suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

Can you give your derm a follow up call about the peeling?

yeah i probably should

Pro-tip on retinol-induced peeling: don't attempt additional exfoliation! The retinol is doing the exfoliating for you!

Retinol-induced peeling isn't a "drying" side-effect, it is THE MAIN EVENT of how a retinol works: it is telling skin cells to die off and replenish at a much faster rate than before. Dialing back on either the retinol concentration (I can't do more than .05% retin-A) or frequency of application (every other day instead of daily; I do ~ 3x per week at night) can keep the cell turnover going without excessive peeling/redness/irritation.

gotcha! ty. i hope it calms down soon.

contacting yr dermatologist seems like it would be a good move anyway, even just for peace of mind

Yes, def! My guess is that he/she will suggest lower concentration or less frequent application. All of the six billion dermatologists I've seen have recommended a very gentle cleansing/moisturizing regimen while using retinols. I am a fan of Cerave for both cleanser/moisurizer; you can find it a drug stores.

The most exfoliating you need to do is with a wet washcloth. Moisturize like a beast.

My Retin-A seems to be doing nothing at all. No changes in my skin, either good or bad. :-/

You gotta keep at it forever, basically.

I sort of wish I'd get some mild short-term irritation or something to indicate it's working!

i dunno
my face has been stinging like it's raw and it feels/looks awful AND i have to full-face moisturize like every 2 hours
i think i'll be ok at work (today is work from home day) but yikes
def gonna lay off for a few days because otherwise things were going really well!

maybe your face is taking longer to dissolve, je55e?

i use shisheido sunscreen and I've never had that problem! I buy the cream, though, not the lotion.

oh and the Mac retro matte lipsticks were relaunched - GET EM QUICK, they are amazing!!!!

Ok I think the retin A is doing it's thing for me because my skin is starting to look amazing. Granted I say that so of course I'm going to erupt in monster zits tomorrow but for now it's pretty ok. Also, I do every other night and use my clarisonic in the mornings and have had minimal peeling.

yah i don't feel like my skin looks any different for it - it was looking a quite a bit better beforehand, when i started my new routine, but the last month has been so stupidly and unreasonably stressful, i've been really lazy about my skin and it's showing.

I'm feeling a bit REVENGE OF THE ACNE because I think that for my age, I fall under "not much wrinkly." Which is entirely due to "much acne, needs retinols" in my 20s, which now manifests in two-decades-later "side effects" of not much wrinkly.

TAKE THAT, CLEAR-SKINNED, INDOOR-TANNING HIGH SCHOOL BEAUTIES!

The fact that I didn't do accutane until after grad school is so fucked up, and now it is even harder for girls to access. Not boys, just girls! FUCKED UP.

I barely remember to wash my face anymore and my skin looks amazing. I'm going to credit the fact that I can eat like seven things right now.

I got a zit! I feel like I just leveled up or got my first period.

Mandeee, that gives me hope!! Maybe people with "great skin" are actually just "people with no food sensitivities."

I feel like we've come full circle to blaming our eating habits for our skin! I know they're related, but not for everyone. My diet is most excellent and my skin was uncooperative.

Your diet is MOST excellent. The apex of diets.

I don't think blaming eating habits is necessarily bad. It's not like I was cramming my face with twixes and jelly donuts. I had weird issues with perfectly normal stuff like eggs and peppers.

So one's diet can be totally excellent but it can still potentially cause issues!

Yeah I was looking for a way to say that: my diet is not bad/I am not bad for eating it. It just might be that a lot of "normal" things aren't entirely "good" for me.

yeah I think the kind of "bad eating" Amanda is referring to is like when people falsely assume anyone with "bad skin" is eating tons of sugar and crappy processed food.

but hey, I am fat, everyone assumes I am eating sugar and crappy processed food, too.

Yes. Sorry!!

mineral sunscreen vs chemical sunscreen: what do i need to know??

i want to find a good ss that
- doesn't leave a white cast
- can be applied over stubble (trying to get ytth into the habit of wearing ss daily, but the stuff i've got him using now makes it look like he has dandruff or something)
- isn't irritating to the eyes

i really like the neutrogena stuff, but it's chemical. i tried the shiseido stuff which is mineral but it's TERRIBLE - it always somehow ends up in your eyes by the end of the day - AND it really dried my skin out.

is chemical ss really bad in the longterm for your skin?

did you try the one i recommended? i still use it every day and it's great!

lol i totally forgot about that, adding it to my amazon cart asap

chemical sunscreens irritate my face, that's the main reason I can't wear them. but the only sunscreen I use at the moment is combined in a cc cream. def try the LL recommendation, it sounds p legit

My face is better btw. Still wear the sunscreen every day!

I just can't tolerate chemical sunscreen because it irritates my skin. Peter Thomas Roth SPF 30 is excellent.

(its partly chemical, partly zinc oxide)

first time poster here

someone told me I should be applying an SPF moisturizer daily. I know everyone likes to advise this but is it actually really all that crucial?

Also, what on earth am I supposed to buy exactly that is non-greasy, non-smelly, and not like $40?

ppl seem to like this jack black stuff

i'm using the elta md stuff that la lechera recommended - it's pretty good (silky texture, no chalkiness, no white cast, not eye-irritating, not drying).

my FIL recently got a huge chunk of flesh removed from his face bc of skin cancer most likely caused by sun damage, so yeah, you probably should be wearing ss every day.

my dermatologist told me to use it -- it's $29 but i've been using the same bottle for three months at least and that is $10/mo., which isn't bad for melanoma insurance. what i really like about it is that it doesn't burn my eyes, give me zits, and is not greasy/smelly. also i have never seen it advertised, so i don't feel like i'm paying for celebrity endorsement/an inferior product.

everyone's got different needs, but i do think that ss is a good idea. before that i used some neutrogena stuff that was ok except kinda stingy on the eyes and my eyes are sensitive to stingy things.

I believe I have previously confessed this but I don't wear sunscreen in the winter for the following reasons:

1. It's dark by 5 so my total sun exposure on any given day adds up to less than 15 minutes if even that. I figure I need the vitamin D.
2. My skin gets soooooo dry and no sunscreen is thick/moisturizing enough to counter Chicago winter.

I definitely wear it in the summer.

i wear sunscreen AND moisturizer!

Which Elta do you wear? I have a sunscreen now but it's pretty drying. I think I need a new one.

the shiseido ss and, to a lesser extent, the neutrogena ss were both drying for me, but i'm not having that problem with the elta stuff at all.

not sure which one ll is using but this is the one i got

that's a good point; my daily sun exposure is like prob a total of 20 or 30 minutes a day entirely before 8:30 am so like idk how much I'd need this

Melanoma aside, sun damage also causes wrinkles.

Check out this truck driver whose left side was exposed to more sun than his right:
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZeJikXCG2Nl1VHnfh5VOIwJoF4mYNQmbOg5LXjrCUQq0eDZ596WXPkiQ

If you put on SPF moisturizer in the am how long does it realistically last?

Holy fucking shit at the truck driver.

I just got this one because it sounded creamier. I need a lot of moisture in the winter.

http://www.dermstore.com/product_uv+facial+broad-spectrum+spf+30+plus+-+tube_10150.htm?utm_source=dsblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_term=broadspectrum&utm_campaign=dsblog_20131028

Stevie I don't recall how much it costs, but I like the La Roche Posay daily moisturizer; it is SPF 15 which some might say is too low, but it has a very high PPD and good stability (according to sunscreen chemistry geeks on makeupalley). For daily use, especially in winter, this works well for me--doesn't look or feel icky and doesn't sting my eyes the way most stuff does. I don't need much in the moisturizing department, so this is fine for that, too.

In Baja I wore hard-core La Roche Posay Derma-Peds SPF 50+, which you can't get in the US why because FDA. I stock up at Duty Free shops whenever I can. It doesn't irritate and lasts and lasts, even with lots of H20ing.