suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

I hope that work out VG (or i'll be in big trouble)

rrrobyn, I use the lactic too and can vouch for its blemish removal capacities. I actually use it on psoriases after i've got rid of the scales, it helps to remove the red marks. thankfully I don't have that on my face so i'm using it on other parts of my body. I strongly recommend the Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate for the same function and other positive effects (affects?) like brightening. It's expensive for a T'Ordinary product but not expensive in broader skincare terms.

i think anyone new should start with the 5% Lactic acid rather than the 10%. I use the ten but, as I said, I don't use it on my face anyway.

on a tangential topic - caveat, i'm actually relatively new to this type of skincare - active skincare rather than just using a moisturiser as a sheild, or whatever - and it's interesting how annoyed people get when you tell them what you use and how much you spend on certain things even if it's them who asked. my good friend got so annoyed that I was in a shop buying something that cost £12 or so when she asked me where i'd been before we met. she got really het up about it, telling me she'd never spend that (she's a 30 year long smoker who puts coconut oil on her face, feel free to do both!)

my "too expensive" serum cost less than her pack of tobacco.

this happens all the time (women nearly always the targets of this criticism btw) - I follow a beauty columnist on sm and it's the stock response to every. single. article. Oddly you don't see it under e.g. car or tech columns.
'£20 for a moisturiser? I make my own out of twigs' etc

(women nearly always the targets of this criticism btw)

i can def imagine!

i'm a gay man who enjoys women's company more than men's for the most part. i don't mean that in an ingratiating way but i do enjoy talking to women about these kinds of things. good thread for me!

I only use moisturizer and then whatever eye cream I have around. I have yet to settle on any particular eye cream as one that I love. I should up my skincare routine but there are just too many products. I've been trying to go without washing my hair every day but it's causing me to break out around my hairline so maybe the lactic acid would be useful.

I am super excited to try The Ordinary once I can find it, or am somewhere I can get it shipped. I am of course getting overwhelmed by the website.

Oh, blah there is a store in London I can visit.

Eye cream - this is all-time fave. I'm not loyal to many products but this is one of them.

Shiseido Benefiance

While I'm recommending favorites -

This is the best lip balm ever: Bite Agave Lip Balm

I've only just started using this cleanser but it's really nice so far: Saturday Skin Rise + Shine Gentle Cleanser

I've also been acid toning with Glossier's new toner but only for about a week so no opinion on that yet.

Kinder who do you follow? S Hughes?

One note - the Shiseido eye cream is expensive but it lasts 1/2 a year.

on the red/blue light therapies - I'm using the Neutrogena full face thing that is both red and blue LEDs and this handheld red light only one from Pulsaderm. I had been doing microneedling previously to get collagen production going (which works nicely btw, but takes more time and is more intrusive than the lights), and it's along the same lines - you want to "wake up" the little guys that make collagen with the red light wavelength (660 nm I think). I use some matrixyl serum along with it - which I can see how it might get into deeper layers with the microneedling, but not so much with just the lights. But the red light also really seems to reduce inflammation (redness mostly, not swelling).

The blue light is about killing off bacteria more from what I was reading, and is quicker acting than the red. I just got back from a trip where I left the blue light mask at home - 7 days without it and I'm definitely much more broken out, though that could be from travel stress, food, etc.

Ohhh, do you like the Shiseido eyecream because of the moisture or firming?

Someone was just telling me about Skin Laundry. I am thinking of trying it.

I’ve heard/read similar responses re: cost of skincare and makeup and I’m pretty eye-rolly about it - we all get to choose what we’re spending our money on. Maybe I’d choose differently too if I had perfect skin or just didn’t have any issues with how i look and didn’t genuinely love makeup and skincare! But I wouldn’t judge in that weird “bar soap works just fine for me!” way. I say that as a generally frugal spender who doesn’t go out to eat much at all but has been known to spend $$ on skincare and lipstick at Sephora and the drug store... (also, fuck you, bar soap ;) ) I just don’t care much about restaurants, but I respect that other people do - and that maybe they don’t give a fuck about fenty’s matte lip colour or skin renewal in a jar <3

stupid haters

If I could stop drinking caffeine/alcohol, eat more veg, get more sleep and get rid of the GOP + all those aligned with their interests, I probably would not need to spend money on skincare.

ugh
it's best to refuse to respond to the content of criticisms of people who claim not to care about something but care enough about it to pipe up about it publicly. if you don't care, how about stfu and let people be?

update: I *think* the azelaic acid is working?
I'm using it AM & PM so far, I want to go another couple of weeks before I say for sure
but it certainly seems like my face is less red and I haven't had any breakouts so far so fingerscrossed
I stopped using the hyalauronic acid after a few days though, it made me feel like I was over-moisturizing, I don't think my skin was quite as dry to need it as well as my Cerave cream

btw I switched from lotion to cream, should have done that years ago it made a huge difference.

sadly you can't get Cerave (cleanser or creams) here and everyone raves about them.

I've heard Cetaphil is good too, if you can find that anywhere

i use that but it's apparently not as good. as a counterpoint to what i posted up thread about people being shocked about other people spending too much on skincare, casually recommended Cetaphil for someone who couldn't find Cerave and got fucking dog-piled by people telling me i didn't know what i was talking about. i swiftly removed myself from that facebook group. mentalists.

is dog-piled the right phase? a neg pile on anyway.

ugh freaks
avoid

I have to give a rec for selsun blue. I tend to get haole rot (tinea versicolor) on my stomach and back if I am in the sun or super sweaty. I always thought I just had some weird rash but finally read about it 2 yrs ago and saw that people used selsun sometimes instead of prescription drugs Totally worked (maybe my case was mild). I had never used it before for anything. But now I also use it like 2 times a month to get my scalp in realignment since I can get flaky/oily.

Yerac, I use a shampoo that has ketaconazole similarly (Regenpure brand). Suppresses the yeasts that cause tinea/seborrheic dermatitis, like the selenium in Selsun Blue or the zinc in Head and Shoulders, plus makes my hair grow like crazy. The stylist I go to knows folks who have used Monistat (a different -azole, but same effect) instead.

If you put the shampoo on your back and stomach does it make hair grow there???

I haven't noticed that happening - it does make fine hairs grow at my hairline though. Might be one of those vellus vs. terminal hair follicle things.

http://www.charlesfreger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/charles_freger_wilder_mann_2010-2011_0042_babugeri.jpg

http://www.charlesfreger.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/charles_freger_wilder_mann_2010-2011_0042_babugeri.jpg

Heh. I might buy this. I have never met anyone who vouches for a hairgrowing shampoo. I've had to dye my hair since I was 15 so I get anxious about hair thinning. I try to start at other parts of my head now instead of my hair part.

actually, i'm going to buy it too. i thought my hair was here to stay but the last year has proven me wrong.

many xp
enbb - yeah, sali!

So I walked by a deciem store today and popped in. It was a little too crowded and I didn't really remember what I wanted so I just got the Lactic Acid 10% ( I didn't see the 3%) and the 30ml of the Natural Moisturizing Factors (100ml was out). I am re-reading this thread and their site again to kind of figure out what I want because think there are other stores in the general areas I am going. I have to remember about the Ascorbyl Tetraisopalmitate because I was thinking of a skin brightener. Argh. I need to write these things down.

xp - Kinder :) Love her. I even read the message boards on her site every couple months when I remember they exist. She's great though.

I went to 3 different Deciem stores. All 3 had so much out of stock. The glassdoor reviews of working at the store seems pretty spot on from what I observed. I likened it to how American Apparel operated.

I’ve only ordered the ordinary etc online and am kind of at the point where I never want to enter a Sephora again (<- obvious lie) and just order stuff online because so often things are out of stock in the store.

Also, just gonna be all PSA for a minute and say USE SUNSCREEN and limit sun exposure when using all these acids and vit c and other active agents that can cause some pretty severe sun damage to unprotected skin. Like if I were going on a sunny beach vacation for a week I’d prob stop using the lactic acid and retinol ahead of time and during vacation. It’s worth looking into what can cause damage and what’s more benign. Skin science, such a freakin double edged sword!

Also if you have a new fave sunscreen tell me

Lately I like Avene Hydrance Optimale SPF 25 for winter/minimal sun exposure. I'm gonna need something more hardcore for upcoming beach vacation.

When I was in Hawaii for 5 months last year we basically just used the No-AD kids spf 50. Neither of us ever got burnt and I tend to burn. I had never heard of No-AD before but saw a lot of it at the beach.

And I always had some bottles of random spray sunscreen for the part in my hair and ears and feet, I wear cheap hats and sunglasses in the waterif the water is calmish.

I got the Vanicream that VegemiteGrrrl (I think?) recommended and it's been great for me. Less thick/sticky than the Neutrogena mineral one but same SPF. I've been using TiZO2 mineral one on my face as well as a tinted Coola one for daily. The Coola one feels a bit oily so I don't use it as often.

So apparently La Mer and the German formulation of Nivea are nearly exactly the same cream. La Mer has antioxidants in it but because it's in a jar they are rendered ineffective every time it's opened and the cream is exposed to light. The only other thing la Mer has that the German Nivea does not is kelp. I don't know that I'll be buying the Nivea any time soon because of this but it's pretty interesting. Note this is not the Nivea we get here that is slightly diff but it is the one available in the blue tin in Germany/UK/Rest of Europe and if you really want it you can get it here for 7 clams: https://www.smallflower.com/nivea/nivea-cream-150ml-5224.

ha! they sell it hidden in the corner by customer service at my grocery store! there are a bunch of euro products over there, hair masks and bottles entirely in russian, all kinds of stuff

I used to use No-AD SPF 50, until I had some sort of breakout where I'd applied it. Currently I use a CVS-brand "sensitive skin" sunscreen.

Have you tried the kid's version of No-AD? We got it because my partner has eczema and we didn't have any noticeable issues. I found that it lasts a long time too (don't need to reapply it as much).

My skincare (The Ordinary) products and hair oil were lost in my luggage for a week but finally showed up (minus the hair oil that was taken out). I definitely feel like my skin is smoother. As far as evening out of tone, I think i should've taken a before pic. But overall, I would rebuy and try other things in The Ordinary line.

things seem to be going more-than-slightly TITS-UP in the Deciem universe rn.

I always order from a Uk site called Victoria Health which, along with Deciem themselves, are the main UK distributor. I order from VH because they deliver quickly and, if something happens to be not in stock they don't deduct that money from you until it is in stock. That was they will allow you their free-postage bonus (over a limit) but send what they do have in stock free then send you the other thing that happened to not be in stock shortly afterward. They have great customer service and will address a query very quickly. Really great company, in my experience. I received a recent order that was minus one item (and hadn't been charged for it but got an efficent response telling me theey would post it asap). Great. If you look at the Deciem website to order from there, there are no commitments to timescales with regard to sending out orders so I am always leery (lol veg) at ordering from them since I have heard some bad reports. A few weeks later I get an email from VH apologising for the delay and explaining that the item wasn't available yet even though they were meant to have received it from the supplier. Broken distribution chain. Again, fine with me. Today I got a very polite email from Victoria Health saying that they were severing all contact with Deciem and would no longer be stocking any of their lines. Weird. Interesting.

I googled and found a thread on a facebook group where people were discussing that severance of ties. and found a link to this:

https://www.racked.com/2018/2/23/17044982/deciem-firings-resignations-brandon-truaxe

and also a link to Deciem's insta which the founder, Brandon Truaxe, seems to have taken over. It seems that his co-founder has recently been sacked, that lots of other people have left Deciem and that Brandon has gone, well, a bit weird with regard to that social media presence. If you look at their insta you see posts linking to negative reports but posted as if they were endorsements of Deciem alongside posts detailing launches of new products, of new lines and of new stores while the comments are complaining about not receiving products they ordered or complaing about being on long waiting lists. In other words, why are they bragging about opening hip new stores in brooklyn and london while people aren't getting the products they ordered and there's no let up in waiting lists for things that people love. They even announced the imminent launch of a new line based on middle eastern scents and soaps while people are complaining about not getting things they have been waiting for for months.

The posts seem weirdly insouciant and careless and kind of arrogant. It's not like people NEEEED their Matrixyl or their Copper Amino solutions to survive but there's something deeply weird about how they are conducting their business. I hope they get it sorted because, regardless, of personal or interpersonal beefs I really do delight in a lot of these products.