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Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:31 pm  |
hello all,
I'm from germany and this is my first post 
I'm interested in the nu-derm system - but here in germany I didn't find any information about the products. I will be glad if someone could help me 
I've got normal to dry (and sensitive!) skin with some spots, hightened pores, irritations and a few even acne-scars.
perhaps nu-derm can help me making the skin newer, brighter - simply soft-skinned? what do you think?
which products do I need? what do I have to consider?
sadly, I found no physician here in germany who knows about obagi. they only recommended some peelings like tca.
yve
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I'm sorry for my horrible english - and hope you understand what I mean  |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:37 pm |
Obagi is a very nice line and don't forget that you have to give it at least three months to see if it is working.
Please feel free to read and search all skincare brands.
Personally I have not used Obagi. I'm sure with time, other EDS members may be able to help you.
Here is the companies web site. I hope this will help you some.
http://www.obagi.com/index.html |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:42 pm |
hi skincare, thanks a lot for answering my questions. I will directly have a look at the homepage you named.
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:43 pm |
| I hope it was helpful but I am sure other EDS members will reply to your post. Just give it time. By the way, I think EDS ships to Germany. |
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Sun Feb 04, 2007 12:55 pm |
yes you are right - I already checked it and shipping is free for orders over 200$  |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:25 am |
hello, it's me again.. I'm sorry for asking for help again, but the forum is my only contact in this case
here are some more special questions I have about using obagi nu-derm:
1. as mentioned before I have normal to dry (and sensitive!) fair skin with some spots, hightened pores, irritations and a few even acne-scars. the complexion is uneven, looks pale and partially reddened. I have no pigment moles or something like that, but two small birth-marks on my right cheek. do you consider the obagi nu-derm the best for getting a new rosy and tender skin?
2. if nu-derm would be the perfect answer to my problems, I'll have to do it on my own because there is no physician here who knows about obagi. do you think that's risky?
3. does the obagi nu-derm skin transformatiion starter set (normal/dry/sensitive skin, 7 items) contains all products I need, would this set be the suitable one? as I can see there is no hydroquinone contained in clear and blender of this set, is this correct?
4. I've got no prescription, so I have to pass on the tretinoin cream (and the hydroquinone of course, too). could this have a adversely affect on the results?
I'll be SO GLAD if someone could help me! 
thanks a lot and best regards from far away germany!
yve |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 8:57 am |
| Hi Yve, I've been using nu-derm for over 2 years, so maybe I can help a bit. Just a few comments from your last post----first, I'm pretty sure Clear and Blender contain Hydroquonine, that ingredient is really the core of both those products. I believe you can get those w/o a RX, even though it is 4%. Secondly, retin-a is the other core ingredient in the program, so you may want to try to get some w/o a prescription. Some of the other folks here may be able to help you --they seem aware of retin-a products and derivitives I'm not familiar with. I have always used the basic retin-a .05% that I purchase at my derms office. Basically the program has you cleanse your skin at night, apply Clear, then mix retin-a with Blender and apply. In the morning, you cleanse, apply Clear again, and then follow with Exfoderm, a mild exfoliant. You can expect some redness and peeling for a while, everyone responds differently---but it's pretty much a given that your skin will initially react. Best results are seen after 6 months, and my results have been great. I no longer need foundation, and my skin is very even toned, and smaller pores. Moisturizers are "optional"---the system prefers you not use them---but I did at first, after the core products were applied. You said your skin is dry and sensitive, so I would be leary of their foaming cleanser---you may do better witha gentler cleanser. Hope this helped a bit! |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 9:12 am |
hi LeeBee,
thank you so much for your answer!!
I'm a little bit confused because I've got absolutely no idea where to get the retin-a w/o a prescription... but all other information sounds good |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:34 am |
I made an appointment with my dermatologist, perhaps he'll prescribe the tretinoin creme. keep your fingers crossed for me  |
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Mon Feb 05, 2007 6:26 pm |
I would not suggest obagi if you have sensitive skin. I had normal skin when I tried the whole obagi regime. It was horrible for me. My skin never got better and the peeling never stopped. I wasn't working at the time so was able to hide in the house. I went out to dinner with family one night (3 months into the regime) and had people pointing at me in the restaurant. It was humilating. I had fissures radiating out from the corners of my mouth from the chewing motion.
If you are not going to use retin-a then your peeling may not be so severe. I would also be worried since your derm is not familiar with obagi. I actually saw Dr Obagi himself for consultation.
I have posted my experience in an obagi thread. Do a board search in the review section and you should be able to get more info. My skin eventually recovered and stopped flushing months after stopping the obagi. |
_________________
~~ super-sensitive, dry, dermatitis prone, rosacea/northern calif ~~ |
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Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:04 am |
today my dermatologist gave me a prescription for "differin cream 0,1%" which contains not tretinoin but adapalen.
I've searched for some information about the cream and found this explanation in an abstract:
"Adapalene 0·1% gel (Differin® gel) is a recently introduced topical treatment for mild to moderate acne which has been demonstrated to be much better tolerated and at least as effective as tretinoin 0·025% gel."
that means that I can use differin instead of tretinoin and that the effect should be the same, correct?
but do I need a cream or a gel to mix it with the blender? or doesn't it make any difference?
greetings from germany
yve |
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Tue Feb 06, 2007 10:09 am |
mtview, thank you for your experience. I've had an appointment with my dermatologist today and told her about my plans with obagi. as mentioned before she has no idea what obagi/nu-derm is but I gave her accordant information. she agreed and told me to call her if I have any problems or questions. but I should use nu-derm for sensitive skin.
I'll keep my fingers crossed that this will be a good decision...  |
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Sun May 27, 2007 11:54 am |
Hello, Yve!! How is the Obagi working for you? I'm considering it, but am worried because my skin is so sensitive, too.
Your English is great, by the way. My husband and I visited Germany last year. We live in the US. We spent time in the Bavarian region. It was beautiful!! I could move there!
Take care. |
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Thu May 31, 2007 7:08 am |
| I don't use Obagi but I have four (older) friends who do. They all have dry skin and it seems to work great for them. But one strange thing I do notice is all of them have a weird pinkish tinge to their skin which is not very natural. I have a feeling that the products exfoliates the skin too much. Be careful because that stuff is strong. |
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Thu May 31, 2007 7:57 am |
Hi Yve!
I'm new to the EDS forum, and a new Obagi user too! I have sensitive skin...with combination skin (oily nose, forehead, chin...dry rest of the face).
I've been on Obagi for 4 weeks now...and am LOVING my results. I can see fresh, healthy skin coming through, my blackheads are gone!, pores shrunk and my spots are lightening. If you follow the instructions in the book, you should be just fine. I use only .5 (or .05) Retin A (Tretonin or whatever they call it...and can't recall the exact %...but it's the lower one), and also Exfoderm (rather than Exfoderm Forte)...because those are a bit gentler.
A few tips for you from my own experience...
- you WILL have redness and peeling. This is a normal thing w/Obagi. (But it's summer here, thankfully, so people just think I have a sunburn  ) When I'm really peely, I use a washcloth to wash my face, and it takes it right off. (learned that trick from another post on here!) I also have a washcloth at work...because once I was really peely in the afternoon.
- The system definitely works better w/ Retin A (Tretonin?)...so if you can get a prescription for that from your derm you will get the best results. If you can't...the hydroquono will also help with this, but it'll likely take longer.
- You definitely need to use a good sunscreen every day! The hydroquonone (and retin A) will make you MUCH more sensitive to sunlight. I find that I need to apply it in the afternoon as well, because my drive home is very sunny (most days). Once I was walking around late afternoon (not as strong sunlight) and it was overcast...but I got a really bad burn. So...I keep a tube of the Sunblock 35 spf in my purse and reapply. If you will be in the sun, you definitely need to reapply sunblock every 2 hours.
- I also started using the whole treatment on my neck and decollatage (? upper chest area)...and that area was much more sensitive than my face...so I use it intermittently there.
- Use the products cautiously on your undereye area, as that is much thinner skin.
- Use the products sparingly...I know I was using too much when I first started, but have gotten better.
- There was a thread on EDS about Obagi causing facial hair (my posts are on there too). At first, I thought I was getting more hair. But, I've always had more hair on my face because I had a stove blow up in my face when I was little (thankfully I'm blonde!). In hindsight...I think it's really not growing more...I'm just paying more attention to my face, and the redness makes it a bit more noticeable to me. No one else has noticed, and I asked my friends...they thought I was crazy! However, it bugs me...so I'm going to use threading to get it off. You do NOT want to wax your face while using Obagi...I was told that it could rip skin off. So... I'm plucking my brows (you could use wax on your brows, but they'd have to be REAL careful not to wax on places that have been "Obagi'd"). So, I just chose to not take a chance. And...I'll probably get threading done there too, as it's safer.
- Obagi also sells a product called "Action". It doesn't come in any of the kits, but you can purchase it separately. It's a moisturizer that you can use if you get so dry you can't stand it! I try not to use this too much...since it'll prolong the process...but I do use it if dryness is driving my crazy.
- I had an issue with "hive" like things...mostly on my neck. The Dr. at the Medical Spa told me I could use a little Over-The-Counter (OTC) Cortisone cream on that. I've also used a bit of Benadryl Gel and Aloe Vera gel too when the itching drove me crazy. I think it was caused by getting sun on those areas. You want to be real careful about anything else you put on your face.
- There are some concerns about Hydroquonon and skin cancer. I've done some research, and found that in the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are considering banning hydroquonone in OTC products (some contain it...less than Obagi's 4% though). The reason is that people aren't aware that this increases your sensitivity to the sun, and don't know they need to wear sunscreen w/it. So...lots of sunblock is a MUST!
I'm more than happy to be your "Obagi" buddy! I go to a Medical Spa to have microderms in addition to Obagi, and can ask them any questions you might have. You can PM me...or I can give you my email address in a PM if you'd prefer that. I'll be on here very intermittently until Sunday, June 4 (going to my Mom's who is NOT in the internet age and I refuse to resort to "dinosaurish" dial-up...but will find a wi-fi spot if I can). There are also numerous threads on EDS about Obagi...you can go to that product page, and they have a link. There is also a free gift w/Obagi purchases going on here on EDS...so if you want to stock up, you can get a little extra.
Sorry this is so long...but I wanted to give you all the info I knew about. Best of luck to you on your quest for awesome skin!!! Big Hugs and keep in touch! |
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44, very fair and sensitive skin, blond/blue, using Obagi, live in Chicago (western suburbs) |
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Fri Jun 01, 2007 4:59 pm |
Since you're going this alone without the help of a derm, I think it's important that you start really slow and in low doses. The point here is because you don't know how sensitive your sensitive skin is and how it would react. Use a pea size of the Clear every other day and Blender every other day.
If you decide you think it's okay to do it twice every day then it's important to recognize when your skin might eventually react badly. When I started twice daily on my third day I was severely red itchy and burning already. My derm recommended that I stop using it for a week. There should be some redness, some peeling but I think the burning is taking it overboard. So if you see your skin is really really red, you know it's time to lay off a few days.
When I started, I was like you, a few freckles, sun spots, and acne scars. I really wanted clear skin. I've been on Obagi for a month exactly and the freckles have somewhat faded. But like someone else mentioned, I do have some pink tinting on my cheeks from where my skin was inflamed or peeling severely. Just be emotionally ready when you see that your face has red blotches, maybe your spots may seem darker at first or maybe you'll have more facial hair. If you've never exfoliated deeply before (I haven't) be prepared to start seeing things on your skin that may have been under all those layers of dead skin that you didn't know where there. I had really light moles under the many layers of dead skin and after using OBagi, they came to the surface in all it's glory! I also had more facial hair because I never used to exfoliate and exfoliating made the skin clear enough for the hairs to pop out. Plus, retin-a is known for helping in hair loss, so I believe a little more facial hair in people who are prone an inevitable thing.
A month later, I can't really say it helped me too much. Maybe it did fade some freckles although my face is too pink to see the freckles at all. It was a definite challenge for me since I never really had any big problems with my skin anyway. That's probably because I kept the initial effects under a LOT of control. Well a cycle is supposed to be 6 weeks and I'm only on my 4th so, I'll see how it goes. |
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Sat Jun 02, 2007 3:02 pm |
| I think the pinkish tinge will remain as long as you are using their products because the friends I talked about having a reddish/pinkish tinge to their face have been using Obagi for YEARS (like 10 plus or sthg). Two of these ladies went to the Obagi clinic in LA before Obagi was even available anywhere else outside of his clinic. |
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Sun Jun 03, 2007 9:41 pm |
I have been using Obagi for over 2 years.
The only problem is that it dries my face. Other than that, I am satisfied with the result and don't want to use another brand. |
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Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:55 am |
| I was reading on another forum that a few people were using copper peptide serum along with the obagi routine. Do any of you do that, or do you see a problem with it? I think I am going to do the obagi toward the end of summer but I use CP serum and really don't want to stop using it! Thanks in advance. |
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