For fun - what daft things have you done in the name of 'skincare'?

[Feedingthebirds1]

I'm assuming that for most women (and men) during the spotty, blackheady teenage years, washing your face with washing up liquid at least once was a rite of passage .

Did anyone else actually try bleaching the blackheads with Domestos? (). Or anything else that was really crazy?

(My mother could never tan. I'm the same. When she was younger her friend, who went mahogany in the sun, recommended Mum tried olive oil on her skin. Much blistering and burning ensued. Different times...)

I remember the Body Shop henna stage in the vain hope of achieving locks like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman......

After reading a tip in one of the magazines I made my own body scrub out of rock salt and olive oil to use in the shower. It made the bath so slippery that I was stuck inside for ages. I was holding the little bath handles and desperately doing the moonwalk to try to get my feet under me. In the end I just threw myself headfirst over the edge of the bath and slithered down the bath panel like an eel. The bath was perilous for at least a week after that.

At 16 or 17 I was desperate for highlights but poor so I used a bit too much Sun-In.

I thought you had to use face scrub every day so I did in my late teens / early 20s & it gave me red patches that took a while to go...

Wearing anything black to a rave / club was a mistake as under UV lights any bits of fluff glowed white eek!

I wanted a perm at 13 before starting Upper School - the other girls had lovely long ringlets.

But my mum couldn't afford to get me that kind of perm at the local posh salon plus my hair was quite short so I ended up with curly frizz from the cheaper place.

But I appreciate that mum made the effort.

At 24 yr old & 9 stone on my first foreign holiday I thought I had a fat stomach so the only photo I have in a bikini is with a stupid sarong round my middle!
I'm now nearly 13 stone and I realise how daft I was!!

@WhereDoMyBluebirdsFly I just honked like a seal reading that and I'm supposed to be listening in to a varr serious zoom call.

Oh yes & I wanted to achieve a 'base tan' on my pale skin one summer... so I went in the sun shower at my local tanning salon.
"The longer the better" I decided.

Nine minutes later I looked like a beetroot.

St Ives apricot facial scrub. I can’t believe they still sell it

Oh god yes. I've seen skyscrapers being pebble dashed in coatings that would be kinder to your skin than that stuff. Ouch.

I was talking to someone about that cream for spots with peroxide in- oxi-10 or something. It got rid of spots by pretty much burning your skin off didn’t it?
Not skin, but hair: brush side fringe with wet brush to get lines of layers in it. Coat vigorously with elnett (or Superdrug if you’re broke) hairspray. If you can breathe through the fumes, there isn’t enough. Leave to dry. Now your fringe will never move and in wind will flap around in one lump like a batwing on your head. Alternatively (this is in Britain remember), in rain the hairspray will dissolve onto your face and run everywhere. You will taste hairspray for hours.

haha... attempting to deal with a teenage spotty breakout, I rubbed a cut spanish onion on my face. Didn't work.

Oh god yes something so embarrassing and dangerous! For years I had a big ugly milia under my eye which I was really self conscious of.. I cannot remember where I heard or read about it [or if I made it up in my head) but I dabbed tiny dots of Cif on the spot every day for about 5 days. It was like a small chemical burn but it worked. I was able to peel it off. Surprisingly I don’t have any scars. So stupid

Didn’t Aapri launch miniature Brillo pads for the face in the mid 80s? I feel as if I got one free stuck to the cover of (inevitably) Mizz.

It had two sides: rough and brutal. 14 year old me scrubbed away with that, I can tell you. Luckily I did not deem the purchase of a full pack a wise use of my pocket money so I couldn’t quite scrub my own face off!

@FlosCampi I do this every day! I check it on the back of my hand first though!

I was convinced I had rampant acne. In reality I had the occasional (1!) spot either above my left eyebrow or the left side of my lips! Therefore I drenched myself in Innoxa 41 - made Cliniques 3 step system seem mild.... and their slightly less stringent skin shampoo. I just had combi skin - really dry/slightly oily. My hair got very greasy so I guess I supposed my face was really greasy.

I also used TCP the tube stuff worked overnight! Also Sudocream. I sometimes used Dr Sloane's liniment.

I once creamed off my eyebrows with veet or whatever. I then had the genius idea of using Dr Sloans to sooth them. DONT DO THIS!

@Deathraystare

I was convinced I had rampant acne. In reality I had the occasional (1!) spot either above my left eyebrow or the left side of my lips! Therefore I drenched myself in Innoxa 41 - made Cliniques 3 step system seem mild.... and their slightly less stringent skin shampoo. I just had combi skin - really dry/slightly oily. My hair got very greasy so I guess I supposed my face was really greasy.

I also used TCP the tube stuff worked overnight! Also Sudocream. I sometimes used Dr Sloane's liniment.

I once creamed off my eyebrows with veet or whatever. I then had the genius idea of using Dr Sloans to sooth them. DONT DO THIS!

Clinical 3 Step i forgot about that. When I was young that was what I bought as a treat, my first ever expensive skincare. It made my entire face scaly like a snake. I think it's more suited for toilet cleaning.

Oh yes, Innoxa 41, or as we used to call it, Innox ya out! Powerful stuff.

I dabbed tiny dots of Cif on the spot every day for about 5 days. It was like a small chemical burn but it worked. I was able to peel it off. Surprisingly I don’t have any scars. So stupid

Now I wouldn't call that stupid, I'd call that a win!!!!

I may have a warped attitude to skincare

@WhereDoMyBluebirdsFly

After reading a tip in one of the magazines I made my own body scrub out of rock salt and olive oil to use in the shower. It made the bath so slippery that I was stuck inside for ages. I was holding the little bath handles and desperately doing the moonwalk to try to get my feet under me. In the end I just threw myself headfirst over the edge of the bath and slithered down the bath panel like an eel. The bath was perilous for at least a week after that.

Sounds very familiar...

Homemade body scrubs (see above) that left permanent scars etched onto limbs whilst leaving all surrounding dead skin fully intact

FadeOut(?) freckle fading face cream (still at school)

See also lemon juice for freckle bleaching

Immac tash burns. I hate that it’s burns not burn. Wtf did I not stop after the first time? I still remember that slightly tangy/stingy sensation at corner of upper lip. Accompanied by lingering immac smell (for days)

Pumice stone on shins (just fucking WHY???) Epic burns.

Baby oil tan accelerator

Sunbeds

Fortunately I mostly grew out of the sun damage phase by late teens/early 20s. Have also moisturised face since early teens so may have just gotten away with that one.

Also fell victim to the whole dark lippy/extra matt makeup look of the early/mid 90’s. With half a ton of foundation on my otherwise flawless skin (freckle hate) I looked like a fecking mutant geisha