skin care

I've always been really jealous of girls/women with perfect skin. Too me, it was the ultimate in beauty, probably because it was the one thing I really wanted and felt like I just could never attain. I think I've always wanted beautiful skin even more than I've wanted big breasts, or long legs, or shiny hair. Its has always been my biggest complex, the thing I sort of worry about every morning as I leave the house, check out every time I pass a mirror. Its not vanity, I just felt like it was such a huge fault that everyone must notice it. I realise that it reached sort of silly proportions, but everybody has their one weak spot, the thing they can't control.
I never had what you could call acne, I just had bad skin. It never looked good, or glowing, or dewy or any of those kind of things. Every time I visited a dermatologist, they were no help. Either the products were too harsh or didn't help. Finally, when I hit 30 I started to get really frustrated because now I was looking at having pimples AND wrinkles. God, life was only getting better. My mom's dermatologist had prescribed her a bunch of stuff to use before getting a chemical peel and her skin was already looking great so we chatted about what she was using. One of the products was retinol. I ended up going on the internet to see if I could help her find the stuff for a better price and as I read through the sites, I realized the retinol might be a good product for me- it would combat both the pimples and the wrinkles. Voila! I ordered a bottle and seriously, magic. For a basic regime, I use either Roche-Posay Toleriane Cleanser + Hydranorme moisturizer or Dr Hauschka, both incredibly gentle products.
I don't care how much I have to pay (and frankly, this stuff isn't too bad, price wise) but I refuse to have pimples and wrinkles. Thats where I draw the line.