🐌 Fantastic Skincare: Vanities Are The New Shelf Porn

[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?

So You Want To Buy A Retinoid - A Guide

MAY 2020: We're in lockdown and it's doing weird things to our faces

Hello everyone
Iv followed a routine recommended On here for probably a number of years now.
And I am very happy.
The sunscreen factor 50 I use is the frezyderm.
The problem is my body is getting very brown with all this sun and obviously the frezyderm is working as my face is lily white.
I saw on another thread a clarins false tan for the face which is for sensitive skin.
When looking for it I found a la Roche posay anthelious false tan for the face.
What does everyone use?

Hi, Connie, I can't pinpoint back to when exactly we had this conversation but I think somewhere mid to end of the last thread fake tan for face is discussed. I don't recommend fake tanning the face as it's not particularly great for skin health/can cause premature ageing. I use a liquid matte bronzer instead to give a bit of summer colour. I don't tan the body and wear SPF there too but I will fake tan occasionally and it matches up well.

Oh right must have missed that bit
Thanks botemp
Iv followed all your recommendations and my skin is looking lovely thank you.
Maybe I need a better bronzer, it’s a Clinique one That I use and I have had it a long time.

No worries, I find powder bronzer gets a bit clogged up iykwim, the powder sort of compacts down over time probably with a helping hand from whatever other products are on your face and you get less on your brush as it's not picking up as much. That's my theory anyhow as bronzers seem to last forever.

And glad to hear your skin is looking lovely, always nice to hear

Bo Think the industry standard is 30ml, so No7 at £25.00 is probably lower end of the market than say, LRP which is around £38.00 for the same. It's an entry level product at .3%, so not high strength.

My limited understanding of retinol/retinoids, is that it takes about 6 -8 weeks for any improvement to manifest itself, so for someone like me, who is relatively new to them, would not want to increase strength at the moment, especially with the warmer weather and wanting to go outside (obviously with sunscreen, hat etc). So, will try the No 7, as an affordable alternative. Wonder if it will burn my face like The Ordinary.

LRP is weirdly pricey too, I don't think it always was. Definitely cheaper in Europe. But comparatively Medik8, Skinceuticals and Neostrata at the entry level 0.3 range are anything from £45-80 depending on where you buy it from so the gap is not massive.

I think the indeed labs retinol reface is a good buy as an entry level retinoid, low irritation, different makeup of retinoids but in terms of efficacy at the .3% point approximately. Think it's usually around £15. If you get the no 7 I'll look forward to hearing if it's any good, no fragrance so that's always a good sign.

Cleansed and hair washed. I am SO tired thanks to my thyroid and a doctor that insists a TSH of over 7 isn't high and antibodies showing my thyroid is being killed off is absolutely fine
< snores in corner >

Client and some

Old lurker here just after name-changing - has anyone else noticed shipping costs have gone crazy from Korea? I usually get my sunscreen from there, but not if I'm going to pay $20 just for shipping.

Can anyone recommend something that is easier to get and reasonably priced?

I'm not sensitive to anything in particular, but Frezyderm made my eyes sting. I love the primer effect of Asian sunscreen but am willing to compromise. I ordered from eBay that will get here by the end of August so need a stop gap measure before then!

Hi all. I was wondering if I could pick your expert brains for a bit of advice re glycolic acid please...

I started a new skincare routine about 3 weeks ago after doing some research and I have been using 5% glycolic acid at night every other day. I do have sensitive skin, particularly on the left side of my face do some reason. At the moment my skin has started flaking off in little patches all over and also has some little red patches on my left cheek. I've had this in the past quite regularly although I've never been able to figure out exactly what causes it. It's definitely worse in the last week and so I'm assuming it's the acid flaring it up now. It's this usual when you start using an acid? How long until I should expect to just see nice smooth skin? And any ideas how to settle it down? On the nights I'm not using glycolic acid I am using hyaluronic acid follows by oil and moisturiser. And of course I'm using factor 50 spf every day. At the moment I'm not wearing makeup because I'm not going out, but when I have these patches and I need to wear makeup I have no choice but to scrub them off or the makeup gets clogged in them and looks terrible. I know that's terrible for my skin though and probably causes more problems. I can't seem to win! Thanks in advance for any help.

The high shipping prices are down to Covid19 as normal mail was suspended and you could only get the expedited options like DHL. I think yesstyle is charging normal prices again, free shipping over a certain amount and they ship through an European warehouse to avoid import taxes and VAT. There's loads of Korean skincare shops (online) in the UK now too. Timeless UK has some, there's a few others. I think Beauty and Seoul is one of the larger ones.

Iwould, glycolic acid is pretty aggressive. Potentially it's eczema, I can't know for sure. Leave it alone, don't pick at it, stop using glycolic and slather it with some La Roche Posay Cicaplast until it heals. Consider a gentler AHA in the future.

A couple of SPF brands from Sali Hughes' Guardian column last week.

www.theguardian.com/fashion/2020/may/23/play-it-safe-with-the-best-new-british-sunscreens

Thanks @botemp - I'll do that. What would be a gentler AHA? Just a lower % glycolic or something else entirely? I'm new to this so a bit clueless sorry!

Something else. 5% glycolic is considered to be low-ish already. Alternatives really depend on the results you were originally hoping to achieve with glycolic. What did you want to use it for?

My skin tone is uneven so was hoping to deal with that a bit, I am 38 so anti-aging effects too, and general exfoliation because my skin has always been quite flaky / prone to peeling even when there's no redness or inflammation. I used to scrub it daily with exfoliation gloves (I know 🙈 - I know better now). That kept it mostly smooth enough so makeup didn't look to cloggy. I'm not sure what to do now if I can't physically scrub it off. I'm trying to deal with it whilst I'm furloughed because I'm not wearing makeup, and so I can put cream on it and leave it be (I ordered the cream you recommended) but once I have to go back to the office it will be makeup every day so I will need to get rid of it somehow

Uneven as in redness? I'm still concerned something atopic is going on like eczema, so I'd suggest using a urea cream instead of AHAs. You don't have to wait to use that, it gently exfoliates and delivers hydration. The Eucerin 5% urea repair cream is very good, it says it's for dry skin but most skin types get on with it.

In the future you could consider lactic acid if the urea doesn't do the job (but I suspect it will manage it well). Try the lower range of 5% first. I think Garden of Wisdom at Victoria health has a 5%, unfortunately there's a lot of regulation around lactic (even though it's very gentle) so there's not a lot of products with it.

Acids don't really do much in terms of anti ageing, but sunscreen is very important for that. Considering how fragile your skin seems to be with the flaking I'd strongly urge you to get on the daily standalone sunscreen train as this will help with uneven skin tone too.

@Iwouldbecomplex

My skin tone is uneven so was hoping to deal with that a bit, I am 38 so anti-aging effects too, and general exfoliation because my skin has always been quite flaky / prone to peeling even when there's no redness or inflammation. I used to scrub it daily with exfoliation gloves (I know 🙈 - I know better now). That kept it mostly smooth enough so makeup didn't look to cloggy. I'm not sure what to do now if I can't physically scrub it off. I'm trying to deal with it whilst I'm furloughed because I'm not wearing makeup, and so I can put cream on it and leave it be (I ordered the cream you recommended) but once I have to go back to the office it will be makeup every day so I will need to get rid of it somehow

If you're over-exfoliating though your skin will be irritated (damaged barrier) and this could be causing all the flakiness. It would have been interesting if you'd stopped exfoliation altogether during furlough and only used very gentle products to build your skin barrier and see what happened. I'd suggest that approach.

When I over-exfoliate or stress my skin I get flaky bits around my nose and between the eyebrows for example.

That's true Bani, I assumed she started exfoliating an already flaky skin (due to something atopic though potentially it could be down to harsh cleansers/hard water) and then got stuck in a vicious cycle of exfoliating to fix the exfoliating. The glycolic put it in overdrive. Regardless, in either scenario, quitting exfoliating and relying on gentle products (like the urea cream) is a sensible approach.

What do you do in terms of cleansing I would?

About Altruist - While I love the altruistic nature of the founder and love his philosophy of making SPF readily available for all, the actual product tends to go on white, and my experience is that it doesn't blend well with make up.

Please don't judge me, but it's brilliant for children who don't care about the sheen and need to apply frequently.

Thank you for link Pupsie as I'm on the look out for a sunscreen that doesn't destroy marine life

I use Altruist on my neck and whatever else is exposed under a shirt and hands. I really dislike it on my face.

All sunscreens destroy Marine life/coral reefs, the physical ones are probably the worst because they're physical blockers and difficult to remove. The information that's being spread about it is really selective.

Bo of course you're right, and embarrassed that I got the Aesthic. based on this article a couple of years ago....

this

It's interesting that the article admits that they receive a commission, but that it didn't affect their view.

Oh, and they went to Majorca to, 'test,' the sunscreens .

These are the ingredients of the Missha total ceramide cream with PHA I love, not sure if any good for irritated skin but it's mega soothing on mine

Water, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Butylene Glycol, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Olivate, Pentylene Glycol, Glyceryl Stearate, Sorbitan Olivate, Vinyl Dimethicone, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Hydrogenated Poly(C6-14 Olefin), Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Carbomer,, Caprylyl Glycol, Tromethamine, Sodium Polyacryloyldimethyl Taurate, Ceramide NP, Phytosteryl/octyldodecyl, Lauroyl Glutamate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Lecithin, Disodium EDTA, Trideceth-10, Limnanthes, Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Sodium Lauroyl Lactylate, Phytosphingosine, Cholesterol, Xanthan Gum, 1,2-Hexanediol, Maltobionic Acid, Ceramide EOP

Hi All, I've been dipping in and out of these threads ( though not commenting!) for a while and they are really great and helped me establish a routine which worked for me based around Boots no7 which I know most of you don't rate but worked for me with cleansing using La Roche Posay and some regular Pixi glow tonic to keep scaly skin away. I'm a fairly typical combination with dryness across the cheeks and greasy around forehead and chin.

I am hoping I could get some help as my circumstances have changed so I need to make some changes. I am currently pregnant so have stopped pretty much everything except the cleansing because of parabens etc... I've also moved countries to France so some of the brands I was used to aren't available here. As a result my skin has gone to pot. I have dry peeling skin on my cheeks and around my nose as well as spots! I am starting to get fine lines around my eyes which were never there before.

Would you have any suggestions for some pregnancy friendly skincare I could use preferably with French brands?

Thank you very much for your help!!