suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

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.

Burt's Bees is my go-to, although I realize not everyone reacts well to the mint and stuff.

Lanolin's great, but some people are allergic (also problematic animal product for some others). I use shea butter from Pre du Provence, comes in a little tin or a tube. If things are super awful, cracked and peeling, Blistex ointment, slathered on multiple times, really helps smooth things out. Then revert back to a balm.

I have had real trouble with my lips this winter, too. even the kind of medicated stuff from the store didn't do much - it just sits there and feels thick and after half an hour they feel cracked again. I got this lanolin stuff from my mum (recommended by Sali Hughes on the Guardian) called Lanolips Lemonaid. It's the best I've tried so far and it's all lemony! But I still need to apply it fairly often. I didn't know about lanolin from the drugstore - I might try that!

also try making sure you are drinking lots of water! you can dry out from the inside.

I don't use lanolin because it grosses me out but it's supposed to be wonderful and I have heard good things about that Lanolips stuff.

I can't say it's changed my life but it's p good.

i got a free duo of fresh sugar balms for my birthday from sephora. the tinted one is really nice because the shade adds a v natural tint to my lips. very smooth and great smell but i don't know if there's any long term treatment effect from using it :(

They give you birthday stuff?! i have over 100 'points' but their things you get for that right now aren't very intersting :(

i got an email around my birthday with the offer!

Yeah everyone with a Sephora card can go in and get the birthday gift two weeks before or after their birthday. It used to be Philosophy shower gel but I think they changed to the lip balms at the start of this year.

I wish they just had a page that tells you what you get with 100 points. I keep having to fake-buy something to see what it is. Is it the same birthday gift all year?

I think it is, yeah. Your point perk page idea is really good.

It's always worth it to wait for the 500 point perk, IMO.

I got the Sugar lip balms as a Sephora birthday gift, too, then I bought a rose one. I've about used all three of them up, actually.

the 500 point perk idea is hard for me to think about without feeling guilty because it translates to sooooo much money spent at sephora.

^^ exactly! Also there is a chance I will be moving out of the US before my birthday and definitely before I get 500 points. Can't believe there's still no Sephora in the UK >:(

There isn't? There was! When I lived in London there was a Sephora in the shopping center by the Angel tube stop. This was 2003-2005. I guess I assumed it was still there but I just looked and it seems like they shut down all the UK ones. :/ TBF some of the bigger nicer Boots are almost like Sephoras and they do 2 for 3 offers all the time!

I remember the first one I ever went in btw. It must have been like 1997 and just before they opened in the US. I'd read about them in magazines so stopped in one on the Champs-Elysees when I was in Paris that summer. Since CVS had been my only source of girly stuff before then I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I could have spent hours in there but was with my grandmother so just grabbed some eye pencils and left.

I have never been patient enough to wait for the 500 pt perk.

Paris was my first Sephora too!