I can actually vividly remember the moment I realized that crepey skin was officially part of my life.
I’m glad I skipped the snake-oil hard sells and gave ammonium lactate a shot.
It happened during downward dog. There I was in shorts and a tank, assuming the inverted asana, when—plop!—the flesh on my arms and legs suddenly decided to hang loose, and not in a good way. While it seemed to be an all-at-once occurrence, surely decades of sun worship had something do with it. Naturally, I went into crepe-y skin damage control, even watching a mind-numbing infomercial for an insanely pricey “miracle” cream. I came to my senses and assumed I’d just have to live with looking like a lizard.
Crepey Skin Be Gone!
Then, at a routine visit, my dermatologist recommended ammonium lactate 12%. She wrote me an Rx (though it’s available OTC, too; theleading brand name is AmLactin), and for 15 bucks I got the best damn body lotion ever! The lactic acid, an alpha-hydoroxy, is neutralized with ammonium hydroxide to blah-blah-blah-science…I don’t fully follow but I do know for me, it works! Well, to an extent. It didn’t cure the crepes completely, but now, in one of the coldest, driest winters in recent memory—my skin looks noticeably less reptilian than before.
A little goes a long way: One dime-sized dollop for my upper half, another for my lower. Sunscreen is a must on top (the lotion may make you a little more sensitive to rays than normal), but these days I practically slather SPF 30 on my teeth! So I’m glad I skipped the snake-oil hard sells and gave ammonium lactate a shot. And while my skin will never return to the pliancy of youth, I’ll always wear shorts and a tank to yoga!
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