It has been forever since I did a post!  I will say the reason is:  2 new grand babies,  Christmas, and a vacation.    Our count is now:  7 boys, 1 girl.  Gentri brought Leo Henry Green into the world on Nov.  Loni gave birth to Ford Lawrence Platt in Feb.  (See blog links)  It has been such a joy-filled time!  Over this time, I relearned that having babies is not for the faint of heart. Carly, Loni, and Gentri are all great mamas; are completely devoted to raising their little ones right.  I watch admiringly as they love and care for their growing families (and help when and wherever I can).

On a completely difference topic, today's post is about Skin Care.  The topic came up after a facial I had on the vacation.  You know,  a person can spend thousands on getting the right skin care products.  Being someone who enjoys the challenge of finding the best quality for best price, I did some research. which included a visit to the dermatologist.  Here is the info I gleaned:

• CLEAN:  At every age, keep facial skin clean by cleansing night and morning.  Use a gentle cleanser which will hydrate your skin.  I have used Cetaphil lotion to cleanse, and baby soap when the budget didn't afford the Cetaphil.  The dermatologist recommended Cera Ve (2 types-foaming or gel) which Costco has for $10 and lasts about 4 months.
• MOISTURIZE :  For years I have used Eucerin Cream which looks like Crisco in a tub before I went to bed, and just a touch of it in the morning under make-up.  Recently I discovered a Eucerin which has Q10 anti-oxidants in it--I use at night now  (Drugstore.com-$9.50) .  
• PROTECT: Since my visits to the dermatologist have included having little skin cancers burned off my face each time I go (yeah, one right on the end of my nose--nice place for a huge scab for 2 weeks), I am now "on a mission" to have everyone use sunblock on their faces!  In the morning under make-up use Cetaphil spf50 ($10.50 Drugstore.com).  If I am working out in the yard, I will put it on at 4 hr intervals.  
• ANTI-WRINKLE:  My skin didn't show much wrinkling until it changed (with the Change) when I turned 50.  In panic, I began to wrinkle overnight. The body produces less oils after this time.  My hands dried up like the Sahara--but that is a topic for another day....I turned to the anti-wrinkle creams, but found they cost a lot and do they really work??   In my research, I relearned about Retinol, a class of compounds that encompasses retinol, retinoic acid, retinyl palmitate, retinol aldehyde, and a host of others--are derivatives of vitamin A, one of the body's key nutrient needs.  
• Imagine a skin-care ingredient which visibly smoothed out wrinkles and obliterated breakouts; improved skin texture and helps the skin replace lost collagen and stops future collagen breakdown.  and tightened pores into tiny little nothings.  It lessens the look of brown spots and sometimes helps reduce precancerous lesions.  It quite literally turns back the skin's clock to a glowier, more luminous past.  Miraculous, yes.  Imagine, too, that skieptics and researchers the world over had tested this ingredient exhaustively (since 1931 when isolated by Swiss chemist Paul Karrer--who rec'd the Nobel Peace Prize for it), scutinizing it for decades to see if it really could be as potent as it appeared--and it was.  If such an ingredient existed, who would not dash off to the nearest store and snatch it off the shelf.   "The best anti-ager is sunscreen; the next is vitamin A  Nothing else approaches it.  Retinoids trigger change in the skin to make it look clearer and more youthful; they actually help skin get back to a healthier place.  And there's strong, strong clinical data behind that."(Jennifer Linder, M.D., dermatologist--and virtually all skin-care experts agree)  So.......there are many products on the scene which include retinol.  But which ones are best, and which concentration of it is best?  You can spend a fortune finding this out, or just visit the dermatologist and he will write a prescription for retin A (or Tretinoin Cream) at a (cost of $17  to Costco) and you are set.      Turns out that retinol also sloughs off top layer of dead skin cells, so scrubs are not necessary.