Product whore turns a new trick

[deebubs 0]

Skin update: still doing pretty well, but the pores on my nose and chin are definitely congested, probably because I am mid-cycle this week. :|

Finally made it back to the gym today. Yoga class totally kicked my butt ..... while I've been lying in bed deteriorating for the past three weeks, my class has been moving on to increasingly difficult stretches and exercises. I was extremely shaky today, to say the least, but managed to stagger upstairs afterwards and crank out 40 minutes on the elliptical. So I guess I'm not quite dead yet.

Hi LionQueen. Are you using any eye cream or moisturizer for the skin under your eyes. I have been using various eye creams...to help moisturize the skin around the eyes and miminize lines. (I'm in my early 30s) Skin in that area is soo sensitive compared to the rest of my face. I want to put some sort of moisturizer but won't cause me to breakout in small bumps. Here is my history: I've used vaseline gel..which causes small bumps around the eyes (millia) so I stopped...Millia finally disappeared after 6 months. I then tried bobbi brown eye cream..but made my eye concealer not stick on the skin...at the end of the day it resided on the creases.. (awful...made me look really old and haggered at the end of the day). Currently using Lancome (purple jar)...good...but doesn't seems to moisturize the skin under the eyes...feel like it is just on the skin..and noticing a few bumps again..but not as much as the vaseline gel... Please advise if you know any. Thanks.

[LionQueen 40]

Most of the time I just use GC under my eyes (I've been using it so long, I can do that). If the skin there starts getting dry or flaky I use Creme de la Mer until it goes back to normal .... but if you are prone to milia, I don't think I'd recommend that for you.

My advice is to look for an undereye serum rather than a cream, but I don't have any specific recommendations ... sorry! You might scout around on www.cosmeticscop.com and makeup alley ....

[deebubs 0]

Most of the time I just use GC under my eyes (I've been using it so long, I can do that). If the skin there starts getting dry or flaky I use Creme de la Mer until it goes back to normal .... but if you are prone to milia, I don't think I'd recommend that for you.

My advice is to look for an undereye serum rather than a cream, but I don't have any specific recommendations ... sorry! You might scout around on www.cosmeticscop.com and makeup alley ....

Thanks for your fast response LionQueen. I'll check out the website...serum...I never thought of using a serum before...hmmmm.....will look into that also. Gosh...I misspelled milia..at least you still understood what I was talking abt. BTW, I enjoy reading your log....it's both informative and entertaining...I've learned alot and laughed alot.

[ZoeBee 0]

You advised fish oil....I went looking for it on the weekend and found lots of different kinds of fish oil, salmon, cod etc which one would you suggest? Instead I bought Evening Primrose Oil since I remember reading it was great. Can I combine a few different kinds together or would that be a bad idea? How many do you take in a day?

Evening Primrose oil is actually omega-6s, whereas fish oils provide omega-3s. I eat a fair amount of nuts and seeds, so my diet is pretty high in omega-6s already ..... I take the fish oils to balance out the ratio.

Salmon is good .... I am not sure about cod, haven't researched it at all. I take 6 capsules a day, 2 per meal.

Thanks LQ - for some reason I thought i posted this in your pinned thread about bumps no wonder I couldn't find it anywhere! I think I eat enough Omega 6 in my diet as well, maybe I should switch. Is salmon the one that you are taking?

Thanks a bunch.

[LionQueen 40]

The last bottle I took was just called "fish oil" but the current batch is salmon oil.

I think Trader Joe's was out of "fish oil" last time I was there, so I bought the salmon oil instead .... this was not a scientifically determined decision.

[LionQueen 40]

Started Advil today to combat the mid-cycle crap ... a few microzits popped up in my T-zone this AM, mostly on my chin. Nothing was inflamed, and they all disappeared after cleansing, but I think some others might be waiting under the skin.

Not seeing any effects from the Jan Marini eyelash stuff yet ... I think it's been a couple of weeks now and my eyelashes still look totally ordinary. Sticking with it, though not with very high hopes.

[LionQueen 40]

Fabulous skin day today ... the Aleve took care of all the annoying mid-cycle stuff.

Something I've been meaning to post here: my regimen is somewhat complicated right now, owing to my workout schedule. I don't want to explain the whole scheme in my signature, so I'm putting it down in here.

Anyway, this is what I'm actually doing 4-5 days/week:

Evening routine: cleanse/exfoliate, BHAs, GC-9, HA/emu.

First thing in the AM: GC-6.

Then I go to the gym, work out, come home ...

Shower/cleanse, lactic acid if needed, Triple C serum, HA/emu/TiO2.

The reason for this is that I want to use GC twice a day whenever possible, but I don't really like the way it looks on my skin ... too shiny and sticky. Doesn't matter at the gym, but if I'm getting fixed up for the day, I don't want GC on my face. So there are some days when I'm only using GC once, because I shower and get fixed up first thing in the AM.

[LionQueen 40]

Skin is OK today, not as great as yesterday. The chin crap kinda caught up with me, despite the Aleve. It's like tiny bubbles of white matter under the skin.

I shouldn't complain, given what my skin used to be like, but this little stuff bugs me anyway.

[willow569 7]

Skin is OK today, not as great as yesterday. The chin crap kinda caught up with me, despite the Aleve. It's like tiny bubbles of white matter under the skin.

I shouldn't complain, given what my skin used to be like, but this little stuff bugs me anyway. :doubt:

Yeah, I'm the same way. Even the little stuff you can feel, but not really see, bugs me - I know nobody can see it, but I know its there!

[LionQueen 40]

I'm pretty sure that the problems with my chin are caused by irritation. It's not an actual breakout ... just a bunch of peeling skin and these teeny, teeny little bubbles of white matter under the skin. The result is an uneven texture to my chin; no major problems, but all of the tiny ones add up to rough-looking skin.

Anyway, I'm giving my chin at least one day off from active products, maybe two.

[LionQueen 40]

Well, I figured out what is REALLY wrong with my chin.

I'm going out tonight for drinks and dinner .... therefore my skin is freaking out.

It isn't bad, it really isn't. But it was SO PERFECT a couple days ago .... before I made the reservations ....

[kaylaah 0]

wat exactly is jessfoliation?

[LionQueen 40]

wat exactly is jessfoliation?

Exfoliation with a soft synthetic brush.

[LionQueen 40]

Skin is much calmer today ... chin just needs to finish healing. Still looks a little rough, though not discolored. The rest of my face looks really good.

It's been really warm and humid the last few days, and my face has been kind of shiny ....

I'm tempted to start using mandelic acid again ..... just not on my chin, since the mandelic irritates me more than the BHAs.

[Lorrie 5]

Hi Queen! I finally received my BHA lotion today, eleven days after I ordered it. I am excited. I am going to start it tonight. This last week was a rough one. I finally got the IB and it was ugly but my skin is healing up again. The last 3-4 days my pores have been purging alot of white gunk. I mean alot. A couple times I looked in the mirror at work and saw white crap sitting on the surface of my skin. That is so gross. Thank God I work with a bunch of women and we have all seen each other on our bad days. It's not so bad when you see the same people every day, not like workin with the public. Anyways, since my skin has already started to purge the white crap, I am hoping that I will only have a mild IB with the start of the BHA. Do you have any idea how soon it will be before I see this? I know I already asked you this next question but for the life of me I cant find which thread it was posted on. How long after applying the BP should I wait before applying the BHA lotion? Thanks for your patience Queen!

Oh, I am happy to see you survived the cold Wisconsin winter. I bet you are glad its over. I live in Michigan and I know I am glad its over. It was 80 here today. I am sittin at my desk with the sunshine coming through the window and I am loving it.

[LionQueen 40]

How long after applying the BP should I wait before applying the BHA lotion?

gosh, I don't remember being asked this before. I don't have any experience using BP. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes?

You might scout around the DKR instructions and see what they say about moisturizing after the BP goes on. Perhaps there is no wait time at all.

[LionQueen 40]

The right side of my chin is back to normal ... the left is still rough, though healing. I'm not using any acids on it, just GC.

My face has looked really shiny the past couple days, for the first time in a long time. I have no idea what is going on with it.

[Lorrie 5]

How long after applying the BP should I wait before applying the BHA lotion?

gosh, I don't remember being asked this before. I don't have any experience using BP. Maybe 5 or 10 minutes?

You might scout around the DKR instructions and see what they say about moisturizing after the BP goes on. Perhaps there is no wait time at all.

Oh no, maybe it was Snowqueen I had asked. I am sorry. Thanks anyways! Lorrie

[Lorrie 5]

LionQueen! We miss you! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday with your family but we certainly look forward to your return to the boards. We miss your much appreciated and valuable advice! Lorrie

[mskitty 0]

Hey LionQueen! Just a quick question for you, since your comedonal acne seems similar to mine. Have you had any luck with facial extractions?

My comedones are coming out since I have been using PC 2% BHA as well as tazorac. Instead of picking at them and ruining my face like I have been, I have been toying with the idea of getting a facial but wasn't sure how helpful they would be?

[LionQueen 40]

Thanks, Lorrie!

Kitty: a facial sounds like a good idea if you have an aesthetician you trust. Call your derm's office and see if there's an aesthetician affiliated with them, or someone they regularly refer patients to.

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UPDATE .... I'm just coming off a couple weeks of truly crappy skin. I can't attribute it to any one thing in particular ... more like a perfect storm of hormones, travel, interrupted sleep, bad diet, sunscreen, irregular hydration, and not keeping up with my supplements or my topicals. I didn't get any big pimples, just repeated attacks of microzits on my nose and chin, but it was thoroughly annoying.

So now I'm trying to get back on track. My skin actually looks really good today, although three new minimicrozits are emerging on my chin. I've learned the hard way not to mess with these little ones .... they almost always pop and pretty much disappear during cleansing, so long as I leave them alone aside from that.

I haven't been using the BHAs or lactic acid at all for the past couple weeks, because these attacks of the microzits generally indicate that my system is out of whack, and it's best to use minimal treatments when this happens .... otherwise my face just gets angrier and more irritated. So for the time being I am sticking with the enzyme cleanser, GC, and Triple C serum.

I used Shiseido sunscreen while we were in Mexico, and my face didn't like it at all. So I've just ordered the Jan Marini untinted sunscreen .... the tinted stuff didn't look right on me, but maybe this one will work out. I also got more of the enzyme cleanser, as well as the enzyme mask (it's called Skin Zyme). My skin will tolerate enzymes for exfoliation when it can't handle acids.

My husband accidentally broke my last bottle of mandelic acid while we were in Mexico, so I've just re-ordered that as well ... am going to try using it again when the summer humidity kicks in. I saw that the NuCelle line is available on Amazon and was tempted .... down, product whore, down! ..... but am sticking with the Garden of Wisdom serums for now.

Finally .... I tried TCA CROSS on my nasolabial scar again. The pits have pretty well filled in from the last few CROSSes, but the fissures between the pits are still there. This time I tried CROSSing a fissure ... and it seems to be working. The scab fell off a few days ago, and already the fissure looks softer and shallower. I'm going to give it some more time and then CROSS all of the fissures at once.

[LionQueen 40]

Trying a new approach again ....

I'm still trying to solve the problem of my congested pores, which mainly show up on my nose, though I also get a few on my forehead and chin. Mandelic acid helped with these, as did the PC BHAs, but neither one kept them entirely clear .... they'd still fill up once or twice a month.

The only thing that has ever cleared my pores entirely was Retin A, when I first used it about 12 years ago. So I'm trying to use Retin A Micro again, but only on my nose and forehead. I don't think the rest of my face can handle it.

My chin I am pretty much leaving alone, aside from cleansing and Green Cream. The mini-micro-zits continue to come and go; I don't touch them, they mostly disappear during cleansing, and then a few more show up. Since I can only see them in the magnifying mirror, I'm assuming they are invisible to the rest of the world.

I'm putting the BHAs and lactic acid aside for the time being and using enzyme products to exfoliate. With the cold weather gone, flakiness hasn't been a problem for me for the past several weeks, so I think this will be sufficient.

If all goes well for the next week or so, I'll update my signature again.

[A-Shizzle 0]

ah, if only i had your log writing skills.

[zapha 0]

where has everyone gone no one seems to be posting anymore

[~Bobbi~ 0]

Queen

where

are

you?

I know I've been MIA for a while.....truthfully I just haven't been thinking about my skin which I guess is a good thing! Means it must not be too bad.

Hope all is well with you:)