Growing Up with Skin Care
I don’t remember a time when skin care wasn’t part of my life.
I was raised to take care of my skin.
Maybe it’s a Latina thing. Maybe it’s a Colombian thing. Whatever it is, the women in my family believed in taking care of their skin long before “self-care” became a buzzword.
When my sisters, my cousin, and I were growing up, beauty wasn’t just something we read about — it was something we did together.
Back then, beauty magazines were our influencers. We couldn’t click “Add to Cart.” If we wanted to try a facial, we headed to the refrigerator.
My sisters and I would flip through magazines looking for homemade facial recipes. My mom and my abuelita would smile because many of those recipes weren’t new to them.
We’ve mashed avocados and spread them across our faces.
We’ve walked around the house trying not to smile because the egg whites were drying on our skin.
We’ve experimented with whatever beauty secret happened to be making the rounds long before social media told us what was trending.
Those afternoons weren’t really about beauty. They were about tradition.
Looking back, I realize we weren’t trying to become beautiful. We were simply taking care of ourselves.
That lesson stayed with me.
Today my skin care comes in jars and bottles instead of my kitchen, (okay, sometimes from the kitchen) but the message hasn’t changed. My skin works hard every single day. The least I can do is return the favor.
After all, your skin is the largest organ in your body. Think about that for a second.
We spend time taking care of our hearts, our teeth, our muscles, our bones, and our mental health — and we should. But our skin deserves that same respect. It protects us every single day. It helps regulate our body temperature. It keeps moisture in and harmful things out. It heals itself after cuts and scrapes. It’s working around the clock, whether we notice it or not.
Skin care isn’t vanity. It’s maintenance. And it’s for everyone — men, women, teenagers, grandparents. Every one of us lives in skin, so why wouldn’t we take care of it?
Summer has always reminded me why that matters.
One summer before I started ninth grade, my two sisters, my cousin, and I practically lived at the neighborhood pool. If we weren’t swimming, we were talking about when we could go back.
Sunscreen?
Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly our priority.
By the end of the summer, all four of us were beautifully… and dangerously… tan. Even my baby sister had turned several shades darker.
My mom took one look at the four of us and announced that we were no longer allowed back to the pool until we lightened up.
We thought she was completely overreacting.
She didn’t.
She worried about us getting burned. She worried about our skin. She reminded us that all that sunshine would make us wrinkly. Then she’d add, “Or worse.”
What was worse? She never told us. As kids, we rolled our eyes. As adults, we understand.
Skin care has become an act of self-love.
I enjoy using the right product for the right purpose, the feeling of being pampered, and making an ordinary evening feel a little luxurious. Add some music, a scented candle, and those few quiet minutes after a shower, and I’m happy. My skin feels better, and so do I.
These days I don’t think of sunscreen as something I wear only when I’m headed to the beach. Living in Miami, the sun is part of everyday life. Whether I’m walking Scrappy, relaxing by the pool, or running errands, those minutes in the sun add up.
The younger version of me thought sunscreen was optional. The older version doesn’t leave home without thinking about it.
My skin care routine today looks very different from the one I had at fourteen. Back then, if it smelled good and promised glowing skin, I probably wanted to try it. Now I ask different questions.
Can I afford it? Is it a quality product? Does my skin actually need it? And was it tested on animals?
Those are the four things that guide almost every skin care purchase I make. Notice what’s not on that list — what’s trending. I don’t buy products because a celebrity uses them or because the packaging is pretty. My skin doesn’t care what’s trending. It cares about what works.
Your list might look completely different from mine, and that’s okay. That’s the beauty of skin care. There isn’t one perfect routine. There’s your routine.
One thing I wish more companies thought about is accessibility.
When people hear that word, they often think of ramps, elevators, and automatic doors. Those things matter. But accessibility can also be much smaller. Can you open the lid? Can you hold the bottle comfortably? Can you read the label? Can you tell which product comes first?
As someone who uses a wheelchair, I’ve learned that independence often lives in the little things. A pump bottle may seem like a design choice. To someone else, it’s the difference between doing their skin care routine on their own or needing help. Some people have arthritis. Some have neurological conditions. Some have limited grip strength. The best product in the world doesn’t do much good if you can’t comfortably use it.
That’s why I hope more beauty companies begin thinking beyond ingredients and consider the full experience.
One brand that got it right was Savor Beauty. Their products were numbered. One. Two. Three. Four. No guessing. No wondering which serum came first. Everything had its place.
It sounds like such a small detail. But sometimes the smallest details make the biggest difference. Even after I finished using their products, I found myself mentally numbering everything from completely different brands. Apparently once my brain learns a system, it likes to keep it. That little bit of order turned my routine into something relaxing instead of confusing.
That’s what good skin care should feel like. Not stressful. Not overwhelming. Just a few minutes each day taking care of the skin that’s been taking care of you your entire life.
These days my bathroom has become a little skin care boutique. Recently I stood there looking at all the bottles lined up on my shelves and laughed. Then I looked at my sister and made a declaration.
“I’m not buying another skin care product until every single one of these is used.”
She laughed. I laughed. My bathroom shelves probably laughed too.
I have enough cleansers, serums, moisturizers, masks, toners, exfoliants, and treatments to last me quite a while. That’s not a complaint. It’s actually a good reminder. Sometimes we get so excited trying new products that we forget to appreciate the ones we already have.
So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
The Skin You’re In
I’m also grateful to the beauty brands that have trusted me enough to send products for review. Yes, I’ll be trying them. Yes, I’ll be reviewing them. And yes, my opinions will always be my own. Skin care is personal. What works beautifully for me may not work for you. What becomes your holy grail may end up sitting untouched in my cabinet. That’s perfectly okay. That’s why real reviews matter — they’re experiences, not promises.
So now I’d love your help. By the time I’m ready to go shopping again, I’m hoping you’ll have helped me build my list.
Tell me your favorite cleanser. Your favorite moisturizer. Your favorite sunscreen. Tell me about the product you recommend to everyone. And tell me which one wasn’t worth the money.
After all, you’re my wonderfully opinionated readers. I trust you to tell me the truth.
Maybe that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned about skin care. It isn’t about looking younger. It isn’t about chasing perfection. It’s about respecting the skin you’re in.
Mine has carried me through every stage of my life — from homemade avocado facials with my sisters to carefully chosen serums on my bathroom shelf today.
The products have changed. The lesson hasn’t.
I hope you’ll do the same — take care of the skin you’re in.
DIY Facial Mists. Click here.
If this article made you smile, taught you something new, or simply reminded you to wear your sunscreen, buy me a coffee! Every cup helps keep Audacity Magazine beautiful—inside and out—and gives me another excuse to keep testing products so you don’t have to. Click here.
Our conversations don’t end when the article does. Subscribe to Audacity Magazine’s free weekly newsletter. Click here.