nutrition, that healed our skin. I had my issues with oily, unbalanced skin with breakouts in my 60's. My daughter-in-law had problems with breakouts from psoriasis, dry skin and itchy skin head to toe in her 20's.
My journey represents the mission and philosophy behind VERDAUD. It actually is quite freeing. VERDAUD works for both ends of the spectrum to balance and heal skin.
Fast track to today. I am a gray haired, 70-year-old grandmother who is a bit wiser with smooth skin that is moisturized and finally without pimples.
It was, and still remains a process to detoxify my life, as it will be for you. My journey continues.