Ditch The Foundation, Embrace Some Fantastic Skincare Instead!

[botemp]

Thread 1

Thread 2

Thread 3

Thread 4

For those who are taking a peek and wondering whether thread 1,2, 3, and 4 are worth reading, we mostly discuss a bit of advanced skincare here with a perspective of seeking out the right ingredients for our particular needs. Distinguishing the acid toners from the actives whilst avoiding the truly unimpressive and harmful ingredients with a hope to achieve a bit of anti-ageing, alleviate irritation and sensitivities with some idle chat in between. Deviations on this thread are mostly my fault.

If you're in need of some advice coming to grips with your skincare routine please don't hesitate to ask, we don't bite, only occasionally sting with a bit of Biologique Recherche P50 now and then . Just make sure to state clearly what your concerns and needs are in as much detail as possible, skincare is highly individual and a random recommendation for a 'good' product will be completely different from one person to the next.

Make sure you've read the earlier threads (or at the very least the first one) so we're not being asked to answer to previously raised questions. It takes a lot of time and effort to answer these queries and often the answers can be found in previous threads, but if you still have questions relating specifically to you, use the following form to make life easier on us. We generally answer one or to two people a day on a first come first served basis. Not everyone will have answers and sometimes we can't answer you at all. We're only a bunch of amateurs that can respond by suggesting what we would do in your place, for any severe conditions please seek out professional help.

Skin type:

Approx age (range):

Primary skin concern:

Routine :

AM :

PM :

Makeup : eg. no/light coverage/medium coverage/heavy coverage

Occasional treatments:

Things I've tried in the past with disastrous results:

Things that are really working well for me now:

Any dietary/health concerns/pregnant:

What I'm willing to spend on a single skincare item: eg. >£10, £10-20, £20-50, £50-100, no limits.

I specifically [want help with/am looking for a product to/am curious about trying]:

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Ahem, and finally a little note on spending. I'm well aware these threads cause many to reach for their wallets and spend with wild abandon. There can sometimes be a bit of a frenzy surrounding the excitement around a newly discovered product or on the back of great improvements when someone reports back. This is all great, it doesn't however, mean everything that's a sudden miracle for one will be it for you. Usually, it's a light bulb moment for connecting the right skincare ingredient with an individual experiencing a specific problem. Take your time to mull over decisions and question whether it's right for you too. Skincare is highly individual, it's a slow game that should cost mostly in patience, input, education, and perseverance. Please don't make it cost you financially needlessly either.

enid my skin misbehaving again at mo too I'm not happy with the way it looks or feels! I seem to have an area of red blotchiness on my right lower cheek near jaw which is now there constantly

mint/jo, PM usually favours the slightly heavier formulation, hence SubQ in the PM but like I said it could be either/or. I know it's tough, you have a compromised barrier most likely due to over-exfoliation or reaction or both and it's not been able to rebalance itself. I still struggle to understand why a dermatologist isn't seeing to it in such a situation.

As mentioned previously, Pupsie, Jolse is the easiest to buy CosRx from with free shipping. I think Amazon always takes the longest, eBay is a bit quicker as they have to keep their ratings in mind but Amazon sellers seem to take forever to dispatch things. If you order a lot with Jolse it sometimes gets delayed due to availability but if it's just the one thing they're rather quick.

Hmm, they're being very selective with those 'Bonkers' ingredients, I could easily name a ton that are in the Deciem lineup that would equally qualify as bonkers and lacking in cohesive research. As mentioned previously there's plenty of evidence for Snail slime but the harvesting and formulation does make a huge impact in the final product. Charcoal is just as controversial as a 'beneficial' ingredient. That article is very typical beauty PR, let some companies shit on certain buzz trends by denouncing it as 'a bit silly' (or in worse cases scare mongering and denouncing competitors' choice of ingredients/preservatives as dangerous/toxic) whilst making their own products look much more sensible and reliable when the same can be said of that.Thanks for the Pocket App tip, that looks interesting. I've tried Evernote in the past but it didn't work well across different platforms.

Yes, you have to sign up again, Aurora, and it's quite an ordeal to figure out what applies and how the shipping works. Someone on Reddit did a step by step guide here the comment is mid way by chayte.

bo mine probably isn't from over exfoliation as I've never used acids and could count on one hand the times I've used a "scrub" I think mine is due to sensitising it by changing products too frequently during my beauty training years and because of my body dismorphia always trying to find products that would make me look better.
I've never seen a dermatologist because I don't want any medication (if that's what they suggested) and the products most of them recommend I've probably already tried. Also because of the dismorphia issues I don't like people looking to closely at me or analysing my skin close up.

Thanks for the tip bo. I don't need (cough) anything st the moment. Just wanted to check what's on offer

Agree about the article. Typical lazy copy/ paste shallow PR infomercial... I often find that to be a problem with many of those online magazines. The articles are often short and shallow, kind of the "perfect" bite-size to read with your coffee/ commute/ boredom hour

Pocket is one of my most used apps. It's brilliant. I hope you like it too Bo. I used to use Evernote but prefer Google Keep nowadays.

Thanks for that re Jolse too. I did see it upthread. I will get on an order that. DS has quite a big spot on his cheek today. Could be coincidence, but I do think the tea tree worked at keeping them at bay, although it was far too drying.

Just need to instil in him the benefits of sticking with a routine... How often down your DS use the BHA Aurora?

bo re storage. I have quite a bit of make up and stock up on things like body products deodorant etc. Not loads though. The things I use regularly and everyday, go in an acrylic storage thing on my dressing table and in the skinny drawer under it. Body moisturisers, nail stuff, hair stuff (including hair dryers and straighteners and curling wands) and 'spare' make up go in the wide Alex drawers. Atm it is laid flat apart from the make up which is in baskets in one drawer.
If I get the tall narrow Alex drawers I can divide things up more. The wide ones aren't practical. Too low. Lots of people have the narrow ones as they work better.

I'm perusing TK maxx

Your to max looks better than ours. Before enlarging the pics I thought that was what you'd bought!

Period has started not tmi because it's relevant. Means the skin sensitivity and breakouts were caused by hormones. (Probably good ol progesterone because my skin was a mess when I had progesterone pessaries during ivf.) Glad to have a reason for it anyway.

Tk maxx

Would also explain the sudden need to ruin dye my own hair and then stomp my foot over it.

Ok so my skin definitely feels less comfortable using the Superdrug serum. I feel parched and prickly but look shiny my make up has completely slid off too grrrrr

Found that video with the custom storage solution for you, Enid, I think he even has the narrow Alex drawers too but the under the desk version.

I'm pretty sure the Beauty & Fashion industry is where PR and Journalism reside the closest together and it's hard to tell one apart from the other. Maybe sports are similar? I've never really looked into that... I was thinking about it since blogs, vlogs, etc. are now carbon copies of old school beauty writing (and not even very good at it) then what should it be ideally? Just an honest middle of the road review of products would be quite boring and it would still revolve around products that are churned out by the industry, if you take the product out of it and just focus on ingredients it usually becomes really dry and educational.

I just got a notification it's Lumea night, Aurora! Should be doable but I really have to set that reminder up for a bit more advance warning.

bo you must have missed my reminder on (maybe) Monday that our Lumea rondevouz is coming up. I've just finished - took me just under 45min - legs, bikini and armpits.

Must say I do find the light flicks quite draining on the eyes. Might wear shades next time.

Hmmm, what would I ideally want from beauty journalism? Big question as I'm not ignoring the fact that ppl need to earn money. Can't think now as my brain has just been zapped with IPL 742 times
With that specific article I would have liked some more in depth info about the substances it discussed and their use in traditional and AB cosmetics... maybe? I don't mind they quoted Brandon T etc and his opinion, I would simply like it to be truly informative, so I can... ehhh... make up my mind on my own.

Thank you bo Will watch in bed later.

I woke up today with an enormous yuck filled spot near my nose, it has been so long since I had a spot like that. I also have a psoriasis flare up on my one nostril so it is bright red and peeling. I look really grim at the moment! I'm not sure if this means something is upsetting my skin now or if it is the result of my skin adjusting to having a routine? I'm still just using the LRP cleanser and moisturiser whilst I wait for my TO delivery.

I think I may need to order some more moisturiser, it is hard to tell. I have seen the Eucerin anti redness day cream mentioned and was considering giving this a try to help tone down the psoriasis bits. Is this considered an acceptable alternative to the LRP please?

I knew it was this week, Aurora, and even that it was on Wednesday but I guess I somehow forgot it was Wednesday night . I'm in a creative productivity phase currently, so that might explain the lack of acknowledging actual time and dates .

I used to use sunglasses with my previous machine which was really bad with the flashes but actually found a really brightly lit room more effective than sunglasses, and crucially I could actually see . Went much quicker for me this time too, did all the tough spots with the smaller head first and then just zapped away the large areas after. Did have some hair fallout in the first week and for whatever reason, it makes me sweatier for like 24hrs after zapping . Can't really see much change in the amount of hair but that would be tough to determine at this point anyhow.

Yeah, I don't mind the brand founder's input either. In fact, I quite enjoy seeing an outspoken voice behind a brand vs. a PR proper inoffensive blah blah but remember that PR mailing from Deciem/NIOD with their 'Voicemail' Masque (or something similarly stupid named) with plant 'stem-cells' bollocks. It may be a great mask, it may very well be utter shit but the PR was definitely shit on par with the magic of Pig Collagen and wholly worthy of being called out on.

depressing, how's the rest of your health? Usually, when the immune system slips up a bit (due to illness, stress, external reaction, etc.) the skin tends to react right along with it so am left wondering if it could possibly be related to that?

It's the Eucerin UltraSENSITIVE Soothing Care Normal to combination skin that I've earmarked as a Toleriane Fluide alternative on the INCI alone, I'm not sure about the Anti Redness Day Cream. It's a green one so is more of a makeup base in that sense, provided you can tolerate shea butter, silicones (dimeticone), the used UV filters, and colourants there aren't any glaring red flags in it. However, the main active ingredient (beyond some very minimal UVA/UVB protection) is liquorice root extract, which is good for fighting inflammation and pigmentation but can be found in other formulations too, usually in combination with other equally beneficial gentle anti-inflammatory ingredients like BHA or Azelaic (which I think would benefit you well too) eg. Paula's Choice Resist Anti-Aging Skin Transforming Multi-Correction Treatment with Azelaic Acid + BHA is worth looking at (this does contain a fair bit of silicones).

I realise I neglected to draw up a file on you last time we spoke as I was ill at the time (so not as diligent as usual) when you initially sent out your form and I was only able to answer you in broad terms since then.

Since you've seen the GP now and they won't be of much help I think it's worthwhile going through your proposed routine again at a more custom level. What did you end up ordering with TO? And where are you on the SPF front?

Yeah you reminded me they do actually say you should do it in bright light. I'll try that next time... or sunglasses which are not that dark.
Good idea to do the difficult bit before instead of after. What I found the most annoying was the very front on the shin, where the "ready" light just wouldn't go on.
Like I said I had almost no hair on my legs. I could see that very clearly when I shaved cause there was hardly any hair on the razor. I'm pretty optimistic

I think the worst Deciem marketing BS is the Sanskrit thingy's name ... and the fact they didn't send us those monkeys considering the nr of times we have recommended their stuff here.

Just been for a haircut my usual hairdresser has left so I had to trust someone else to cut my curls! Really pleased with how it looks so far

Popping back in....mmmmm make up storage....love that shu uemura box...found a vintage one on eBay that could be funkily done-up if that way inclined...
Tk maxx pix hollin likee!
That's all.

So I'm only 5 minutes into that storage video but paused it to say I'm loving it. This will probably spiral into a two hour storage videos session.

I saw THE most amazing makeup storage video ages ago... Will try and find it

This is only part 1 but I was

Hollin your package arrived , thank you so much! Am looking forward to finally trialling snail goo

Meanwhile gothamista has reviewed TO

She's kinda sold me on the arbutin which I hadn't seriously considered before. Hmm.

Hollin I'm watching now.

Love the diy foam storage in the Kimberley Clark vid. Quite fancying getting the same 5 drawers x 2 instead of the 9 so I can have that deep drawer to keep bottles up right.

Yay! Glad it arrived safe