🐌 Fantastic Skincare: We're So Drunk We're Seeing Elephants 🐘

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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.

I am very slowly working on consolidating the gathered information from previous threads into easier to read formats but it’s slow going. 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

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?

NEW SERIES:

So You Want To Buy A Retinoid - A Guide

WRT to The Ordinary/Deciem:

Most of us had long since stopped using it, partially due to the inconsistency of formulations and the worrying behaviour of the CEO on Social Media.

For more info on the latter, overview here

A good overview of alternatives is here

Since that compilation, other brands like the Inkey, Revolution Skincare, QRXLabs, and Alex Steinherr x Primark have launched with similar products/concepts.

From the limited experience on here, the Vitamin C 23% and Azelaic Acid from Garden of Wisdom (at Victoria’s Health) is well liked and much preferred over TO versions.

OCTOBER 2018: In other news, we’re two years old this month! We’re so old- Drunk Elephant is finally available in the UK, but all this celebration is probably overshadowed by the fear that our beloved LRP Toleriane Fluide may have been discontinued

Sally, think we can include hair and body products of note in the snailies too.

BHA and retinoids work quite well together. I'd probably use BHA in the AM, potentially as a cleanser.

Laury read the ingredient list, A313 contains 0.0% Retinol. It contains 3 esthers of Retinol (derivatives of a derivative) which means more conversion steps and loss of active ingredient every step of the way. It's apples and pears territory.

Sallie I'm using the P&M too. I'm about to finish my first bottle and have a new one waiting in the wings. I feel the same as you about it and also use it before the Cerave. I use the PC anti-aging acid but do so in the morning. So I use P&M every other night, and acid every other morning. And I pay no attention to how close together these are.

You could try the acid, and then buffer the P&M with a moisturer for a few applications? I did this last night because I'd used a sample of a Fresh mask. So I mixed one pump of P&M with some Bioderma Hydrabio. They mixed really well and were super moisturising.

I am tempted to try sth stronger than the P&M next time. I'll have been using for over a year. I wonder about the Neostriata but would want to get hold of a sample.

Oh I don’t know why I didn’t think of using the BHA in the morning, that seems to be the best option but would I be able to use Vit c after it? Currently using medik8 but the ‘mild’ one so again nothing too potent and haven’t had any irritation from it up to now.

I find the P&M quite moisturising on it’s own but I could try buffering too. I agree Pupsie it’s very mild & gentle compared to others but that suits me at the moment as the stronger ones make me too peely and flakey in winter. I was thinking of P&M for winter, then going back to tret for spring (maybe summer depending on how much sun we get) and autumn.

I use the acid then DE Vit C straight after.

I've been through the mill a bit recently. Now on HRT. And thyroxine. Did anyone see Dr. Sam saying that 30% of your collagen disappears in 5 years at menopause. I've stopped following her. I found her to be getting too "commercial" and there's sth a bit irritating about it all.

Thanks Pupsie I’ll give that a go.

Sorry to hear you’ve been through the mill hope the HRT and thyroxine help.

I’m in peri menopause but apart from very light and irregular periods I’ve had no other symptoms up to now but there’s a long way to go yet though.

And that’s very depressing about collagen, if my jowls get any saggier I’m going to look like a very miserable bulldog chewing a wasp. Think I might have to investigate some cosmetic procedures.

Not unfollowed but I think I watch 1 in 10 videos now, possibly less if you count all the Dr. Sam product videos. They used to be of interest, even if it was familiar information there usually was something new or extra in there. The current content seems to be standard YT content like what's in my bag, routines which are just an ad for her product line, fair enough if there was other interesting tidbits in them but they just feel like a poor vehicle of advertisement. A lot is mislabeled (purposefully or not) for example the night time routine with tretinoin did not actually feature tretinoin I miss the educational aspects and am sorry, but I really couldn't care less about Dr. Sam as a person/personality.

Sorry to hear you've been through the health wringer Pupsie, hope you're doing better now that you're on top of it. Menopause is pretty brutal on collagen, hormones in general are. Speaking of collagen stimulation I have been wondering about the Nuface device again, I can't find a wrong word said about it (and it's been around in the US for forever) but I suspect I'd be a bit early with it so would hardly see any results and I'm probably just bored as my routine has been pretty much the same for so long. But still...

BHA should be fine with Vit C, Sallie, especially a derivative.

Bo I have a nuface - I bought it maybe 2 years or so ago, used for a few weeks (not long enough to see any results) got out of the habit when I was busy/travelling and completely forgot about it until I saw it mentioned recently on another thread on here. I’ve dug it out but haven’t actually used it again yet, it’s going to be a New Years resolution to start using it regularly and at least give it a chance to see if it does anything.

I seem to be breaking out a lot at the moment and have my spotty red rash on my neck! I'm only 15 days so not due on, although could be ovulating I guess but it's early for me! I was also considering trying the Paula's choice bha again too. Some days I think my skin looks so much better and feel content with my routine but other days my skin looks and feels rubbish

Will me waiting with baited breath help your resolution Sallie? If so, consider the pressure on

Thanks guys. Re the Thyroxine, very borderline low thyroid was first picked up 17 years ago when I was pg with DS1. I resisted Thyroxine then as I wanted to give my body a chance to settle. It never really did improve in terms of thyroid bloods but I don't think I was particularly symptomatic (which is a huge consideration in prescribing Thyroxine if bloods are within normal range (and there is much debate around what "normal" is). But this year especially DH has been commenting on how much hair I'm losing in the shower (I have a lot of hair so it doesn't show). Also I've been feeling really rather low and lacking in energy (obviously also a menopause symtpom). I thought it was overtraining from that crazy morning class I did in the summer. I also tweaked my shoulder there and it never got better but got worse and was painful 24x7 with nerve pain to the elbow and then the other side started hurting, badly affecting my sleep. Went to physio. One of her opening questions was "how's your thyroid?". Turns out there's a link. Anyway, been on Thyroxine for a month and it's been like a miracle cure re the shoulders. Barely any pain at all!! Re the HRT I had a partial hysterectomy 10 years ago after 20 years with endometriosis. I've always been ruled by my bloody hormones! Anyway, have done days and days of research, seen a private clinic about bio-identical hormones, turns out they're unregulated (made by a compounding pharmacy for each patient so no batch testing etc.), found a lovely local private GP recommended by the Menopause Society and am taking BODY-identical HRT (available on the NHS). Turns out "bio-identical" is largely a marketing term used by these private clinics. Oestrogen HRT used to be made from horse pee: now it's made from plants in a lab and is body identical. I tell you though, it's an absolute minefield and unscrupulous private clinics (not all) don't make things any easier at a time when you're feeling vulnerable and desperate.

Is thyroxine the same as levothyroxine? I'm on the latter and have been for years aswell as my meds for fibromyalgia:-(

Pupsie I’ll have to admit I don’t have much energy either, I’ve never been very energetic though especially in winter so not sure if that’s linked to menopause or just general getting older and tireder. I’ve also put a lot of weight on over the last 2-3 years that I’m finding it very hard to lose. I have private health care with work so should probably look into getting some sort of wellness testing just in case there is anything else going on. (Another New Years resolution )

Bo I will let you know once I start on the nuface, will probably be w/c 7th jan as I’ve got friends visiting and loads of social stuff on (entertaining the troops!) this coming week.

It is Mint.

Happy new year lovely snails! 🥳💗 I hope it's a good one for us all.

"Happy new year!" everybody, I wish you all a good new year and much health. 🎉🎊🎆🎇

Happy New Year! Thanks for all the advice and discussion of 2018 and here's to more snails, elephants and fantastic faces in 2019 😁

Happy new year to you all xx

Ollivander - quick question - where do / did you get your info & advice about switching to the CG method for your hair, please? Asking for a friend (I've been telling her for nearly 2 years to go for it & I think she's finally realised that straightening her hair every day is Not A Good Thing).

I used the curly girl conditioner method Facebook group

Has anyone used Dr Dennis Grossman's acid peel pads? I bought a pack of 5 to try. I have used 2, 3 days apart. I think I like them. They definitely feel stronger than both the Clarins and the PC one. As yet no adverse effect, beyond that they feel stronger at time of use. Not in a bad way. I just wondered how everyone's acids make their skin feel at the time? They're not cheap and I am trying to decide if it's worth the difference,

Pupsie I never tried them because they have a huge amount of alcohol denat (if you're talking about the ones I'm thinking of, the 2 step ones sold in jars or sachets). Maybe that's why they feel stronger/different? I doubt the skin likes that alcohol (inflammation/irritation does not always show). Ideally exfoliants should be formulated with anti-inflammatory ingredients to balance out the effect of the acids.

Happy New Year 🥳 everyone, 2018 was kinder to me than previous years and here's hoping 2019 will be even better for all of us snails.

And on the plus side my skin looked amazing in photos from the NYE party I went to. I was flabbergasted at how perfectly smooth it looked.

So thanking you all for the skin journey we are on although I'm a bit at my imminent loss of collagen.

Thank you baby. I'm also not happy about the environmental impact.

I love the Dr Dennis Gross cleansing gel but haven't tried the pads.

So I bought these today in Primark where they had a stand full of the whole Alex Steinherr collection.

On reflection I should have taken a photo of the stand but it was a metre away from a clothes stand so impossible to photo tbh. Badly placed imho.
I tested everything out and decided upon these items which I really like the look of.
I will keep you posted once I get round to using them.