Ariana's Posts

Hidden Costs & Some Dental Prep Strategies

Posted on by Ariana
Just finishing work with an electric blood pressure device in habilitation therapy, photos by Ariana

Sometimes on this blog I have used my October posts to delve into some of the darker aspects of what a family of a loved one with significant disability-related challenges can experience. And, I thought about it this year too. I was thinking something about playing on the words of an older LeAnn Rimes song, “Can’t Fight The…” except, just a slight word change where I replaced “moonlight” with “trauma.” I was relishing the discordant feel of the music with the modified title and lyrics and how I could fit a description or two of memories or experiences that would really twist that point home how deep the emotional impact from some of these experiences can be for the family or primary caregiver.

And then I just couldn’t. Though it may be apt, it may be real, and I may live it like I feel it sometimes, my preference is to focus on something more proactive right now because it just emotionally feels less traumatizing to my right now. So, I would like to share a brief moment that broke yet another piece of my heart off and then flesh out my therapy strategies to glue it back in place and keep it there in the future.

Perhaps it has been clear from what I have written about, but I have focused a significant amount of my therapy efforts in the past couple of years on school readiness goals. Because of the pandemic, I needed to devote a significant portion of the programming for tolerance of medical materials to N95 masks. Yes, I worked on some other medical stuff and we’ve managed to get our little man to the point where he can tolerate most portions of a primary care medical exam, there wasn’t time for me to work on everything so I focused the least on dental tools.

When our son went in for his general anesthesia dental procedure earlier this month, 4 people had to hold him down for the gas mask portion while he was put to sleep. And it was just like shards of glass to my emotions to see how scared he was, to know that was necessary.

So, I decided we were going to do something about it as his therapy hours no longer need to be focused as intensely on school readiness. I ordered two types of facial masks for distributing gases. I ordered some dental xray clips. Because I don’t have enough money for actual sensors, I decided I was going to use Laffy Taffy on the clips because they are roughly the same size and already covered in a plastic casing that might approximate the sensation of a sensor cover.

For the masks, a couple of weeks ago I started out with him sitting in a chair and just touching the mask to his face and then I would pull it right back off. Then I advanced to a few seconds when he was tolerating that well. Then I asked him to lay down in a specific area before applying the mask. Once he was tolerating it for about 15 seconds, I started rubbing lavender oil in the top portion of the mask to acclimate him to the presence of smells with these masks. For the x-ray clips, because those just arrived recently, we’re at just tolerating a couple seconds in his mouth. I’ll need to work on him not moving his head with those. And I’ve increased the frequency we do dental tool work and have added a bright light above him component. And, when we go in for his next 6 month visual check up, I am going to bring my masks from home so that we can practice in the dental exam chair because I am certainly not going to expect them to dirty their own, since it will certainly be beneficial to have him practice in the dentist’s office itself.

This is often an invisible cost of trying to help an individual with profound sensory differences adjust to common medical or dental procedures, the supplies needed to practice and increase tolerance with. Insurance doesn’t pay for it. The company who makes sure I’m compliant with DDD regulations in my habilitation therapy doesn’t pay for it. So if I want to help my son (and therefore me) be less traumatized by future dental experiences involving anesthesia and maybe some day no longer need that even, we have to find a way to pay for anything that might be necessary to do so.

And then of course there’s the time spent doing this. It’s taken years for me to get our son to the point where he can sit through an electric blood pressure reading. Years. But now he can and he’s no longer terrified by it.

So, I think it’s worth it. For every little thing that no longer brings him trauma to experience, that’s one less piece of my heart that needs to be found and glued back together. One less scary memory or experience for him. And a future of medical moments that are easier for everybody involved. So I spend the time and I spend the money because I have hope next time he won’t need to be held down if I do all of this, because I have seen what hope has done and what hope can do.

Ariana's Posts

It Takes A Team

Posted on by Ariana
Practicing walking in a line with his dad as the line leader during habilitation therapy, the ace bandage was part of a therapy tolerance of stimuli task, no injury present. Photos by Ariana.

Even though I am working with Tony on his tolerance of the school environment and the behavioral skills requisite directly during the two hours he’s currently at the school itself, I am also needing to do other things outside of school to promote the best outcomes.

As his habilitative therapist, we are practicing skills such as walking in a line and answering attendance questions. As his mom, I recognize the school budgets are limited and that if my kiddo needs a body sock in that environment to help support his sensory needs, I have to make sure one we have paid for goes in with him so that it’s available.

For a kiddo whose needs require a level of support akin to what is being given with Tony, it takes a team to support a transition into the school environment. I personally am filling three of those team roles: mom, habilitative therapist, and one-to-one instructional aide. So, that means that by default I talk the most about what I am doing. But there are other team players involved, and the successes Tony is having are built upon the actions and supports of all of them.

Tony putting a lid on the Play-do nearing 10 minutes calmly participating in art class after spending the first 24 minutes of specials in PE.

His teacher Ms. L has been phenomenally supportive, and though I am not naming her directly on this blog, I want to give a shout out to the level of support she has given. When we discussed that Tony was confused by the rotating weekly specials schedule and that he had a strong preference for PE, she offered to obtain approval for him to attend PE every week as his special. Initially, I had declined that offer because I wanted him to work on maintaining the same schedule we had introduced. But in reflecting about it, I realized I had been given a choice to choose my specials in middle school and so many choices get taken away from individuals like Tony that I felt it was best to ask him what he wanted. So after talking to Tony about it and hearing the response he gave on his speech device (PE all the way), I shared that with her and she got PE for each special approved for him, though Tony often wants to still spend a few minutes in the other specials his class is going to because he’s become accustomed to going to them.

His BCBA, Ms. K, has also given so much assistance and feedback. She was an active participant in the IEP process, and she goes to his school to observe him monthly to provide me with input on how I can provide the best support possible for any behavioral concerns that pop up. Just this week she recommended some stress squeeze toys for Tony to give his hands something else to do that competes with a stimming behavior he has been doing for years that was harmless until he developed the flexibility recently to strike with enough force to bruise his shoulders. The reduction in his attempts to do this was immediate with the introduction of the stress squish toys, and that input from her is going to be especially beneficial in the school environment, where he’s currently more likely to engage in that stim because of all of the additional sensory processing he’s having to do.

The stim, which we are not blocking because that only makes him angry and therefore want to do it more, but rather are prompting and teaching replacement behaviors for…
right now his favorite for in-home use is a banana stress squish toy we found on a therapy outing to Joann’s of all places, we stopped there before we hit the Big 5 where we were planning on purchasing squish toys.

Tony himself is part of this team, because he has to make choices to be brave and try new things, to do the tasks that are asked of him, and he gave his feedback certainly about what he wanted to do about his specials (he was so happy when Ms. L said she was going to get approval for him to do so that he gave her a side hug).

And then all of these pieces come back to me again. As his mom, I have to make sure Tony shows up to school and I talk to him about what will be happening in that environment. I have to make sure stress squish toys are purchased and available, and I support their teaching and use in all therapy environments (not just my hab sessions).

But as a team, we are doing it. Tony is doing it, and it is such a joy for me watching him grow into this environment.

Ariana's Posts

Sight Word Show & Tell

Posted on by Ariana

Some day, my son is definitely going to be able to read. He can do a little bit of spelling now using apps, some sight word memory games (where the sight words are turned over and he creates matches from memory). Lately I have been practicing his scanning with him by giving him fields of sight words varying in number (last two sessions were 12-13), putting them on the table in different orders each trial and giving his stack to sort that are arranged in different orders from what is on the table. His average accuracy is around 88% with fields that high, 100% with fields half that size. I switch the words each day, and he’s usually hitting 100% accuracy for even the larger fields by the last trial each day. Sometimes I ask him to give me a certain word when we are cleaning up the cards, and his accuracy goes down to about 70% for that. I’ll still take it, because what it tells me is that he recognizes those words and it’s more than just luck.

As I see it, Tony’s primary motivation for learning how to read is going to be so that he can be more specific in telling us about things he wants because then he’ll be able to select from larger lists of words on his speech device. For the learning part, there still needs to be time with his kindle or candy at the end of any task before he’s willing to do the tasks he needs to learn. He’s still not thrilled to be doing this sort of thing, and we have to start out slow and build up just like everything else or even then he won’t want to cooperate because it feels harder for him to focus for longer periods of time.

But, someday we won’t need that because he will see how it can benefit him more directly, and that is going to be a beautiful day. I put some video clips of recent matching sessions below for those of you who are viewing this on the web page.

Ariana's Posts

Some Gratitude & Reading

Posted on by Ariana
Us, several minutes after we arrived for Tony’s general anesthesia dental procedure, sending Andy a text that we made it safely, photo by Ariana

A Heartfelt Moment Of Gratitude

These are just very heavy times. By the very nature of some of the things a family such as ours can experience, this is not generally a light-hearted blog, the kind that a person would turn to for distractions when the headlines are detailing the stark horrors of wars and death. I promise each of you no drama this week, but rather I will start off with something I am grateful for even in a not so easy circumstance.

Once, several years ago, I wrote in one of my product reviews about the special circle in hell that can await a parent of a disabled kiddo who needs general anesthesia for their dental cleanings or fillings. This is the circle reserved for parents of kiddos with limited impulse control, heavily limited risk assessment, the ability to strategize, and the urge to self-harm when they don’t get their way, who are told they can’t eat or drink for the first 4-5 hours they are awake while they await their check in time and procedure. For Tony, who still needs that type of dental intervention, while thankfully he no longer hits his head, tantrums and attempts to create diversions or push his way to food could still be a very real possibility in that type of scenario, and his overall mood could be either hysterical or combative by the time we arrived under those conditions.

This last Thursday when I showed up to our little man’s pre-anesthesia clearance at his dentist’s, I was over the moon elated to hear that his check-in time was scheduled for 5:40am. And profoundly grateful. Deeply grateful. To our son’s dental team, a million thank you’s for giving us an absolutely heavenly check in time under the circumstances.

Some Thoughts On What I Have Been Reading

Y’all, my will to write any sort of credible and comprehensive review of anything I’ve been reading is more on fall break than I am. I personally still need to do hab therapy this week, but the reviews? Uh-uh. Mentally they are frolicking away in the contemplation of spending time watching some Netflix with my honey and some more Nailed It with Hannah.

So. As brief as I possibly can, some of what I have been enjoying lately is a more lengthy visual stroll through more of the books written by Chloe Liese. Thankfully, our local e-library has quite a few of them. What I appreciate is the way she represents neurodivergent characters as romantic leads when she writes about them. I also think by writing about the mental health needs of her leads, it creates this space that tells readers “you are worthy of being seen as a romantic lead and having those needs doesn’t make you less so.” I very much love that! Recently from her, I have finished “Only When It’s Us” and “Always Only You,” and I thought they were both good reads. Quick heads up for my more conservative loved ones, there is possibly a higher level of description as regards to intimate moments than you may be comfortable with, so just heads up, maybe skip the bedroom scenes if you have an interest in trying one of these books.

Ariana's Posts

To Dream To Find More Of Me

Posted on by Ariana
Me, today, Oct 1, 2023. P.S. No poem poaching please. Thanks!

There is so much rushing, so much. My thoughts have always whirled in a rapid-fire dance across my mental stage, but life has become busier even than that. So many appointments, so many therapy sessions, so much school transition work, so much of everything. Sometimes I feel like I am hurled forward so fast I can’t even find myself on my own schedule or in my own life. Even when it’s an appointment for myself (like the OB appointment where we discussed alternate treatment options for my uterine lesion and landed on a different treatment plan that was something less invasive than a hysterectomy).

Sometimes I wish I could find the version of myself that gets to do something fun, playful, luxuriously ignorant of a to-do list as I gluttonously squander time on a regular basis.

So yesterday I did that. Mostly. I read. But I still needed to support Emily’s therapy session in terms of being her blocker for the community safety portion (no blocking needed however, our little man was on his very best and most fabulous behavior). And I did some cleaning. I cleaned and straightened a little (maybe way too little), played a little piano. Remembered that I hadn’t come up with a title for my latest poem.

Yeah, it’s still as I’m typing this currently an “untitled by Ariana” poem.

It is the hush, the pale

the frosted heart’s cry.

And in the silence a seed

that grows to only dream

to breath, to live,

to break upon the fire.

To the loneliness self-wed

a veil of ashes hones

the desires that screaming conspire

to fit the ring to bone.

I still don’t have time to title it. There it sits, as I type this feeling the urgency of getting out to our next therapy task that is currently tapping on my mental schedule, reminding me it’s filled the next slot on that dance card. And on it goes, on and on. But I still did my make up, had to ignore some other pressing thing to be done just to take that little bit of time for me, to dream and to believe that soon I can find more of me inked into my schedule for more than just medical appointments or makeup.

Ariana's Posts

Dear Governor Hobbs and Arizona State Legislators: We Need To Pay Teachers and Aids More. Period.

Posted on by Ariana
Shaping Tony’s willingness to do functional tasks in his art specials, his least favorite subject at school. Photos by Ariana

Right now as I’m starting to type this post, it’s 6:30 pm MST. Instead of planning to wind down, I’m soon to be heading out the door to walk out to do a therapy walk with Tony to help him re-acclimate to Halloween displays before the holiday itself arrives. That’s for one of my jobs, as my son’s habilitation therapist.

As I have mentioned before, I now have a second job as the one-to-one instructional aid for our son in his public school. Because I’m working two jobs, I don’t really have a lot of time, so I’m going to be more succinct than I otherwise would.

There is a staffing crisis that is only going to swell and grow in our public school system. Right now, I make $5 an hour more doing hab than I do as my son’s one-to-one aid, but I have to tell you, I’m working every bit at hard. And, neither pays enough to support myself alone much less a family. I could currently get paid more at some retail or fast food jobs than as an instructional aid in the school system.

Shown above I am using token boards for certain tasks like sitting or not touching light switches (I make and implement those myself), he needs sensory breaks and constant supervision because occasionally he gets overwhelmed and walks out of his classroom and needs someone to direct him to a bench and sit with him until he feels ready to walk back in. He needs more intensive support learning the routines, behavioral expectations, and how to do the functional tasks required of this environment.

Some parents think that’s not their problem because the law requires a free public education, but I feel like soon it’s going to be everyone’s problem. Unless we can pay the people who support and teach our children more, turnover and vacancies could continue to increase. I’m going to quote Axios Phoenix here, but I have read the same information in more than one place:

“The average nurse, first responder or teacher doesn’t make enough to afford a home in metro Phoenix…in Phoenix, you need to make $116,300 annually to afford the median home…the typical waiter or retail worker doesn’t make enough to afford any type of housing in any valley city.”

Not any. And that’s a serious problem in my opinion.

When his ABA team needs to take the day off, sometimes we do public therapy work at an ice cream store across the street right after he’s done so we can expand his sitting tolerance with a more preferred task first.

Again, I’d like to reiterate I could make more at jobs where I wouldn’t have to work nearly so hard than I can as an instructional aid. I really love what I’m doing there and I think his school really has an awesome staff. But if I had to support even myself alone I couldn’t do it in this economy, much less as a family.

And I’ve witnessed turn over that has already occurred in the first month of school alone when it comes to the other instructional aids. If we can’t pay the people who support our teachers and our children enough to live on, I think we can only expect to see fewer and fewer people willing to step into that role to the point where some day, there won’t be enough teachers or aids to get the job safely done.

And that is when it will truly be everyone’s problem.

Ariana's Posts

Comments On The Updated CMS 1115 Waiver Proposal: An Open Letter to the Arizona AHCCCS Administration

Posted on by Ariana
Tony practicing grading his muscle movements while drinking from a juice box so that it doesn’t gush out while he’s lifting it during a hab session this week, photos by Ariana

On September 6th, I attended the virtual question and answer session held by the Arizona AHCCCS Administration to address additional changes they had made based on parent feedback to the CMS 1115 waiver proposal. As a parent, I personally want to express my appreciation and gratitude that our voices were heard, considered, and that modifications were made to the waiver allowing for the continuation of parents as the paid habilitative therapist.

As a parent of an individual who has definitely benefited from this program (and the skills he has gained benefit everyone who works with him both now and in the future), I was pleased to hear that parents will still be able to act as a hab therapist to their child both if one cannot be found and/or the family/disabled loved one feel that is the best solution for their circumstances regardless. I was also happy to hear that CMS has provided guidance that the current provisions can continue until the current waiver process is completed even if it passes the November 11th deadline. This prevents disruptions in services which is the most desirable outcome in my opinion for anyone needing these supports.

Part of the proposal does call for a process where parents are required to demonstrate competency in meeting the therapeutic goals. As I understood it, some policy points as regards to the implementation of this are still to be determined and there will be upcoming stakeholder meetings to solidify this process.

As a parent, my every hope is to participate in that. As I mentioned last week, a person does not have to have any experience working with the developmentally disabled or any training in basic therapeutic techniques to be a hab therapist in Arizona. We had one individual who worked briefly with our family that had never worked with the developmentally disabled, knew nothing about what to expect with the conditions, knew nothing about how to implement or work on his goals, and knew nothing about therapeutic technique.

The company she was coming from did not provide any training on these matters either as it wasn’t required of them. I did all of her training, all of the teaching about what to expect for an individual with Autism, etc. The company did not provide a field trainer to work with her. Whitney was the only hab therapist to work with us that wasn’t given training in his programming and or what to expect from his conditions by me personally. Based on this and other experiences, I personally would hope that a proposal could be implemented that would require any habilitative therapist, whether they were a parent or no relation whatsoever to the individual needing services, to demonstrate basic understanding of competencies and therapy techniques needed.

Tony during PE

I remain very busy working as both my son’s one-to-one aid as part of his school transition and as his hab therapist, so I think I will wrap my thoughts up so I can get to my next “to do” item. As I watch Tony move into this new environment, I am confident that having the flexibility for me to be his hab therapist helped our son gain the skills necessary for him to transition into the public school system. His team there has been lovely to work with, and they have had such positive feedback within the past week to give me about how they think he’s doing and that has been soul-deep joyful to watch and to experience with him.

We are now there for an hour and a half each day, with him attending both a general education home room and working on getting used to his specials rotation. I personally am thankful I can continue to provide him with this support as his habilitative therapist as long as it is necessary for me to do so and would like to officially end on a note of gratitude and appreciation to the Arizona AHCCCS Administration for hearing the voices of the parents and modifying the waiver proposal that was submitted to CMS.

Sensory room breaks are definitely some of his favorite school moments at school, next to PE. I think he may actually like that the more 😀
Ariana's Posts

The Fabulous Miss Whitney

Posted on by Ariana

Shortly after I sent out my post last Saturday, I received an e-mail notifying me that The Fabulous Miss Whitney had passed away. For those of you who haven’t been reading with us long enough to know, she was his first habilitative therapist (between the ages of 3 and 6). Our son loved her. I loved her. Our family loved her. I spent an hour crying last Saturday.

Whitney was better qualified than many habilitative therapists. She had a degree in speech language pathology, worked in special education, and shortly after she moved to another state, completed her Masters in Special Education. Hab therapists in the state of Arizona aren’t required to have any sort of training or education, so truly we had extraordinary luck to work with her. Beyond that, it was an honor. She is a beautiful person.

Even though most of the years she was with us she was only able to cover 10 hours a week of his approved hab hours because of her job in the school system, our family and our son were blessed beyond measure to have someone with so much love, so much compassion, and so much knowledge and experience as regards to therapy techniques and the developmentally disabled working with us. Yes, she had a supervising BCBA because the first two years of the hab program in Arizona require use of ABA and a BCBA to do the programming for individuals with a qualifying diagnosis of Autism (past those firsts couple of years the hab therapists and family direct how the goals are to be worked on and what strategies are to be used). But some of the ideas that benefited Tony came only from her.

For example, our little man had significant trouble sucking through a straw and couldn’t seal his lips around the edges of a regular cup. She recommended a product with specialized attachments to promote lip strength and teach the ability to suck which I purchased (and if memory serves reviewed it even) from Amazon that would allow me to squeeze liquid up a tube initially to help him gain the concept. She is the first and only person to have recommended that to us, and at the point she joined our team, we had already been doing other types of therapy for a year and a half.

She also recommended trying out colored construction paper initially for scribbling because white paper at the time reflected the light too much and it hurt Tony’s eyes to look at it while trying to scribble so he wouldn’t. She truly was fabulous and our family owes her more than I could ever begin to articulate.

Because of that, I am going to finish by creating moments of typing and reading silence.

Ariana's Posts

September Gratitude & Some Reading/Viewing

Posted on by Ariana
Tony sitting in his general education home room last week, photos by Ariana

So Much Gratitude

This is a complicated season in our lives, and I struggled to narrow the focus of my appreciation down to one person or one circumstance. We as a family have seen and felt the support of the special education team from our son’s public school district as we have ongoing discussions about the accommodations he needs for the best chance of success for his transition into that environment. To each and every one of you, thank you.

We have also been so grateful for the diligence and work our son’s ABA team put into getting a new authorization for him when we had an unplanned health insurance change at the start of the month. I can’t thank you guys enough for doing this in a manner that ensured no disruptions to his services.

And above all, I am grateful for my family and my son, who is working so hard to do things that feel scary or hard for him right now as he adjusts to his new school and the routines they have. This past week Tony made it to both his general education home room and his assigned specials class, which are huge steps for him. I am so thankful that he continues to try so hard, even when things feel hard for him.

A General Note

Friends, Family, and loved ones- Sometime soon I am going to need to be taking some time off for a medically necessary hysterectomy. This was not a planned detour of our current journey, and I don’t want anyone to worry (biopsy came back benign according to the lab report I accessed). However, I imagine I may not want to do any typing for a couple of weeks after that surgery, so…reading it will be instead of writing for me. Which may help with the next time I make recommendations, because this month I was so busy with appointments, therapy, and the school transition I didn’t finish too many books.

A Tiny bit Of Reading & Viewing To Consider (links on titles)

AHCCCS Sends Proposal for Parents as Paid Caregiver Program on to CMS For Approval, by Raising Special Kids

I know many of you have read my thoughts on the above, but this is a brief update stating that parent feedback was considered by the AZ AHCCCS Administration and revisions were made to the CMS waiver proposal that would, according to this article, allow parents to be the habilitative providers if no other provider could be found. There is a forum being held on September 6th regarding the new modifications, and I personally look forward to hearing more specifics about what exactly has been proposed, but I find this to be a very encouraging development.

Sunset With Glamshop Resort Palette, by Ewa Makeup Artist

Anybody who knows me knows I love me my makeup. I love to have fun with it, and it’s kind of like a form of art therapy for me right now when things are harder. Even though I need to look more professional when I am working with our son at school, I still really look forward to the chance to be more dramatic on the weekends. Sometimes I come up with my own looks, sometimes I decide to adapt something someone else does. I have recommended videos from this artist before, I think she’s talented and we have a similar eye shadow aesthetic. This was my favorite of her looks for the past month and I recreated it last weekend using different products (because I don’t own this palette and I am on what’s called a “no buy” right now) and making a few modifications for the differences in our eye shape and skin type (mine’s just a wee bit more crepe and drape-like given the difference in our age).

My recreation of her look….

Just a reminder that I do modify my priming process to give that much powder a cream effect since I am 47 (right now I’m using a *small* amount of Maybelline Baby Skin Primer underneath Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Concealer, setting it with a translucent powder and then putting an eyeshadow primer over that. For colors I want to appear true to tone like this I will use a white primer like Juvia’s Place I Prep, I Prime) and just pat it over the other stuff and through the magic of interactive product chemistry, it soaks up the powder products quite well for those of us with more mature skin who still want to use all of the bolder, more colorful powder products.

Today’s makeup in a lighting and angle to make it easier to see the more cream-like appearance of the powder shadows with my eye priming method.
Ariana's Posts

Goldilocks of Drugstore Foundations

Posted on by Ariana
Me using some of my last bits of Dream Urban foundation, Jan 2023, photos by Ariana

Late December of 2022 I had an unplanned for Makeup Crisis. I discovered that my preferred foundation, Maybelline Dream Urban Cover Flawless Coverage Foundation was discontinued. I may have perhaps discovered it sooner, but I had purchased several bottles the last time I was in a store and was finally nearing the end of my supply.

Why Maybelline, why???

The higher end product it was meant to dupe by IT cosmetics makes my skin break out. And, it’s way more expensive. I wear foundation every day, with my makeup habits I can’t afford expensive foundations.

Now, for someone in their 20’s with firm and supple skin, this really wouldn’t be that big of a deal. The market is inundated with products at every price point that can get the job done no problem. But if you are in your 40’s? Nope. Not just any foundation will do or you can end up looking worse with makeup on than without.

I am 47, and what I have discovered in the past several months is that at this age, I’ve become the Goldilocks of drugstore foundations. My preferred foundation is glowy, has a minimum of SPF 30, and is medium to full coverage. Yes, I already put on a separate SPF, but with skin this fair and a history of some lesions headed to the dark side, I like as much layered coverage as possible.

Because some of my loved ones are also in need of foundation that flatters maturing skin, I am giving my breakdown of the products I have been using as I have tried to find an adequate replacement for the Maybelline Dream Urban. Not one of them meets all of my personal preferences criteria- though none of them made me personally break out- but some of them definitely worked better than others for me personally.

The first one I tried was Juvia’s Place I Am Magic Natural Radiance Foundation. This was a Crypt Keeper converting disaster and if you are over the age of 30 I really don’t think you should waste your time (or your money) trying this product. A friend saw me the first day I tried it and commented on how much it aged me and did not look flattering on my skin. Couldn’t agree more. This product made my lines under my eyes seem like valleys and this product makes me look at least 15 years older than I do without makeup. Even mixing it with other products to thin it down didn’t work, this one looked so bad I couldn’t bring myself to finish the tube. The first pick below is the first day I tried the Juvia’s Place foundation, the second is two days later, same eye, no makeup.

The next product I tried was L’Oreal Age Perfect Radiant Serum Foundation, and this one isn’t bad. My main concerns about this foundation are that it’s slightly glowier than I like and that it appears to be getting harder to find in the stores, which can be a precursor to a product being discontinued. I feel like the coverage is good, it doesn’t enhance my lines, and it has all the SPF I want in my foundation and is currently my preferred replacement for those days where I want to wear a very dramatic eye look.

Just a hint too much glow, but otherwise not so bad.

I also tried Revlon Illuminance Foundation (No SPF) around the same time, and for this product, it’s definitely too glowy. It doesn’t matter how much powder I put on it, and I was caking it on to get through the bottle, it still would glow through like someone sprayed my face down with a light mist of water or oil. The color was flattering, the coverage was lighter than I preferred, and in order for it to not rub off when I put on my other face products I had to use a setting spray on it before I could powder, blush, bronze, and highlight.

I also tried the Maybelline Dream Radiant Liquid Foundation. The glow is still slightly more than I want, but my biggest gripe for this foundation is the coverage is really best for natural looks and there is no added SPF. Otherwise I think it’s pretty flattering and I am happy to use it for days where I don’t want my makeup to be so dramatic.

Covergirl + Olay Simply Ageless 3-in-1 Liquid Foundation isn’t bad, but it makes the lines on my forehead seem more pronounced. L’Oreal Infallible Pro-Glow Liquid Foundation also glows to the heavens no matter how much powder I set it with, and it can rub off in spots with powder product application.

Covergirl, lines more pronounced on forehead with this one
L’Oreal Infallible Pro-Glow, this is today right after I finished my makeup, and this glow can be seen from outer space!

And Maybelline, if you’re reading this? I would hope you were canceling that Dream Urban foundation product for lower sales and not because glowier serum foundations are the current trend. Because if there were good sales…I don’t know, maybe bring it back? Even a middle-aged Goldilocks of Drugstore Foundations wants to look her best.