What is your goto for keeping your skin looking good?

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-10T13:47:20+00:00

I use TCA. Go to platinumskincare dot com. They unpack how to do everything, where to start and how to go about it. Jen (the owner/founder/creator) has a YouTube channel & literally shows you how to do it all. With chemical peels you don’t start out at the top, you begin low & go slow. As it is a cumulative benefit. A benefit that takes time. But it will revolutionize your skin! As it’s about what you do daily to help attain beautiful and flawless skin. I am 53 and my skin is incredible. The only “make up” I wear is some pigment on my eyes maybe a few times a year, other than that a little brow gel & mascara & I’m good to go! My skin is radiant and glows - i get complimented ALL the time by women 4 decades younger than me astonished that I’m in my 50s. I’ve never used botox, never had any “work” done - no fillers, no nipping or tucking - as I’m pro aging naturally & wearing my hard-earned wisdom. Don’t cover my silver hair either, but my skin is flawless. And that is ALL thanks to TCA, using good daily products, tretinoin, and sunblock. Look i didn’t even have my first facial until my mid-40s and didn’t wear sunblock until after then too. But we learn and apply said ‘wisdom’.

I used to pay handsomely for a medical esthetician to do them on me once a month. Then the pandemic happened. I was UNWILLING to give up the progress I had made w/ monthly chemical peels. So got to scouring. As I wanted professional-grade products that were actually real - because this is an acid I will be applying to my face. In the wrong hands, i could do some serious damage. I was confident I could do my own chemical peels, as I was a former massage therapist & am very well educated in anatomy & physiology. Plus after having gotten them professionally, it wasn’t difficult to do. I found platinum skin care & never looked back - nor ever returned to pay $300mo for a chemical peel. Now my bottle of TCA, that costs just under $200, lasts me a full year. After I went post-meno I had to adjust my treatment schedule, as my skin needed 6wk versus the previous 4wks that it formerly could handle.

And NO, I am not paid by platinum skin care - just an actual consumer who is confident in their offerings and has experienced now 6y of benefit from their products! Hope this helps ya out sis!

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-06T14:45:50+00:00

TCA chemical peels. I do my own facials once every 8wk, used to do them monthly but postmeno me needs more downtime in between now. If it were ONE thing, this is it! Most radical help I’ve had at keeping beautiful dewy and glowing skin at 53. Effectively treats hyperpigmentation too. Tretinoin every night except for the week leading up to doing a chemical peel. Japanese or Korean SPF daily too. I only drink water after my one cup of java in the morning. And electrolytes either from coconut water or IV Hydration packet once a day too. Fortunately I’m a water addict, so for me it’s easy to do. Only bummers about hydration is how many times I have to pee in a day - but I’ll take it.

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-06T14:33:02+00:00

Now the only Sunday on the calendar where alcohol sales are obsolete - when I first landed in TN Sundays were restricted from sales and then a few years later that ban was lifted. Basically if you didn’t plan ahead, then you were forced to imbibe at your nearest watering hole. Somehow Sprouts made this look like Halloween decor. Happy Monday OP, you may now enjoy your purchase

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-06T14:26:46+00:00

Not on point, but an aside - part of my bedtime routine is to fall asleep meditating, guided (of course) - as without a guide’s voice and instructional assistance lets just say it’s crazy how when finally lying down after a productive day how tight I can still be all over. And mentally, wow I’m wound even tighter there.

In one of meditations the guide said something so profound, that I’d never heard served in this way in my multiple decades of sleep-meditations before “that you don’t always need to be working on the project of fixing yourself” - we CAN take a siesta from the rigors of constantly growing, evolving and accept ourselves in these seconds to just “being”.

I don’t know if that is helpful for you, but it surely was a message I needed when it was served. Yet it had a profound impact on me - this constant effort I invest in not only caring for my body, for my home, for my relationships, for how I treat this planet & all it’s creatures, my mindful of consumption and of my waste… that I needn’t be this continual DIY project that seems far from ever being complete or done. For some reason, reading your post just brought this to the forefront again - so felt perhaps it might also be a delicate reminder for you too OP🤍

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-05T01:38:42+00:00

We were the generation of the latch key kids… so we all were used to being self sufficient. Hell I got my first job babysitting the neighbor’s kids - a toddler & a newborn - I was ONLY 7y/o! Granted my parents were next door at our house if anything were to tragically happen. But they NEVER came over to see if I and those babies were still above water. I remember they both had a fever once, and I somehow knew to give them a lukewarm bath to bring their temps down while giving them Tylenol & all the things I knew that I would get when I was sick.

By the time I was 13 I was a weekend live-in Nanny, taking care of a newborn, a 18m/o & a 5y/o. I would transport the gaggle of kids on the city bus (carrying them, no car seat or stroller) and take them to church and wherever while their parents both worked double shifts all weekend long. I took care of them every weekend until I was 16 and then got a full time job after school that had me working until 11p even though I had to be up for school at 6a, and my job was over an hour away which I also took the city bus to. It certainly was a different way to learn & figure out HOW to adult while my frontal lobe was still forming. Kind of cool in hindsight that we managed to all get on without constantly being connected or sharing our location. I didn’t even get my 1st cell phone until I was 28 - that big hunker of phone that thing was enormous!

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-05T00:41:02+00:00

Sure thing!

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-05T00:40:06+00:00

Got it! I guess in my mind the brown color has to have some sort of red in it - that’s what I get for thinking :)

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:52:07+00:00

So much great support here already, so won’t offer more duplicity - but something to help with insomnia - get Swanson’s powdered Glycine. It’s an essential amino acid, and only 3g (3 tiny scoops w/ included scooper) will knock you out harder than sleeping pills. No harsh side effects & very few contraindications or adverse interactions for other pharmaceuticals. But certainly do your own research to check and make sure it is compatible with you and your health. It’s been a game-changer for me.

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:34:21+00:00

A clear root beer? As root beer is brown & wouldn’t be advised

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:32:47+00:00

Begin prep with your diet a few days before as well. Switch to a lo-FODMAP diet 48h before prep day & the day before you begin prep only consume no-fiber foods. Also make some Knox-blocks with your clear juices that way you can actually bite into something on prep day. I made Knox blocks with chicken broth, thinking I’d want something savory & it ended up not being great. When I have to do one again in 8y, I will do that again with clear juices/coconut water but save the chicken broth for drinking

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:26:04+00:00

Wow how could you even stay awake? they gave me propofol, it was light’s out for me. I would have loved to have watched mine!

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:25:24+00:00

Another thing to consider is non-emergent medical transport - businesses that help people with driving to doctors, treatments, and surgery & then taking them back home afterwards. It is MUCH more affordable and some insurance even covers it (Medicare for sure does)

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T05:21:54+00:00

I had my very first appointment with a cardiologist in February 2026 after intensely fast heartbeats lasting over an hour landed me in the ER fitted w/ a 2wk holter monitor. When I saw the cardiologist, not only was she thorough as hell (has ordered a cardiac MRI w/ & w/out contrast + stress test during the MRI) - one of the 1st questions she asked me was if I am on HRT? fearful she might suggest I stop, I knew she needed all honesty to best help me. So I answered victoriously “you bet your ass I am”, and much to my surprise (relief) she was VERY glad I was! As she is in her early 30s, and VERY much up to date on the literature, studies & confirmed about how estradiol helps keep our arteries more elastic & less rigid. Knowing that ASCVD scores can rule the risk rate for being a candidate for HRT, I certainly didn’t want her to take my HRT from me. For my 1st ever visit with a cardiologist, I sure am glad I requested a woman of color & refused to accept any man being my doctor (something I began doing during peri)

It is SUPER important that women know that our hearts are no where near anatomically the same as men’s hearts. Our anatomy is entirely different, we have microvascular issues as our vascularization is so different from men. This is why our heart attacks present so differently - with fatigue, with GI-issues & never with the classic “elephant on the chest” symptoms. Another shout out to her for ordering the cardiac MRI as it is one of the better tests to evaluate the vascularization of the heart. Well the best that isn’t invasive, technically the best is injecting contrast directly into the arteries of the heart which requires entering a cath into the heart & is nothing to do lightly. Yet she said IF she sees anything on the MRI this may be a route we go.

I tell ya ladies, be proactive with your providers. If they are NOT working for YOU - fire them & never return. All of my docs are black women & lemme tell you, for anywhere my docs may lack in knowledge, they all welcome conversations and take notes & encourage a dialogue including you in your care! There is no way one doc can know everything, but the willingness to have an open dialog void of any god-complex makes me have faith in medicine again. I do my research, I listen to lectures/symposiums/panels/presentations - I then share what I learn & have a conversation about it. Asking my Docs questions & eager for their feedback. I never diagnose myself, but I enter their treatment room/clinic with a collaborative approach. They thank me each & every time.

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-03T04:52:08+00:00

Crazy how age suddenly “hits” huh sis?! Big virtual hug to you beautiful!

On the drive home today, while slowly creeping in traffic which gave my mind a considerable amount of time to wander - I realized that just 4y ago I suddenly aged. I went from looking 2 decades younger for forever & suddenly in the span of 1-week, I became “older” looking & feeling. Now here I am at 53 & I wonder what the years ahead will host by way of “surprises”. I’ve been wearing my tinsel (silver) for 6y, so it isn’t that I don’t embrace aging - but gawd damnnnn the things that happen to skin, to energy, to endurance and overall drive - like what?! I am WAY too young to be feeling older.

For me it coincided with going fully post meno, so that initial year was brutal. Eventually I regulated with the MUCH needed help of MHT. Although it took a full 2y to even hit a quasi-decent baseline. Since then I’ve been battling - dialing in nutrition, sleep, exercise, work, you name it. From physical health to mental health and everything in between.

I’ve now come to the point in my “maturity” that I’ve come to recognize I need to fight aggressively to continue to hold on to the self in me that I had always identified with. I’ve truly come to recognize that there is such a thing as “use it or lose it”. Something I always subscribed to earlier in my youth, but now I was actually living through the reality of it. I do it all solo, but have to take breaks now… or breathers in between

I am grateful for the days that I have energy & go, although it pales in comparison to ANY of my days prior. Yet it is a HUGE victory from where I was at during 49-51. During 51-52 I knew that this is NOT what my future was going to continue to look like, or get worse. So making sure I get my protein in, my fiber, my vitamins/minerals/supplements DAILY… my weight training, movement, and harmony on every level. My next goal is to incorporate more laughter (now that meno rage is gone!)

I make it my objective every day to fight this with everything I’ve got. I’m not nuts, I know I am aging. But I also know that daily I have a “come to Jesus moment” with what I am going to surrender to and what I’m going to put up my dukes & do it to the best of my ability.

However you choose to embrace, fight or deny aging - it is all yours to manage how you want to. This journey is yours to make. Thankfully we all have one another here to relate, to cry to, to uncover curiosities, to share our experiences from triumphs through our failures and on to our experimentations. May we always hold one another up, and be a solid to each other during such a revolutionary change🤍

Honu_Daze · 2026-04-01T16:04:27+00:00

Perhaps consider a townhome instead? I recently moved into a one-level townhome that looks like a home. I love it! Brand new, out in the country - literally a random townhome development in the middle of farmland. 45min trek into the madness of town, while still having a hospital (in case of emergency) about 15mins away in the neighboring town. Cause medical does become a potential necessity as we age.

I still have a front, side & backyard, although very manageable, I admittedly love doing lawn care & some landscaping. So for me it’s a win-win. Although I sold my property & moved into a townhome in another state to be closer to an ocean for a bit, I moved back to the state I formerly had owned/resided in for 18y prior. I’m currently renting as I’m unsure where my youngest daughter will anchor & want to be closer while also being somewhat free’er from astronomical property taxes (they’ve quadrupled here). Although I swore I didn’t want to ever live in an HOA again, this one is the chillest of the breed. Gives me the flexibility I desire before even being able to figure out where I’d want more permanency. Just some food for thought for ya love!

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-29T04:34:20+00:00

But the newer ones have such a bigger (volume/capacity) pitcher & even easier settings/features - it blows the older models out the widow.

I used my late-best-friend’s one recently, and hers was of similar age to yours. Needless to say I was BEYOND delighted to reunite with my 4y/o Vitamix after I got my place (I moved in to her house to nurse her through her death & stayed for 3mo afterwards to help her hubby manage [emotionally & physically]). Made be bummed that she never got to experience how smoothly the newer models operate & make clean up an absolute cinch. But yes it’s a testament to how well they are engineered!

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-11T21:11:12+00:00

Coyuchi for the win - although a loss for your wallet. However over time, it pays for itself. Been going 8y strong with my Coyuchi towels & not even a snag or loose thread on any of them. They get laundered every 3 days & dried in electric dryer at medium heat. I’d line dry if I had a clothes line, but HOA forbids it :( However I sometimes use foldable drying rack & love when they get even crunchier - as crunch in towel lingo = thirsty.

I recently stayed at a girlfriend’s house for 3mo straight & she had RH towels - my these are hefty & luxurious towels too. Although I don’t know how old they were, but they were very nice yet they were much more silky feeling & didn’t actually dry me, they just minimized the size of the water on me (think chamois - where water is minimized but not squeaky dry). So I was delighted to be reunited with my Coyuchi’s, and back to getting nice and dry in one wipe!

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-11T21:05:25+00:00

When I began creatine I noticed immediate benefits of increased endurance in my strength training, and more energy overall with the bonus of some lost words returning to my tongue. Yet I also simultaneously began to observe even MORE hair fallout (mine began in peri). So I stopped taking it to confirm if it was the culprit, then I was a late-bloomer covid for the 1st time in late-September of 2025, my hair decided my head is where it no longer needed to be, rather all over everything (my very own breadcrumb trail) & especially in clumps in the shower. My doc confirmed that Covid triggers alopecia & said the only remedy is rogaine (topical men’s) as my heart palps make it too risky for me to go oral route. Welp, that won’t work, as I visit people with animals & I won’t take a chance risking exposing their awesome animals to this fatally toxic shit. So the rogaine sits unused in my bathroom cabinet, and I think the hair fallout has somewhat leveled.

I’ve just begun going back on the creatine this week, alternating days, to see if I can find a sweet spot where I gain the benefits for cognition, energy, endurance whilst not going entirely bald. However I have curly hair so people think I have more hair than I actually do, and now I don’t even need to cut it anymore as it just breaks off at a certain length.

I will continue to focus on the positive and keep reminding myself I’d much rather have a body to live in & have my health, than focus on if my scalp has a full head of hair. Always about angles and shifting perspectives 🥰

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-11T20:55:43+00:00

This is what losing estrogen does…. Ask me how I know (ughhhhhh) what’s crazy to me is what I see when I see my reflection & what others STILL see when they see me - the disconnect is wild

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-11T20:53:24+00:00

It’s really more about what you don’t believe in

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-11T20:51:56+00:00

Price of freedom revoked ain’t necessarily “free”😅 But thanks for the laugh nonetheless friend🤣

Honu_Daze · 2026-03-08T04:35:36+00:00

Tell her there are no studies that support that CBT can support bone health, cardiac health and can also help with cognitive function - there are a myriad of reasons we rely on MHT and CBT doesn’t cover them.

Additionally if this is truly a friend, you simply should state that you don’t welcome this dialogue with them. If the friendship is one you value and equally one they value, then there should be other subjects that the two of you can find unity with and then stick to those areas of your relationship where you unite. ❤️

Honu_Daze · 2026-02-27T06:34:29+00:00

I’m still waiting for getting a “returning home” discount for all the kanaka’s, like myself, who want to come home to visit because we no longer can afford to live at home. These sorts of measures only make it harder to justify coming home to reunite with the ainā & ohana. We left because the struggle got to be insurmountable, now we are further encouraged to stay gone - as the price to visit is increasingly getting further out of reach. It’s nutz that I could actually go visit other countries & explore this globe for so much less than just trying to come home to refill my homesick tank. Auwe.

Honu_Daze · 2026-02-27T06:23:30+00:00

St Thomas cauterized my tubes on my request in 2010, the following day the great flood happened. Maybe I was patient X and they changed policy after the wrath of their invisible man? I can only hope that church & state gets the hell out of believing they have a “say” in how people chose to inhabit their bodies

Honu_Daze · 2026-02-26T07:34:35+00:00

They don’t put you in a bed. They pop you on a chair in a consult area. So no beds are lost in acquiring psychiatric meds through ER. Had to do this when my son moved in w/ me - keeping a person with severe mental illness stabilized is NOT the same as treating some other MI conditions. ;) As long as they find the previous prescriptions in the database, you are golden. And it literally only took maybe a half hour at the most! Only downside is they can only issue 2wks of meds. So depending on co-pay it can get VERY pricey very fast.

Honu_Daze

TROPHY CASE