Do you have good skin?

Are you one of those people?

it always stays right where i put it

...

RIP I Love Style :(

i have terrible skin, spottier now at 25 than i was at 15, also it gets really dry during the autumn/winter!

aw surms I knew you were jealous of my super-sweet acne

i had the worst acne ever in middle/high school, nuked my body with accutane, and have basically been zit free ever since (not really, but they're infrequent).

nope. had terrible acne till i got some proper cream
its thin and scars easily

The warning that come with Accutane are SCARY:

http://isotretinoinsideeffects.com/img/causes_birth_defects.gif
http://reporting.journalism.ku.edu/fall06/fred-musser/accutane-pics-thumb.jpg

BUT, I know a lot of ppl for whom it has worked wonders.

In answer to the question, yes I do and it's just pure luck. I mean I take care of it etc. but I think most of it has to do with genetics.

i'm scared of accutane not because of birth defects but it might make me suicidal or something. my friend took it and it made her so sick and she looked disgusting with her skin peeling off in layers.

i do not have good skin at all

yeah i think accutane is no longer prescribed that much anymore. when my sis did it (age 14) she totally flipped out when the doc wanted her to go on birth control

curious to know what accutane actually ~does~ biochemically, wonder if we'll cover it in pharm

it's funny that they make you go on birth control at the same time because then how do you know if it's the accutane or the birth control doing the work?

I feel like Accutane is a last resort and a lot of docs would have already tried BCP first? I don't know though - it's an interesting q.

I have 2 big spots on my cheek and I'm 32 :(

I've never had proper pizza-face acne though so I guess it could be worse.

i'd been thru a bunch of stuff before accutane, it was def a last resort

they make you go on birth control so that u DO NOT GET PREGNANT and have a flipper baby

pizza face acne?

yea, accutane is primarily used only after exhausting other options

face + pepperoni

its a saying!

yeah xp i know *why* they do but it's like if you are a girl you should try that first for a few months. scientific method and stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YiEAbEoPHg

GBX - right but because BCP can clear up bad skin I think Harbl was saying if you go on both at once and your skin gets better, how do you know which RX worked its magic? I guess it doesn't really matter if the end result is an improvement.

The skin on my face is actually mostly OK. It's soft, not particularly wrinkled, given my age, not really prone to pimples (these errupt all over the rest of my body, but fortunately they only ever happen in areas my clothes usually cover).

I could give some spiel about how it's down to drinking lots of water, not smoking, rarely if ever wearing makeup, using very light moisturiser sparingly, etc. - but, erm, I think I'm just lucky. That said, my mother has always suffered from bad skin so it's not genetic.

ah, didn't know that about BCP!

http://reporting.journalism.ku.edu/fall06/fred-musser/accutane-pics-thumb.jpg

Ha, when my brother was on accutane I taped those 'no pregnant women' symbols on like everything I owned.

some doctor you are! bcp is a miracle cure ime xp

Yeah - certain kinds are actually prescribed specifically to clear up acne even in women who aren't sexually active.

mostly we have learned about how BCP helps you so that you DO NOT GET PREGNANT not how it makes yr skin clear up

but thanks, u know

is that baby picture supposed to be a defective baby?

I have a keloid scar on my SHOULDER from acne.

yeah it's broken

YES! Big headed baby.

i would wear a roaccutane tshirt if they sold them: totally saved my skin + confidence + eye contact etc. it was pretty amusing shifting from all the gentle warnings of antibiotics to aggressive ACCUTANE WILL FREEZE YOUR LIVER OILS (or whatever it says) etc. always a little nervous to represent for it to others because it really messes with some people, but it's one of the things i'm most grateful for ever now.

schlump's skin tip: avoid sugar

that baby looks super intelligent

Maybe baby has this: http://www.answers.com/topic/macrocephaly ??

^^^ this is sorta how i feel, too. like it worked like fucking magic, it was amazing. def salvaged my self-esteem at a critical juncture

xp

Oh I will tell you what I do for my skin - I wear sunscreen ever single day of the year and always use eye cream!

My brother's pills did not have the non-humorous macrocephalic babies on them back in...1999? And I think if yr a lady you have to be on 2x forms of birth control. Not that they can follow you home and make sure you make the guy slap on a condom, too, but still

ha xp to Erica
looking at macrocephalic baby photos = an effective form of birth control (ie 'oh fuck I think I'll never have kids')

i want to marry a pizza face

i think i used roaccutane cream at one point during adolescence - they said it may cause depression. i was already depressed because of the acne tho duh.

also a bad drug to take if you don't like needles---they draw yr blood like every week

Yeah and you have to get preg tested every month if you have ladyparts. I think.

yup

I do this anyway, despite the lack of ladyparts. Can't be too careful y'know?

Good skin too, although tis peeling to buggery after last weekend.

i did accutane in my late-20's; my skin didn't get bad until I was about 22. it does something radical to whatever it is in your body that produced oil; being on it was kind of hell, but it cleared up what was turning into cystic acne pretty quickly and I haven't had those problems again. my skin still isn't great, but I also don't drink enough water, drink too much coffee, etc.

thank you roaccutane. you made 6th form bearable. you made it easier for me to make friends and you even got me a hot girlfriend. thanks to you i discovered sex, drugs and rock n roll.

wonder drug!

I have fairly oily skin, no significant acne or other problems. Please recommend anything from drug store to department store to crazy upscale boutique. Oh, and maybe home made stuff, too.

Don't use soap on your face! Cetaphil is what I use and is one of the best cleansers out there. I believe they make a version for normal - oily skin and you can get it at any drug store. Purpose is good too and also pretty cheap.

If your skin is sensitive then maybe you shouldn't use a soap. My dermatologist recommended Cetaphil. However I live in a very dirty area and I love getting in the shower with a good scrub to get all that nasty shit off! I love a good masque or facial and how bright your skin is afterward.

my skin's usually perfect but yesterday at football i scraped several layers of epidermis off my leg, now it fucking hurts. what can i do??

I have to say that the Eve Lom is working a treat.

In the shower, I use whatever cleanser is on sale or clearance when I go to the store--I prefer foaming cleansers, because they rinse off easier. Out of the shower, I use those dry disposable-washcloths-impregnated-with-cleanser things.

Ken C: How much did it bleed after it happened? Did you wash it with soap and water afterwards? How big is the wound? Is it covered with something?

Where can I get this treatment? I would travel a thousand miles to visit a spa that did this!

i once went to this fish-spa in malaysia where you dip your feet into this pool filled with hundreds/thousands of little fish who suck off all the dead skin on your feet & toenails. it tickled like a beeyatch, but after 30 mins my feet were like ridiculously soft & smooth. i looked into buying the fish to start one in new york called "nibbles spa" but then the fish got outlawed in most states in america....

Thanks, Phil. Do you have a cleaning regimen? I am obsessed with scrubbing the shit out of my face with some buffer thing I bought at CVS.
oh, i just use it when my face is feeling oily... summer once a day, winter less often....

LOL Phil, just when I was getting decadence guilt re. Eve Lom.

Kiehl's do a good foaming cleanser for about £15, and it lasts a year with careful use. My skin also improves whenever I take a zinc/magnesium supplement daily.

Technically I could afford to buy a £78 tub of cleanser and £50 for the moisturizer but I baulk at spending £15 in a charity shop, on CLOTHES, so that would be wrongish. Far better to hit up ESM beauty editor for unsolicited promos from them as she is 15 years my junior and does not need this stuff yet.

Oh man those fish pedicures freak me out. I really don't think I could do it.

Suzy I'm jealous of your Eve Lom hookup! That stuff is supposed to be great.

"Ken C: How much did it bleed after it happened? Did you wash it with soap and water afterwards? How big is the wound? Is it covered with something?"

not loads of bleeding. most of it was surface scratch except there was the middle bit where the scrape was way deeper which was bleeding. i kind of did nothing until the shower.. which HURT LIKE HELL. i didn't want to put anything on it as 1) the wound area was very big! 2) not sure what to put on it?? anything like plaster/those cloth things will just end up embedding a load of fabric onto my leg and then when it comes off i'll die as i rip the wound back open??

so the surface scratch bit is all kind of dark red now, the middle bit is pink with some blood showing. there was one bit that gushed some goo last night also.. all very attractive

Ken, rub vaseline lightly onto the dry wound before you put down any bandage, then it won't stick. If it gushes anything gooey again, go to the GP tomorrow.

MOVING ALONG Seems to me, that with just a cursory look, the Eve Lom stuff is mineral oil, lanolin and cocoa butter-based, with a bit of alcohol as an emulsifier between that and chamomile oil, eucalyptus oil and clove oil. It could be VERY simple to concoct an approximation of the cleanser with one visit to a health-food store.

78 pounds for a tub of cleanser? yikes! im in the wrong business!!!

enbb, the fish pedicure was awesome. if you're ever in SE Asia or elsewhere where animal health safety etc laws are a little more lax, give it a shot!

Thanks to internet you can buy a lot of that fancy spa shit for under $30, some basic ingredients + fragrances or oils and you're in business. I gave my sister homemade soap for Christmas. I saw suction machines for the face at CVS!

You can get lots of homemade bath and beauty stuff on EBay. I'd recommend some people, but none of them seem to be there any more.

It doesn't compare to cystic acne sufferers' suffering, but my skin will turn on a DIME into break-out city, where each pore just seems to grow a little bio-dome of infection in a matter of hours if left sweaty...or just left. Suzy, I'm going to try to mag/zinc supplement idea, I've always wondered how to find out if I'm missing something, like nutritionally, because normal blood work-ups like doctors do apparently don't show any probs and yet it's like I'm allergic to my own sweat which is just crazy.

I have good skin on my face (rarely get pimples) but I have keratosis pilaris on my upper arms and thighs..and splotchy skin elsewhere. as long as my face looks good I DON'T CARE.

I've always wondered how to find out if I'm missing something, like nutritionally, because normal blood work-ups like doctors do apparently don't show any probs

Then you don't have any nutritional deficiencies. The problem is somewhere else.

Well I didn't think it was scurvy or anything. But maybe a normal multi-vit would help -- haven't taken one for years.

I don't know if I have good skin or not. I know it used to be good. It used to be rather pretty. I would even occasionally receive compliments on it. Lately, though? Kinda splotchy, dry, overly freckled. Not zitty, just not as nice looking as it used to be.

it's like I'm allergic to my own sweat which is just crazy

Ohman, I had completely forgotten, but I had this thing a while back on my upper body where my skin would break out in a crazy rash like it was allergic to my own sweat, allergic to deodorant, allergic to being washed with any product I tried, so that was kind of hard to deal with.

It has gone away now, not quite sure why. Not diet, as I was eating a lot more healthily and remembering to take supplements more then than now. I am living somewhere with much softer water now, so it might be that.

Anyway I had thought my face skin was a lot better these days too but today I have a giant spot so I guess not.

I would recommend that anyone who is annoyed with their skin should probably take zinc/magnesium, possibly some extra B vitamins and the kind of fish oil you can get from eating some mackerel or salmon (if more practical, you can get fish oil capsules). Drink at least four glasses of water a day. Try not to touch your face other than in the morning when putting it on and at night when taking it off (my downfall). I think if you've got sebum building up in your pores, an oil-based cleanser warmed in your hands before it goes on the face will dissolve the plugs out of the pores - you should massage it in for a few minutes - and it tricks your body's sebum factory into making a bit less. This is also why a good moisturizer is important. Do this with vigilance for 28 days - no falling asleep with a face full of cosmetics, a clean pillowcase each night - and if there's any problem that hasn't gone away after that, you might need to look at your shampoo, bath gel, styling products, or perfume.

I imagine clove oil is in Eve Lom for the same reason it's often mooted as a natural toothache remedy - soothes and lessens swelling, whether gums or pores.

I've found products I can live with after some trial & error, several of which I make in my kitchen. But the break-outs never end and neither does the laundry, since anything that's touched my sweat has to be washed before wearing again.

Oh, the problem is with my erm cleavage & neck. It's not my face that's the problem, mostly, and I already do the cleaning regimen + clean pillowcase number. But people who can shower like every 2-3 days and look, y'know, kind of sweaty but nothing worse...I hate you all.

;_;

Thanks for the recommendations.

ENNB, people used to yell at me for using bath soap (Lever 2000, Irish Spring, Dove) on my face, and for a while I changed my ways, but my skin is completely NOT sensitive at all, so I can get away with using pretty much anything on it without bad results. It's just that it feels so good when I use something nice.

I know I should moisturize, but I hate it so much. I've had one little tube of facial moisturizer since 2006. It makes me feel like I've undone all the cleaning (ie, oil removal), even though the stuff is water-based.

My mantra in late high school and early college was "dry skin is healthy skin."

In high school and college, that's undoubtedly true.

I remember the "dry that skin out" propaganda. All I got was a big ugly scabby bump on my skin. At some point I discovered steaming...it helped me.

I have pretty good skin but in certain lights the circles under my eyes really show. I think it's from "stress" or something. :\

laurel, one of my best friends gets TERRIBLE breakouts on her chest - like, really big painful spots, and always has. she's tried everything to no avail, but she did notice a reduction in the spots when she started heavily using sunscreen (high zinc content).

She has all my sympathy, j!

This being the Northeast, I don't put sunscreen on my chest b/c it rarely ever sees the light. At most, it might get some indoor fluorescence on a VG day.

maybe try the zinc supplement suggested by suzy?

i just bought this body scrub from trader joe's - it's just a bunch of oils + sea salt, and it was ridic cheap, so i'll see how it goes.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. In my experience, and backed up by some of my medical reading, exposure to sun helps clear your skin up. But then you get "sun damage" or age prematurely...or you get yechh freckles and brown patches.

keratosis pilaris! i never knew what it was called! i have always called it 'the thing' (i have it on my upper arms and am constantly having people say 'you're sunburnt!').

got decent skin at the moment but it's relatively recent - the thing i used to get it under control was aleppo soap (ie just olive oil and lye), though i've switched to some ridiculous lush product made of clay and almonds now. Still got scars on my cheeks tho, fuck getting acne in your early twenties. :(

i have pretty decent skin, except for the fact that i am a white person WITH FUCKING VITILIGO UGH .

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs185.ash2/44846_547753864744_4302681_32003337_3188943_n.jpg

and i don't have health right now. i need to see a dermatologist, it's been getting so much worse in the past year or so.

What is the treatment for vitiligo? I suppose it's better being white and having it than dark-skinned and having it, right?

yeah. treatments include medicine and weird UV-light treatments.

i will probably not have health insurance for another few months. eh.

Interesting news. I went to the dermatologist* today and thought about this thread and my request for skin cleaning advice. I asked him what he recommended. I told him I use plain old soap, and waited for him to gasp and apply facial defibrillator paddles to my cheeks, but he said facial cleansers are 99% marketing and that all you really need is cheap-o mild soap. He also said the very best thing for your face is to use shampoo. If your shampoo is treating your scalp well, use it on your face.

Now this is a the guy who has his own retail skin care store in his building, so I thought he would have some killer products to sell and exotic secrets and rules for maximum facial awesomeness (I mean, look at his website http://www.ad sci.com/ (I broke the link b/c I don't want ILX on the referral log).

Ooops, the asterisk:

* I had big bug bites and I was really afraid they were from bed bugs, but after a biopsy and more questions, he determined they indeed bug bites, but not bed bugs.

Shampoo sounds crazy—I can't imagine using that on my face. I use low sulfate shampoo because the normal stuff is to drying for my hair, and my face is much more sensitive.

I use handmade goat's milk soap on my face. It's dry skin formula that I get from Etsy, and when I tried to switch to a different mild soap, my skin got flakier. I used to use cetaphil on my face, but it was too drying.

I don't get blemishes much, but I have a lot of problems with dryness and flaky skin. Manual exfoliants don't really help, and they seem to irritate my skin–I have a lot more broken capillaries now.

I was very surprised at his suggestion, especially after seeing that he sells pricey house brand cleansers! I think one reason he was so nonchalant was because I haven't been having any negative reactions to ordinary soap. Like I said, my skin is super not-sensitive.

my skin is awful.

can anyone recommend a good facial soap that will hopefully stop whiteheads, i seem to get at least one a day either at the side of my nose or just above my chin

(that they sell in UK)

use an astringent after washing your face, did wonders for me

nice one. i'll give it a whirl. thanks

i have great fucking skin

keratosis pilaris! i never knew what it was called! i have always called it 'the thing' (i have it on my upper arms and am constantly having people say 'you're sunburnt!').

http://www.xojane.com/beauty/how-i-fixed-my-keratosis-pilaris-aka-chicken-skin-and-got-awesome-hair-boot

This article says coconut oil for keratosis. I couldn't find any straight coconut oil at the grocery store, but I found a lotion with it as an ingredient. My arms have cleared up a ton. Worth a shot, imo.

I'm afraid of upsetting the balance - what if it migrates to my FACE??!

thanks for putting the fear back in me.

thanks, flatbread! will look out for coconut oil when next i go shopping.