Fantastic Skincare: Skin (almost) sorted- decent fucking summer fucking clothes would be fucking nice. Don't ask us about our hair 🐌

[botemp]

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I am very slowly working on consolidating the gathered information from previous threads into easier to read formats but it’s slow going. If you wish join us on this thread I would suggest reading thread 1 and at the very least the following info sheets (provided they apply to you):

Where to Start

Basics of an Actives Routine

Skin Types vs. Skin Conditions Info Sheet

Anti-Ageing Info sheet

Adult Acne Info Sheet

For those who are taking a peek and wondering what this all about, we mostly discuss a bit of advanced skincare here with a perspective of seeking out the right ingredients (rather than the latest new shiny product and all its empty promises) for our particular skin 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. Newcomers are always welcome but please note the following:

Questions and asking for help on this thread is encouraged, however, we can’t give you a specific routine to follow and hope it works out for the best. There are no overnight miracles in skincare whether it be in the form of products or techniques. It’s about perseverance, understanding your skin, assessing its needs and responding to that in a diligent manner.

These threads were created to help those who want to learn for themselves. We’re a group of interested and invested skincare nuts happy to offer tea and sympathy and dole out advice. Everyone’s journey with skincare is different, what is universal and binds us is that through actually learning about the different active ingredients it helps us get to know our skin and help us adapt as it will change many times throughout our lives - with seasons, hormonal changes, ageing, genetics etc. It's in everyone's best interests to get to know their skin and to keep reviewing those changes with the confidence that comes from the gathered knowledge here. We really encourage you to spend the time reading through previous threads and linked info sheets that the many contributors have taken the trouble to share.

By no means are we experts, we're only a bunch of amateurs that can only respond by suggesting what we would do in your place, for any severe conditions please seek out professional help.

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If you pose a question and we need more contextual information to answer properly we may ask you to fill in the following form. Please only use this form when asked, unsolicited forms will be deleted. Responses to the form can be found here

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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.

MAY/JUNE 2017: It’s summer and some of us are hourglasses (and otherwise beautifully shaped) that desperately need to bitch and moan about the severe lack of clothes available to us. Also, some of us are recovering from a ‘fine’ butchering to our hair. Don’t ask. Some of us suffer from all of the above. At least the weather is good, wear sunscreen.

Use some dettol wipes to kill off the bacteria on your hat.

JD my sympathies. I'm still scowling at the stupid layers when I catch sight of them in the mirror. Completely baffled why they think they're a good idea. It's the bloody worst when you come out with hair that's not as nice as when you went in. Keep repeating the Crap haircut mantra of "It will grow. It will grow." and focus on keeping it very healthy. It seems to help.

I mean focusing on keeping it healthy, rather than focusing on what the layers look like, seems to help.

Olli I used to get exactly the same red mark from my riding hat...then I decided to regularly give it a clean with dettol wipes and this sorted the problem.

Thank you so much Bo for taking the time to send links and answer my bat plea. My mum has got me the lulu lun face masks, a mascara I found on the cosme link and my old trusty faithful shu uemura oil which I was rather gutted to discover you can't buy here now. I seem to recall it wasn't that well rated on here and I know there are probably more interesting choices but I have failed to do my research, ah well. I'll try and report back on the masks. And I'd also like to catch up on this thread I enjoyed it so much. But we have a very poorly end of life stage parent with cancer at the moment and a tantrumming toddler, time seems to evaporate. I'll no doubt pop up again! Currently debating the Chanel glow foundation after a sample but I often find a sample isn't always enough to really know. Anyone used it?

Thanks for the sympathies Enid and bo. My hair is bob length and grows fairly quickly at least. It just looks awful at the back at the moment
for feet with all you have to deal with at the moment.

for feet in case that wasn't clear.

Hi I've been reading your sheets and the threads, they are very informative!

I have one question about vit c serum, if that's ok ? I am trying to fade my pigmentation, I have had IPL and it has faded and I am using Roche- posay redermic and a glycolic cleanser, nip and fab 2%, this has faded it too, so I'm looking for a serum to treat it now as I think there's a good chance that it will fade further and I'm finding it difficult to find the time to get the IPL done.

I can't find any stock of the ordinary vit c so I have seen the Dr. Brandt Power Dose Vitamin C ? This had good reviews and there is also La Roche‑Posay Pigmentclar Serum, has anyone tried this ? It has kojic acid in it. Or there is a website called Skinlight ? Which has lots of products for pigmentation www.skinlight.co.uk/ they are all around £30-40 each so I guess I could just try each one after the other, but I thought I would ask here and see if anyone had used them with good results?

70% medical grade alcohol in a little spray bottle could possibly work too, Olli.

feet. If your mum is still in Japan and you like that sort of thing, the Flow Fushi Mote eyeliners (in brown-black) are supposed to be really good, almost like a calligraphy pen. Is the Chanel glow the Les Beiges one? I also only ever tried that in store, it was too glowy for my tastes, the new gel cushion is really lovely but it's only 9 bloody grams! The counter staff tried to sell it to me as a foundation you don't use on the whole face They're quite generous at my counter though, if I ask for a sample they usually decant a decent amount for at least a few days use so you could give that a go.

pretty, welcome! It really depends on the type of pigmentation you are dealing with. If it's deep and years old then laser, peels, and/or prescription hydroquinone is the most effective thing for it. Melasma is even more difficult to tackle. Vitamin C, Kojic Acid, Arbutin, AHAs like glycolic and azelaic acid, Niacinamide etc. all work best when the pigmentation is higher up in the dermis by promoting healing and accelerating cell turnover. Do keep in mind that laser and sun sensitising actives need to be scheduled accordingly, so two weeks ahead of treatment you shouldn't be using any forms of AHA, Vit C, etc.

I'm not familiar with any of the brands on skinlight and personally, I'm a little wary of a company that promotes skin 'lightening' so prominently. OTC products should not be able to lighten anything as it would be classed as a medication at that point.

WRT Vitamin C. I'm not familiar with the Dr. Brandt one myself but the brand is reputable (but mostly for a neck tightening product that isn't supposed to work on paper but has a massive cult following), it's not a pure L-AA serum but an ethylated form (much like the NIOD and Hero Project versions). I would point out that at a little over 16ml at £59 you may as well go the whole hog and get the gold standard SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic which is around a £100 for 30ml but that's quite a disparity with TO's price point but it has a better track record as a product wrt pigmentation issues. Not the most cosmetically elegant thing out there (highly siliconey), but maybe the indeed labs C24 is worth a try in the interim?

Also, a mandatory reminder about the importance of sunscreen with all these actives, but especially since you're having pigmentation issues (mineral sunscreen being the preferred option).

Also, sorry no SS today. I don't have enough content to fill one up properly, there seems to be a bit of a downturn in pace so I'm thinking for the summer months I'll do it on a bi-weekly basis.

botemp thank you so much, I think I will have to stick with the IPL then as most of my pigmentation started about 9 years ago, my mum had it so it's hereditary. Once I've treated it then I think I will get the Skinceuticals, if I don't waste my money on lots of things that don't work I can afford it.

Thank you for all the extra advice I am religious about sun cream and as a result I don't look as bad as my mum, just small patches whereas hers are huge. And I understand about acids and IPL.

I used Clinique TTDO today after a long time avoiding it and remembered why I disliked it. I really really don't like it all. It smells and looks like Lard, makes my eyes blurry and then sore and itchy and my skin feels both tight/dry and oily afterwards. Even with a follow up cleanse using LRP. My skin feels kind of sensitised generally today. Red marks are more prominant, it's a bit itchy and more oily than usual. Same with my hair. It's both oily and dry. Bleurgh.

And now my eyes are watering and sore. I think I'll throw the rest of the TTDO away.

I find that with certain products, they set my eyes off watering and I have to be really careful. The avene gel cleanser is nice

I used to use that years ago pretty I might try it again although not sure it'd be a good make up cleanser? I like the LRP toleriane but it doesn't take my make up off.

Just ordered a mini EH balm again because I don't want to try anything new without a back up. 15ml £10 from M&S. they have an offer on, spend over £40 on home, beauty or fashion and get a beauty box for £10.

Ooooh beauty box !!!

It's a Summer one so some faux tan, an spf cream, hair treatment, nail varnish and other stuff I don't recall. Looks like a bargain if it's things you'd use. Good brands. I was sensible a just hit the mini balm and a small Elasticizer so didn't qualify,

I still have 3 M & S beauty boxes from last year. There were so many things in it I loved and still use.

Wonder of wonders my redness has definitely gone down.

I put this down to TO Vit C, TO retinoid 2% and the niamincide + zinc.
And more than likely the fact I've now ditched all glycolic acid from my routine. I have the TO lactic acid 5% which I'm dying to try out at some point but not quite yet.

I still like to wear foundation because my face gets red from walking around all day at work, but nevertheless it's so much better than it was. I'd like to try the TO foundation and primer once they have made some more.

@EnidButton have you ever tried dermalogica ultracalming cleanser? It removes my make up effortlessly (I didn't get on with lrp)

Feet .

Enid I'm sorry to hear about our TTDO experience. I hope you find something that works to take your make up off and doesn't have the same effect.

We are moving house next month. I'm thinking about getting a dressing table. At present I do all skincare at the sink which is easier anyway on account of washing hands after product applications. But I wonder about make up and drying hair. Make up I wash hands a fair amount (apply tinted moisturiser with fingers, then concealer). Does anyone use a dressing table?

I love my dressing table I keep a pack of baby wipes on it for my hands

I have a dressing table in my dressing room which is right next to the bathroom, so I just pop in there to wash my hands. Make up that's used regularly is kept in an acrylic stand/holder on top of the table so it can be easily carried to another room if needed. I use the bathroom to do makeup in the winter sometimes as the light seems better.

I do like having a dressing table. It feels more organised and together iyswim.

You could have a damp flannel handy for finger wiping?

Evening all

Not been round for a while, being doing a lot of work travel and routine has had to be pared right back as I've been taking domestic flights so having to fit makeup and skincare in that little ziplock which is NOT easy!

Just catching up now, sorry to hear about your haircut JDSTER after all the recent bad luck on here I don't think I'll ever dare go near a hairdressers again

Nothing new to report here, skin seems to have coped fine with a basic routine though I did miss my Vit c. And my bioderma spray SPF has stopped spraying I'm going to try running the nozzle under running water and see if I can get it working again as I really do like it when I can get it to work.

Oh and my TO foundation has arrived - I'd pretty much given up on it!!! It is good coverage and long lasting/not greasy but the shade I got is ever so slightly too dark. I managed to tone it down this morning using a white mattifying powder but I should really have ordered two different shades to mix as this is what I have to do with most foundations. Not sure if I can be bothered waiting another 3 months though....

Well

I ran out of TTDO and did not rp as wanted something new.

And

The very persistent batch of spots in that delicate under jaw area promptly started drying up I cant believe it! Why would it give me spots in ONE area? I blamed everything but the TTDO!!!!

So Enid, you have my sympathy!

Unfortunately, I also bought a boots botantics cleanser as a replacement and of course, it is unusable stings like crazy. Blurred vision. Sensitised skin after. Aargh!

I'd love a dressing table

Have a bedroom mantelpiece

Not the same thing AT ALL