🐌 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

@cinammonbuns - Are you comfortable saying what they prescribed for you? Am intrigued with their system of only prescribing one product and using your normal cleanser and moisturiser.

While on one hand, I love love simplicity, on the other hand, think there are several aspects in addressing a specific issue such as Vit C in addition to retinoid, BHA/AHA.

I've also ordered skin and me... I have a dermatica to use up so will see what is suggested by them

I was prescribed 0.04％ tret, 4% niacinamide and 4% azelaic acid. They have a lot of different concentrations of tret available, I’ve seen as low as 0.006%.

With dermatica I was on 0.05% but I was peeling a lot and I told skinandme this (they contacted me twice for extra info) so they said they’ll keep me on 0.04 for a few months then move it up to 0.06.

I agree about not thinking it’s a fix all. For me no matter how much tret I use I will get texture if I don’t use AHA’s. And unlike dermatica skinandme actually say that after the first few weeks of using the treatment you can go back to using aha’s and bha’s slowly alongside the treatment.

For some people this may be too much but for me I do need some chemical exfoliation even with tret.

Whether or not I enjoy skinandme I think it’s interesting that dermatica now have competition.
Maybe it will lead them to personalise their service a bit more to compete as it seems so far that skinandme have them beat in that.

I’ve had my prescription from Skin+me, unless this is a typo they’ve prescribed me 0.006% tret, 4% niacinamide, 4% azelaic.

I’m not too happy with the 0.006 tret given I’ve been using 0.05 for a couple of years so unless they up that next month I’ll stick with dermatica. Niacinamide and azelaic can be bought anywhere for quite a reasonable price & I don’t think it’s really worth paying £20 a month for such a low dose of tret.

Would it be worth contacting them, asking if it's a typo, 0.06% would make sense with your history but 0.006 is practically nothing.

I’ll try & reach them Bo as agree it’s practically nothing. It was free so I’m not too bothered on this occasion but don’t want to be paying £20 for it!

@SallieSallow yes I’m the questionnaire there is a question where it asks you what treatments you are currently using. If you say you use retinoids then they send a follow up message asking the percentage tret you used.

Then they would have prescribed you 0.05%. I think you need to contact them as they assumed you have never used tret before.

*in

Thank you Cinnamon I can’t remember what I said on the questionnaire to be honest but I’ve sent them an email now querying the 0.006% and letting them know I’ve used tret in the past at 0.05%.

Thanks for the tip @cinammonbuns I'm off to order from skinandme. I'm on my second month of tret with dermatica but I'll be interested to see what skinandme suggest.

Despite Sallie's initial disappointment I do find it reassuring that Skin + Me start people off with a really low dosage that you could theoretically use daily from the start without adverse effects. I was rather startled (and it seems like a new thing because I know from people who started with Dermatica much earlier the process was far slower) that they automatically move you up to 0.05% after one month. Makes more business sense for Skin + Me as well but I do prefer the more cautious approach.

I’m well into my 3rd week of tretinoin from Dermatica. Still waiting for the purge/peeling to happen. How soon after starting have people experienced this? Or is more likely to happen when I start on the 0.05%?

Heart, not everyone gets peeling. If you have generally tolerant skin it's more likely to happen with a higher percentage. IME the moment you think you're safe and have come out unscathed it hits 😑

I’ve not heard back from Skin+me but it’s already arrived and yes it is 0.006%

I’ll see what they say before making any decisions, I did want to use both them and dermatica for a further paid month (feel a bit cheeky otherwise) then cancel one but I’m really not keen to pay for such a low dose so will see what their response is.

The other thing that concerned me is the vial thingy has a use by date of 17th July stamped on it, but I’m presuming (hoping!) that’s just because it’s a month’s worth of doses rather than because it’s going to turn bad or lose effectiveness.

Sallie Is there a possibility that Skin + Me dermatologists were of the view that your specific concerns didn't need such a high dose of Tret? Maybe just a difference of opinion?

@SallieSallow

For both dermatica and skinandme they have very fast expiry dates. For dermatica it’s better at about 3 months. However I think it’s marketing tactics. Skinandme lists that they use preservatives in their formula so unless they are using some pretty terrible preservatives the products should be fine for way more than a month.

They just put it there to ensure you pay for the next one in a months time I think.

@SallieSallow ah that’s annoying. I’m pretty sure 0.006 is their lowest dose and is what they give to those who have never used tret before so they must have assumed that you haven’t used it before. Hopefully the next prescription will have a much higher percentage so you can actually compare it to dermatica.

Overall I am enjoying the skinandme cream and the click up tube makes me feel very sophisticated. However obviously way to soon to see results but I have noticed no peeking around my mouth which i always get with the dermatica 0.05% tret.

I’m wondering if it’s because the skinandme prescription has slightly less tret (0.04) or whether the azelaic acid and niacinamide are reducing the irritation as I heard that is what they do. Or if it’s because the skinandme formula is more moisturising.

MrObama that’s quite possible but I’ll see what they say, I feel it’s more likely I’ve messed something up on the questionnaire, I’m sure I did say I’ve used retinols before but might have mis-clicked as they’re all drop downs IIRC.

Cinnamon yes agree it’s probably marketing tactics, I might ask them to clarify when they reply to my original email.

@botemp I will stay on high alert for a bit longer then!

Heard from Skin+me, seems like I did bugger up my questionnaire they’re resending it so I can fill it in properly & hopefully get a higher dose next month

I had a second follow up email from Skin+Me asking me to log back in for more feedback. Their message is below. Have to say I am very impressed with this approach. The sides of my mouth are still cracked from going up to the 0.05 and that's with applying lip moisturiser first (must not have got the corners). I didn't have this problem with the 0.025. I continue to be impressed by them!

Thank you for getting back to me and for your email.
I can prescribe you a mix with azelaic acid and niacinamide, each at 4%. However, I would like to start you on 0.04% tretinoin, for at least the first 3 months, before increasing to 0.06%, if you are able to tolerate this. The reason for starting at 0.04% is because we are introducing azelaic acid and for some people this can be irritating, so we start carefully. It's very common to experience something called 'purging' when you start to use tretinoin as it increases your cells turnover and causes a breakout to happen in the first few weeks, this is a good sign as it means the medication is working to unblock the pores.

How do you feel about me prescribing 0.04% tretinoin and 4% azelaic acid, 4% niacinamide?

I would also like you to try applying the dose each night, if there are any problems with this then please let me know and we can find a way on minimising any irritation.

They are good Pupsie I’m still having trouble with the questionnaire though, can’t find the field about previous use of ret/tret on the new questionnaire they sent not sure if I’m being incredibly stupid or the fields/boxes aren’t showing up for some reason. I’ve let them know & suggested I just tell them over email

@Pupsiecola they gave me the exact same treatment, and the 0.05% from dermatica was giving me peeling around the mouth every morning. I felt like a lizard.

@SallieSallow

I do not remember the questionnaire at all unfortunately. And I did try to access it again on my account to check what I put but they wouldn’t let me as I already have a prescription. Hopefully they can email you back soon to advise.

@Pupsiecola they gave me the exact same treatment, and the 0.05% from dermatica was giving me peeling around the mouth every morning. I felt like a lizard.

@SallieSallow

I do not remember the questionnaire at all unfortunately. And I did try to access it again on my account to check what I put but they wouldn’t let me as I already have a prescription. Hopefully they can email you back soon to advise.