🐌 Fantastic Skincare: Bear Shaped Pseudo Face Vibrators, Don't Ask us What They're For(eo) 🐻

[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

Apparently drunk elephant have reformulated their vitamin c serum, we are supposed to do the mixing and the resulting concoction will last 6 months, no refrigeration needed.
www.cultbeauty.co.uk/drunk-elephant-c--firma-fresh-day-serum.html

I have made up a fresh c/ferulic acid serum 15%. And I am remembering to take it out of the fridge and out it back!

My friend has gone to America and asked if I wanted anything (he got me the recoil for my hair last time)
I panic bought this https://mytopicals.com/products/like-butter

I got that newsletter too Pigeon, I might be tempted whenever they have a good discount going again. Although I'm hearing weird things about the hut group owner so maybe not. Lookfantastic is also pissing me off with the frequency of emails so I might just boycot the anything hut group altogether out of mere annoyance over that.

Haha Cat, I suppose it's not a large leap from snot in your hair to butter on your face

Anyone else been doing the advanced eye tutorial from the Brazilian woman? I like what it does for my upper eyes but it seemed to create eye bags out of nowhere on the bottom, I stopped doing the lower half as a result. Maybe it's my own fault for going in at speed 5 recklessly but I think it's also down to my face structure.

It had good reviews apparently their faded serum is good too but I thought the butter best for tret skin
I was "er what do they sell there that I can't get here?!"

@botemp I hear you, I am unsubscribed from lookfantastic at the moment because they are sending way too many annoying emails. I will only re-subscribe if I need to buy something and want a nice sale. I won't go as far as to boycot them just yet. Boots does have more options now but they do not have free delivery. I feel that the brands I like are too scattered on multiple websites at the moment.

I've unsubscribed now too, was a bit annoyed I couldn't put in feedback about frequency of emails as some ask for. Tbh I can't remember when I last ordered with lookfantastic so I probably won't miss them. Yes, the scattered websites annoy me too, I try to bulk buy more now so I'm not constantly making orders, I still have quite some stock from Black Friday/Cyber Monday orders. As a bonus the storage cupboard looks like a little shop

My butter face stuff is here it's a very odd texture but nice so far
Any recommendations for stuff we can't get in the U.K. now I have a willing shopper in America? I'm trying to avoid panic buying and just ending up with a giant bag of candy corn or something

Hi bo,
I've been doing the advanced eye tutorial. Can't say I've noticed bags (I'll have a look when I've slept properly - not the case this morning!) but haven't noticed any improvement either (felt I was getting a bit hollow there due to bone structure). See more results above the eye.

Do you think it's the first move she suggests (going up face) that is causing the problem? I think the only other bit under the eye is the circling around.

Brief makeup interlude
These are reduced, and good. £5 for a palette and it's 20% off if you put your email in
Pic of one I have from them
https://www.memimakeup.com/makeup/eyes/eyeshadow.html

Opinions please......

Had to submit yet more photos to Skin + Me in order for them to increase the strength of Tret. I seem to be doing this every other month and it incredibly irritating.

So, did a bit of a deep dive into other possibilities to get Tretinoin.

Had a look at the Boots acne service, but they ask for photos and I don't have acne.

Also looked at the various dodgy suppliers on the internet which was just too weird several had warning letters sent to them from the FDA.

I like the idea of Farmacia Andorra, which is about £38.00 euros plus £14.00 for postage and packing.

Also, the Obaji is a contender at .1% for £101.00, which is but I am spending £240.00 a year on Skin + Me and the prescription will not be changing much. Not to mention the hassle of having to update every other month.

Thoughts?

ilovemydogandmrobama2

Hi, I have ordered from Farmacia Andorra before and got tretinoin delivered OK.

However, I am in Ireland, so I'm not sure if they deliver to the UK or if the customs charges would be massive. I remember recommending them before on S&B and I think the person came back and said it never got delivered so I'm not sure.
Maybe you could email them and ask if they deliver to the UK, or maybe someone else on here could verify.

I have been ordering from there for about 2 years with no problems (usually takes about 3 weeks to get delivered, and delivery charge is about €20, so I order a few tubes at a time).

mrobama why do you want 0.1 strength? That strength is really only used for acne, in terms of anti ageing there aren't any real benefits to moving up so high.

I had to order with FA last year when the factory that serves the Benelux had a recall and therefore major ongoing supply issues and my local pharmacy could only offer 0.05 at a highly inflated price which is not my favourite strength anyhow as it randomly sets off purges. FA is legit, not the fastest to arrive but that may have had to do with Covid. It is technically illegal to import though (FA are not doing anything illegal by sending it though), so it can be confiscated (which is probably what happened to the other poster mullet recommended it to). I get the impression UK customs are pretty lax at the moment though due to volume of incoming packages and post Brexit rules so you'd probably be fine for now but in the long term you could be without that option.

Other things to take into consideration, the Spanish formulation contains a few comodogenic ingredients and fragrance, I managed fine but it could cause non purging related breakouts which would be difficult to distinguish from one another.

Obagi is in tiny tube, I think 20gr, retirides is not much more, 30gr I think. A prescription tube usually lasts me about two months, I think. Kind of depends on the time of year.

Sophie, yes, the pushing up didn't work for my face at all so I quit that early. I think it's the going round at the bottom that causes it. I think my fat pockets are neatly tucked back and getting the muscle working seems to make it protrude. I do get better results up top so I've just incorporated those only for now.

@botemp - was at a bit of a plateau so Skin + Me suggested increasing strength to .1% incrementally as this was their highest concentration.

So, thank you for advice - am a bit that the package could be taken by HMRC. My lovely grandmother in New York used to send me Levi jeans until a package got slapped with a £50.00 charge, so am a bit weary about goods being at the discretion of customs. Plus am not great with fragranced products.

For the most part, my pigmentation is infinitely better, maybe 75% better.

Bo I’ve been doing the Brazilian girl eye routine, not noticed much difference either way under my eyes but upper eyes are my problem area (drooping!) and I think the bear is definitely helping as my Botox has worn off now and the droop is not re-appearing like it normally would.

I’ve given up on tret and am just using the Medik8 crystal retinal 10 every other night, it’s expensive but no more than the subscription services and it’s the reason I’m sticking with look fantastic (even though their spam annoys me too) as the 25% off codes make a lot of difference.

Not noticed any difference yet but not been using it long enough and I’m hoping I can actually keep using this year round rather than all the stopping and starting and angst with tret as I can’t power through the dusty flaky tret face

In a complete opposite fashion, Paula's Choice has informed me they won't be sending me newsletters anymore as they've noticed I'm never clicking through. I'm weirdly impressed by being cast out

Tbh HMRC confiscating the package is probably the best outcome (if it's stopped), technically they could charge you for drug trafficking

I ended up buying some Geek & Gorgeous vitamin c as a shop was selling it and I needed something else from there but they required a minimum order haven't tried it yet except on back of hand, looks good so far but the characteristic Vit C smell is strong with it 😷

Ooh that's the vitamin c I was eyeing up

@botemp How ridiculous from Paula's Choice to do that. It's not like someone is manually sending marketing emails, it makes no difference to them if you click or not. And not clicking does not mean you won't go to the website later because you saw the email. I like their products but I am sometimes baffled by the marketing strategy: putting in samples for things ordered in that order, not offering samples for the new products etc. But if you never click on their emails they should send a personalised offer for you.
They released a new anti pigmentation serum, the ingredients look good, I think it has niacinamide, tranexamic acid, bakuchiol and other things. I'm very tempted. I also like the omega cleansing balm, it's very practical being in a tube and not a jar.

They did give me the option to keep receiving emails so I wasn't insulted. It does cost these companies a lot of money to send out newsletters through a service that tends to be tiered by volume so I assume it's just a budgeting exercise and to check how well they're reaching an audience. I mainly had it to keep up with new things but they've not come out with much new that interests me for a long while. The new pigmentation serum sounds interesting, a bit of a mix of Dr Sam's brightening one and a Skinceuticals high TXA one. I find PC priced just that much too high for what it is though so it doesn't sit competitively in between those two in my mind. I like my Hada Labo version though, the new formula seems to agree to my skin, which was my main concern, can't really assess how it performs compared to the previous formula though. Can't remember what they took out aside from parabens , maybe arbutin? Don't think it was in there to begin with though.

The main reason I didn't jump at the new serum is because I just opened my second bottle of the hada labo lotion, probably the old formulation but the one with tranexamic acid. And it does work for breakouts pigmentation. I got it of yesstyle. But i do like the idea of using a product that has more then one active and replaces several products.

Funnily enough I’ve just clicked through on a Look Fantastic email as I remembered I needed some more DH blotting papers. The best imho and certainly my favourite. Anyway, price checked and got them cheaper from Justmylook (I’ve not bought from them before) Free postage, cheaper for the blotting papers and a free DHC oil 👍

300 blotting papers are you a prepper? Not that you'd tell me if you were, just in case the oily nosed will come hunt you down in the nuclear winter...

Never heard of the company but I'm guessing it's UK focused.

Geek and Gorgeous vitamin c serum, so far so good, it's very non irritating but still giving the vitamin c pow. Early days but it's very similar to Skinceuticals, much more so than Timeless.

Pigeon, WRT to differences between new and old formulation of ethereal ghosty hada labo tonwr, the new formula has licorice root extract in it too which is good for pigmentation, otherwise, aside from the preservatives and that addition it doesn't seem to have changed much.

@botemp

300 blotting papers are you a prepper? Not that you'd tell me if you were, just in case the oily nosed will come hunt you down in the nuclear winter...

Never heard of the company but I'm guessing it's UK focused.

Geek and Gorgeous vitamin c serum, so far so good, it's very non irritating but still giving the vitamin c pow. Early days but it's very similar to Skinceuticals, much more so than Timeless.

Pigeon, WRT to differences between new and old formulation of ethereal ghosty hada labo tonwr, the new formula has licorice root extract in it too which is good for pigmentation, otherwise, aside from the preservatives and that addition it doesn't seem to have changed much.

have a few on the go, in work bag, makeup bag etc. First time I’ve heard of them too.

@botemp thank you for the explanation. I remember it was awkward to make sure I order the one with TXA and not the one with alpha arbutin (I think, I remember there were 2 formulations). Also they had light and moist versions. Confusing.
I remember the licorice root extract from Paula's Choice products.

@Jedstre I got the Fenty blotting papers back when they were released (more for the packaging really) . They do sell refills but I seem to have misplaced the packaging. I wish they were cheaper...

I seem to be finishing loads of stuff up!
Just finished the garnier thyme toner (has SA in) and deviant cleansing concentrate