At 18, I rubbed cow-milking salve into my face: my skin story
At eighteen, I was rubbing cow-milking salve into my face.
It sounds unbelievable now, but in 1981 I was training as a beauty specialist in Rhodesia with the International Health and Beauty Council, and the country was under sanctions. The beautiful skincare you can buy today simply wasn’t available. We trained with whatever we could find, and sometimes that meant the salve farmers used on their cows.
I was a good student. I won Best Beauty Student at Salisbury Polytechnic that year, and I loved the work. But my own skin never quite recovered from those early years.
Selling beautiful skin while hiding my own
After I immigrated in 1983, I ran the beauty salon in a pharmacy and became one of the top Guerlain skincare sellers in the country. Every day, I helped women choose lovely products. And every day, I went home and covered my own breakouts with makeup.
Then the stress of starting again in a new country brought on adult acne. Not a few spots, but breakouts that changed how I moved through the world. I stopped looking people in the eye. I would walk into a room and look down. I would hold a conversation while thinking only about my skin.
I knew skincare. I had the training and the products. What I didn’t have was someone who looked closely at my skin and told me what it actually needed.
The day everything changed
In 2005, I found Environ and trained with Dr Des Fernandes and his team. For the first time, I understood that skin isn’t fixed by more products. It responds to the right products, in the right order, at the right strength, introduced gradually so your skin can adjust.
It was the first time in my career that someone prescribed for my skin rather than sold to it. Not more. Different.
I’m 64 now, and I have used Environ on my own skin for more than 20 years. My skin tells a very different story. But the change I value most isn’t in the mirror. It’s that I look people in the eye confidently again.
Why I’m telling you this
Most women who come to see me have done nothing wrong. They have tried what their friends recommend, what the ads promise and what they found online. Their bathroom drawers are full. Their skin still isn’t where they want it.
If that sounds like you, I want you to hear this: it is not your fault. It is the wrong prescription.
Last week I wrote about exactly this, and why buying more rarely solves the problem. You can read it here: You don’t need more products. You need the right prescription.
What a Skin Consultation with me looks like
When you come to my studio in Conder, I look closely at your skin and talk through your routine, your lifestyle and your goals. I explain what your skin needs and why, and you leave with a written prescription you can follow at home. You can read more about how I work with skin on my Her Skincare page.
If you’d like to hear from women who have already been through this, you’ll find their words on my client reviews page.
Your skin has a story too
Let’s make sure the next chapter is a good one.
