PBS

I think that I'm going to have to scrape my pennies together for a minor cosmetic indulgence...microdermabrasion.

It took nearly all 30 of my years of existence to embrace my femininity. I guess that I can credit my cuz and S23/S30 with that. I don't remember owning as many dresses (which still isn't VERY many) as I do now. I only bought pumps and whatnot from Pay.less back in the day. And even then, I thought that a person only needed one pair of black shoes and one pair of brown shoes to cover their whole "dressy" wardrobe. My cuz has since banned me from the Pay.less parking lot...I believe that she may have even threatened my life in a less-than-Chris.tian way. Otherwise, as long as I had a fresh pair of Nikes and some clean white kicks, I was straight. (I'm laughing at how I placed all of my $5 shoes on a high rack in my closet, right before I evacuated from the N.O. I was HOT when we were finally allowed to inspect our properties after Katrin.a and I saw that whole shelf, collapsed onto the floor and surrounded by sludge-encrusted shoes. I cussed the devil. My cuz, on the other hand, thought that it was divine intervention and seized the opportunity to "make me over").

The 2 things that I couldn't maintain were hair appointments and mani-pedis. I had a hard time finding a hairdresser that will actually LISTEN to what I want and do it. The one that I had back home used to do the damn thang...hadn't found anyone as talented ever since. So, I do my own relaxers, roller wraps, trims, and highlights. My cuz is more "ghetto sheik" than I am, so she entrusts that to a professional. I only get mani-pedis on special occasions and they have to be VERY special. I think that I only did it once last year and have yet to have them done again. If I could afford the paraffin wax pedicure on a weekly basis, I would.

But now I have a new love.

So I hang with Tee a lot. Tee is 41 y/o, but you would never know it unless she told you. I've always thought that she had the prettiest skin that I'd ever seen and just resolved that that kind of skin doesn't run in my fam and I just need to accept it. But she recently passed me the info to the chick that does her microdermabrasion treatments. I was shocked that her peanut butter smooth skin was even attainable.

I met with the chick this morning. She said that I already had good skin to begin with. I thought that the lighting in the room must've been too dim, but I swallowed the complement. I know what effect I want, I just need to know how do I attain it. After the consultation, I decided to try out my first treatment. I must say, there was some discomfort. Afterall, she was scraping away all of my dead skin. But once she was done, I felt so refreshed and I haven't been able to stop touching my cheeks. This isn't cheap, but its certainly worth the outcome. Microdermabrasion minimizes pores, evens skin tone, and counters the effects of sun damage and aging. Personally, the result lasts longer than any mani-pedi would. So, she's won me over and it looks like I have a new budget item...for the time being.

By December, everyone can refer to me by my new nickname...PBS (peanut butter smooth).