sun screen recs if you please...

hey everyone, just wondering if you lovely helpful people could let me know what sunscreens you all use in the summer months? im just about to go on hol and im going to be needing some sunscreen, preferably spf30 or higher as i use bp and want to make sure im well protected! im going to use edm natrual reflections as well on top, so would like something that sits well under make up and obviously doesnt break people out!

thanks in advance everyone

A general and probably very obvious question

...in a nutshell, how does birth control work? what does it do to your hormone levels? i was reading the other day about the reason some womens skin gets worse before their period is due to the increase of progesterone and decrease of estrogen after ovulation. however i then remembered im sure ive read that what bcp pills does, is keep your hormone levels at a constant steady level throughout the month, no big ovulation increase etc and no rising progesterone. this is how it stops your getting pregnant.

if this is true, surely women on bcp shouldnt experience a particular pre period outbreak as there is no hormonal change? i know effectiveness of pills depends on the progesterone in them etc but whether or not it works to help your acne, is it right that what acne you have should stay pretty constant in relation to your period, as there are no normal hormonal changes?

please feel free or jump in and tell me im completely wrong about this, i get pre period flares myself, though im on the pill and was just trying to figure out the logic of it. and of course this was the first place i came!

mineral make up changing colour!

hey, quick question to all the mineral makeup users, im still struggling to get this right, it feels like its so much better for my skin so i really want to continue using but but having some teething problems! basically im still stuggling to find my colour and im finding that though it looks ok when i put it on, when im done by the end of the day (sometimes about 12hrs of make up wear) my problem area (where i reapply during the day) looks a completely different colour to the rest of my face. it often looks quite grey and ashen while the rest of my face looks pinkish. not a good luck im sure you can imagine! it looks ok when i first put it on but do you think this could be because ive got the wrong colour? i think the fact i dont reapply other than in my problem area means a lot of the foundation has worn off from there, making the other bit look another colour, is this just the mineral makeup changing colour from long wear or have i got the wrong colour? i really hope that switching colour will be the answer as i need something that will last 12hrs+
anyone know if it turning grey means anything specific? like its too yellow undertoned or something? ive been using lily lolo stuff with a neutral undertone as i found the cool ones a little too pink

thanks in advance for any replies, i dont know what id do without these boards!

does mineral make up cause dry skin?

hey everyone, ok so im kind of having troubles with my mineral makeup. im on dans regimen (have been for about 2.5 months) and until recently was using liquid make up, which stayed on my skin ok but tended to show up little flakes that are kind of inevitable with bp usage. so 2 weeks ago i started using neutrogena healthy skin with aha every other night to try and exfoliate away the dryness.

also about a week ago i decided to try using mineral makeup, as i think liquid may be breaking me out. im using stuff from lily lolo in the uk but hopefully will be getting my everyday minerals samples soon. anyway first few days it looked sooo nice, i was absolutely in love, lasted perfectly for about 11 hours or so. however today i wore it and my skin has been so horribly dry, it just cakes onto it and produces these huge horrible flakes making it really obvious that im wearing loads of make up. eventually i had to use liquid concealer over it to try and calm it down.

so my question is, can wearing mineral make up be drying my skin out more? ive worn it for about 12 hours a couple of days, is this really bad for the skin? im using jojoba and a really good moisturiser but it doesnt seem to be working. i really want to find someway to make it work as i love the minerals so much! maybe everyday minerals will be a better formula? or could it be that im applying too many layers? (i am applying quite a few as dont have a good concealer at the mo)

any help would be so gratefully recieved! anyone else here had success with either dans regimen and minerals or just super dry skin and minerals?

clinique foundation and pore clogging ingrediants

hi, i'd be so greatful if anyone could help me out here, ive been using clinique superbalanced make up which is oil free and on the website claims to be non acnegenic but i thought id check through the ingrediants anyway on the zerozits comedogenic list. they were all pretty much fine but right down at the end, probably about the 20th ingrediant, was sodium chloride, which is rated a 5 in comedogenic-ness! does this mean i should stop using it, or is it in such minimal quantities that it shouldnt matter? has anyone else had problems with this foundation?

any suggestions for good liquid foundations that can be bought in the uk would be really appreciated! thanks everyone