suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

face touching habit is soooo hard to break

i know! i literally like touched my eyelid and next thing you know i smudge my eyeliner

i'm rly going to have to brace myself this summer. winter skin is the easiest thing for me but in the summer i have to put in extra work.

Does anybody have experience/opinions re Makeup Artists Choice stuff?

The mandelic acid I ordered is from there - they get a lot of good reviews for there stuff on skin care blogs.

i had some closed comedones around my chin that i hated, but mostly just the feel - they were tiny and virtually invisible to anyone else. now they have mulitplied and are turning cystic.

I feel you on this SO HARD. I'm always in a continuous cycle of figuring out what's bothering my skin now and fixing it and then waiting for the redness to subside. Touching, products, sunscreen, clothes collars, the strap of a bag I carried that rubbed on my neck, pillowcases, did I eat wheat or dairy, blah blah blah DIE.

My go-to is expressing the clogs and washing them immediately with soap & water, exfoliating every day with either a clean cloth or corn meal, and using nothing but plain Aveeno on the area. And

http://www.lorealparis.ca/img/l10n/products/305x262/Cos21c_1_Large.jpg

i got one of those extractor tools a while ago, and that thing doesn't do shit, even on spots that are about to erupt! idk what i'm doing wrong. i've really got to stop squeezing tho :/

L, do you get a hard bump left behind afterwards? i'm finding that even after the spot has done it's thing and started healing over, there's a large hard lump underneath (not painful).

i'm also wondering if my hormonal IUD is a contributing factor.

just1n3, I'm super interested in hear how you find the MUAC mandelic acid toner. I bought that and their 8% BHA serum, and just finished the toner. I ended up tossing the serum about halfway through. My problem with the serum is that it contained menthol, like enough for it to smell like wintergreen lifesavers, which is so puzzling to me because menthol not only does nothing for skin, but it's also a known irritant. Like okay, you get the "cooling" sensation but I thought the whole marketing angle of MUAC was that they are designed for people with a basic understanding of skincare, so trying to fool people into believing your BHA exfoliant works through the cooling illusion of menthol just seems shady and insulting. Not to mention the first ingredient is SD alcohol. Plus it didn't seem to do much, other than break me out.

I thought the toner was fine, but it has SD alcohol as the second ingredient so I decided not to rebuy it.

I'm not a skincare chemist, but sd alcohol is not a good thing in skin care products: http://thebeautybrains.com/2015/04/im-confused-about-alcohol-in-cosmetics/, http://www.paulaschoice.com/expert-advice/skin-care-basics/_/alcohol-in-skin-care-the-facts

Anyway, here's how I'm rolling these days.

Morning:

Alpha Hydrox 12% AHA - I've been using this for about a year now, and it's really nice for brightening my skin and just making my face look... fresh (for want of a less creepy term)
PC Skin Balancing Pore Reducing Toner - I've tried a few PC toners and have not disliked any of them. This is my second go round with this one and for now it's my go to summer toner
PC Resist Ultralight Antioxidant Serum - another one for summer skincare. It also works like a primer.
Either PC Resist Superlight Wrinkle Defense or PC Skin Recovery Daily Moisturizing Lotion depending on how humid it is, how dry my skin is, whether I'm going to wear makeup, what kind of mood I'm in

Evening:

PC Resist 4% BHA retexturizing blah blah foam - I've only been using this for a few days so verdict's out. I've not had any luck with any PC BHA products to date so I'm not holding my breath, but we'll see. Also, as the reviews note, this stuff smells VERY BAD.
PC Skin Recovery Serum - This is more of a winter thing so I'm mostly just using it up. It's nice, although I'm not entirely sure what, if anything, these serums actually do.
Either Cerave Stretch Mark Cream or Cerave PM - also depends on how humid it is and how dry my skin is. The stretch mark cream doesn't do jack for stretch marks but it's a really nice, really cheap, really soothing and pleasant moisturizer for very dry skin. The PM is a lot lighter and my skin just LOLs at it in the dry winter months, but it's good in the summer.

That's a Total Turnaround (if you will) from my previous approach to skincare, which was way more minimal in both number of products and fancy ingredients. But at some point, about a year ago, I think, I was getting really fed up with my face and my skin - breaking out, looking dull and sallow, the visible effects of actual sun damage (yes yes I regret my previous no sunscreen in the winter stance. That was dumb! Dumb dumb dumb!). I remembered that I used to use and enjoy Clinique's Turnaround Cream, which always made my face feel soft and smooth and bright but I also knew it had changed its name/formula, so I went searching for reviews. That's how I found Beautipedia and Paula's Choice and while some of the sun damage is just the way my face is now (unless I get the money/urge to go to a dermatologist for a chemical peel or something, which I'm not ruling out as a possibility someday), overall my beautiful, beautiful face is looking and feeling much better now.

i use Cerave Stretch Mark Cream a lot thx to you!

It's marvelous hand cream, isn't it?

I bought some of the PC Resist line and it was so harsh and made my face really dry and tight I had to stop using it.

Cerave Stretch Mark Cream as hand cream & face cream for me. i've got very dry skin year round.

about 5 days ago i just cut out most of the stuff i'd been using/testing and started using the 3 trial sized bha products (cleanser, bha liquid, bezoyl peroxide cream) + rosehip/seabuckthorn/grapeseed oil + nivea creme at night, and witchhazelrosewater toner + vit c serum + FAB cream in the morning. the PC stuff is giving me a bit of dryness in one area, but it healed up a couple of major zits really quickly. the stuff really stings and is uncomfortable tho :/

carl, re the sd alcohol - i've read that alcohol can help skin products more readily penetrate the skin, and the 25% peel that i just got has insanely good reviews. i think it probably depends on what particular sensitivities your skin has.

i have one word for all of you: NIVEA

i tried the mandelic acid peel last night, first impressions: i like it! it stung for a couple of seconds when i first put it on, but that was it. and my skin felt really smooth and soft afterwards.

carl, re the sd alcohol - i've read that alcohol can help skin products more readily penetrate the skin, and the 25% peel that i just got has insanely good reviews. i think it probably depends on what particular sensitivities your skin has.

― just1n3, Thursday, May 14, 2015 4:55 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I see! So much contradictory info out there. I don't think I'm sensitive to sd alcohol, so that is good to know.

apropos of nothing: i used clinique's 3-step cleanser/toner/moisturizer for almost 10 years...such a mistake. I am convinced that their #2 toner is what fucked up my skin. basically a twice daily cheap chemical peel :(

i probably had rosacea all along but that just made it sooo much worse

I was a long time user of that too. I was basically raised to believe there were two kinds of beauty products: Clinique and garbage.

right!? mum took me to the clinique counter when i was like, 16

clinique toner fucked up my friend's skin years ago, too!

it's the worst! better to exfoliate with battery acid

i can't use toner anymore. middle eastern skin doesn't support it.

for no reason, came across this in an old email
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ume40waXuM&feature=relmfu

lol

i just got the 50 or so tiny closed comedones around my jawline extracted. fucking hell.

my esthetician said they were almost certainly caused by mirena IUD i had put in last year.

And now my lower face is a big scabby mess.

Dohhhh :(
I found shaving made me break out a little! Hairless lip still wins imo

Owwwww, j! What did the derm say about the comedones they extracted? And how did they extract them??

whats a comedone?

ALSO: i want to do cryotherapy so bad. I really know nothing about it but get the impression its some type of reverse sauna?

The IUD is really doing a number on my face. j, are you still using the mandelic acid and do you have any other comedone advice? (sunny - comedones are 'white'/skin-coloured zits, I guess). Also, did you find they subsided after a while?

Also noted Laurel's use of cornmeal as exfoliator, which sounds like a good idea. As far as moisturizer, I use Aveeno right now but am running low and happy to switch.

I have gone away from cornmeal to a good old fashioned washcloth that I can lightly scrub in circles and then change out frequently for a clean one. Maybe as I've aged my face needs more careful treatment? I might go back to some kind of honey-based thing tho cos I think my skin likes it, it just might not be with cornmeal.

Yeah I haven't used washcloths since I was a kid but why on earth not? - I don't know. I found myself looking at those electronic face brush thingies and I guess a washcloth would do pretty much the same thing!

i use baking soda to exfoliate sometimes, just a little mixed in with soap or w/e

All anyone needs is a washcloth. It's much less damaging than the brushes and gets the work done.

The two beauty people I read evangelise about 'hot cloth cleansing' which is basically washing your face with a flannel afaict (not with a foaming cleanser though, no never, SLSs are evil and drying - although I've always used one but thinking of switching up to a cleansing oil or gel). Scrubbing in small circles is good and means you don't really need a scrubby exfoliator.

Incidentally one hates the Clarisonic face brush things and one really likes them.

I tried the Eve Lom cleanser which is $$ but everyone rates and actually it was gorgeous to use (you put it on dry skin, then rest a hot wrung-out cloth over your face a few times which is lush, then wash off) - but totally brought me out in spots. So did the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish balm. I think balm cleansers are not for me.

when i was teen and 20-something I would put boiling water in the bathroom sink a towel over my head and steam the shit out of my face. I would follow this by draining the hot water and filling the sink with ice which i would plunge my face into for as long as I could stand.

These days i'm using dead sea salt to exfoliate, a cucumber peel-off mask and No.7 serum for the moisturizing.

been trying out La Roche Posay double moisturising spf 30 stuff

it's sold as a moisturizer/sunscreen, but I found that it was not an adequate moisurizer for me. two days in and my skin was dry and itchy and breaking out. once I started layering it over my normal moisturizer it seemed to work a lot better and my skin calmed down again.

saw a lot of rosacea folks repping the aveeno baby sunscreen too, so I might grab that for camping this weekend

Is it the sunscreen that's drying out your skin? Moisturizer w/ sunscreen makes my eyes water and sting for a good twenty minutes. I have found that banana boat children's spray sunscreen doesn't though so I use that and a no sunscreen moisturizer separately.

i ended up with Vanicream spf 50 sunscreen, basically a no frills physical sunblock with zinc oxide & titanium dioxide

works a charm. my problem seems to have been reactions to the chemical sunscreen components i think

i am using vanicream cleanser too, a bit more gentle than cerave & is working p well

the sunscreen has been helping calm my skin too which is a nice side benefit.

Nice!

Since moving to Australia Sunscreen has become a big deal for my pasty rainy island skin. The one I have settled on is Dr Jart Sunfluid which i was introduced to on a work trip to Korea by a colleague who is a Korean Cosmetics obsessive. Fantastic and doesn't make my eyes sting and is not sticky like many other sunscreens I've tried. I like the idea of this vanicream though, I will seek out.

who's using The Ordinary? I am and have quite a lot to say (and am extremely happy with it) but there's no point talking into a void. Let me know if you're a user. ha.

Not I, but I like their approach. It's quite popular here in the UK afaik.

i have v sensitive skin & rosacea ... i am very leery of this stuff bcz i never know what’s going to freak my face out

Had a whole discussion about the ordinary yesterday on fb. I am currently using their HA serum as well as the niacinamide and zinc one. So far I really like it and my skin seems to love it.

my favourite thing is the Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate (lol) which is actually the most expensive thing they do - it's a vitamin C derivative in vitamin F. It's REALLY brightening and makes my skin glow (which was my major concern, my skin was so dull and lifeless) - I recommend this to anyone, it's very gentle too. My other main rec. is the Alpha Lipoic Acid, which you use 2-3 times per week overnight. you can really see a difference when you wake up. It's quite strong and warming/tingly so maybe not great for very sensitive skin.

it's really very addictive buying new things though. I think i have 12 or so of these bottles.

I have other recs but I'll get back to it later.