suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

hahahaha THAT IS NOT GOING TO ACTUALLY HAPPEN.

In moments of weakness I wonder about creams that are supposed to even out skin tones, though I doubt that they do anything. I have discoloration around my mouth which nobody else notices, but I'm sensitive about it.

(When it 1st happened my mother, who is extremely detail oriented and sometimes tactless, said something about how I looked like someone had punched me in the mouth. Thanks Mom! It turns out that pregnant women and some women on birth control have this sort of discoloration)

I have a weird blob of discolouration up on my cheekbone that appeared a couple of years ago, I'm not sure if that's due to BC. It's easy enough to cover where it is but I am annoyed that yet another stupid skin thing appeared to add to my woes.

BB cream will re-engineer discoloration away, don't worry!

i'm pretty stoked on the idea of retin-a/tretinoin but not quite stoked enough to get myself to the doctor about it yet... next week...

on man, robyn, if I still lived in Canada, I coulda sent you some!

lol, are you a underground pharmacist? ;)

I'm a nurse who currently works in derm a d gets lotsa samples.
So yes, an underground pharmacist.

omg
i too wish you still lived in canada!

damn, I wish we still lived in the same place, k8! my skin needs help!

i was in sephora a week ago buying a brightening cleanser (DDF - it's great) and it seemed like they suddenly had a ton of bb cream/brightening products. i might try shiseido white lucent but not until the fall so i won't be out in the sun too much while using it.

for weird discolorations i totally recommend clinique's clinical dark spot corrector. but you have to be patient and keep using it every day. it takes several months (or even longer) to show results. it did work for me though, i felt like i had a weird darker spot on my face from using brightening cleanser and then getting too much sun a few times, so i use the clinique stuff as a spot treatment in morning/evening and it has helped a lot.

and i'm not trying to change my skin tone any, i'm stuck being very pale no matter what - the brightening stuff seems to really help with not having flat, dull skin.

I have dull, pale skin! Perhaps I will try this.

How drying is it?

I really liked what vitamin C serum did for me a few years back, when I didn't need it so much. I'd like to start using it again, does anyone have a favorite brand? I used a sample from my esty, can't remember what it was.

I used Pevonia Botanica Enzyme-Spherides Peeling Creme and loved the results. Yet something else I'd like to get back to.

Tried Pevonia Botanica Glycolic Acid and couldn't stand the itchy red patches it caused. Maybe I was misusing it.

Now that I don't work, I have noticed that I just don't look in the mirror as much. The lights in the bathroom of my old job always made me look like I needed work so I was more invested in my skin. Pregnancy though has done awesome things to my skin but I fear it all tumbling down like a fragile house of cards once the baby comes.

xpost - ddf cleanser, it depends i guess? i haven't found it to be drying.. my skin is a little oily though! (using tinted moisturizer instead of foundation also contributes to this)

I love ddf! That's one of my company's products so I have a few. Their moisturizer makes my face feel great.

I was looking at the Clinique stuff and its reviews and saw:

“Highly recommend if no medical causes of dark spots.”

I know that my hyperpigmentation is medical. Dammit.

But those sorts of serums are so expensive anyway.

I've heard good things about clinique's pore stuffs. Anyone have any experience with them? My pores are hueg.

Big self-improvement/pampering day today. Two masks (drying, then calming), a pore strip, a self-administered two-tone manicure with this deeply shiny topcoat called Seche Vite, then some eyebrow darkening. This is for a party tonight that will be full of stylish people glamming it up. (You cannot do "too much" for this crowd: the last time I saw them, the hostess was wearing an allover gold sequined mini-dress.) Now, what to WEAR??

Seche Vite is totally awesome (the quick dry one), as is POSHE. Did not realize quick-dry, badass shiny topcoats could actully convince me that doing nails is worth doing.

That said, I have not done my nails in, like, months.

"That said, I have not done my nails in, like, months."
Ditto!

The fancy Walgreens by my work has $10 manicures. My nails are did.

Had no idea there were fancy Walgreens.

http://winnetka.suntimes.com/business/9908814-420/sushi-at-walgreens-new-state-street-store-offers-urban-format.html

Fancy!

Crazy!

It's pretty cool.

I used to fuss a lot about my skin but a few years back I got a really soft brush for the face and just use it in the shower every day. So much for $50 "brighteners"! I use that stuff for special occasions now.

went to the doctor and got this rx that i ran out of ages ago and have been dumb about going back to the doctor for and consequently have been breaking out for months - clindoxyl gel (clindamycin + benzoyl peroxide) - this stuff works like a damn. it's pricey though, like $60 here, so prob more in the US. but whatevs, it works.

i also got tretinoin gel 0.025% (generic retin-A etc)- this stuff is cheap! $27! there are boring old face creams that cost this much and don't work! i'm going to use it super sparingly at first... i got the alcohol-based gel, which gives me fear, but the cream is full of stuff that i might react to, but i can try it if this doesn't work. anyway. feel like i'm experimenting on self but hey what else in new...

p.s. just fyi, even thought it's "free" to go to the doctor in canada, going to a drop-in clinic, and even going to yr doc if you have an appointment, takes hours. ugh. so glad it's still light and warm outside right now.

(Obv of your insurance covers drugs, this is all less $)

that is a pretty low dose of tretinoin.

I use something 4 times as strong on my face.

I kind of want a clarisonic. Any thoughts, Kate? Ps just emailed u. :)

Yeah I've been thinking about the olay version, since it's way cheaper - everything I've read says they're amazing??

Yeah I was thinking of getting the olay too. I know! People seem to LOVE them.

I use a nutri sonic, got it the Christmas before last. It makes a noticeable difference in my complexion–I have never found anything exfoliating that worked for my skin without irritating it (and even with skin irritation, nothing exfoliated decently!). This does. I use it a couple times a week, and the one time I tried going without for a while my skin was awful.

From what I've read, the olay version is pretty much the same thing. And of course it's much more affordable.

I have extremely sensitive rosacea-acne skin and that's the % recommended - there's even a 0.01% version!

I like the idea of these brushes, like putting your face through a car wash.
(I love car washes!)

anyone got any lipbalm recs? this whole winter my lips have been chapped and cracking and i want my face back

weleda lipbalm is A+, best I've tried.

The spherical Eos ones are incredible imo.

I'm digging Sugar lip balms a lot. Pricey though.

I've never liked those. They are too slippery for my taste. Not thick enough, I guess. They smell really wonderful though.

My BB 3-in-1 face stuff is too pale/flat/cool for my skin color. :( And it only comes in one shade, which is mystifying. They also sent a sample of the other two formulas, which are in other colors. Maybe one of those will work because I like the amt of coverage and moisturizing and sunblock all together, it just makes me a funny mask.

:/ That was the main reason I never ordered any. I was worried about the color not matching.

Could you add a drop or two of a pigmented foundation to it? I know, not the point, but better than wasting money. In the winter I mix skin cream and foundation because my pale skin is more pale than most foundations :P

Was thinking of that, will try this eve. It just means I always have to carry around both items, but maybe I'll squeeze them into a little pot for travel.

Now's a good chance to deploy any too-dark foundations you may have! Heh.

re: lips - I know i've preached the gospel of lanolin before, but it is the best when your lips seem beyond help - I buy the stuff in the baby aisle of the drugstore - it's for cracked nipples! And then I put some of it into a little container, of course. You can also buy it from health food stores or places that sell diy hippie-beauty supplies.

I also love Aveda renewing lip treatment, tho it is like $16. It's just oils and wax but it's good. All petrolatum/vaselin products destroy my lips, so...

Chapstick, always and forever.