suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

So a couple weeks ago I cancelled my Birchbox subscription after doing it for 8 months or so, bc I was kind of sick of all the lip balms. Today I get home and there’s a Dermstore Beauty Fix box addressed to me, that I did not sign up for.

Apparently my husband decided I should def keep getting some kind of beauty box so he researched the best ones, including finding and reading a beauty box subreddit, and decided Dermstore’s was the best and bought me a subscription.

Your husband is a gem. <3

xp lmao I read that and was like "wow what an incredible husband" and then saw who posted it and was like "oh yes of course"

also I am so baffled by how aggressively odd skincare/moisturizer branding is, like deliberately awkward grammar and made up words and weird-ass bottles and and and

SO MUCH.

I've bought my mom two bottles of this, and she says it's super light and she loves it even living in south Florida and being outside a lot.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61OVJiU68%2BL._SX522_.jpg

Yerac, mineral sunscreens yay! Chemical ones make my skin burn like I just put acid on it.

I really wonder when my skin will get used to retinols/oids. The skin around my mouth still gets shredded when I use them.

Y, do you really need them? I used an -oid for a bit but had no positive or negative effects. I thought anti-oxidants were better at smoothing my skin and reducing lines (the EUK on ordinary is the bomb as is the alpha lipoic acid and have read very good reports of the pycogenol).

my problem is not lines so much as sagging though and there seems to be no (non-surgical) fix for that. And also eyebags, for which the same applies.

I had a huge problem with neck-creases though (horizontal creases) and can say that using the anti-oxidants I just mentioned along with the B Oil from the ordinary has, pretty much, made them disappear.

Also, using Egyptian Magic on my body has reduced my psoriasis flare-ups massively! I love this stuff! As I've said a hundred times here already (probably) i'm lucky to not get psoriasis on my face other than around my ears.

i also love the packaging of it, ha.

here's my PM routine though:

wake up on couch with TV still on.
try to turn off all the lights in the room but give up on the floor lamp that has a button switch on the fucking floor ffs (the button is under the sofa)
wake up next morning knowing I didn't even manage to brush my teeth before bed let alone apply serums.

When I was in Hong Kong I picked up a Korean product called Lip Hop which is sunscreen but can also double as a primer. I really recommend it for hot weather if you get the opportunity to pick it up - the one I got is the City Defence sun spray which is spf50.

part of the problem with caring about skincare is learning all the names that people have for things i thought were normal about my body. neck creases are a problem? they can be removed? i think i am allergic to anything that makes me hate my body. it's easy enough to hate having a body without being told which specific parts are wrong.

I had no idea neck creases could be removed. Really??

I learned the term 'tear troughs' which I quite like. Mine are more like black trenches since I had kids. I don't hate my body or face or anything but they are quite noticeable and yknow, right in the middle of my face, so I always look like a zombie. I need to find out which one weird superfood makes your tear troughs fatten up ;)

Yessss. I do notice neck creases and also sun damage and wrinkling to the upper chest & cleavage on other people, although I'm not proud of that critical eye. I try to mentally observe it and then let it go, as a step in re-training my eyes and mind. But I'm self-conscious of hands, and esp as I spend more time in the sun thanks to riding a scooter around, I put gloves on and use sunscreen on my forearms to minimize sun damage to frequently exposed areas.

I think my natural subcutaneous fat is protecting me from lines and sagging in other places! Yay fat!

I have never used retin-anythings though I've seen the effects on others--is this what ppl use to resurface skin when there's scarring? I remain firmly sceptical/disbelieving that anti-oxidants do anything? Eating them, okay maybe. But putting them on your skin?? Skin is the body's way of keeping things OUT, it's a great barrier, and skin cells are generated from layers below where they aren't touched by things you put on the surface!

When applied topically, vitamin C has been proven to preserve skin’s resiliency so it takes on a firmer feeling and smoother appearance. Research shows that vitamin C also helps improve an uneven skin tone and brighten dull skin so it’s visibly more radiant, just like younger skin.

Like most antioxidants, vitamin C also can calm and help hydrate skin so it’s better able to withstand the rigors of daily life and the environment’s impact on how skin looks and feels.

This sounds like utter nonsense.

I used to have a roommate who believed every word of hype around this or that new treatment and she once lectured me for 10 mins of me just nodding along to crazier and crazier things, and at the end she was like, "You don't believe any of this, do you?" in an accusing way and I was just like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i think criticism of necks in general sets me off. on my first day of 8th grade, first day at my new school, i was sitting in math class (my second class after homeroom) and two boys i had never met or talked to before in my short life started examining my neck and found something to dislike about it. they kept saying part of my neck was gray, that i was dirty.

i had just turned 13 and strangers were already mocking my neck? i had never even considered that there was something wrong with my neck. thinking about this just makes me think we are deeply diseased as animals.

xpost jed, I was using the retinoids because I turned 40 and they are so well priced at the Ordinary. I can't even remember what they are even supposed to do but... I have had neck creases forever. I figured it was genetic or just a kimora lee simmons thing to get used to. So Alpha Lipoic Acid and B oil worked? I think I have some bio oil my mom gave me. The neck creases and my eyes showing some wear ( I really need to stop rubbing them so hard but it feels so good) are the things that I would pay more attention to. My skincare before was just washing with face soap and then one face moisturizer, eye cream if I had it. I only started using serums last year. they seem fine.

xpost LL, I have always been very sporadic and lazy about shaving any body part well into adulthood. It was always hilarious why strangers/peers even bother to comment on it. They just can't resist.

I kind of also thought I had neck creases from lying down and reading a lot.

lol i never thought of that but maybe? i spent much of my childhood reading. it never occurred to me that it was also making me hard on the eyes. like sun damage -- who knew?!

sometimes it can seem like the advice people give about zapping self-consciousness like stop caring what other people think because they aren't thinking about you anyway goes out the window when you realize that people still think it's ok to comment on someone's body hair. that happens to me too! i wish i could think it was hilarious -- maybe i will try to train myself to think of it that way. this other way isn't really working for me :)

you have a good attitude, yerac!

I still did get stuff lasered though because I hate even dealing with thinking about shaving and groupon was super interesting then. Oddly enough I kept the hair on parts people would comment on when I was younger, like forearms or thighs.

My entire process when I hear someone comment on a physical attribute of someone in a derogatory is always "why the fuck do you care?" I remember saying this to my brother once when he was going off about tattoos on women at the beach. WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE? OMG!!! His wife was startled.

La Lechera, sorry to make you think about that!

fwiw, no they didn't completely disappear, just diminished notably. Yerac the alpha lipoic can be used only twice a week. I would recommend that but I' also using the EUK.

you didn't do anything wrong -- apparently i am very sensitive about necks! coincidentally, i also like the band the necks.

Me too, mate!

I have that alpha lipoic (the hot one!) and usually when i do any serum from The Ordinary I smooth it on my neck too.

:)
¡necks!

re: all of this- sometimes you look at your face (or neck!) and think you look pretty good on that day and sometimes you look at your face and go ugh and have to look away. you most probably always look the same to everyone else. we all know this.

I bought maNara cleansing gel when I was in Japan a few months back and it’s so great. It’s a gel that becomes hot with rubbing and leaves no tightness or dryness etc. If anyone has the opportunity to get it (I think it can be imported, might be easier to get in the US?) I strongly recommend it.

I never tried any L’Occitane stuff until my mother gave me some samples and now I have a jar of precious cream and WOW. My skin feels incredibly soft and smooth.

I stayed at a Waldorf which had a la prairie spa and housekeeping left me samples of their caviar water skin prep liquid - we looked up the price and it’s so insanely expensive that the tiny wee sample I got is worth $50. I’ve used it for a few days and afaict it doesn’t do shit.

I also got the caudalie grape water in a beauty box and was excited to try it since I’ve read ppl raving about / again, it didn’t seem to do anything.

The one new product I’ve recently tried that I would recommend is

Australian Gold Botanical tinted mineral sunscreen spf 50. It goes on really nicely, has a dewy, non greasy finish, and the tint blends in really well. Good base for someone like me who doesn’t fuck with foundation. Also doesn’t irritate my eyes, taste gross or have a strong smell. And it’s cheap! Available on Amazon.

It's funny that I have never tried L'Occitane stuff. When I was younger it was too expensive to splurge on, even Bath and Body Works seemed like an unnecessary expense. And now due to circumstances. I am in the Provence and Occitanie region for a month each year and I buy similar stuff because it is so much cheaper and just everywhere. But I still haven't tried L'Occitane.

I added that AU Gold Botanical sunscreen to my cart. thx!

The most recent thing I’ve tried which I would 100% recommend if you can get hold if it is Superdrug Simply Pure serum, which costs all of GBP 2.99! I’d been reading good reviews of it for years but never got around to trying it. Honestly, it’s better than serums which cost ten times as much. When your other half tells you your skin is looking nice and you’ve only used it once, you’re onto a winner I reckon.

YES!!!

I bought both the day and night versions based on Sali Hughes recommendation and they're amazing!

TBF you prob don't need both but they're 3 pounds so why not?!

Buy one, get one half price at the moment too!

Apparently it sells out a lot so maybe we should both buy backups!

Those Superdrug serums are incredible, I think I have a hot cleanser from them as well which is good. I also have the moisturiser which doesn’t do a lot for me but the serum bangs.

Also I will definitely check out that sunscreen!

ha I just got that Superdrug serum!

it's quite different from my normal serum which is more siliconey (the Eucerin hyaluron filler in the ridiculous test tube type packaging) but I like it.

I got into this skin care convo at work and someone was praising the Ordinary products and I was like, "That rings a bell, hang on a sec..." lol! Just ordered the No Brainer set and the alpha lipoic 5%. Will report back if it burns my face off.

Surprised no one has mentioned Aesop in this thread.

SO my Deciem stuff came yesterday and I started using it last night! It's The No Brainer set, and on only one usage I can report that the Buffet seems adequately moisturizing but the Natural Moisturizing Factors made my skin burn immediately and I was red-cheeked all evening. I'm going to put a hold on that and apply the retinoid instead and try to isolate the reaction.

For anyone else who has used retinoids, what was your experience?

I posted above i think about the ordinary retinoids making the skin around my mouth very dry. But I also am allergic to most lipsticks but I figured I am just sensitive there.

Ugh that sucks about the natural moisturizing factors. We haven't had any problems with that.

I’ve got a persistent dry patch near the corner of mouth, it appeared about 3-4 weeks ago and isn’t going anywhere. It’s pretty small and innocuous but it still bugs me.

On my way back from nz last week my eyelids got super irritated, then red and flaky. Then the same thing happened on the area where my chest meets my neck a few days later. Not sure if it was reaction to a skin product? I’d only used two new products and I’d been using both for a week by the time this happened.

Theory confirmed, I didn't use the MFactor last night and I didn't have burning or redness. So I guess that's out. The Buffet and the Granactive 2% retinoid seem to be working great, though so of course I bought 3 more things from Deciem! Squalene cleanser, SPF 15 mineral block, and the Ascorbic Acid 15% sln. Jed, you said that was the biggest game-changer for you, so I cross my fingers!