Please read and give feedback (esp. Dan and the Mods)

Ok an idea popped into my head as I was getting ready for work and looking at my bathroom counter filled with products. A lot of people ask for advice about a product and they get lots of different answers. One person says they used product xyz and it worked great. So you think about buying it.
But then another person says product xyz is crap and made them break out like no tomorrow. Now what? I'm sure both people that recommended the product (or not) had good intentions and that they were telling the truth from their experience. Unfortunately there is no magic bullet that will work for everyone.
My idea is this. How about we create classicfications for skin types? And then once we roughly create that, you can post your recommendation (good or bad) but also list what type of skin you have so that others with similar skin can get more accurate feedback and find out what to expect?
For example, I'd say that I'm oily skin prone, doesn't easy get sunburned, and do not have sensitive skin. Now everyone won't fit into every catagory neatly and perfectly, but atleast you have some direction instead of aimlessly trying every product out there. What do you think?

-Snake

Retin-A Micro & MINOCYCLINE

Well here's the deal. My acne is not severe, but I decided to go to the derm since I was never able to get myself 100% clear using the regimen or countless OTC products. First of all, HMO's suck. I saw the doctor for total of about 2 minutes. I had to ask him what the side effects were, if I need to take the medicine with food, if I need to wear sunscreen etc. Anyways he prescribed me retin-a micro and minocycline. I'll keep tabs on how it works out. Seems like most people on this board have had limited, if any success with retin-a micro and I don't really see posts on minocycline. Anyone who has used both in combination is encouraged to share their exp. with it.

-Snake

For users of Vita K/Pan Oxyl (or BP): A Question

After using a cleanser, which of these do you typically use first? Also do you use a moisturizer?

Acne Medication Junkies?

I just wanted to know one thing. How many people that participate regularly are actually "free and clear?" In my view we're all junkies. We're all addicted to the thrill of hope, reading about the latest "miracle" cure that will free us from the thing that torments us the most. We get our hopes up, then it gets crushed when we find out what we bought is a cleverly marketed, handsomely packed P.O.S. (that's Piece Of Shit). Yet despite this, we continue to look and look (and spend and spend). Squandering our money and our spirits. Ok, granted for some people, some treatments work. And it'sn logical that we can't find what works unless we try. I know that. But can you really try them all? There are literally thousands of so called "money back guarantee cures". And just how do we know that people that are posting their "success" with a product are really telling the truth? We don't know them. We see no pictures. How do we know that they are not inflitrating sites like this one to merely sell their products to a vulverable group of consumers. I'm not talking about the regulars (gaz, mercer,garkee, etc.). For them it's an easy sale. Why? Because we are motivated to try anything that might help. They know our self esteem is damaged. They know how much we loathe acne. They know that it would give us a lot of pleasure if we could get rid of it. Almost foolproof. They don't need to show us how miserable we are, they already know. All they need to do is show us their product that promises to take away our pain. What it boils down to is this. We try to do anything in life to avoid pain, or gain pleasure, in some form or another. Whether is physical pain/pleasure or emotional pain/pleasure. I'm not trying to be negative. Just trying to open your eyes and rant about the way I see things. Someone once said, "There is not such thing as reality; only our precieption of reality" Which means we all see the world though our own personal set of filters. The experience we call life or reality is the sum of all the experiences, pain, pleasure, etc. that we have gone through in life. I will honestly say I do not have the courage to let go. To let all things that truely do not matter slide. I was, like many of you, taught to want and consume almost from birth. Hopefully, we will someday become aware of what really matters most to us.

-Snake

Hitting Bottom

As another day starts, I look in the mirror and curse this plague that I cannot rid myself of. I read and research the vast universe of the internet in hopes of finding something that will actually work. Instead I am bombared with thousands of products, all claiming that if I give them my VISA or MASTERCARD number I can too be beautiful like the people on their websites. All of them with numerous "testimonials" and "30 day money back guarantees". All of them supposedly "the results of years of research by the top doctors in the field of skin care". Full of pictures of beautiful and flawless faces, all smiling and happy. My opinion is that they could bottle of some monkey crap, put it on a infomercial, put it in attactive packaging and it would sell like hotcakes. Some of these products work, most don't. Most of them know that we will not go and return the item. Even if we do, we have lost money because we had to pay for shipping for them to send it to us, and sending it back. Some companies even charge a 10-20% restocking fee on top of that. So essentially we get back jack shit. 30 day guarantee. That doesn't mean shit to me anymore. 30 days when? For some companies, it's 30 days from when you order it (and sometimes it takes them weeks just to send the damn thing). For some you have to return it within 30 days to recieve a refund, if you get one at all. Have you also noticed most of these products that do have a 30 day refund policy also state that "it may take from 3-12 weeks of continous usage to see best results" WTF. Their 30 day return policy doesn't even allow you to give their products a fair shot. Why would they do that? Again, it's because they know most people are simply too lazy to return it. Think about it. How many of you out there have a shelf full of products that you didn't return? Maybe you didn't want to wait in line at the post office. Maybe you were too busy. Maybe you lost the reciept. Maybe you had to call and be put on hold for hours to obtain a "return merchandise authorization number". Frankly I've had it. Deliver me from perfect skin and white teeth. Deliver me from clever art. Deliver me from Swedish funiture! Can't you see that we are all dillusioned into thinking we can all be beautiful and rich by buying the shit that they advertise to us. Everyday we are taught what we "need" to be happy and successful. Yes drive a BMW and you'll be a proud owner of the "Ultimate Driving Machine". Use Proactiv and you'll have the perfect flawless skin of a super model. Intellectually, we all know this is so bullshit. Yet humans are not creatures of logic, but emotion. We all want to be admired by our peers. We all want to be attactive to the opposite (or I guess in some cases same) sex. They (advertisers) know this. They have us trained like Pavlov's dog. Ring a bell. Salivate. Some commericial or nice website, get them to buy, to consume. I say may I never me perfect. I say may I never be complete. Let's let the chips fall where they may and let's evolve. If these lines make you think Tyler Durden (a la Fight Club) you're right. Whatever you own ends up owning you. You have to let go. That's what I'm doing. I'm sick of being a slave to my soap. I'm sick of being a sucker to anyone hocking some treatment for my acne. Fuck them all. I want to set myself free. I know it would be difficult to do so in a culture where so much emphasis is placed on externalities, but I think it's the only way of preserving my sanity and dignity.