🐌 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

CGM CHAT

I suspect your hair is far curlier than you think Pupsie. I prefer longer length too, wavy hair looks a bit odd short IME. I'd just try a curl cream and/or leave in conditioner to see, Client will know better than me what to try.

Client I had looked at that a couple of weeks/months ago but it wasn't easy to get hold of. Can you get it in the UK? I see I can get it from Amazon US and they're delivering globally again but worker conditions are really bad in the US Amazon warehouses ATM so will hold off for a bit.

No, can only find it on eBay for extortionate prices!
A friend recommended Sgx NYC curl power cream but my hair prefers gel, could be a good option if hair likes curl cream

CGM CHAT

It's €31 something including shipping with Amazon so not too bad. I checked Amazon Canada (as it's Canadian) where it's a bit cheaper but they don't ship internationally Do you think the type of protein matters? The Ouai has rice proteins and a few others and I've noticed my hair really likes rice protein in other products too. Today's results attached, now if just the frizz on top of my head would go elsewhere I'd be thrilled.

Is there some sort of equivalent of curlsbot that identifies proteins, I know they're usually have protein in the name but it's still easier if some AI scans those INCIs instead of me and if I could search products with preferred proteins that would be good too. I do remember using Peter Thomas Roth amino acid shampoo and loving it at first and then hating what it did to my hair which I can now identify as protein overload, so I am going to be cautious. Really want the AG now though 😬

Hmm that sgx curl cream looks a bit meager all the interesting stuff is after fragrance so less than 1%. I remain, as ever, a bit oblivious to what polyquats do, that seems to have a lot of them, as does Devacurl Wavemaker and I've had the thought that my hair must like polyquats too for whatever reason.

bo it was surprisingly cheap here which I why I went for it. Should've binned it as soon as I smelt the awful fragrance but gave it ago. My poor skin is so raw I had to put on SPF despite the stinging as the dogs needed walking, even rinsing with cool water and dermo cleanse this evening has irritated me.
pupsie the cutting usually does nothing for my frizz it's the plaiting that helps with that. But as bo says a leave in conditioner also helps, I also only wash twice a week which has helped massively, took a while to work my way down from daily washes but so much less frizz now.

@botemp You have bloody lovely hair!!

Have tried Ouai wave spray, but not the shampoo or conditioner. It was good, but didn't have the wow factor.

I know some proteins are big and some smaller and some hair prefers one or the other..
amino acids and hydrolysed silk are the smallest, rice is in the middle around oat and wheat protein and quinoa is the biggest
that's about the extent of my knowledge there! The Broo conditioners (again not easy to get hold of here) are protein heavy with barley , and I use XHC sometimes from the pound shop which has silk protein in

Out I am incabale of plaiting!! Never done it. Maybe I could train DH or DSs.

I can't not wash my hair every day or two. Firstly because of exercise, secondly because I rock in my sleep and I wake up looking like the proverbial through a hedge backwards, and thirdly buy day 3 my scalp feels itchy and I just feel so mank!

Bo the BR cleanser came today and I used it tonight. So far so good.

Has anyone ordered this, any good? I don't know much about Ren

https://www.lookfantastic.com/beauty-box/lookfantastic-x-ren-clean-skincare-limited-edition-beauty-box-worth-over-115/12526135.html?utmsource=18052020-mon-ren-box-skin-uk&utmmmedium=email&utmcampaign=18052020-mon-ren-box-skin-uk&affil=thgemail&ecrmcid=eExk8K0OqNbo3e4A2Ngv21Bnz7XZAd95&shae=KsISjaeyNCeHbR2pK2%2B4rAtfmtpx%2FPiv3G5pW1QxvUA%3D&partnerref=EmaillExclusive1&widgett_id=1824494&sendTime=1589824800

@agteacht I have the Caroline Hirons Spring kit, and it has the REN ever calm day cream in. I hate it It’s so “perfumy” The smell is so strong. I just don’t know how putting it on your face can be good for it, long term?
I’m new to decoding ingredients, so can’t be sure, but I think it contains shea butter which can clog pores? @botemp Would have a much better idea than me about that, but i’m scared to use it! Anything too heavy and I get milia on my cheeks. I’m thinking I potentially need to avoid it (And should use it as a body lotion?) But I don’t recommend it. No idea about their other products.

@VillageFete just based on that - it's a no! Keep buying stuff anyway. This lockdown is not good for my bank balance these last few weeks!

@agteacht Please don’t let a novice like me put you off, but I just wanted to let you know that the day cream in the kit is heavily perfumed. I was under the impression “clean” brands would be fragrance/paraben/phthalate free. I know it certainly doesn’t smell fragrance free! It’s so strong, and I just worry it’ll block my pores. Worth doing a little research before you splurge.

I hear you on that. I’m buying things out of sheer boredom and acting as though I can afford to do so!!

@VillageFete I really don't need it so I'm glad you've put me off 😆

I know... I'm in stat mat pay at the minute so I really shouldn't be spending like this. Even bought new patio furniture today. That said, if we weren't in lockdown I'd probably be spending on random stuff so it's swings and roundabouts!!

Thank you Fete 😊 it's not usually this well behaved but it seems to be getting there. It's been a long journey from hair loss and not being able to part it in the middle because of that with lots of hair breakage to now, so I can't ever be too mad at it. It's a bit of a money pit though. Think I spend more money on hair than skincare

Agte wrt REN, yes it's very highly fragranced. I remember having a sample of the evercalm cleanser and moisturiser and it made me gag upon opening, it was so bad. I don't know why they market that to sensitive skin, it's so potentially irritating, I think I persisted to patch test it just in case it was some miracle soother that I'd have to hold my nose for (at the time I was convinced it was only artificial fragrance that bothered me) but I'm pretty sure it broke me out. The glycolactic mask is a decent pick me up mask, had it as a deluxe sample once, but I wouldn't go out and buy it, the tiny occasional tube was the right amount tbh. Think they do a silicone free primer that's good (and I think not fragranced) but all together it's not a brand to get excited about, it was at some point, I think, but then it got bought by Unilever and it's been a bit stagnant ever since.

Shea butter is non comodogenic but the comodogenic scale is pretty flawed (but it's the best thing we have, but if you love your cuddly animals best not Google how comodogenic testing was done). In theory Shea butter shouldn't clog pores but a lot of people do experience it. My general rule is great for dry skin, usually ok for normal/combo if it's not too high up (roughly the upper third) in the INCI, oily skin probably best avoided unless you've tried and found no issue with it. It's a natural product so processing and origin also seems to make a difference on how it's tolerated. If millia are an issue, SB probably is, indeed, not one you want to use.

"Clean" is definitely a poor descriptor, most of the 'nasties' (hate that word) they list aren't even allowed by the EU so they're really not doing anything special except add some irritating fragrance and essential oils and demonising lab made ingredients which are a lot better tolerated and consistent with longer shelf lives.

CGM CHAT, that's interesting client. I used to use the Kiehl's silk groom creme when I was a teenager. It was like some secret holy grail at the time that had to be imported or bought by my dad when away on business. They changed the formulation of the proteins at some point iirc and I now see they went from smaller to larger proteins and it wasn't as good for me after that. So I probably like small and medium sized protein, I was mostly looking at Innersense because it has rice protein. I'm going to dive into it more, but do you know if smaller/medium proteins are a more expensive ingredient as they seem more of a staple of the pricier brands?

Out, interesting about plaiting. I'm also a big fan for the night time because the whole pineapple on your head just makes me wake up with a headache and I don't think a silk bonnet will actually stay on my head. Also, I'm not sure I want to look like little red riding hood's nana either 🙈

Pupsie hair washing is just something to adjust to and it goes easier if it's gentle surfactants and silicone free products. I do some form of exercise every day ATM and only washing my hair once or twice a week. You can spray some dry shampoo (don't rub it out) in roots before vigorous exercise to help in the adjustment period, just wouldn't do it as a long term thing daily.

Hello everyone! Long-time lurker here: you’ve all done fabulous things to my skin so thank you.

Lockdown has brought me out into the open- it’s a mineral SPF question: I love Murad city skin spf 50 but it’s out of stock everywhere. I’ve perused the old threads- is neostrata or heliocare most similar? Or another? In theory I don’t mind going non nano for environmental reasons but I’ve never found one that’s nice enough...

I can’t use anything with chemical sunscreen in it- it sends my skin crazy. I really wanted to be able to use frezyderm because it’s so light and tried multiple times but end up a spotty rashy mess.

Thanks so much

@botemp wow what knowledge. Thank you so much.

Here's a pic of my hair when I liked it the best, and the only time I've had it this long. I will probably just have it cut into this style again

mummying I can't remember, is the Murad tinted? The heliocare mineral fluid (the one with fragrance- weird orange medicinal but it goes quickly) isn't tinted but there's some colour thing in it that means it doesn't have a white cast. The other one (without fragrance) is better suited for paler skin as it has a bit of a white cast. Neostrata is tinted but probably similar in lightweight liquidy consistency. The heliocare is also pretty light weight but not as watery as Neostrata.

Pupsie, if that's your preferred styling look than you're probably better off getting something like the Dyson airwrap and getting some silicone heavy styling products. It's very much the opposite of the CGM.

bo if I sleep with my hair up like a pineapple it tends to stay that way even when I remove the bobble/clips. Just sits on my head. My hair loves knotting and matting so plaiting helps.
pupsie like bo said its definitely about training your hair, it's taken since around Christmas for me to get down to two washes a week and if I tie it up well enough for exercise theirs no need to wash. I was previously washing everyday because of my job (animal poo in the hair is not a good look or smell) since going office based I reduced to every other day, every three days now twice a week

out when you say training, so you mean you train yourself to get used to it, or your hair gets better and the mank feeling starts to disappear. Perhaps a bit of both.

I didn't/don't use silicone products Bo. My hair really isn't very curly and the CGM feels as much effort as blow drying it for 15 minutes' 3 X week. I have been considering the Dyson hairdryer. Probably wouldn't bother with the Airwrap. Would take so long as I have so much hair (which is why not washing after a run or HIIT is unthinkable: my head gets so hot and sweaty. Don't need to wash after lifting).

I don't think it correlates to ££
Trepadora which isn't cheap uses quinoa and the pound conditioner uses silk!

Pupsie Elasticizer has silicones in it so you are using some, not that it matters a great deal. But for that very smooth an glossy look it's often usually down to some silicones.

Thanks Client, I'll do some more reading on it.

Mummying, I don't know if it's of any use, the Murad mineral SPF is still available where I am, the shops that stock it don't deliver to the UK though. They're small shops, so it could just be remnant stock, I do remember seeing it in Tkmaxx before lockdown so they may be reformulating 🤞It might be worth googling for the Murad Summer Set as that contains the SPF and an eye SPF, maybe someone in the UK still has stock of that somewhere too.

Yh, apart from the Elasticizer every 3 weeks .