I Used Only Ole Henrikson Brand Products for a Week - Here's What Happened... Wait for It...
A few weeks ago (ok, months ago) I conducted an experiment in exclusivity. Being a lover of almost all things beauty-related, and a giant lover of hype, it's insanely difficult to be brand-loyal, so when I used only Fresh products for a full week, it was, if anything, a new experience.
I was vigilant and excited and I learned some interesting things. I was super pumped to repeat the fun with the Ole Henriksen brand. If that last sentence was a text, it would have been followed by 179 exclamation points.
Turns out the end of summer was not a superb time to intellectualize any fun habit, or relax much, or play, or write.
For moms, there is not a second free in those blistering late-August weeks when none of the kids are occupied because camp is finished, and all the school preparation tasks are yet still undone.
"I've been thinking too much...
I've been thinking too much."
Summer just rolled over me. I felt like a barely took a breath. The kids and I adored ton of hit summer tunes (Megan Trainor, 21 Pilots, Rihanna), but it seemed like there was never time to listen to a song all the way through. I don't think I ever finished a whole sandwich in August. It was like the extraordinary heat just melted away both time and patience.
I brainstormed the Ole Henriksen week piece a hundred times, but couldn't get over the idea that if I had more time to think about it, the better my ideas would be. Tomorrow I could give it a complete thinkeroo, I said, day after day. It didn't help that I had recruited two other women to trial the brand in tandem, who were excited to have some fun testing high-end skincare, but then were probably curious why I asked in the first place when I posted nary a review for over a month after the test was over.
It was all kind of like the lyrics in that 21 Pilots smash summer hit, Ride: "I've been thinking too much... I've been thinking too much." So, I took my time on my ride.
Another pertinent lyric from the same number: "Even harder to write when you know that tonight, there were people back home who tried talking to you." (If this line was followed by "...about skincare" it would have described my situation precisely.)
But I'm here in this moment now, in more ways than one. The kids are in school for a good part of the day, and I have time to breathe, wash my face with Ole Henriksen's Pure Truth Melting Cleanser, and listen to a song in it's entirety, if I choose.
Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Melting Cleanser
She felt "alive." That's the power of confidence, and a good face cream.
It feels good to have time, and also to take time for oneself (even if it feels like one doesn't have it to spare). Take for example, how the friggin' adorable yet reluctantly shy smile of this "before pic" beauty turned into a selfie machine "after" the week of skincare indulgence. Getting pictures before the Ole-exclusive skincare week was a result of my pleading... and the "after pics" texts just kept on coming, because taking good care of your skin every day makes us feel more confident, surely.
(Why are we as women often shy to be photographed on demand in the first place? That's a topic for a separate post...)
Her skin looked fantastic, and she said the routine felt fresh, and that she looked at herself in the mirror in a new way. She said she felt "human," and "alive." Yep, that's the power of confidence, and a good face cream to boot.
The third participant has quite young skin and didn't see much difference, but her youthful glow is and was stoppable at nothing; it's hard to improve upon unflinching glory.
As for me and my results, it was further proof that using bona fide face wash twice per day is indubitably better than even the best facial wipes. I realized the importance of eye cream (I missed it during the Ole week - while they do make fabulous eye cream, I personally did not have one of theirs in my kit). My eyes felt like Linus missing his blanket.
I also fell in love with a whole new texture: melting gel. It's hard to surprise an old hat like me, because I feel like I've sampled it all. But this was fabulous and new.
A gel that melts with a bit of water and warmth.
There is no foam in this luscious "gelée," but rather a strangely gelatinous feeling of superb cleanliness. It strips not a bit of softness from the skin, and dissolves stubborn mascara.
Seeing my face without my signature mascara always makes me feel not within my own skin, especially when it gets removed so instantaneously and completely. I fully reject the notion that my natural self is my true self. My true self has bleached hair and mascara on, even a little for bed. You gotta do you, and I gotta do me.
Maybe it's back to wipes... old habits do die hard, after all.
Xx,
Mom in Mascara
