Last Sunday morning, on my way to Main Street Bagels, I took a detour through ELLE magazine’s mobile eco-salon.
The eco-salon is a big green bus, fueled by biodiesel and decked out with a banquette, salon chairs, mirrors, lights, and makeup artists. This May marks ELLE’s third annual green issue, and in promotion, the magazine is sending the eco-salon to shopping areas around Southern California.
On Sunday, the bus was parked in front of Clever boutique, and a woman costumed in a leaf-covered unitard passed out coupons for organic makeup and offered passers-by mini-facials.
The leaf-woman reminded me of the job I had when I was 14. I worked at Mrs. Field’s Cookies, baking, cleaning, cashiering. But my favorite part of the job was getting to put on the giant chocolate chip cookie costume and walk up and down the mall. I could hide in that cookie. I would smile and ask people “Would you like to try a sample?” They couldn’t help but smile back. It was one of those best-worst jobs. No memos. No meetings.
Part of me really envied that leaf-woman.
Inside the eco-salon, a makeup artist rubbed her hands with sanitizing gel as she asked, “So, what do you usually use on your skin?”
I knew I was going to have to answer this question. I could have fibbed. I could have said that I cleansed and toned and slathered myself with moisturizer, SPF 45, and anti-aging serum. I could have lied and said that I took my vitamins. I used to. I used to take a chewable Spongebob Squarepants vitamin everyday. And I don’t drink eight glasses of water. Lots of days, I drink nothing but coffee and diet soda.
“You know those Stridex pads?” I asked.
The makeup artist’s eyes widened. “That’s it?”
“I use generic ones,” I said. “No moisturizer?” “Nope.” Moisturizer isn’t a must. You don’t need to wear it all the time, and when you do wear it, you don’t need to cover your entire face.
Your skin is your largest organ, and if you were to peel it off, all Hannibal Lecter-like, it would weigh 4 to 6 pounds.
The epidermis is the outer layer of your skin; it’s actually made up of layers of dead and dying skin cells. As new skin cells grow in your epidermis’s lowest level, they push older skin cells to the surface (a skin cell has a life cycle between 21 and 28 days).
Below the epidermis, is the dermis. In addition to containing capillaries and lymph vessels, which provide nutrients and remove waste from new skin cells, the dermis also contains sebaceous glands (which produce sebum) and sweat glands. Sebum and sweat pass through your pores, forming a thin film on your skin.
This film acts as your skin’s first line of defense against bacteria. That film also helps moisturize your skin.
However, some people have low sebum production, and everyone’s sebaceous glands slow sebum production in the winter. When this happens, the dead surface skin cells dry and curl up, exposing the cells beneath, causing them to lose moisture, too.
The eco-salon’s makeup artist washed my face with Juice Beauty’s Cleansing Gel (a 6 oz. bottle retails for $22), and spritzed me with $22 Hydrating Mist. Some of it got in my mouth.
Juice Beauty’s products are pesticide-free and made with ingredients such as oatmeal, grapes, carrots, cucumbers, avocados, rosehip extract, green tea, evening primrose, apples, pomegranates, beeswax, sunflowers, dandelions, sage and mandarin.
“So,” I asked, pointing to my face, “I can eat this, right?”
“I guess so,” the makeup artist said, shrugging.
I ran my index finger down my cheek and stuck it in my mouth. Not bad. Not as good as a cookie.
She applied Smoothing Eye Concentrate ($29 for half an ounce), and moisturizer with an SPF 30. Another makeup artist made me up with Physicians Formula’s “Organic wear” cosmetics. I was pampered for 20 whole minutes. It was nice.
But who has time for this? I have memos to skim, and meetings in which I pretend pay attention.
One thing we can all do for our skin is stress less. Stress can cause sebaceous glands to work overtime, making skin oily. Have a chocolate chip cookie and smile. It takes fewer muscles than frowning.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 25, 2008. Read the original PDF.