Retinol Ruined My Life. Sort of.

Now I know that this post may be TMI for some, but I have to share this with people because the fact is, my anti-wrinkle cream just ruined the last three days of my life.

You see, I'm turning forty next year and I looked in the mirror and said, "Oh shit!" Years of sunbathing without much sunblock have definitely taken a toll on my skin, even though at age 32 or so, I swore off tanning and wear sunblock and hats pretty religiously. Still, I had at least 12 years of hardcore sun under my epidermis, and it was showing.

So I read through the reviews on Sephora (my crack provider) and chose Philosophy's Save Me. It had high ratings, and I know that Philosophy is a good brand.

I ordered it online because who the hell has time to shop at a Sephora store? I received it, and started using it right away because dude, I needed help.

It was about that time when Ms. P began being crabby. Whiny, non-sleepy crabby. The kind of crabby that drives you up and wall and then makes you want to punch through it. I was seriously wondering where my good-natured girl had gone to, and why was she being replaced by a baby who was unhappy pretty much 24/7?

Well, I blame it on my no-time factor, because it wasn't until yesterday that I read the entire label on the bottle, which included this lovely line, "If pregnant or lactating, check with your doctor before use."

Crap.

You see, the cream has retinol, which is a concentrated version of Vitamin A, and that can be secreted into breastmilk, which some babies will react to, and not in a good way.

It seems Ms. P was one of those babies. Of course.

So I stopped using it last night, and today she is a completely different baby. Her normal cheerful, sleepy self. Well, even more sleepy than usual because she is catching up on three days of little sleep.

I have vowed to stop using the cream, even though it was working beautifully, even in the short amount of time I used it.

Fine, mama will continue looking like a troll so that you can sleep, baby girl.

The sacrifices I make for this child.

Comments

chichimama said…
I am so, so sorry! May I recommend two creams, I don't think either of them have retinol. My hands down favorite (although it is a once and a while treat because MY GOD, WHO SPENDS THIS MUCH ON MOISTURIZER, oh, wait, I guess I just did) is the L'Occitane Immortelle Precious (http://usa.loccitane.com/FO/Catalog/Product.aspx?prod=27CPF50I9).

My go to everyday one is the L'Oreal regenerist. But it doesn't smell as nice as the L'occitane...
Anvilcloud said…
Live and learn, eh? I'm not real big on instructions either: partly because they're too minuscule for my much-older-that-your eyes. Get back to me on aging after twenty more years will ya? If I'm still here and sentient, that is.
J said…
Ack! I'm glad that it was so easily fixed. And at not quite 40, you look wonderful, so no worries. Also, you can always start with the Retinol if you want to AFTER you wean her.
Ted said…
Wow! What a story. Glad to hear that everything turned out okay and that Ms. P is getting some much needed z's.
now I know what the problem is with my kids! I must have accidentally put retinol on their toast.

Damn cranky buggers they are...

{bugger for you, but glad you found your answer!}
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