Mavis Thomas had been using DHC skincare products for about a year and enjoyed the “DHC For Beauty and Health” magazine. But it was her 28-year-old son who suggested that she tell her skincare story for the magazine’s Customer Spotlight.

All that was required to be considered for the recognition and a DHC makeover and professional photo shoot in San Francisco was one’s name, age, phone number and address, a recent photo and favorite DHC products and why.

Thomas followed her son’s suggestion and sent the necessary information to DHC.

“I didn’t really think much more about it but about three months later, I got the call,” Thomas said and added laughing. “I sent a photo of me on my Harley Davidson and I think that’s the reason I was called.”

On Dec. 15, Thomas was taken on a whirlwind photo and makeover excursion in San Francisco.

“I flew out on Thursday and back on Saturday,” Thomas said. “It was a fast trip but it was a lot of fun. They had a limo waiting for me at the airport and took me to dinner at a restaurant near the Golden Gate Bridge. The limo was at my disposal so I felt like Cinderella for the entire weekend. I stayed at the beautiful Mark Hopkins Hotel with all expenses paid but I was so busy with the makeover and the photo shoot that I didn’t have time for sightseeing but I did have time to go to Chinatown.”

A warehouse of fashionable clothing was there for the pickings.

“There were different backgrounds for the photo shoot and I got to wear different clothes to go with the backgrounds,” Thomas said. “All during the photo shoot, someone was there to touch up my hair and fix my makeup and to make sure I had the right jewelry for the outfit I was wearing. And they kept up supplied with all kinds of fruits and other good things to eat.”

Thomas said the five-hour photo shoot was both exciting and exhausting.

“That’s hard work,” she said, laughing.

The end result of the photo shoot and interview is the “Customer Spotlight” feature in the April edition of DHC.

It’s titled “Mavis: A Real DHC Customer.”

“I was given a list of interview questions including what I do for a living and hobbies and some things that no one would know about me,” Thomas said.

Thomas is featured on a two-page spread that tells a lot about the Troy resident of 25 years.

She graduated summa cum laude with a master’s degree at age 48.

She enjoys researching the benefits of herbs and the food/mood connection and decorating the feng shui way.

Thomas spends her weekends visiting family, cooking with friends and watching Tyler Perry movies. Her idea of happiness is taking time to smell the roses and her favorite place is the island of Saint Bart.

Thomas, who has a private practice in child and family therapy with Warren Behavioral Care, Inc. in Troy, said the whole experience was “unreal.”

“When I see myself in the magazine, I keep thinking, ‘This is not me,’ but it has made my family really proud and I had a great time,” she said.

“So, it was worth the effort. And, yes, I really do use DHC skincare products. And to be chosen for a Spotlight at age 50 is a real honor.”