: Skin care :

After a stormy night last night, I'm enjoying this fall weather immensely. It's currently 56 degrees at 10 a.m. and I'm wearing a black mock turtleneck, a tan wrap skirt and brown leather studded belt, black tights and black suede shoes. It's nice being able to show the shape of my legs, which I feel comfortable doing if I'm wearing hose, but up until now it's been too hot.

I gave another young co-worker a shock today by telling her my age. She's 26, and we were talking in the restroom about skincare, which she acknowledges that she does not pay enough attention to. I was telling her how important it is to take care of your skin, and made the point by asking her to guess my age. She declined to guess, but asked how old I am, and the look of surprise on her face is one thing that never gets old for me.

I've been told by many people, both before transition and after, that I have great skin, and I do - mostly due to genetics because until I transitioned, I hardly ever did anything other than wash my face with warm water on a towel. Since transition however, I have developed a simple but effective dry skin regimen for morning and night - Neutrogena Gentle Cleanser in the morning, followed by Dove Essentials Day Lotion (SPF 15) under my makeup. In the evening I remove my eye makeup with Neutrogena Oil-Free Makeup Remover, then wash my face in the shower with Aveeno's Daily Skin Brightening Scrub. Then I put Dove Essentials Night Cream on my face right before bed, and I use Vaseline Night Care balm on my lips while I sleep.

Sometimes I wonder if I will ever look my age. Maybe at some point I'll begin to age faster to catch up with my extended youthfulness (like what happens to the bad guy at the end of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) but because of my personal circumstances, I believe I will always be young at heart. In fact, it was that youngish quality in my eyes that my young colleague said threw her guess off more than my youthful appearance.