I Consume: Does Your Face Hurt?

...Because it's killing me.

Okay, that joke isn't funny. It's a favorite of my uncle's, and to be honest, it has never been funny. But sometimes my face does hurt, especially in the winter. Walking through the city, the cold wind feels like steel wool scraping against my skin. It leaves my face feeling tight and raw. The worst part is face dandruff. You think that's gross, but you know exactly what I'm talking about: those little bits of dead skin that pill up on your face like fuzz on a sweater. Not only is it disgusting and uncomfortable, but it make it nearly impossible to properly apply make-up. So you gob moisturizer onto your face, you smear it into your foundation until you are good and greased and you get some momentary relief. Still, by the time you get to work, your face is dry and burning, and there is nothing you can do about it except try to massage some hand lotion into the really dry spots without messing up your eye shadow. This is a sucky problem I thought had no solution.

Then last winter, I was introduced to a very exciting product. I was late meeting up with some friends (as I often am), and I explained that my lateness was due to a problem with my face. No matter how much lotion I put on, my face still felt dry. My friend Elle (not to be confused with my sister Elle) said, "Your face does look dry," pulled a bottle out of her purse and sprayed me in the face. "Um, I'm wearing make-up," I said, but she said that it was alright. A person could spray this product on his or her face before or after make-up, whenever the face felt dry, and it would not mess up the make-up. The spray provided immediate relief to my burning face, and somehow it did not cause my mascara to run down my cheeks. For the rest of the day, I was surprise attacked. Elle would squint at me, apparently deciding I looked dry, say, "Close your eyes," and spray before she had finished talking. I needed to get myself some of this stuff.

So, this is the part where I mention that the event just described took place in Korea, which I left very soon after without much notice. I returned to the US with the desire for a Korean product I knew only as "face moisture spray." The salespeople at the stores (drug stores, bath product stores and cosmetics shops) I tried did not know what I meant. Though I suspected a similar product to the Korean product must exist, I gave up and soon forgot about my quest.

Then a few weeks ago I was in Sears with Elle (my sister), and I came across Mineral Essentials Antioxidant Hydrating Mist. Could it be? I read the description on the back: "for thirsty skin," "part bliss," "soothe your skin and uplift your mood," revitalizing dose of moisture alone or over [...] make-up." My brain immediately categorized this as a need. "You're paying $16 for something you spray on your face?" Elle asked. Yes. Some things are worth the money.