🐌 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

@Tsmummy08 - oooh, a couple I haven't tried!

Just as a FYI for those on Dermatica - I was contemplating cancelling my subscription, so went onto my account, and hit the, 'cancel subscription,' and then the stick: If I ended subscription, there may be a £79.00 to re start. But the carrot being that it will be half price next month.

It sounds very frustrating popular, it's a hard one as pigmentation takes a very long time to appear. So in all likelihood this would have emerged at some point but it does sound like the hydroquinone is just not working as it should for you, which is possible in a tiny minority of users. I hope your dermatologist can give you better and more reassuring answers

Oof, they're really milking that subscription model at Dermatica aren't they? It must be a good money spinner.

Popularinthe80s sorry to hear you're feeling down. I've been there before when I had my first (and only) rosacea flare up. It was around Christmas time and I remember avoiding people and parties. It does really start to grind you down and affect your confidence. I'm hear you.

Tsmummy what's that Darphin SPF like?

I'm using either Neostrata or Heliocare at the moment. We've just been to the Lake District (first time for me!). It was so warm up there and we all did a couple of long hikes. We had zero rain yet it rained down south. Strange.

Ninny The Darphin is a mineral one and quite pale (tinted) so wouldn't suit darker skin tones but I'm red-of-face (so attractive) and find it works to knock down some of the colour without washing me out. The texture is less oily than Neostrata but leaves a shine so I use a little Diffused Light on top and like the way it looks - glowy but not visible from outer space! I reach for it more than Neostrata but it's expensive.

In all this crappy weather I've been using that Skin Aqua one quite often. It's very light, more of a winter/indoor one, similar to Biore Watery Essence but less drying, slightly richer.

Finally got hold of the Ambre Solaire (pink label, for dry skin) yesterday - it's ok, nothing special and it's still grey and wet here so won't get a proper test for a while! I've used a few Heliocare samples before and liked them.

With regards to spf I’m using, on rotation, Biore UV bright milk, which I’ve liked for a number of years now, heliocare 360oil free gel and LRP anthelios dry touch gel-cream. I’m quite oily so I’m really fussy about any SPF not causing breakthrough ‘shine’.

I’m nearly at the end of first month of skin and me (although it’s taken about two months to get through). The cream is quite different to the dermatica gel but I haven’t noticed any dryness.

I've just ordered the Evy technology foam for face, very curious what that's like.

Hi all, new to this thread. I think I’ve got a good skin care routine going on now but I think I’ve come to the end of what improvements “over the counter” can offer and am considering skin+me or similar for some retinol type products. I’m unsure if it is really worth the money though? If anyone can point me in the right direction I’d really appreciate it.

FYI the post before mine mentioned the evy sunscreen, I have recently started using this and am very impressed overall but I have a moisturising version and I am finding it a bit too moisturising but will persevere and try it without moisturiser under it. It’s a shame because I switched from biore watery gel which I was finding drying…… maybe I now just have a winter and summer spf! My skin does seem to change drastically from season to season so it’s good to have options!

I just seen this video with suncreen ideas

She is in Australia but it's still interesting.

Hmm, I just checked, it does say moisturiser under it, so I guess I got that one too. I'm combo/normal and in summer I usually skip moisturiser under sunscreen so hopefully it'll be okay. I mainly bought it because it has such impressive longevity results so I can wear it out and about on holiday without having to stress out about reapplying. I'm usually skeptical about such claims but from what I gather their testing was done indepently and was really thorough. How easy do you find figuring out how much to use though?

There are very few products that really excell at the OTC level, it really depends what you're looking to step up with. I like using prescription retinoids because it keeps everything very predictable and steady but it wasn't a huge leap of difference. That probably has to do with me using more preventatively than to treat any signs of ageing at this point and I prefer sticking at a low dose as that helps me with the consistency (I'm somewhat sensitive skinned). I think it's just a case of expectations, tretinoin is a bit slow for some result, generally, but it can be quite noticeable quickly in things like pore size appearance but something like pigmentation is difficult to treat even with a prescription product.

I'm not in the UK so don't use Skin + Me but someone else on here may be able to give you a referral code, I think it's then half off for two months (but something like the first and sixth).

@botemp it says golf ball sized I find that about right. And yeah same reason for buying it, I was hoping if it really does last as long as the tests suggest I can do minimal reapplication hence not ruining my make up every two hours!

I’m 35 and my skin is pretty decent but I’m really undecided if retinol is really going to make a big difference or if it will be preventative for future? Everyone seems to go on about how good it is. I’m probably looking for help with some fine lines and pore size…..just wondering if it’s the magic bullet that will mean I no longer feel the need for foundation (I currently use very light coverage glossier skin tint).

It's difficult to say from my experience as I don't think absence of ageing proves anything at this point. I'll admit I'm frequently surprised how other people my age look older in comparison but I believe a large aspect of that is genes in my case.

For me it was just a consideration that I'd probably start on it at some point as I don't really see me going down the fillers and Botox route, I don't mind ageing but I'd prefer to look healthy as opposed to haggard. For me the collagen stimulation is the main attraction, if you can keep those levels up you'll just look a lot healthier. Then it just became a decision of prevention is better than cure and general dermatologist advice (granted, they have a vested interest) is to start on it as early as possible.

Most people forego foundation once they're on Tret, but I'll be honest, I suspect it has to do with the adjustment phase making it impossible to wear foundation as you look worse and you just get used to a foundation free face so no need to revert back. Skin does generally look better after the adjustment phase though, there's a certain Tret glow that you just don't get with OTC retinoids.

There's a Sub Reddit dedicated to tretinoin, a lot of people show before and afters on there. They tend to be on the dramatic side because it's a lot of people with very problematic skin to start with but it still gives a good representation of what Tret can do for skin appearance.

Thanks for all the advice, I’ve just done a look through the labmuffin website and I’m thinking I might stick with otc for now. The paulas choice 1% retinol seems to fair quite well in her comparisons although I can’t pretend to understand all of the science!!

Oh good luck with the evy sunscreen btw

@botemp and @NinnyNewName, thank you for your understanding. I am really down about it.
Interesting turn of events re Dermatica. They called me yesterday!
They didn't improve my perception, unfortunately.
The conversation was about 1. Trying to demonstrate that the increase in pigmentation wasn't due to their product (@botemp, I take on board that pigmentation can just increase with time. However I have deliberately not used any on my forehead, to compare. No increase in pigmentation whatsoever. Their response was 'Well, we can see you have a fringe'. I do have a fringe - a very light, flyaway one that lifts off my skin the moment I step outdoors).

1. Trying to demonstrate that I was misrepresenting how much pigmentation I had at the start - I had one tiny patch - we argued for a while about how 'tiny', 'tiny' meant
2. Arguing that mineral sunscreen is better because 'You only have to apply it once, whereas chemical you have to re-apply'. I thought you have to re-apply all sunscreens regularly.

Views welcome.

Point 3 is really worryingly inaccurate. All sunscreens need to be reapplied with prolonged outdoor exposure. Mineral sunscreen protection is more easily disturbed by mechanical influences (rubbing, touching your face, etc.) than chemical sunscreens, their logic doesn't make much sense. Mineral and chemical both have pros and cons, neither one is necessarily better than the other, it's really an individual weigh up.

Part 1 and 2 is just bad customer service, they know you're upset about you skin and then they insist on blaming you. That's just really shitty behaviour. It's their model to do this all digital and look at photographs and a questionnaire to assess your starting point. Arguing over what is tiny or isn't tiny seems really unprofessional of them.

I'm sorry they're being so horrible they're being really defensive as well, are they worried you'd take them to court over it?

@botemp thank you - I suspected as much about Point 1.
To be honest, they seem to have less knowledge about skincare than you do.
Re the defensiveness - yes, I found it very hurtful and destructive - and the thought did occur to me. I'm going to see a Derm in a few weeks time - I told them that, and they didn't like that idea, either.

@popularinthe80s I went on dermatica for pigmentation and found it didn’t do much for the pigmentation but my skin was nice, I’ve switched to skin and me and my skin has never been better texture wise (and I was a dermatica advocate) but what really worked for the pigmentation was a sample of caudalie vinoperfect radiance serum. My small patch is barely visible now, I can see it but I’m confident no one else can.

Thanks @martini for the tip. I'm really reluctant to spend more money on products at the moment, and it's confusing because - see the separate hyperpigmentation thread in S and Beauty at the moment - people are reporting getting good results with cheap products, expensive ones and things inbetween. So I'm holding off spending more at the moment. But I appreciate your tip, glad it worked for you.

It's good you're holding firm until you've seen your dermatologist, popular. Pigmentation is very difficult to reverse and predict, even for dermatologists. There really aren't miracle products for pigmentation and those 'miracle products' are probably treating something that looks like pigmentation but isn't necessarily pigmentation or was already naturally disappearing, or is only present when exposed to lots of sun, etc.

Just one word of caution, I know there's a hyperpigmentation clinic now that does a lot of marketing but I believe it's very shady business practices. Hoping it's not there that you're headed.

@BabyPigeon

For whoever might be interested, Escentual is running the "up to 1/3 off french pharmacy" promotion this July. Off topic, I know it's not skincare, but has anyone tried the blind perfume trial sample box? I find it interesting so far.

I love their perfume sample boxes. I enjoy the process of blind sniffing perfumes as I know I'm so easily swayed by a brand name or sleek packaging or a high price tag and it's so interesting to have all those influences stripped away. Just 'do I like this scent or not'? And then getting £20 in credit for the website. Love it!

@FlumpyPoodle It's nice to try perfumes I would not go for normally. I think they had a good idea.

@botemp thank you, I feel like you've become my big sister of skincare (I am probably older than you, but you know what I mean).
Definitely not a hyperpigmentation clinic - one that does all sorts, and has a very good reputation locally. But thanks for the tip. It's a wild world out there.

I'm usually regarded as the evil schoolmarm on here so I think big sister is a step up

I've been using the Evy technology foam sunscreen for a few times now. It's a bit odd but does do the job, goes on like shaving foam and then has the finish of a moisturiser. It's quite disorienting, I also am not sure how effectively I'm getting it off, I've pulled out an old silicone face brush pad thingy from my tret introduction days just to assure myself I'm getting it all off.

That does sound odd but yet interesting. Which is something I usually buy
Last time I went "ooh that looks interesting" I ended up with some wraps from the supermarket that were so big, the cat thought I was turning him into a burrito

Not sure why I am still on the hunt for the, 'perfect,' moisturiser . Just tried a LRP one in a green bottle which was highly fragranced and I promise you, my face looked like a strawberry.

My rosacea prone skin loves this fragrance-free anti-redness moisturiser from Bioderma