Noob in need of skincare help
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Wed Apr 20, 2011 2:39 pm

A friend introduced me to the EDS forum and I'm so thankful though my wallet may not be Smile

She recommended the site after I visited a cosmetic center that recommended the Obagi system to help with some of my skin care problems. While I am willing to pay the price for beauty I just couldn't jump into that! Anyway, I've been on here reading for a while and I get so distracted by all of the different threads that I've spent hours reading and have no answers to what brought me here. While I'm excited to have learned about DIY hair extensions, natural breast enhancement, and DIY skin care serums I'm just not sure where to begin!!!

I really feel that the biggest problem I need to address is my eyes. I have wrinkles/puffiness under my eyes that just looks horrible if I do not wear makeup. I've always had "good skin" (no acne spots etc) and the wrinkles are a new and annoying thing. I'm 26 and don't spend much time in the sun and it seems like they pretty much appeared over the last 2 years.

When I was 17 I thought I had bad skin b/c I had 1 or 2 zits so I somehow got my Dr. to prescribe retina for me and my directions were to mix a little bit with some moisturizer and rub on my face once a day. I may have used a bit more than recommended as I had the impression more is better and it tore up my face. I remember having a month where I was in so much pain even to put lotion however when my face healed (and I completely stopped using the cream) My skin was AMAZING. I'm open to doing this again if those results are to be expected but if this isn't the course I should take to get rid of the problems under my eyes I do not want to go through it again. I can post pictures tonight of my face without makeup on if that will help any of you guide me.

Thank you all for posting here and for sharing your knowledge, I know a lot more than I did a few weeks ago but I haven't learned enough of the basics I guess to put it all together for myself.

free skin care · Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:17 pm

If you want to start on the Retin A again there are a couple of things you can do to help reduce irritation. Start with the lowest strength and work your way up. Some studies suggest that using .05 is just as effective as using .1. You could also start by applying it just every other night or every 2-3 nights and work your way up to every night. Ideally you should use it every night for a least a year then you can taper off to just a few nights per week. You should not mix your moisturizer with the Retin A. Ideally it is best not to apply moisturizer over it but if your skin is so dry that you need to, wait about an hour after applying the Retin A to apply moisturizer or oil. HTHs.

Wed Apr 20, 2011 8:35 pm

jom wrote:

If you want to start on the Retin A again there are a couple of things you can do to help reduce irritation. Start with the lowest strength and work your way up. Some studies suggest that using .05 is just as effective as using .1. You could also start by applying it just every other night or every 2-3 nights and work your way up to every night. Ideally you should use it every night for a least a year then you can taper off to just a few nights per week. You should not mix your moisturizer with the Retin A. Ideally it is best not to apply moisturizer over it but if your skin is so dry that you need to, wait about an hour after applying the Retin A to apply moisturizer or oil. HTHs.

So is Retin A what you would suggest for getting rid of the wrinkles, I only mentioned it b/c it's the only thing I've ever done.

free skin care · Wed Apr 20, 2011 9:46 pm

richsilverstar wrote:

jom wrote:

If you want to start on the Retin A again there are a couple of things you can do to help reduce irritation. Start with the lowest strength and work your way up. Some studies suggest that using .05 is just as effective as using .1. You could also start by applying it just every other night or every 2-3 nights and work your way up to every night. Ideally you should use it every night for a least a year then you can taper off to just a few nights per week. You should not mix your moisturizer with the Retin A. Ideally it is best not to apply moisturizer over it but if your skin is so dry that you need to, wait about an hour after applying the Retin A to apply moisturizer or oil. HTHs.

So is Retin A what you would suggest for getting rid of the wrinkles, I only mentioned it b/c it's the only thing I've ever done.

Retin A is the best and almost only proven effective defense against wrinkles. Both preventing them and helping to get rid of existing wrinkles.

free skin care · Wed Apr 20, 2011 11:27 pm

jom wrote:

richsilverstar wrote:

jom wrote:

If you want to start on the Retin A again there are a couple of things you can do to help reduce irritation. Start with the lowest strength and work your way up. Some studies suggest that using .05 is just as effective as using .1. You could also start by applying it just every other night or every 2-3 nights and work your way up to every night. Ideally you should use it every night for a least a year then you can taper off to just a few nights per week. You should not mix your moisturizer with the Retin A. Ideally it is best not to apply moisturizer over it but if your skin is so dry that you need to, wait about an hour after applying the Retin A to apply moisturizer or oil. HTHs.

So is Retin A what you would suggest for getting rid of the wrinkles, I only mentioned it b/c it's the only thing I've ever done.

Retin A is the best and almost only proven effective defense against wrinkles. Both preventing them and helping to get rid of existing wrinkles.

I second this. 6 months of RA 3x/wk has already removed one of my fine lines, and I suspect more are on their way out. You can certainly try other things, but the anti-aging workhorses are RA and sunscreen. Another thing that can help reduce irritation is to wait about 30 min after cleansing and patting dry to apply RA--wet skin absorbs more and is more sensitive than well-dried skin.

free skin care · Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:04 pm

Even with the lowest concentration all my skin peeled off my face. It flaked on my keyboard at work (I'm in IT) like a sunburned snake. It always looked sunburned (wasn't, I wear sunscreen and haven't seen the sun since I was about 12 Laughing

) HOWever, when that was over, I had the loveliest fresh skin underneath. I had two forehead lines that were starting to show, GONE. Smile lines, HALF GONE (I'll take that). So was it worth it? Heck yeah it was. But the first month sucks. I was about your age when I started, right when I started to see myself age. Extra bonus, any acne is reduced or eradicated. I use it a couple times a week now.

free skin care · Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:10 am

Perhaps it may be better to just leave it on for 10-20 minutes and wash it off and then try to build it up from there rather than torture your skin like that!

Fri Apr 22, 2011 4:51 pm

Ava with wings wrote:

Even with the lowest concentration all my skin peeled off my face. It flaked on my keyboard at work (I'm in IT) like a sunburned snake. It always looked sunburned (wasn't, I wear sunscreen and haven't seen the sun since I was about 12 Laughing

) HOWever, when that was over, I had the loveliest fresh skin underneath. I had two forehead lines that were starting to show, GONE. Smile lines, HALF GONE (I'll take that). So was it worth it? Heck yeah it was. But the first month sucks. I was about your age when I started, right when I started to see myself age. Extra bonus, any acne is reduced or eradicated. I use it a couple times a week now.

When you used it how often and for how long did you use it? I don't remember exactly how long I did way back when. I think I let my face get really really bad, I didn't stop when it just got dry. However I think after like maybe 2 weeks of using it I was in so much pain that I just completely stopped. Anyway, if I do it again I'm just wondering how far I should let it go.

Also what moisturizer do you recommend I use during this process? I have really only ever used olay moisturizer and clinique gel moisturizer.

Also, I see a lot of talk about using vit. C. Should I also do this, or do it after or no? I've been reading up on making serum. See I have a lot of info in my head, but can't really seem to connect all the dots!

free skin care · Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:42 pm

Any of Olay's moisturizers with niacinamide near the top of the ingredient list is good for retinoid dermatitis. Niacinamide tells skin cells to produce ceramides, a key part of natural moisture and the key thing that skin runs out of when it's being treated by retinoids. Or you can add ceramides directly, for instance in pure safflower oil or in Avene Trixera+.

It also helps to back off slightly whenever you get irritation or flaking, like delay the next RA application by one night or more.

Vit C is certainly nice, but I think the Vit A in retinoids should be the priority because it has more research behind it.

free skin care · Sat Apr 23, 2011 8:31 am

You will have less irritation if you start with 0.025% retin a. And, it will be just as effective.

Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:45 pm

rockhugger wrote:

Any of Olay's moisturizers with niacinamide near the top of the ingredient list is good for retinoid dermatitis. Niacinamide tells skin cells to produce ceramides, a key part of natural moisture and the key thing that skin runs out of when it's being treated by retinoids. Or you can add ceramides directly, for instance in pure safflower oil or in Avene Trixera+.

It also helps to back off slightly whenever you get irritation or flaking, like delay the next RA application by one night or more.

Vit C is certainly nice, but I think the Vit A in retinoids should be the priority because it has more research behind it.

So no need to use something like algenist?

Would the vit C serum irritate my skin also? I was just thinking it would be easy to do both, but I guess not if the Vit. C is also harsh.

Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:46 pm

kims wrote:

You will have less irritation if you start with 0.025% retin a. And, it will be just as effective.

Do you recommend the cream or the gel?

free skin care · Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:28 pm

richsilverstar wrote:

kims wrote:

You will have less irritation if you start with 0.025% retin a. And, it will be just as effective.

Do you recommend the cream or the gel?

I personally use the cream. It works for me quite well even though my skin tends to be on the oily side. I can't speak for the gel since I've never used it.

free skin care · Sat Apr 23, 2011 7:38 pm

I just started about 3 months ago using the 0.025% and use the cream, my skin is very normal....no problems with irritation or peelies. Smile

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