Day 304: Mantra Monday - Leave That Zit Alone!

This week's mantra is not terribly ambitious, but still heartfelt.  

Leave that zit alone!

Yes folks, I managed to grow myself a zit this weekend, and it's driving me nuts.  It's one of those particularly painful little guys, in a tender spot just under my nose.  When I brush against it I have to sneeze!  Torture.

You may remember from my post several months (wow. months!) ago on Day 80, that I used to have awful acne that has (mostly) cleared up, thanks to two rounds of Accutane.  These days I'm meticulous about my skin, which keeps things mostly under control.  When that doesn't work, I have an arsenal of products on hand to fix what ails me, be it dry&flakey skin, sensitive&burning skin, oily&shiny skin, or - egads! - zits.  So now I'm dealing with the last thing on that list.  I know what to do, but it's really hard to follow my own directions.  Here is what I SHOULD do, once at morning and again at night:

1) Clean face using gentle cleanser.
2) Gently apply a mild zit-zapper (I like 2.5% Benzyl Peroxide) to the spot.
3) Cover entire face with fragrance-free, oil-free moisturizer (w/ SPF in the morning).
4) If morning, gently pat a bit of concealer on the spot.
5) NOW LEAVE THAT ZIT ALONE!

Steps 1-3 are easy, but steps 4 and 5 are a real challenge without a mirror.  I can't see my face, much less my zit, so I've decided to eliminate the concealer bit in favor of my normal makeup, which includes a tinted moisturizer.  On Mondays I don't wear makeup anyway, so that makes things simple, albeit stressful.

But then there's Step 5.  Step 5 doesn't just mean no picking or prodding, it also means no constantly-touching-your-face-to-see-if-the-zit-is-bigger/smaller/still-there.  And that last part is what I'm probably going to struggle with.  I'm hoping to adopt a "Who cares!?  It's a zit, not a tumor!" kind of attitude, but without being able to look in the mirror I don't actually know this for a fact now, do I??!

As silly (or icky) as this week's mantra may seem, it will be a challenge for me to accomplish without looking in a mirror. On Day 80 I joked that "MIRRORS CAUSE ACNE" after learning that American teen girls became more obsessed with having clear skin once mirrors became common in middle-class households.  I'm hoping that NOT having mirrors in my household will help me just forget about my skin and get on with my life.   
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