suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

Jesse, I know you like cheap workarounds so you might enjoy this: toilet seat covers work as blotting papers. The next time you're in a fancy public bathroom, grab a couple for later.

Dr. Feelgood gets mixed reviews, but I love it and I think it would be good for a dude who wants a little something but wants to keep it natural.

Jesse, I know you like cheap workarounds so you might enjoy this: toilet seat covers work as blotting papers. The next time you're in a fancy public bathroom, grab a couple for later.

Have you done this? Wouldn't it have backspray from flushing? I'm definitely going to keep my eyes open for an unopened pack of them, but I feel too squeamish about exposed ones!

So what about cosmetics counters? Clinique? Sephora? Ulta? I'm curious to talk to the magicians who work there.

they're mostly just 20 somethings who are not magicians
i usually go to the oldest woman with the best skin and then see if she is a straight talker, if one of those doesn't exist, i avoid talking to anyone

most important to find a straight talker

We have toilet seat covers mounted high on the walls of the stalls in my work bathroom so yeah, I use them all the time. From what I can hear, other people use them a lot for their intended purpose (I don't - our work bathrooms are clean as hell. Cleaner than my bathroom at home) so I think there's enough turnaround that I'm not worried about backspray. Plus, you know, there's that study showing that there is basically backspray on everything in the entire bathroom including your towel and your toothbrush so now I wash my face in toilet water.

What does one look for in an eye cream? I want something to remove bagginess and darkness (which are actually likely just how my face is?)

Eye creams are another thing I've always suspected might actually be a scam.

PS - I've been reading the thread and I'm trying not to duplicate topics, but I'm not asking necessarily for specific product recs so much as asking "what should eye cream do?"

Xp I was thinking of going to a male...which would mean he prob wouldn't be a "straight" anything ifuknowhatimean lolololfart

Xp lolololfart

(I'm very happy to report that iPhone autocorrect knows ifuknowhatimean and lolololfart)

I used to use those brown unbleached recycled-content napkins for blotting, they were pretty absorbent. Years ago I found cheap blotting papers at the Chinese import stuff store and was thrilled until I figured out they were making me break out, but they had some kind of powder on them, which, who knows what was in it.

Go to Sephora and ask for blotting papers and ignore anything else they tell you, just ask them to pull out samples from each. There's some kind that are powder-blue colored and sort of plasticky sheet more than paper, I went through a few packs of those one summer.

Also Je55e you may consider the Merz apothecary for men's skin needs -- the people there are v helpful and usually offer the best product at the price you're comfortable with. I also don't feel that they're overly solicitous. I get my blotting papers there, along with a host of other personal care product type things.

Plus they have a wide array of licorice candies there.

I'll go despite the licorice.

Hey, will you get me some licorice when you go? xo

I am having horrible hormonal spotting show up on my face. Like, I wear spf 55 every day but I still have brown blotches around my cheeks/eyes. Melasma. Anyone used anything to get rid of this shit besides laser resurfacing?

There are glycolic acid peels, but they didn't do much ime. I had to just accept that this is aging since I don't have $$$ to see derm for purely cosmetic reasons.

Sorry for the bummer response. I'm sure there are things one can do but I'm not convinced any of them work. Maybe there's something I'm unaware of?

I have a melasma patch, I don't think there's much you can do about it except cover it up (I use boi-i-i-ng but it kind of melts off during the day)

I did mention it to my doctor and she said she might test my thyroid levels (I think??) and to watch out for changes because they could be something worse than regular melasma. But afaict it hasn't changed. I don't even remember when i first noticed it tbh

I have a tiny one that looks like a big freckle and I thought it was sun damage but then I realized that I never go in the sun without like SPF 50 and am basically a vampire so maybe that's what I have too?

i always wear sunscreen too, but i think sun damage just happens
it's the worst along my cheeks, the left one in partic and i'm convinced it's from driving

there's only one solution to this problem
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8155/7557153020_400124067f_m.jpg

There are other types of peels one can try for skin-lightening, like Melanage.

xp lolololololol

just curious, has anyone ever tried apple cider vinegar as a face item?

In my office, we instruct people to apply white vinegar compresses after laser procedures.

i've used it diluted as a toner but the smell kinda annoyed me. i don't think i used it long enough or consistently enough to notice any results.

Update on coconut oil experiment to combat Extreme Dryness in an Extremely Dry, Extremely HOTTT Climate:

OK so I think the coconut oil does a pretty good job. However, I need to find something else because I am having a big problem getting myself to rub warm oil on my body when it is in the upper 90s! We are trying to hold off until July to Activate Air Conditioning Solution, because it is crazy expensive. So the oil is always warm, and I am always hot hot hot. And I just can't bring myself to oil up in these conditions.

So what I'm thinking is that I need a good, not-too-expensive, fragrance-free moisturizer that I can keep IN THE FRIDGE next to my aloe vera gel; that way I will look forward to smoothing cool moisture balm onto my overheated, parched body. I am thinking Eucerin or maybe Amlactin (does this have fragrance?) are candidates. Other ideas?

what if you kept the coconut oil in the fridge? i mean, you'd have to apply it solid but it would more gently acclimatize to yr body and maybe less uncomfortable than warming it up? idk. that might be annoying though

honestly I love how coconut oil feels but I can't stand smelling like a mounds bar

xp re: cider toner: Yup! I have been using it as a diluted toner for... sheesh a year or so now? The smell is a thing, for sure, but I don't mind it. As far as efficacy, I would put it on par with witch hazel, which is what I have used since college, but it's cheap as hell. So, overall a success.

Make sure you dilute it with distilled or filtered/boiled water, though.

xp re: coconut oil: stick it in the fridge stick it in the fridge stick it in the fridge stick it in the fridge

http://www.jannuslive.com/wp-content/uploads/g-love.jpg

"Sorry, sometimes I just say that."

ah lak cowd bevrajes

Well fridge is gonna be a problem because my bottle of coconut oil has a squeeze top, which is fine for liquid, but not gonna happen for solidified stuff!

I think I am also becoming averse to the smell because it smells like tanning oil, which makes me feel HOT HOT HOT again (and not in the good way).

After buying a suit I talked to the nice lady t the Clinique counter and tried some eye cream w/ optical diffuser stuff in it and some "transparent powder" which was nice. Might buy some powder sometime.

Couldn't find Merz Apothecary! Where'd it go?? I was tired and I went home instead of asking anybody. But did they get rid of it?

I go to the one on Lincoln, not sure where u were?

Quincers, I wish I had some desert skin care tips for yas, but I have just resigned myself to a life of having "bad skin" (NB I am just fine with my skin), and I am kind of convinced everything is snake oil? I mean, whatever I pick up, no matter how much or how little $, seems to be in the "it'll do" category. All I can say is if you are thinking Eucerin for lotion, don't get the VERY DRY SKIN variety because I accidentally bought it recently, and it is the greasiest ointment in history. It never absorbs.

quincie i used a shea butter moisturizer from alaffia (the "everyday shea") when i lived in az. it has a high water content so not too greasy & should stay a liquid in the fridge. they sold it at sprouts if you're near one of those.

I go to the one on Lincoln, not sure where u were?

There is/was one in Macy's/Marshall Fields.

(Sorry for the boring local stuff, non-Chicagoans.)

They moved to the Palmer House years ago.

I hear you on the "it'll do" thing, Abbs. I'm not caring so much about the aesthetics of my dry skin, but it is itchy and uncomfortable! Discreet, I will try to find that shea butter stuff. Tomorrow I am going over to the Pacific coast for a SURFING LESSON and a town over there has a natural foods store, so maybe I can score there.

i switched up my eyecream yesterday. had been using a Boots eyecream, but it wasn't really helping the crepiness, as in crepe not creep lol....especially when I wore foundation it was just like, papier mache around there. so I tried the Neutrogena Healthy Eyes stuff and even overnight it's a big difference. definitely firms and tightens everything. i was a bit nervous bcz I haven't used anything with retinol-A in it before, was worried I might have some redness or a reaction but so far so good! yay.

I spent years obsessively taking care of my face with cleansers and whatnot but almost completely ignoring my eyes. so dumb.

One of the best tips someone ever gave me was to start using eye cream as early as possible so I've been using it religiously since I was 18 and I think that's probably the only reason why i don't really have any undereye wrinkles or crows feet yet even though I'm 35.

I've never used an eye cream, kind of don't believe they do anything? And I don't have any wrinkles or crows feet either but I have oilier skin to start with.

my mum has really saggy eyelids, like deflated balloon saggy, and I think I have that gene too

I think that helps, yeah. Oilier skin ages better. I have really dry skin so I've always been pretty careful about moisturizing.

Jesse, Id say go to Sephora and tell a sales rep what you are looking for and what you need it for. They will narrow it down to a few choices then give you a little pot of each to take home and try. This method has saved my $$$ many times.

Veg, my budding crepeiness scares me 1000x more than wrinkles.

Woooo! Oily skin, all breakouts, no crepe!

All the breakouts. All of them.

I did a great job sunblocking myself at the Mermaid Parade... except I forgot that my regrowing hair, while thicker and longer than it was a month ago, is still the least I've had since i was a toddler, so I wore a VISOR instead of A HAT.

So now my scalp is pink, and blistering somewhat. Not agonizing, but enough to be annoying. How the hell do I treat it? Rub aloe vera onto it before bed, what it does to the hair be damned?

Yep! Put the aloe in the fridge for a few hours for extra soothing.

^^^second this. It rinses out of hair no probs. If you can take an NSAID, that helps with sunburn pain.

Yo also wear a hat next time, you don't want melanoma, do you?