For the month of January I looked through my arsenal,  looked back into the mirror, then looked through my arsenal again and decided to use the photo rejuvenation infrared light therapy system…boy that was a mouth full!

I ordered my DPL light from light4beauty.com and spoke to Liz. I told Liz exactly what I was trying to achieve and that I was on a budget trying to do it. Liz said the DPL light would be worth every penny of the money I spent on it and she would make it easier to afford with payment options and the biggest benefit of all was in addition to drying up acne I would also get the benefits a dramatic reduction in fine lines,  creases, furrows, wrinkles, crows feet and  even naso-labial fold lines…you know the (     ) AND it is ALL NATURAL and safe!!

Just go over to Liz’s website www.light4beauty.com and read about all the great things that the DPL light therapy does. What I was going to pay for one session at a salon I can practically own my very own DPL system.

I decided that because no one has figured out the long term use affects of Retin A on the skin to the body and since I call myself a totally holistic and going green kinda girl I want to get down to that poreless skin as naturally as possible and if the truth be known… my face was still a little red and tender from the Retin A so I needed something not so evasive and gentle for a little while. My results with the Retin A were phenomenal though and I did not want to  have a set back from what was already achieved.

The DPL  (deep penetrating light) required 9 minutes in the AM and 9 minutes in the PM or 18 minutes a day sitting in front of two panels of  LED light that fanned around your face and neck area. The light has a timer that will switch off  when the 9 minutes are completed.

I know that “FLAWLESS SKIN” is in there somewhere and by george I’m going to achieve it.  I am so vain that if this doesn’t work I am running back to whatever does and if that’s Retin A you will be the first to know.

Now to begin with the light therapy no matter how tired I found myself being, every morning and every evening when it came time for my light therapy session and I could not put it off another second longer I put on headphones of my favorite calming music and just chilled. I am determined to live out my NYR (New Years Resolution) to flawless skin.

I thought I had discovered the muther load. This light does exactly what I was looking to have done and right in the privacy of my own home. It’s kinda like losing 25 lbs at home before you go to the gym to lose the last 10 lbs. Now don’t get me wrong there is a lot to be said about a good ol’ fashioned massaging facial. The relaxing benefits are worth the look in your face when get off the table…but it really is cheaper to do as much at home as possible. Besides I’m having fun!

OK in answer to the questions I know you going to ask…OMGosh YES … does the light ever work! Instead of just writing I wish I had taken photos!  During the full month of January I never missed a date with my DPL system or if I did I did a double whenever I was free in the morning or in the evening.

The dark spots, sun damage, lines and crows feet ALL dramatically reduced!! A girl friend had just put me blast saying that I should be concerned about my neck because it was starting to show signs of being first in my facial area to go south…what are girlfriends for…WOW I really needed that. But anyway, the light proved to be beneficial for my neck also and I hadn’t even bargained on that one. BONUS POINT! Woo Hoo!

DO I RECOMMEND THE “DPL SYSTEM”…You BET I DO!! and not only that I will continue to use the light at least 2-3 times a week (for my neck) so I am getting my total investment in the light back on what I save from not getting this procedure done at a salon.

Now let me bring you up to snuff… ok ok I’m from West Virgina and I really try to take the hillbilly out of my writing … but it just creeps back in at the most unusual places…as I was saying/writing…

I added to my arsenal on my last shopping expedition a 10times magnifying mirror that has a suction cup that sticks right to my bathroom mirror. WHEW!! Stuff is really BIG in that mirror! I wanted to see everyone of those little pimples up close and in person. AND my pores are lookin like craters…O’ just something else to work on!!! WOW anyway back to the list of newly-found-gonna-fight acne items.

12 white cotton wash cloths in a bundle for like $5.99 at Super Wal-Mart that I use to remove makeup and when the cloth comes clean I know all my makeup is off.

I figured I’d start small with 5 gallons of alkaline water @ $2.50 per gallon since not drinking water is one of my biggest problems. The first 3 are free at H2O Wellness Center in Dr Phillips in Orlando and I rebottle the water in my dark green Perrier glass water bottles that wash up and are reused beautifully. I’m trying to prevent breast cancer and  I don’t want to drink from plastic bottles. What sold me on the alkaline water was in a brief video at the store they mentioned the alkaline water getting to the root cause of acne and many other great things …but as far as I was concerned he could have just stopped at acne and I was sold! AND the Perrier glass bottles get the water cold in fridge in record time.

I’m sitting here nursing a bottle of my alkaline water in my Perrier glass bottle as I write…so don’t tell me there aren’t people out there keeping their NYR and finding better ways to do them!!

Do you get the feeling people see me coming and all they have to say is “cures acne” and I’m buying! But ya gotta admit every single thing so far has been worth the money…for me anyway!

I will continue to use the light because I love what I’m seeing…wish you could see it too. Oh but I know you because you’re doing it too. So for the month of February I’ve got to find a better way to clean my face. back to the arsenal…see ya here in another few weeks to report my progress and to tell you what I decided to use!!

Hello World, Pretty City Orlando Florida,

My face is a war zone and before I can put its care in the hands of some capable esthetician … I need to heal the adult acne that plagues me! I am armed and ready to try the MT Derma Roller, the LED light theraphy and the Clarisonic skin machine. I think that’s everything in my skin care tool arson. I will explain in detail how and when each is used.  I started off the year promising myself that I would achieve beautiful flawless skin because I believe that it can be done. We will see.

The month of December I used Retin A Micro (tretinoin gel) microshpere, 0.04% since I had the down time and would not be in front of any cameras. No holiday parties for me in 09!

For the first time in almost two years I was pleased with how my skin looked after about 3 weeks of using the Retin A. I experienced a major clean up of acne and blotchy uneven skintone.

Boy did I go through it to achieve this. The scaly red tight burning hurting face was a day to day occurrence and I felt like it was never going to end but it was almost like instantly my skin reacted positively to the Retin A treatment. It was like why didn’t I think of this sooner.

I know with continued use of Retin A, like everything else for me, seemed to work for just a little while then nothing no matter what I did would make it work again. So I figured that I would get my skin clear with Retin A then find a way to keep it acne free.

Every night I applied very thin film of Retin A on clean skin. Cleansing was the same for both day and night. Every morning first thing and every night before bed I removed the dead skin with Shu Uemura cleansing beauty oil premium A/1 applied with dry hands on a dry face and massaged in to remove most of the dead skin then rinsed with warm water and patted dry followed by a rose water/witch hazel/alkaline water mix sprayed onto my skin as a cooling toner.  Once a week I used Shu Uemura white recovery EX gentle brightening massage gel exfoliating scrub. That was a mouth full. Once again with dry hands and dry face I massaged a quarter size into my face until it emulsifies into an oil and then rinsed clean with warm water.

Ok so now January 30th I’m feeling like I’ve hit the wall and the Retin A has stopped working…time to try something new. I’m thinking the LED Light Theraphy would work nicely after the Retin A treatment for the month of January.