🐌 Fantastic Skincare: Happy Snail Year, Bring Spoons!

[botemp]

Thread 1 Thread 2 Thread 3 Thread 4 Thread 5 Thread 6 Thread 7 Thread 8 Thread 9 Thread 10

I am very slowly working on consolidating the gathered information from previous threads into easier to read formats but it’s slow going. In order to make use of the below form and join in 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

NEWish since previous threads:

Understanding Which Sunscreen(s) to Buy

Do I Really Need to Wear Sunscreen Every Single Day of the Year?

A Damaged Skin Barrier - Now What?

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.

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.

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JANUARY 2018: Thread 11! we're getting old. A recap of The Snailies categories for those still meaning to get round to them:

🐌🐌 THE SNAILIES 2017 🐌🐌

The Well Hello There - newest and latest find that gets your motor running

The Flusher- money spent on this product would have been better put to use by flushing it down the toilet

The Jack & Rose- the product you’ll never let go of because there’s plenty of fucking space for the two of you on that piece of wood. Damn you, James Cameron, for breaking my poor little tween heart.

The LTB- it all seemed so promising, everything was going so great, then they turned out to be a narcissist gaslighting bastard

The Child Prodigy- that one product that’s annoyingly good and isn’t afraid to be smug about it

The Worker Bee- never the centre of attention but has been steadily chugging along like no other

The Troll- the one where you repeatedly asked, ‘Is this doing anything?’, but continued to use it anyway…

The Flabbergaster- that one product or technique that wasn’t really supposed to be used like that or delivered well beyond your non-existent expectations

The Sinner- oh, admit it because we’re all guilty of it, what did you do or use that wasn’t all that sensible like take an acid bath and had the disastrous results you really knew to expect

Thanks botemp I decided to start it every four days, so have used it three times so far. I've actually found this morning that the cluster of small white heads that appeared on chin yesterday have totally disappeared today! So does seem like it might be purging. Will carry on for a fortnight and see where I am then- if still getting them will stop using.

Not related to this thread, but in my drug induced state I lost the thread about brands and bloggers (the second one). Does anyone happen to have it bookmarked please?

Ignore that. A quick search re-acquainted us :-)

Bo I feel I need a "day in the life of Bo* post. I'm so impressed with all these things/people you know about (on other threads too). I don't know how you do it. I think there must be more of you #teambo.

Enid, a Vit C serum with a low pH (usually L-AA) will help with skin texture somewhat as it's basically an acid, and the high % gritty L-AA formulations are essentially physical scrubs if you rub it in. Otherwise, it will help with skin turnover somewhat but it's unlikely to act as an exfoliant.

Sorry, JDSTER, Amazon JP is annoying like that. But it was advance order only AFAIK so I'm assuming it will show up on eBay in Feb. Hopefully, there will be some reviews out by then too, although the Amazon page had some already

Bagel is it the glossy one? People always go on about how they really know their stuff about the Ordinary on there but considering what else I've heard about that group I have a really hard time equating that as truth.

As in I have multiple personalities Pupsie

Eh, a day in my life would be dreadfully dull. I think it's just down to reading a fair bit (don't do SM unless you count MN, don't watch TV much, only really to catch up on something of interest). Work from home the majority of days. I was raised very much with the idea that a brain outranks all and I do have a very good memory (which is both visual and associative so I can process and store quite easily and access it again) and I can be very good at ignoring things I have no interest in at all.

I've also had long periods of illness with little to do, so losing yourself in a specialist subject is helpful then. I don't know if others with health issues have experienced it too but socially your world becomes quite small, people you've been through thick and thin with when something was happening to them don't necessarily return that in kind. It's not that easy (in my case anyhow) to just forget that when you're 'better' again. The quality friendships remain instead I feel and you're absolved from the more tedious superficial upkeep as a result.

An excellent post there Bo and so true about friendships

Can definitely relate.

Thanks for the vit c info.

Bo I've eliminated lots of friends from my life this way, I would much rather have very few friends I can trust and rely on than having lots of superficial friendships!

Agree too about friendships, utterly. I also have a very good memory.

I don't know where to start. That's the problem. For example this morning I have decided to only buy clothing and accessories from a preempted perspective. So I have created a spreadsheet and started to write what I want/need. I am pretty minimalist so I think a capsule of sorts would suit (I get that it's probably an overdone term). Now I'm looking for resources on where to buy for an hourglass figure (not petite, not plus size). I know what suits me; finding it as another matter.

Pupsie, I think you're struggling because you're trying to formulate a method without knowing what to work towards really, you're not so much overhauling clothes but your approach to clothes. By the sound of it you just want a closet of clothes that don't require much thought to put on as it can all work together and still allow you to look like an effort was made. The effort is made in the purchasing rather than on the morning itself. It means every piece has to be worth its salt and work with everything else, which at the start is a daunting task because it puts a lot of pressure on each single piece. It's a high stakes attitude that requires a lot of holding back and often results in 'safer' choices, which is fine if that's what you're after but it's a strategy which requires a lot of accountability checks all the time.

With finding where to shop you sort of have to know your region, I feel. I'm shorter and an hourglass so have always gravitated towards Southern Europe, German clothing always too big in all the wrong places whilst the Scandis sort of reside in between. UK brands are all over the place IME, think they're the most difficult to navigate. IIRC you're tall, would Me+Em and maybe Filippa K not be somewhere to look for you?

I have a sore boil type spot on my neck and one coming up on my cheek and chin 😏

Yes, it is the Mrs Gloss one. Nothing against the people there, they seem very supportive of others but the lack of knowledge about ingredients, skincare and how it works is quite scary!

They probably think I'm a nutter because I keep recommending korean toners 😬 but I hope I've helped a couple of ppl by posting about retinoids/retinols.

I guess many people can chuck whatever they like on their faces and have no reactions. The money spent on makeup is quite astounding to me but I've never had any available income - or the right skin - to indulge.

Thanks bo. I perhaps wasn't explaining myself very well. At the moment I do have a closet that doesn't require much thought. I think 14 years of pretty much being a SAHM, then a student, then working at a start up has led to a wardrobe of casual clothes, that are all very similar. It's easy from a decision fatigue perspective, but I'm often caught out re having nothing to wear. I own a few dresses and skirts (certainly under 5 of each, although I do have more summer dresses). I have 4 pairs of jeans, about 15 scoop or v-necked long sleeve tops in various colours, and about 10 long vest tops I wear underneath, again in various colours. I don't do knitwear so this is what I wear most of the time. In summer I tend to wear more dresses.

So what I am trying to do is be proactive in thinking "I could do with some ... smart grey trousers, a formal navy blue dress, a couple of fitted shirts, some knee length black boots, a casual fitted jacket, a couple of dressy tops". That sort of thing. To give me more variety, and less panic about needing to go somewhere different and not having anything much to wear. I also want to avoid buying more of the same sort of items, which is pretty much always an impulse buy situation. I am drawn to jewel colours so if I see a scoop top in a glorious green I'll buy it.

I don't really like shopping. I don't much like online shopping either; feels like a lot of work to me, ordering multiple items/sizes and then sending things back. The reason I largely don't like shopping is in recent years, as we've discussed on here, clothes either seem to be straight up and down or massive and shapeless; neither of these work for me. I know what works for me; finding it is another matter.

I have bought two pairs of black trousers from J Crew after extensive research. Quite expensive for me, but I like them a lot and I can see I'll get plenty of wear out of them.

Another issue I have is outfits generally have to be planned around footwear, which I struggle with as I have large feet. Having said all of this I am most comfortable in jeans and a trainer type shoe. I am definitely a casual/has to be comfy kind of a girl rather than a follower of fashion.

Right, back to skincare. So after 2 weeks of using my retinol I have a dry, red patch on the top of one cheekbone. I've used it twice aweek. I know this can be expected, but should I slow down or switch brands or stick with it? I've stripped everything else back; yesterday even the DE Elephant felt tingly so I took that off and have been using LRP Cicaplast which seems to be calming it down a bit.

Eek, mint!

I ran out of SPF this morning . Was one of those deceptively thick tubes, thought there was still quite a bit in it . I still have a bit of a Japanese one but probably not enough to wait out an order. mint, what's the exact name of the Avene one you're using, I may give that one a try.

Let me know how the J Crew works out for you, Pupsie. I've always found their fit (like most American brands) atrocious on me, have never really known them to be an hourglass brand (mostly petites favour it).

Is this need for other items coming more from the changes going on currently, getting into a new job after a long time as a SAHM and finding yourself caught out a bit? Some clothes very much belong to a certain period of our life and can suddenly feel off for that reason, so it's sort of reasserting yourself in times changed which is always confusing.

WRT retinol use, you may need a heavier duty moisturiser, although you can use the LRP cicaplast as such as you're doing now.

Bagel, you're just reveling in that newfangled K-Beauty awe, been there done that, got the 'chok-chok' t-shirt . Think most beauty forums know when to recognise that when they see it. I've heard TO sold out of its Retinols so I expect many horror stories to emerge soon.

I heard back from Skincity - they confirmed that they don't export BR to the UK. Not sure if this is a recent change though, as I purchased from them previously, as have several PPs on this thread. We probably need an alternative supplier who will actually ship to / within the UK.

Bo so it's a diagnosed syndrome, is it?! 😂😂😂
I am feeling very happy with my skin after years of only using Aveeno - as I just didn't dare put anything more "complicated" on.

Do you still use any KB products still?

Looking at Purito at the moment. Might get some samples 👍

Bo it's called avene solaire anti age anti ageing sun care 50+. It's in an orange box.

It's this

Omg my picture worked!!

Thank you, mint

Bagel, my flirtation with KB was very short due to fragrance (hidden often) and Asian herbal extracts being far too much of a wild card so I quickly moved onto Japanese beauty which is where all the cool kids hang out anyway when they're over KB. I've also lost a bit of interest since the bloggers I loosely watched all diversified into other things or have become a bit too commercial.

The AB Reddit also fell to shambles awhile ago due to the head mod butting heads with longstanding posters as it was becoming a bit teenage bedroom 'look at my selfies'/'look at my haul'/'look snails' and less science and serious discussion. With their exodus that only got worse. The only thing I really liked from KB was the Missha essence which I keep telling myself to buy but then forget about and some Blithe sheetmasks but they were impossible to source for the longest time ever.

Joz, there's some medi-spa in the UK that someone,Pupsie?, ordered by phone from. I could offer to send on from here but the shipping will probably be quite high.

Bagel, my flirtation with KB was very short due to fragrance (hidden often) and Asian herbal extracts being far too much of a wild card so I quickly moved onto Japanese beauty which is where all the cool kids hang out anyway when they're over KB. I've also lost a bit of interest since the bloggers I loosely watched all diversified into other things or have become a bit too commercial.

The AB Reddit also fell to shambles awhile ago due to the head mod butting heads with longstanding posters as it was becoming a bit teenage bedroom 'look at my selfies'/'look at my haul'/'look snails' and less science and serious discussion. With their exodus that only got worse. The only thing I really liked from KB was the Missha essence which I keep telling myself to buy but then forget about and some Blithe sheetmasks but they were impossible to source for the longest time ever.

Joz, there's some medi-spa in the UK that someone (Pupsie ?) ordered by phone from. I could offer to send on from here but the shipping will probably be quite high.

look snails

🐌 👀

Ah yes, I've been reading about some Japanese products this afternoon. Flying the flag already, as my Rosette Gel is from Japan.

I'd like to try a couple of their toners, but very difficult to source here and over the £15 limit for imports.