🐌 Fantastic Skincare: Jump through flaming hoops, repeat, 'Beauty is Pain', and acces to this thread will be unlocked

[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

Bo and 70s how kind of you both. Missed your @ in a pile of @ that MN sent, bo. My email puts them all in together if they're from one person, in this case MN, and I didn't see your one. Lesson learned to delete as I go. I'm terrible for not tidying digitally!

In the meantime my skin hasn't recovered from its brush with LRP shaka and a couple of days I was thinking this is it, rosacea. I'm hopeful it will heal up. It's feeling better but there's a slight red patch on the cheek that was always a bit more sensitive. Giving it time and then if there's no improvement I'll seek further help.

Big GULP here from me. I have also just ordered the bear via space NK- used klarna to spread the cost and got 20% discount and quite a few freebies.. I feel guilty as hell as I don't have spare cash but I would like to be able to look at my self in the mirror and not be sad. Can someone please comfort me?
I do however feel loads better about my skin due to the wonderful P50 so that's a bonus. I do do face exercises and they do help BUT they are time consuming. I am more than happy to do a minutes everyday using this.
I wonder whether it should be used alongside or can be used instead of?
I recently bought replacement sponges for my TUA VISO but it takes so long to do the whole face- 2 mins at a minimum and placing the device on exactly the right spot is a real pain.

I think you just need to embrace it and say, fuck it, there's a pandemic on, I can afford a me me me moment. (Provided you can easily manage the instalments and no children are going hungry, etc.)

I'm personally very wary about facial exercises, there's more evidence that it actually promotes ageing than that it is in anyway beneficial. Not that that's a lot to go on as no one would spend the money properly researching it as there's no financial gain there, but afaik the 'results' are just the effects of lymphatic drainage, the bear provides that too, plus everything else it does. I do think it provides something very different than skincare so it was well worth the punt IME, granted I went in with a sceptic mindset and justified it with, I'm bored, at least it'll alleviate that a bit and will therefore be money somewhat well spent. I think there's always a tipping point on here when everyone raves about something and when you go in with those high accolades it can feel a bit meh.

another question if I might.
I have just been looking at Bear routines. I can't see anything that works the top of checkbones, undereye area nor the mouth area. I could really do with some help around my lips. As I age they are becoming more like a dried apricot in shape. I would like to stop then looking so pursed ( cat's bum mouth, lovely). If any one can link to routines that use alternative extra moves to the basic routine I'd be very grateful

I found these two helpful BigButtons. The bear has made my lips more pronounced, I view this as a positive but maybe it's not for you?

[quote botemp]I found these two helpful BigButtons. The bear has made my lips more pronounced, I view this as a positive but maybe it's not for you?

[/quote] Lip? What lips. I'd kill for some more pronounced lips. Thank you

Random Skin + Me question. I have emailed them but haven't heard back. Usually the monthly increase of Tret goes up incrementally, but this month, it's the same as last month - 0.03%. I haven't had any adverse reactions, so

Having said that have pared back and just cleansing, moisturiser and SPF.

I'm back on the Bear questions. As far as I can work out the big bear is not used for target areas like round the mouth. Is the because it is too large? Has anyone here been able to use it round the mouth the way the mini is used?
Does anyone have both bears?

Hi BoTemp thank you so much for the comprehensive reply above, that was really helpful of you. I think I’m going to go for it!
At the moment I’m not really consistently using a particular serum, I flit between Vitamin C drops (Indeed Labs) and Double Serum (Clarins). Neither are water based so I’ll use those as well as the one for the bear.

As an aside I recently bought Barbara Sturm Glow Drops and I LOVE them. They do give a nice glow but aren’t sticky (like Glossier Future Dew).

@YouSetTheTone, I'm not sure about Clarins Double serum being oil free, the original was half mineral oil and I know they replaced it with something else, not sure what, but the whole 'double' in the name refers to an oil and water combo. The vitamin C drops appear to be in a silicone base and I'm not sure how that works with microcurrent conductivity so to be safe I'd just use those two in your alternate routine or after using the bear, neither requires an absolutely bare face to use.

I can get round my lips and eyes pretty well BB, I don't use it above the top lip though, not sure I want to either.

Can I jump in with a Bear question too? Is the mini bear worth considering, or should I just go the extra mile and buy the bigger one?

I have nailed my skincare routine, I'm 52 and my skin is the best it's ever been, now it's my contours I'm looking at (there's always something, isn't there?!) I had considered the Nuface when I saw Lisa Eldridge using it, but something stopped me. The Bear seems better from what I've read, but which one?

Any advice will be much appreciated, thanks!

@botemp

I can get round my lips and eyes pretty well BB, I don't use it above the top lip though, not sure I want to either.

can I ask if there's a particular reason why?

BB, the muscles there are very different to the surrounding ones and I assume it get exercised plenty through talking and is quite flexible (I do have a cockamamie theory on how different languages produce different mouth shapes due to pronouncation, if anyone is interested). I've just checked and if you minimise your lips inwards you can sweep the bear over the muscles and get that whole area, you just need to be mindful of the nose.

As you can see from the attached anatomy pic the firmer muscles around the lip area can easily be reached within a full size Bear routine and my guess is they are much more defining of how the mouth sits in the face than the more flexible one directly surrounding it just based on my experience with the device. My interpretation anyhow, I have no education or data to back it up.

Omelette the mini bear is less powerful (by half but the same strength as all the Nuface devices, although not sure on that pen version of theirs) and is meant for targeted spots and is smaller in size so takes longer on two fronts (size of face to cover costs extra time and due diligence and less power means longer routine time if using on the whole face). For the price you pay for the mini Bear that gets you half the device (or less than half depending on how you view it) the numbers don't add up for me. I can see getting a mini alongside the full size might be of interest to some but I don't think instead of is economically a great choice aside from the initial purchase price which feels a false economy to me.

Thanks Botemp that's exactly what I was wondering, very helpful. I'll wait for a LookFantastic code and go for the bigger one.

Thanks @botemp. That makes sense. I am very familiar with the facial muscles having done at least a decade of on off facial exercises. I couldn't figure out why the mouth wasn't included in the bear routine, nor the obicularis oculi. Both are strong ring muscles, true enough.
I want to try and counteract the somewhat thin lipped/pursed look I am developing with age and the consequential one deep line caused by my natural mouth movement. I am hoping the bear will help to relax and build up that muscle.

I would be very interested in your theory on mouth shapes and languages spoken

a cockamamie theory on how different languages produce different mouth shapes due to pronouncation, if anyone is interested Oh I'm interested, this sounds like a fabulous three wines in theory! I have two that are not as good: one is that if we brought back small scale farming we'd get rid of a lot of pseudo jobs (not contentious in itself but I like to frame it as "to defeat the porn industry we need to bring back small scale farming" which is more and that the car is what killed the Swedish countryside ) (in opposition to the popular slogan of "without the car Sweden stands still). That's a good one for a fight.

There's a bear mini for sale on Swedish Ebay for 1600 kr and I am tempted even though I know that's not the one that tempts me, iyswim.

I feel I've built up anticipation about my theory too much now it's not that interesting... Just that languages with a lot of O sounds like French who also do au and u and have a lot of filler words with those sounds get more plush protruding lips (and get all the credit for red lipstick and superior kisses) while languages or accents that have a lot of elongated ees get wide downturned lips. You also have the fast inner mouth talkers (usually associated with working class accents, mostly the men though) that also get the pretty pouty lips as a result but also a bit of the chipmunk cheeks. (Also harsher sounding languages = stabby tongues 🙈)

As for my theories about Sweden, Swedish eBay is killing the countryside, surely although what's with all the men always talking at you while looking at their shuffling feet?

I was thinking about why all these brands have a main device and a targeted area one. I looked into the Myo lift devices briefly (semi professional machinery but not crazy professional priced but way too much effort, I decided) and that has two modes, short and long, the long is for most of the face and short is to shorten muscles in some targeted areas like around the eyes, some muscles require shortening others elongating. I'll have to look up the information I found again, but I am wondering if the mini targeting devices have the same shortening function and the larger full size ones have the elongating function, that would make more sense to me than just a slightly cheaper entry point (I consider the Nuface mini a 'full' size in this theory as it's not marketed as targeted but just less frills and options).

*Swedish men, that should read, I haven't come across the shuffling feet talkers elsewhere.

We don't like eye contact, but the shuffling I don't know. Perhaps you are too glamorous (I'm being quite serious), I can see some men I know being a bit discombobulated by that.

How about the shape of the mouth (genetics) influencing what sounds a language has (ie vice versa)?

I think it's a chicken and egg thing

I don't think I'm that glamorous, and definitely not in winter appropriate clothes. There are definitely very glam Swedish women that I've seen. I don't like eye contact either though, maybe that's what caused the shuffling 🤔 maybe I was supposed to shuffle back and communicate through feet only?

Maybe you were standing too close you FOREIGNER and they were trying to shuffle out of the way, but you had them cornered and were holding forth on how their wide mouths could be traced to them saying "nääää men om man skulle ta mer kaffe kanske" 30 times a day?

I'm not that Dutch and forward. Also, social distancing still feels too close by my standards 😷 but I'll fully accept it was my foreigner fault somehow, or maybe they just really needed to pee from all that coffee...

Anyhow, I'm still trying to formulate my mouth theory around Swedish because you have that lyrical intonation thing going, surely this does something aside from being really good at pop music and winning at Eurovision too much.

Interesting theory Bo. I will have a look at the Greek mouths!! There are many Greek words with the "ee" sound. Not as many O sounds as french

I'm almost 2 months with my bear. Been doing an extended routine most evenings. Thinking about when you cut down to 3x a week.