🐌 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

Colorescience looks to be back in stock on their UK website btw, only in the colour glow though.

Lots of Xposting, yes the Eucerin isn't mineral either but should have decent UVA protection. I think someone on here used it but can't recall who.

Sorry @botemp, missed your super prompt reply. Yes, shook the Neostrata like a martini, first time and each time.
So please grit your teeth whilst I try and re-piece the bits of learning I have acquired here - chemical doesn't provide as good protection if you're using tret?

No they both provide good UVB protection (burning as opposed to photo ageing and pigmentation) that's what SPF relates to. UVA protection is less easy to predict as we don't really have an international standard like SPF. If there's a circle with UVA printed in the middle it means it has at least a third of the SPF protection, so it doesn't tell us much or how broad of a range of UVA rays it protects from. Mineral sunscreens take the guessing work out of it as they're always a combination of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, the latter giving a broad range UVA protection. With an SPF50 you don't need to know much to assure it has a good UVA and UVB protection with chemical it's more guess work but there are some out there that have better UVA protection than a mineral one, usually marketed anti ageing or pigmentation but you do need to go through the INCI to check and it's still guess work at best.

Thanks @botemp. I think, all things considered, I'll try the Eucerin as it specifies hyper pigmentation.
If anyone is interested, I can report back.

@popularinthe80s I'm using Skin&Me and generally happy with the customer service and texture of the product. It's quite different to Dermatica in that I get redness/flaking/irritation if the dose is too high (which has been the case - and they were great at giving me a reduced dose and are happy to keep me at a maintenance level) but I've also got pigmentation that doesn't seem to have improved in the last few years while using tret, and in fact has become more evident in the last couple of months since it's been sunnier, after receding a little over winter.

I'm wondering if either: my SPF hasn't been effective/I haven't been using enough, or (more likely) this is the natural consequence of being almost 48 and not being diligent with sun protection until I was 40-odd...

If the latter, then a peel/laser from a derm is probably going to be the only thing that will have a measurable effect.

@QueenPaw Talking of SPF I also succumbed to one of the Ultraviolette's from SpaceNK, the Queen Screen - how's yours? Looks like I got similar samples too!

Curious about the Skin&Me / Dermatica. I have decent skin and a good, multi step morning and nighttime routine. These 2 have been mentioned as being totally superior to shop bought retinol but the bad and long lasting reactions that many mention seem awful. This is putting me off as I'm reluctant to unbalance my skin. Has anyone any advice please?

@Tsmummy08 I really like it. It looks tinted but doesn't show up, and I'm mega pale. Feels like a moisturiser, and doesn't pill
What's the Queen screen like? I was eyeing that one up!

Hi skincare experts. I was wondering if anyone has experience of Deciem Hylamide C25?

A friend gave me a bottle as was finding it too harsh for her skin. I've used it a few times in the morning after cleansing and before moisturiser & sun cream. It makes my skin feel very hot, but no redness.

Would you discontinue? Generally my skin is not too sensitive, I'm mid 40s & use retinol every other night & serums. But there have been a couple of other things I've struggled with - like Drunken Elephant Baby facial which I find very intense.

J0nah, not sure what you mean by bad and long lasting reactions. Yes, when acclimating to tretinoin you need to be cautious and if you go too quick it can be unpleasant but it's manageable for most, especially if you go gradual, scale back all other actives and take your time. There are a minority of users who just don't get on with it, but it's obvious quite quickly. I'd suggest Skin & Me over Dermatica if you are interested, as their guidance and ability to handhold seems a lot better.

Stokey, hot is never a good sign tbh. Also, it may not be the formulation but the product packaging, because of social media a lot of people seem to think you're supposed to apply a pipette directly onto your face which is very unhygienic, but even if the previous person didn't do that just stabbing into a hand could compromise the product, as it doesn't have any sort of preservatives in it, no water either so the risk is small, but a possibility.

Queen/Tsm did one of you get the mineral version?

*no water in the formulation that should read, which is not a bad thing, that would make it more prone to growing all sorts of bacteria, etc.

Botemp - no, the lean screen is the mineral one

@Tsmummy08 thanks for the Skin & Me feedback. Re the pigmentation - I'm roughly same age as you and have been asking myself the same question. I have noted that the pigmentation has definitely got worse since I've been using Tret, which could be higher cell turnover (from what I've gleaned here), or poor use of SPF (hopefully not), or age. Hmm. Sorry you're facing it too.

Thanks @botemp, I think I'll discontinue & chuck it.

Thank you Botemp. I read about peoples skin peeling / redness / soreness and it worries me. I have a good skin barrier, tolerant of acids and peels and don't want to spoil things. I'll look into both.

Got a bit excited - was ordering on Amazon UK so had a look for Timeless Vit C. Available! And for £27.00...

So, looked into the delivery, and it was by Top Finds, which was interesting, but then noted that it had 5 star reviews or whatever it is, 100% positive feedback.... But it was only 3 transactions.

Oh well.

Probably a fake.

Hi knowledgeable people, does anyone have any experience of Zo products. I've started using the Exfoliating Cleanser, Exfoliating Polish, Daily Power Defence and Sulphur Mask as recommended to me by a dermatologist for early signs of aging (I'm 26 and have some fine lines on my forehead and 11 area). Thanks

Has anyone tried the Colourscience sunforgettable powder sunscreen?
I got it recently to top up my sun protection during the day, but it seems so difficult to get powder out of the brush.
There is no clicker, you just have to tap it upside down a few times, but even then nothing seems to come out. It feels like I'm just brushing my make up off.

Does anyone else have this problem or am I doing something wrong?

Hi apple, I've never used it myself, I just know it as somewhat inflated prices skincare that clinics sell at a good margin. I'm sure it's fine but probably not worth paying over the odds for unless you're buying into the whole setup that includes prescription tretinoin.

Mullets, no experience there either as I don't think powder sunscreens actually provide good UV protection (they're not allowed to be sold in the EU for this reason, the workaround is selling it as makeup with SPF). There's some concerns about breathing it in as well. It's probably fine for a top up but not as an actual protective layer (and I'd hold my breath just in case). Maybe try tapping out the product on your hand and then apply it to the brush?

@applepineapple I like the ZO regime. I think it’s overpriced though. But the retinol made a big difference and I love the polish. I switched to skinandme but 4 months in and I’m not impressed so I’m switching back to ZO.

Thanks @botemp and @doorornottodoor I just have travel sizes for now but I'll ask about the retinol as that seems to be highly recommended

@applepineapple just remember your sunscreen!

Sunscreen is definitely something I wear every day. I'm halfway through a Neogen SPF50 one at the moment, I've seen the chat about Korean sunscreens not being as effective as they claim recently, can't remember if Neogen was one of the bad ones. After that, I have a Beauty Pie SPF50 so I'll see how I get on with that.

Queenpaws Sorry for the late reply, I finally picked up the Queen Screen this week - alas it doesn't suit me at all! Although it's marketed as a product for dry skin, I found it overly greasy and sort of bitty, and didn't soak in easily. Used it a couple of days and now have a crop of zits, which tbf could be due to something else but I'm loathe to try it again!

I'd happily send a sample if you fancy trying, I'm not selling it very well though!

@Tsmummy08 oh no, that's crap I really like the supreme screen