Do you have good skin?

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.