Introduction. Who am I?

So, who am I and why should you pay any attention to anything I have to say? =)

Well, first let me introduce myself. My name is Missy and I'm a makeup addict, animal-lover, doll-collector, wife and the mother of two awesome kids. My blog will mostly be about my makeup and skincare adventures with a bit of random fun stuff thrown in there now and again.

Who should read my blog?

Those with acne-prone, rosacea-prone, allergy-prone, eczema-prone or basically anyone with very sensitive skin that can't handle much will definitely want to check in from time to time. Or maybe you just want to see some swatches or we have the same skin tone. I'll try to have a wide variety of topics, brands and discussions!

A little bit about me:

I started developing skin sensitivities at the ripe old age of 11. It started out innocently enough, random pimples, a little bit of redness. My mom had never experienced acne as a teen, so neither of us had absolutely any idea of what to do. We tried random products from the drugstore like Oxy, Neutrogena, Clearasil, some mid-end brands like Clinique and, of course, infomercial products like ProActiv Solution, Murad and a few others that I can't even remember. After nothing helped, we finally went to a dermatologist to embark on a whole new wave of medicines, Retin-A, Benzamycin, Atralin, etc. My face became worse and worse. It was red, swollen and painful on most days. My mild acne slowly progressed to moderate acne and finally, severe cystic acne. After yet another trip to the dermatologist, we finally ended up at the last resort, Accutane.

My experience with Accutane was bittersweet, at best. Did it clear up my acne? Yes. Was it worth it? Nope, not even close. First, it dried up my skin so much that I remember waking up in the middle of the night and slathering vaseline on my face. I had to keep it beside my bed because my skin felt like it was going to crack open. I was seriously afraid that it would! Aside from drying out my skin, it also dried out my nails and hair. My hair felt like straw. There was nothing I could do about it. My nails were cracked all the way down to the skin. It hurt and there was no way to fix it. Aside from the constant dryness, there was the pain. OH, the pain! Headaches, toothaches, jaw pains, stomach aches. My entire body felt sick all the time. I could barely eat or drink anything because I always felt so sick. My vision got worse and worse. I was constantly at the doctor due to side effects. I actually remember standing in a store once after I'd finished my round of the drug, overhearing two girls discussing whether or not they should try it. I actually approached them, sobbing, telling them all the reasons not to. They probably thought I was some nut, but it had a huge impact on me.

Anyway, Accutane didn't help for long. After a few years, my acne came back with a vengeance. At 28, I was also diagnosed with Stage 2 Rosacea. My skin was awful. There are times I wouldn't even leave my house because I was so embarrassed of how I looked. My face was constantly red. I had HUGE cysts on my cheeks, jawline and neck. Makeup looked absolutely horrible on top, so I just didn't wear any. Around the same time, I also started having horrible allergic reactions to random things like lipsticks. That's when I decided to have allergy testing done and found out the I have a TON of allergies.

These days, I try to stick to a very simple and basic routine. I look up all ingredients to check for allergens or potential skin-cloggers and I closely monitor how my skin reacts to new products. My skin is still a huge struggle, every single day. Weather affects it a lot also, as does stress. This blog will be an attempt to keep track of my  "adventures". I'm also a member of Makeupally where I've written hundreds of reviews. If you want to look me up and read some reviews, my username is "Missy". They say you can always identify the oldest members by how short their usernames are. I've been a member there since 1999. LOL

Anyway, if you're still reading this, thank you for sticking around and I hope you'll enjoy visiting my little corner of the cyber-world! =)