Skincare Diaries

[lyravega]

We all have our skincare stories, journeys, adventures, and even nightmares. We like to read about skincare, we like to talk skincare. Do you want to share your skincare journey? Concerns you want to address, and the way you address them? Personal challenges? Products you use? Products you want to try? Results? Get something off your chests? Are you happy with where your skin is at? Do you want to talk about it all, or just "keep a diary" and compare notes? This is the place then to share your skincare stories, or any thoughts on anything skincare you feel like sharing, personal or in general. Skincare diaries will take it all.

We already have many great skincare threads, but sometimes it feels like some thoughts "don't belong" to any of those threads, and will just clog them unnecessarily. So, I just wanted to make a place for all and any random ( or not so random ) skincare thoughts, notes, stories, and all the other bits and pieces that feel like they "don't belong". Feel free to stop by and make it your personal diary!

[Shelbstirr]

Skincare is not “fun” for me and in fact when I was a teen with acne all of the harsh products at that time only made things worse. I’ve been moisturizing for a few years now, using eye cream, and making sure to remove my makeup every night. Now that I’m 31 wrinkles are a concern, especially this darn forehead wrinkle that creases my makeup lol. I have finally given in and now have an 8-step skincare routine at night and it actually WORKS. When I do it, the forehead wrinkle is all but gone and my skin is flawless. When I skip nights because of long days, I can tell a big difference. Right now I’m using a Foreo and FAB Cleanser, Good Genes. Tidal Brightening Enzyme Water Cream, Banana Bright Eye Cream, and C.E.O. Glow Oil. Bite Agave Lip Mask and GrandeLash as well. Mourning the fact that I can’t just wash my face and go to bed but really enjoying the results of these products.

[lyravega]

Dear Diary,

So, last night I tried KATE SOMERVILLE - Liquid ExfoliKate® Triple Acid Resurfacing Treatment which I received as gratis from @SephoraBIC  ( @TeamBIC @KatieBT ), thanks to @angel7594 who so graciously picked me to be a receiver of this fantastic box of goodies. What a wonderful surprise! She is the sweetest, let me tell you!

Now, I know I should give a product some time before saying anything about it, but just hear me out. My skin hates exfoliation and exfoliants of any and every kind. I have a very hard time finding something that works for me. Usually all those products just bleep my skin off to no end. I dared braved last night and tried it! I applied it very carefully, as if it was about to scratch my face off any time. My skin didn't object! *awe* Not even redness, or slight flush, or anything. Mild tingling that eventually went away. I checked my face in the mirror about a gazillion times before I went to bed. It was still there ( my face ), and still not objecting. *double awe* So, I went to bed, praying. Fingers and toes crossed. Not a very comfy sleeping position, trust me.

And before you know it, it was morning. Jumping out of my bed, running to the first mirror. Staring in disbelief. And relief! I was so happy to find out that my face didn't fall off! Yaaay! It was actually at peace, smooth, plump, and better looking in general, skin tone even, no break outs, no redness, no madness! Say waaaah?! Well, I am impressed by the mere fact that my face is still here. And it's pretty happy, too. I will try the treatment again in a few days, and I only hope this miracle will continue as I am tired of constant search for acids that would work for me. Is this going to be it? Ohhh, I hope this is going to be it!

That's all.

[Anonymous]

I like the Exfoliakate treatment and have been been through 3 small bottles over the last 8-12 months and love it! I get it in packaged deals or just the travel size. It makes a huge difference in the texture of my skin. I had bad acne scarring. I am using rosehip oil which I think has helped with my redness, but I noticed my texture evened out with just the exfoliakate treatment. It was all I used for a couple months (with typical masks & cleansing), as I wanted to see the results. It also lasts forever as you only need a pea size amount!

[lyravega]

Has anyone tried this? What are your favorite acid resurfacing treatments?

[veronika23]

Haven't tried this one yet @lyravega but it's good to know it played well with your skin! You know how mine is... I've only ever tried 2 I think and not enough to really report back yet. Although good enough that my face was still there too! 😄 I need to set myself a schedule for exfoliation and retinol.

[lyravega]

@veronika23 Fingers crossed!

For both of our faces! 😉

[veronika23]

Hahahaha yeah! Fingers crossed!!! @lyravega

[meddyisme]

No matter how tired I am, I make sure to give my skin a little me time always (we are not talking vacations, events, and celebrations time-right). My skin always tells me when to do it more or less. These days my skin is in good terms with me so It takes me only 10 minutes every day for that little care. 

Every morning starts with lots and lots of hydration and I make sure to drink at least 3 glasses of fresh water and then jump directly to my CTM routine. The "M" in CTM is extremely important for me. I layer my face with a good amount of moisturizer to not look patchy or flakey whole day and take my sweet little massage time and then finish it off with an SPF-50 at least.

Now Coming to hard days when my skin is in its worst phase. I take little extra care of it and always apply GlamGlow mask combination of different problems on my face and spray a good amount of rose water on face and then rub it off with rose water. I then apply Estee Lauder ANR generously on my face and Kiehls eye cream under my eye and give it a really good massage and then see my skin thanking me 🙂

This was my side of skin care routine and If you have read till here, I want to thank you for your precious time and that makes my life a little more awesome. Keep shining, keep glowing XOXO

[lyravega]

@meddyisme Thank you for sharing this with us! 

[gingerleigh]

I posted in this thread a little over a year ago, and I have made some progress so I thought I'd check in. I'm now 45 and I have issues with redness and hyperpigmentation.

My New Year's resolution was to focus on skincare. The first thing I did was step up my UV protection routine. I don't think I have skipped sunblock a single day this year, and most days I have reapplied it 2 or more times throughout the sunlight hours.

After I got that habit well established, I started working on making skin treatments a steady AM/PM routine. I haven't stuck with any particular brand, I've been trying to use up deluxe samples and I've been buying things on sale, but I've been using Vit C products, retinols and AHA's.

It's really starting to pay off. I have a pic here in which you can see my undamaged skin mostly along the hairline and jawline, and sun-damaged skin in the center of my face.

The stripe of undamaged skin used to be narrower, and the sun-damaged part used to be worse. I can begin to see individual freckles again, and fewer conjoined ones.

Also, my lower cheeks have almost completely stopped flushing and burning, and that used to be a nearly daily occurrence. The "shadow" of the flare-up area, the part that stays reddish all the time, has shrunk as well, and now there is a V-shaped inroad of healthier skin at the top of it.

This is all really motivating, and it feels sort of like slowly peeling off a mask. I'm prepared for the results to top out at some point, and I know that skincare products aren't going to fix everything, I'm just happy they are working at all!

[Anonymous]

Same! I’m younger but have scarring and texture. Sunscreen a couple years ago helped and now I am conquering redness and texture with the help of treatments. Many from the Sephora boxes, but exfolikate is my one purchased item. The others are vitamin c serums and rosehip oil. Rosehip oil seems to have helped with the redness the most. The acids help with the texture. A retinol is my next step.

[gingerleigh]

Update crosspost about sticking to mineral sunscreens -- summary: This is totally working for me, and I see some healing happening too, but I do find I need to moisturize quite a bit more. The mineral sunscreens I'm using are drying out my skin but I have plenty of moisturizer to combat that effect.

Those subdermal patches on my lower cheeks near my jawline have not flared up since I stopped using all chemical sunscreens. One day they almost flared up when I took a face-down 15 minute afternoon nap (maybe because I trapped heat between the pillow and my face?) -- they were about 10% redder than what is usual now. Another day when I felt especially stressed in the afternoon, my face felt warm like my cheeks were going to flare up, but a mirror check showed they had not turned red at all.

And over time I am seeing some healing. I have a brown spot on my right cheek which I got from my first foray into AHA's way back in 2003, thanks to not taking it seriously about strict sunblock use after a chemical peel. It had already decreased in size quite a bit over time, and it is more like a big freckle now. But the thing is, I haven't been able to see it for over 2 years due to the redness I had. I can see it again. A very strange thing to feel excited about, but there it is.

The mineral sunscreens I'm using are:

Clinique Pep-Start Daily UV Protector Broad Spectrum SPF 50

https://www.sephora.com/product/pep-start-daily-uv-protector-broad-spectrum-spf-50-P415773

Drunk Elephant Umbra™ Sheer Physical Daily Defense Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 30

https://www.sephora.com/product/umbra-tm-sheer-physical-daily-defense-broad-spectrum-sunscreen-spf-3...

Ugh the tagging is not working for me...

I have the tinted Umbra in a sample size from last year's Sun Safety kit, which I am finishing up.

I am also using 3 kinds of Coola -- the SPF 50 Body Lotion, the Mineral Sun Silk Creme, and the Daydream Mineral Primer.

I think I like the DE non-tinted one the most so far. 3 ounces for $34 is the best deal of all of these, and it rubs in the most easily and is the one with the healthiest ingredients.

[eccobella]

I'm a Derm nurse (and obviously skincare obsessed) and I just wanted give your regimen a thumbs up! Sun protection, retinols, vit C & AHAs are all excellent for fighting aging & treating pigmentation concerns. Some hydroquinone (2% is all you can get OTC) will definitely help further fade pigmentation. If you're open to it and really want to step up your results you could see a Dermatologist to get on a prescription retinoid (like generic Retin-A) or a prescription retinoid & hydroquinone combo. As far as your redness it looks like you may have a mild (& improving) case of rosacea for which there isn't much you can do OTC unfortunately, so if you want further improvement there I'd recommend seeing a Derm. Keep up your excellent skincare 🙂 

[gingerleigh]

Thank you! @eccobella

Retinoid treatments are the kind I've used the least so far, so I'm still hoping for some OTC results there. I went to a dermatologist in 2015 and was given a Metrogel prescription which I never really started using. I will go see a dermatologist again probably soon, and ask for some other prescriptions! I appreciate the recommendations!

[PinkEvergreen]

@gingerleigh I was prescribed Metrogel as well for the last 8 years that I had rosacea. I can assure you that it’s quite gentle, has no discernible fragrance, and is pretty effective. However, it never fully cleared things up for me. The effects seemed very surface-limited. 

I see that you saw my other posts where I discussed what worked for me. There IS such a thing as life after chronic rosacea, so definitely keep going 😊 I haven’t used Metrogel in two years now — not because I didn’t like it, but because I don’t need it anymore. I have deep, long-lasting results now and rosacea is nothing more than a memory for me (albeit a pretty cruddy one). My skin is completely healed and the painful prickling is long gone. I wish the same results to you ❤️

[gingerleigh]

 Thank you! I saw you use the Hot Springs from UD,  I actually have some of that and plan to start trying it again as soon as I can get my hands on it. It is still in Seattle along with most of my stuff. I'll be heading back out there soon, finishing this move, and shopping my stash for other products you mentioned as well. Can't wait to have all my things again 🙂

@PinkEvergreen

[PinkEvergreen]

@gingerleigh That simple UD gel was the beginning of the end of my rosacea, so I will forever have a soft spot for it ❤️ It was the first product that my skin tolerated long-term, and it started the healing process.

From there I was able to add other products, but I still use it regularly because it has almost a “resetting effect” on my skin. CAUDALIE - Grape Water was also a big help in the beginning. I don’t need it anymore, but it helped calm things down when my skin freaked out. Now, my skin freak-out saviour is FIRST AID BEAUTY - 5 in 1 Bouncy Mask.

Keep me posted on your progress if you feel like it 😊

[gingerleigh]

I love Grape Water and I loved the deluxe samples of Bouncy Mask that I tried.

I actually spaced out the night before last when I was drying my hair, and left an AHA on my decollete and face for way too long, got a chemical burn on my chest. Not on my face, though it needed some pampering too. I slathered on Ultra Repair Cream but it wasn't enough.

My Grape Water is in Seattle with all my other stuff...it works like nothing else to calm down this type of reaction. Burning, itching, bright red.

After dinner last night I went out and got the last can of Grape Water they had at the SiJCP near me. At first we could only find a small tester and I grabbed it and sprayed it all over and said Ahhhh. My skin was halfway back to normal before we left the store.

@PinkEvergreen

[PinkEvergreen]

@gingerleigh I would have had the same reaction. I’m glad you were able to locate an emergency supply of Grape Water!! 😁

I’ve got tons of samples of AHA and similar treatments and I’m sooo careful with them. I don’t use them more than once per month (which is why I still have so many) because my skin starts prickling when I use them even for 2-3 minutes. Prickling is my skin’s warning sign that if I push even a little more, a minor disaster will be right around the corner. 

Speaking of which, my OLEHENRIKSEN - Cold Plunge Pore Mask is starting to prickle. Time to put down the phone and rinse it off pronto! 😅

[snoflakefaerie]

@gingerleigh that’s really awesome you are seeing results. I have also found my skin responded well to the same things, but I haven’t been as successful experimenting with different brands. I found a few products that work and if I stray from them, my skin kind of weirds out. I’m happy that at least somethings are working, but I have so many samples I wish I could try that I’m too afraid to!