🐌 Fantastic Skincare: Shitting About All Day Discussing Co Dictionary

[botemp]

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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

JUNE 2019: Autocorrect is our main source of entertainment these days at least our snouts are looking good 🐽

I'll give it a try and see. Thanks

Blasted thing just constantly freezes up.

Thanks botemp. I felt younger just reading that document.

Ooh that blur app works for me - mine looks like this, I am a user of the cursed Apple though

Just lightly boiled myself in Olverum bath oil to help my cold. I LOVE the smell! Wish it was cheaper though but luckily you only need a tiny bit

Feeling younger is definitely more effective for looking younger HM. Not knowing where your prescription glasses are all the time also helps

Is there eucalyptus in it Queen? The Kneipp eucalyptus bath oil is brilliant for colds and generally feeling blah and a fair bit cheaper.

Yep and pine and lemon and a million other things it's addictive

The Kneipp also smells quite piney, it's quite invigorating.

Cloud, I keep forgetting to ask, can you let me know if Yesstyle marks down the value on your package when it arrives?

I bought this. I smell slightly weird (olives/herbal) but I am like a slippery baby dolphin. Salux cloths are my usual exfoliator but this is a definite repurchase

at slippery baby dolphin YesQueen 🐬 and you’ve just reminded me about the ameliorate exfoliating stuff I bought and haven’t really used, must dig that out now winter is coming.

My hourglass palette has arrived, it’s gorgeous ❤️ Though being completely honest it’s not much different from last year’s - but I use that every single day and have made a fair old dent in everything apart from the highlighter so I’m not just stockpiling for the sake of it. And I no longer use or buy any other face powders, bronzers, blushers or eyeshadows so I reckon one palette a year is not bad going, plus they’re really handy for travel.

Will do botemp. I’ve not had any further correspondence saying anything has been shipped or an estimated date yet

Just scrolled back and botemps post about reddit has reminded me to NC again. I got severely dragged over there and a sea of PMs telling me about it. Some of it was very "you really really don't know me in RL"

Hi, I've been reading all your fact sheets and im feeling like I've found my happy place.
I'm really after some help.
I'm 45 very nearly 46. In my 20s and 30s i had lovely skin, but i used expensive products,had monthly facials, zero stress etc.
For the last few years I've really let myself go.
I've now got wrinkles, spots, dry skin, congestion, enlarges pores, random hairs - all set for halloween!

i really want to sort myself out, because quite frankly its making me depressed and i think some self care will make me look and feel better.

Im currently using:-
Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel
Clinique Clarifying Lotion 1.0
Simple Eye Make-Up Remover
Neutrogena Hydro BoostWater Gel Moisturiser

Im about to run out of moisturiser and i think this is a bit weak for me. Only started using the Neutrogena stuff after C.Hirons spoke about them on This Morning...

I was using Clinique Take the Day Off Cleansing Balm in the evenings but ran out at the weekend.

Looking at the notes... I'm a bit lost, I think it says introduce one thing at a time...

Queen are they still following you around across the internet? That's really disturbing, can't believe they went and PMed you about it too

Karcheer, I'm assuming that's not the order you use those products in and are the first and fourth the same?

As for first things first, I always start with a daily SPF but that's probably getting a bit ahead of things. In terms of changes in your skin, could perimenopause be at play as it sounds like that rather than just general minimal care?

You've also got an odd combo of dry skin spots and congestion, they don't go together unless there's rosacea at play (do you have a lot of redness?) or you're mistaking dehydrated for dry skin (what's your skin like after washing, can you leave it for any amount of time?).

I need to get to bed soon so will keep it short, what are your main priorities and goals? Or what's bothering you most at the moment or do you just need to know what to buy while trying to makes sense of it all as the things that have just run out aren't cutting it? I'm reading between the lines there's less budget available then there used to be but you're using a variation of price points so would be helpful to know approx what you're able to spend.

I’ve meant to name change for a while and queen prompted me. You can probably guess- just changed letters round a bit

YesQueen I’m still rather shocked there’s a reddit set up purely to talk about MN posters, I mean apart from it being a nasty thing to do who could actually be bothered although given that you and Bo have made the list maybe it’s your influenster status

Karcheer I’m also thinking you might have dehydrated skin rather than dry? I’m oily/combo prone to spots and congestion but get dry flakey patches especially in winter. When did the ‘dryness’ start as could be weather/temperature related dehydration especially if you’ve just re-started turning on heating at home or in the car.

Waves to jedstre 👋 don’t think I’m going to NC, already have two on the go and have trouble keeping them straight, if I had another I’d never know who I was

Sallie, I would point out that as I said, I got off lightly. What they said about Queen was a whole other kettle of fish, and was really appalling. I was made of fun of and ridiculed at most, with Queen they actively wanted to take her down a peg and rifled through her SM, accused her of all sorts, slut shamed, and felt they were perfectly entitled to because she's linked to her SM once or twice and didn't uphold the standard MN anonymity as if that's mandatory or something I hadn't known they had PMed her about it to get her to actually see it, that makes it even worse and much more targeted than what I experienced.

Hello, thank you for the responses.

I use a Neutrogena gel cleanser and moisturiser they are two different products but both gels.

I think I have slight rosacea (if that’s possible) my cheeks and chin are red, but not really angry.

I’m not sure if it’s dehydrated or dry, I can forget to put on moisturiser and it’s ok? Not sore or anything, but it is flakey.

I moved about 7 years ago and my skin has never recovered, I don’t think it is peri menopausal but it could be - I do note other sysmptoms, tiredness, mood swings etc.

The dryness has been the same for a while including during the summer on holiday etc.

Regarding budget, I am flexible, I can’t afford £250 on moisturiser anymore or monthly facials in a salon, but I’m currently happy to spend up to about £40-50 per product (as long as it’s not a very tiny vial) but I don’t have to spend that much, I’m not going to buy something just because it’s made by a designer label but will if it’s the best, if you see what I mean..

I’m not sure about objectives really... clear skin, no wrinkles :)
I’d like to use eco products where possible as the plastic, dying planet stresses me...

Karcheer, if you can go around without any trouble after cleansing but are flakey it's almost certainly dehydration. Someone dry won't be able to go a few minutes without severe discomfort.

I asked about objectives more to suss out what your priorities are. For wrinkles and congestion the best route to go down is retinoids but they are drying so you'd have to deal with that on top of the dehydration, so I'd suggest tackling dehydration first with a different moisturiser and cleanser (or cleansers were you double cleansing with the Clinique tddo?), introduce a daily sunscreen and then move onto a retinoid. But in doing so you may not be really tackling wrinkles and congestion and potentially it could get worse until you get round to that, but we're probably talking 6 weeks if you get on well with the product, longer if you need something else. And if you do have rosacea caution needs to be had with a retinoid so there's pitfalls everywhere. Just give an indication which avenue sounds preferable and we'll discuss product and order of introduction.

With regards to keeping the planet happy, this is a really tough one. I think just pointing fingers at plastic doesn't help, glass has a pretty bad carbon footprint as well and is more susceptible to breakage therefore produces more waste, it doesn't have a great preservation system so you can only buy small amounts that need to be used up quick. When it comes to packaging for cosmetics IIRC aluminium with a collection programme is the best option. It's very expensive and most cosmetic companies aren't willing to commit to that, that's aside from the fact that it's pretty polluting to mine and process aluminium. So it's not as simple as pointing at products marketed as 'natural' or even 'eco' as that is a pretty meaningless and unregulated label that's aside from the fact that for both skin and environment it's often preferable to 'create' certain ingredients in a lab than obtaining it from natural resources.

Personally I prefer to do what I can and that means being quite minimal in my routine by using effective evidence based products. I stay consistent so can buy the larger packaging of the product, group orders as much as possible. In the UK you could probably try to aim for shopping primarily for skincare made in the UK, etc. It's not perfect but I feel aiming for a purist perfection will eventually just lead to fallacy.

I presumed the Reddit was mean girl type gossip but that sounds more like cyber stalking/cyber bullying, I’m so sorry that happened to you YesQueen

Karcheer I did think it sounded like dehydration, your skin sounds similar to how mine was before I got a routine sorted though I’ve never had rosacea. I was thinking an acid toner may help with congestion and spots (it did for me) but with suspected rosacea that’s probably not a good idea as it could make your redness sore and angry.

I've been using a beauty kitchen cleanser which seems to have a decent recycling programme. Bought it in the sale in a chemist but I actually really like it and would repurchase

Hi.
I sometimes double cleanse and I’m more than happy too, last night I found Avene tolerance extreme cleansing lotion at the back of my cupboard, so I used that after the Neutrogena gel cleanser.
Should I re-buy the Clinique take the day off balm?

I also have (which I only use on holiday) Clinique city block sheer 25spf and Clarins sun wrinkle control cream for face 30. Are these ok for spfs?

Can you recommend a moisturiser to try? I’d quite like to get something soon as I’m getting to the end of the Neutrogena one. Should I get different things for day and night or just keep it simple at this stage?

Thank you soon much for your advise.

@SallieSallow I think the Clinique toner is an acid isn’t it? I’ve been using that for years.

Yes the Clinique has some salycilic acid in it, that theoretically should help with congestion but tbh Clinique used to have a pretty good SA toner but since they're formulated I've not heard anything positive (or negative) about it where the old formula was very beloved. I think Sallie is considering acids to help with exfoliating to keep the dry patches in check. Potentially lactic acid will be a good addition for you, but start with moisturiser first and give it two weeks at least.

I'd be getting the Eucerin Urea 5% face cream. It does really well with dehydrated skin even though it's marketed as dry skin. Urea is also a lightly exfoliating ingredient so you may not need an AHA if this does the trick.

You don't necessarily need a different moisturiser for day and night. The day ones often have SPF in but it's a bit of a con as you would never use enough of it to get the advertised protection like you would with a standalone sunscreen.

SPF is the best age preventative thing you can do, hence why on here I'm rather preachy about it and advise to use it daily, regardless of weather. It's a commitment but pretty much all anti ageing ingredients will require a level of sun protection anyhow and skin cancer is on the rise. I do consider SPF as an essential in a skincare routine and generally SPF 50 is preferred as user error means were often using less than necessary to get the protection advertised. So the lower spfs you have now are fine so long as you're not using any retinoid, Vit C or AHAs but once you start introducing those I'd suggest moving up to SPF 50.

Double cleansing is only really useful if you do an oil based cleansed (like ttdo but other alternatives available) then followed by a water (usually a gentle cream) based cleanser. Two goes with a water based cleanser is probably a bit depleting of the natural moisture in your skin, further dehydrating it.