Skin care. La!

[mollyringle]

LJ is being slackerific and not sending me notification emails for many comments people have left. So, if I haven't answered you, it's nothing personal; I probably just haven't discovered you said anything.

In any case, I am in a good mood again, and I still like you all, so no worries! Moving on from that LJ-Drama-ness to a new topic:

Ladies, how about some suggestions for skin care products? I'd been using the Proactiv stuff on the recommendation of a couple people, but I think it's more medicine than I need. I'm almost 29, so the occasional spots are dwindling, and I've never had very bad acne anyway. However, my skin does seem to be sensitive, and prone to break out when stuff irritates it - like the excessive medication in Proactiv. I swear my forehead did not used to have these tiny bumps on it. Also, the moisturizer makes me shiny.

Thus, I have discontinued my use of their products, and am in search of something else. Anyone know a good cleanser, toner, and/or moisturizer for sensitive and slightly-oily skin? Prefer it to be oil-free, but if it's tea tree oil then that's okay, as long as it works and is not shiny. In fact, I can probably find the cleanser and toner on my own (I *heart* Cetaphil); it's the moisturizer that's the real challenge. Will browse MakeupAlley in the meantime.

Grammar annoyance of the day: KEXP, who I love as a station, keeps having their DJ's say "Let everyone you know about KEXP." That is not a complete sentence. Should be "Let everyone you know know about KEXP." Or, preferably, "Tell everyone you know about KEXP." Thought it was just a once-off mistake, but now I've heard it again and again, from different DJ's. Makes me wonder if it's intentional. Guess it worked; I just gave them free advertising.

Comments

[partywhipple.livejournal.com]

Not being a woman, perhaps I shouldn't answer your woman specific question, but I will anyway. Use a gentle soap like Dove with moisturizer in it. Don't use medicine, it will dry out your skin and as we get older the damage will not heal well if at all. And don't worry about blemishes, everyone gets them. Just my $.02...

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Actually, now that I look at the MakeupAlley reviews for Dove, its moisturizers have gotten pretty good marks from the girls. A simple drugstore brand like that would be great. I think the most effective treatment for blemishes is keeping my dang hands off them, anyway. :)

[partywhipple.livejournal.com]

Yep, you play you pay :)

[celtic4.livejournal.com]

Well, the skin care company that I absolutely love (and am periodically able to afford) is Biotherm. Whoa. Great stuff. I have sensitive combination skin, and it works wonderfully. I use their line made for sensitive skin, and so far the products that I've got are a toner, a night cream, a couple of lip glosses, and some body lotion. Working my way up to buying the day moisturizer, though. XDDD

I like the products because they're light and moisturize very well...plus they don't irritate my skin at all and they make pores practically invisible, especially if I use the toner and the night cream in tandem. The only thing that I don't like about their products is that the fragrance is a little strong...but that dissipates.

If you don't want to spend this much (figure $30 or more for each significant product like toner or moisturizer...$12 for lip gloss, etc.), then I also have had good results with Oil of Olay products, which I use to fill in the gaps with my Biotherm products. Olay has a fabulous moisturizer with sunscreen I use every day.

Hope this helped a bit. ^^

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I've heard good things about Biotherm. May have to see if I can find it. Upscale dept. stores, perhaps?

The $30 range is a bit high, but not too bad considering I just read a review for some product that was $225 a bottle. Egads. Don't think I'll be resorting to that until I'm a millionaire.

[celtic4.livejournal.com]

Good lord. What was it, Creme de la Mer or something? O_o;;;

I buy Biotherm stuff at Macy's. They have a website too, I believe. www.biotherm.com or something like that. XD

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Don't remember what it was. Something with a relatively foreign name, which I hadn't heard of. And at those prices, I won't be reading much else about them either. :) Think I'm going to start cheap, and work my way gradually more expensive if the cheaper stuff makes my complexion turn horrid or anything.

[celtic4.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're going to go the inexpensive route then I really do recommend Olay. Their Total Effects moisturizer/sunscreen and Regenerist serum are better than any of the more expensive brands I've tried so far.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Good good. :) I ended up with Olay Complete All-day moisturizer for sensitive skin. Quite easy to take so far.

[celtic4.livejournal.com]

Yay! Hope it works out for you. ^_^

[dirae.livejournal.com]

I use Aveeno Positively Radiant Cleanser, with moisture-rich soy extracts. I have extremely sensitive skin and this is wonderful - plus it evens out one's tone. Aveeno Skin Brightening Daily Moisturizer or Aveeno Radiant Skin Daily Moisturizer are also swell. Something else I cannot live without: Burt's Bees Healthy Treatment Rosewater & Glycerin Toner For Sensitive and Mature Skin.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Cool - I'll have a look at the Aveeno in the drugstore. Always helps to be able to find the stuff easily and not have to special-order it.

Mmm, rosewater. I've got some other brand of rosewater toner (forget the name at the moment), and just love it.

[jazzypoet.livejournal.com]

I've used Positively Radiant by Aveeno, too, and it works nicely. :-) I'm always open for recommendations in skin care, too, so this is a fascinating conversation!

*hugs* Take care, M!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Cool - I'll let you guys know if I find a wonder product, then. You might enjoy browsing the product reviews at MakeupAlley. Honest reviews from honest customers - it's like Amazon.com for beauty products. :) That's where I discovered the Theorema, too...

[jazzypoet.livejournal.com]

Really? How fascinating! Thanks for the link, I'll definitely have to check it out. *hugs*

Skin Care Heaven

[jaynefury.livejournal.com]

Head yourself down to the local Aveda (http://www.aveda.com/) clinic for a lovely facial and some good advice. Not only is it a wonderful treat for yourself but it's cruelty free cosmetics that work and smell nice. It's all botanicals.

I have very sensitive skin so I know it's gentle. If you have oily skin, it means that the underlying skin is extrememly dry. Your other option and I kid you not, is Mary Kay, their sensitive/oily/dry skin line is above par and it supports home based businesses of Mothers that want to be moms AND empower themselves.

Re: Skin Care Heaven

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I do like the smell of the Aveda samples I've gotten so far. May have to look into that.

And, conveniently, there's a Mary Kay gal who works here, so I may have to ask her about the products too. Thanks!

[jennae.livejournal.com]

On LJ Comments - http://www.livejournal.com/community/lj_maintenance/85333.html

Kiss My Face makes GREAT skin-care products (as well as other types of products - my personal fave is their shaving gel, the BEST EVER). I have a similar complexion as you've described and everything I've used of theirs has been grand. :)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Heh, be seeing some old comments, will we? Good good.

I had some Kiss My Face lotion a while back, and liked it quite a bit. I'll see what I can find in the stores around here.

[(Anonymous)]

From Jen (http://www.freakinjen.us/weblog.php)...

Before I turned 35 (I'm now 37), I used Ivory soap and regular Oil of Olay moisturizer, no toner. I have pretty clear skin, with an oily T - it worked well. After 35, I'm less oily and more sensitive, so I switched to Dove beauty bar soap and Oil of Olay for sensitive skin moisturizer. It's about perfect.

I can also recommend Mary Kay products - if I had the dough that's what I'd use. I do pony up the money for their liquid foundation, which I love and lasts long enough to make the cost worth it.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Cool - that's about exactly what I ended up with. Trying sensitive Dove bar (switching off with Cetaphil) for now, with a fragrance-free Olay moisturizer. So far so good.

Buria

[(Anonymous)]

Right now, my entire face is coming off, due to this crazy acidic cream my dermatologist prescribed me. Maybe she's trying to get me to shed my old skin, Bob knows. Yeesh. But the effective (but slow as hell) way to clear skin is homeopathy, which is this ancient Indian herbal system, so it's not damaging. I hope I don't sound hokey or new-age, as an Indian kid, I know it's always been the first thing my parents have turned to. It's not suspiciously miraculous- after seeing a homeopathic practitioner, you get five different bottles of five different kinds of pellet, and you have to eat each kind on a different time schedule for five or six months. If you're someone capable of sticking with that (I definitely am NOT!), then it really works well, and permanently. :D

[chipleduff.livejournal.com]

Well what do you know...i type into Google "oily skin + ivory soap" to look up some info, and i get a fellow lj user who posts about it. I love this world.:) I see that this post was just about two years ago. But...do you recommend using plain ivory soap for oily skin?? I use these atringents and whatever, but i read just last night that using that stuff only makes your skin produce more oil because those things make it so dry.

BTW...i'm Chip. Nice to meet you.:)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Hiya--I'm Molly; nice to meet you too! :)

I haven't tried Ivory on the face, but instinctively I'd say it might dry out facial skin too much. I still like the bar of Dove facial soap, though--it does a good job cleaning, without leaving my face feeling weird and tight like other bar soaps have. And my skin is fairly oily.

As for "toners" or astringents, yeah, anything with alcohol is supposedly too harsh. Things like rosewater can be nice, but I suppose that might be a little too girly for a guy. :) Just a good cleaner and a good moisturizer is often all you need anyway. Half the time I skip the toner step. These days I moisturize with Kiss My Face Alpha & Aloe Oil-Free Moisturizer, which comes in a huge pump bottle and thus is cheaper than most face moisturizers.

So... Good luck!

[chipleduff.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm not really particular about what's "girly". I've quite the liberal mind...despite being in the military.:)

I recently tried the Kiss My Face hand soap from Old Navy...the Green Tea kind. It's super nice, and it smells really good. I will try this Ivory for a while to see how it goes. It was only 1.89 for three bars, so it's worth a go. I will try the Oil Of Olay next.

Thanks for commenting.:)