The Dermatologist of Your Dreams

plus, good grief

Welcome readers, old and new!

Please hit the ❤️ above to let all snail mucin devotees know that their next trendy money pit might be even more unsavory.

First, an invitation: I’m doing an Instagram Live today with the inimitable Jean Chatzky at 1 pm EST. Please join us @thisisvalmonroe or @jeanchatzky.

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Second, I don’t know why but recent reader questions have felt more personal; I haven’t been sure they’d appeal to the wider HNTFUYF audience. For example, one reader asked how to diminish little black dots on her neck that look like strawberry skin (it’s possibly terra firma-forme, where debris collects in dilated pores, according to dermatologist Jessica Weiser). Anyone else with this issue, please raise your hand! Another reader asked about marks left years after a photodynamic therapy session. (They need to be looked at… again, says dermatologist Orit Markowitz.) I take joy in answering these questions personally, but are the answers as interesting to you as they are to me and the afflicted? Let me know in the comments.

As I’m sometimes reminded, I live in a bit of a bubble here on the capacious grounds of HNTFUYF. The scenery and companionship couldn’t be finer; Fresh Direct delivers; and the kindness set point is high. But what about you, who might one day find yourself wandering the shampoo aisle confused about what to buy to thicken your hair? Or you, with the halo of frizz who’s tried every regimen except the one that works? Or you, who’s searching high and low for a good dermatologist? I’ll get to that one in a minute—but in the meantime, please send valeriemonroe@substack.com your questions about any issue that might offer you the opportunity to f*ck up your face.

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Because a friend’s mom died recently (a month short of 99!), I was reminded of wind phones, a lovely and moving way to work through grief. The first wind phone was in Japan; there’s now an international following. Listen to a story about them here; you’ll need tissues. I’ll wait.

As I listened again, I remembered that sometimes the best way to start or end a day is with a broken heart (that being, said someone, how the light gets in). Now might be a good time to remind your tender self that that light is your inner beauty, available always and much more powerful and enduring than the real but transient appreciation of a youthful face.

As for that dermatologist question…

HNTFUYF is a payola-free zone. I get no cut from sales when I mention a product. I share this so you know my recommendations are offered without obligation. The beauty response in this post sits quivering with excitement behind a paywall, waiting for you to discover it. For full access to all posts and the extensive archives, please become a paid subscriber at the currently discounted rate of $40/year. Can’t afford a subscription? Write to me at valeriemonroe@substack.com and I’ll give you a comp (no questions asked). 🙏