Dear Face: Beauty or Fear? When it comes to our face, I’ll be honest — most of the choices I’ve made in the mirror have boiled down to two things: beauty…or fear.
I’ve bought creams because I wanted beauty. And yes, there were moments I was tempted by more drastic procedures — because of fear. Fear of aging. Fear of becoming invisible. Fear that my face no longer matched the way I felt inside.
And I know I’m not alone. The beauty industry counts on it. It whispers that we should erase, freeze, or hide the very expressions that make us human.
But here’s what I’ve learned: fear is where the real aging begins.
Do You Really See Yourself?
Here’s a question that changed me: when you look in the mirror, do you talk to your face? Do you really see who you are… or do you only see what you fear?
I think back to being a little girl and playing with the soft wrinkles on my grandmother’s face. I didn’t see flaws—I saw her story, her warmth, and her love. Somewhere along the way, we stopped seeing wrinkles as memory and started seeing them as mistakes.
My Turning Point
At 49, I had my own mirror moment. I remember staring at my reflection and thinking, What is wrong with me? And then came the guilt: I should know better. After decades in natural health, I understood how the body works. Yet I still caught myself feeling the sting of self-judgment. I was a woman, a wife, a professional, and none of those roles shielded me from the ache of not liking what I saw.
The world around me was shouting Botox, fillers, and chemical peels. But deep down I knew—that wasn’t my path. I didn’t want to erase myself. I wanted to restore myself.
That moment cracked something open in me. It forced me to use both my weakness and my strength: the weakness of being human enough to struggle with my reflection and the strength of having tools to find a better way.
What Wrinkles Really Mean
Here’s the truth: wrinkles aren’t just skin deep. They’re messages.
Fine lines and sagging don’t appear out of nowhere. They reflect what’s happening beneath the surface: Lymphatic congestion creates puffiness under the eyes and heaviness in the cheeks.
Dehydration makes every crease more visible—whether from winter heating, coffee, or a few glasses of wine. Inflammation from sugar, stress, or lack of sleep speeds up collagen breakdown.
Perpetual stress leaves its mark, too—tightening muscles, etching worry lines, and slowing repair.
Science backs it up: studies show that as much as 75% of visible aging comes from environment and lifestyle, not genetics. In other words, what we do every day matters far more than the DNA we inherited.
So when we freeze our expressions instead of listening to them, we miss the deeper message. We can’t treat just the wrinkle—we have to treat the reason it showed up in the first place.
Why a System Matters
This was my breakthrough: what we put on our face shouldn’t be random. It should be a treatment—a process with intention, not just a collection of ingredients in pretty jars.
Skin doesn’t repair itself from one product. It needs a treatment that works in harmony:
Cleansing that respects the skin barrier.
Exfoliation that’s gentle enough to clear but never harsh enough to damage.
Targeted activities that build on each other—day protecting, night restoring.
Concentrated serums that deliver repair at the cellular level.
Think of it like cooking: one ingredient may taste fine on its own, but when blended with others in the right recipe, you get nourishment that truly satisfies. That’s what a system—a treatment—is designed to do.
My Solution: The Essential Five
When I found what worked for me, I began offering it to my patients. The results spoke for themselves. Patients told their friends, and their friends asked for it too. What started as a quiet treatment in my clinic became something women wanted in their own homes.
And that’s how the Tru Energy 5-Piece Essential Set was born.
It includes just five steps—cleanser, scrub, serum, day cream, and night cream—each one formulated to complement the other. Together, they hydrate, repair, and protect the skin in the way a treatment is intended to. But here’s the bigger truth: you don’t need 12 complicated steps, and you don’t need to chase every new trend. You simply need products that work together with purpose—products that treat your skin like the intelligent, living organ it is.
And that’s how the Tru Energy -7-minute – 5-Piece Essential Set was born. And the best part is that I learned to enjoy the experience, as the results were showing in the same face that I didn’t like before.
Pro Tip
Winter is when skin drinks in everything more deeply—for better or for worse. Here’s how to make that work for you:
Start with good, clean water—inside and out. Keep your body hydrated, and when applying skincare, leave your face slightly damp. Cream-based treatments are naturally rich in water, and applying them to damp skin helps lock that hydration in.
Exfoliation is essential for product penetration, but abrasive scrubs can be too damaging—especially in winter, when skin tends to be drier. Choose gentle exfoliation to keep skin smooth without irritation.
Layer serum under both your day and night creams in winter for an added hydration boost.
Consistency, not complication, is what creates lasting change.
Closing Inspiration
So, Dear Face, thank you for teaching me that aging isn’t the enemy—fear is.
When we stop fearing the mirror, we start hearing the messages it’s trying to send. Wrinkles are not signs of failure—they’re signals of what needs more care. Puffiness isn’t shame—it’s a nudge to restore balance. This winter, don’t let fear push you toward freezing your beauty. Instead, treat your face with the intention it deserves. Choose routines that restore, not erase. Because your face isn’t a flaw to be fixed—it’s your story, written in living skin.
And stories are meant to be honored.
“When we stop fearing the mirror, we start hearing the messages it’s trying to send. Wrinkles are not signs of failure—they’re signals of what needs more care.”— Cathy Goldstein
- Connect with Cathy Goldestein
- More articles from our columnist Cathy Goldestein