Do you have good skin?

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.