My Obagi experience
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free skin care · Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:42 am

Wicked, in addition to the MUF and Smashbox, the sales associate at Sephora also recommended another one from Too Faced. It's a flesh colored primer.

One other thing to note, when I apply the MMU to my face, I'm careful not to swirl too much on the areas where my crater sized pores are at. If I swirl too much, it ends up just dislodging/wiping away the primer that was previously filling in my pores. In those areas I try to sort of just dust it on. You may have to experiment to find the best application.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 6:50 am

Again, thank you for such great advice Kristy! Will definitely try this out! Smile

free skin care · Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:03 pm

moosejavian wrote:

Congrats Margarett!!! That is so awesome!

If you ladies have not joined the Obagi circle yet, you might want to check it out. You could be an "Obagi ambassador" and get a chance to win free Obagi products "for life". I think you need to submit your success story and you could be picked to win!

Hi Moosej,
Good to hear from you! Sounds like things are going well. Did you enter your Obagi story? Products for life would be great -- I wonder if you could keep trying the new ones??

free skin care · Wed Jun 02, 2010 1:18 pm

Hi Kim, no I didn't enter my story, I don't think it would make the cut! Yeah, free products would be awesome, I think it said though max of $5000. And yes, I think it said any product you choose and you would even get to test out new products as they come along. How's your Nuderm cycle going? Have you finished your 6 wks?

free skin care · Wed Jun 02, 2010 3:06 pm

Kristy,
Thanks for the make up tips. Looks like I need to visit Sephora!

free skin care · Wed Jun 02, 2010 8:27 pm

WickedWitchOfTheWest wrote:

Thanks for the tip, Kristy! However, I have tried the smashbox photofinish primer some time back and it really didn't do much for me. I am currently using YSL Matte touch and it really helps my liquid foundation go smoothly. I find that it helps prep my skin for foundation because the obagi sunblock is quite thick and gets oily after a while, making any foundation quite heavy. Maybe I should try it with MMU as well. Thanks again!

One other thing, if you can, switch from the Obagi sunscreen. I found the Obagi spf 32 to be horribly thick, left a white cast on my face, and burned as bad as the sunfader. I'm currently using Devita solar body block 30 and/or ultra solar 50. I find the 50 to be very light but very greasy (if that makes any sense) and provides some needed moisture during the day without feeling supper heavy.

Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:38 am

I am new on this forum, but did read a lot of useful information here before I decided to go ahead with the Obagi Nu derm system.

I am on day 5 and so far I have 'textbook' side affects, mainly peeling, redness, nothing too major.
My question is this. I am going on holiday in 5 weeks' time to visit an old boyfriend, who I haven't seen for 5 years. I am going to stay with him for 3 weeks and I have to look my best.
My beautician who put me on the Nu Derm said that my skin should be fine by then, but I am worried that my skin might be at its' worst. Not quite sure whether I should carry on with it and hope that I will be lucky enough to see good results before I go or shall I maybe stop a few weeks before the holiday, but I do want my skin to look nice and glowy on the holiday. I was going to have some Vitalize peels done before the travel, but my beautician said that the Nu Derm will be enough and I won't need the peels.

I am 35, fair skin, with fine lines and enlarged pores, no hyperpigmentation or dark patches.

Thanks for your help in advance.

free skin care · Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:14 pm

Hi Nicerkitten,
Since Obagi Nuderm is primarily designed to help with pigmentation issues (and you said that you have none) why would your beautician prescribe it? I'm just curious about this since Nuderm is a really intense treatment.

If you're following the prescribed Nuderm protocol, you will still be in the "out with the old" phase for the first six weeks, so it's quite possible you'll still be experiencing the "effects" of Obagi.

You should be able to stop the products about a week before your trip and your skin should return to normal. I can't comment about the Vitalize peels as I've never had one.

Are you going to continue to use some of the products while you're on vacation or start them again once you return home? If you completely stop and restart, you'll most likely experience
the redness, flakiness, and dryness all over again.

free skin care · Sun Jun 06, 2010 7:35 pm

Even though you do want to look your best during your trip, I would encourage you to at least to continue the regimen on a partial basis e.g. 2-3 times a week. I am currently in week 8 and over Memorial Day weekend, made the mistake of skipping 3 days and I am paying dearly for it. I was just getting to the point where my skin was acclimating and had minimal redness and flaking. When I started up again, the side effects were as bad as and in some areas, worse then, when I first started. I have been miserable for the last week.

As Kims said, you will still be very early on in your cycle by the time of your trip. It is unlikely that your face will have fully acclimated and 'normal' by then.

If you do choose to temporarily stop the regimen, do it it 1 week prior to the start as Kims said.

Mon Jun 07, 2010 3:11 am

Thanks so much for your replies, this forum is so exciting!

Dear kims, although I do not have any pigmentation problems, my beautitian seems to think that the Obagi Nu Derm system is the recepie for fantastic skin and is a cure for all kinds of skin issues, including fine lines and enlarged pores which I suffer from. She says my skin will look so good at the end that I won't need any more peels, microdermabrasion, facials, etc. She suggested to use the clear in the morning only because I don't have dark patches or freckles.

My skin has not been too bad on it so far (on day 6), in fact it looks lovely today with less peeling than previous days and one friend commented how glowy it is. I had been using tretionin 1.0 for about 6 weeks before going on the Obagi (currently using 0.5 tretinoin with the Obagi), which might be why my reaction to the Obagi is not so extreme.I know I am very early at the system so I am prepared for the worst although I did explain my situation with the travelling to my beautitian and she said I should see a nice improvement by week 4.

Kirsty, thank you for the advice, I think I will try to do that. I'll probably cut down on the exoderm and clear during my holiday but not the tretinoin (I am using 0.5) as I know my skin tolerates it quite well.

By the way I just checked the prices here on EDS and I paid double at my beauty salon in London for the Obagi system! Next time I'll buy it from here.

Another question I have, does anyone know if you can use self tan while on Obagi? I used to self tan (either spray tan or just do it myself at home) quite regularly, but not so sure if I should stop the Obagi a couple of days before the self tan or just not self tan at all?

Thanks everybody for your help!

free skin care · Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:11 am

While I don't know the answer to the question regarding self tanners, I would suggest that you use it on your body but not on your face. There are alot of chemicals in the self-tanning products that would likely interfere with the Obagi products. I would recommend that if you want a 'tan' on your face that you just use some sort of makeup bronzer.

free skin care · Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:36 am

Glad things are going well for you. That's a bummer about the price difference -- but we all live and learn!!

Not sure about the self-tanning issue either. I would imagine that if you're dry or flaky, it wouldn't look too pretty. Kristy's idea might work well: use a nice glowy bronzing. And, never forget your sunscreen! Smile

free skin care · Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:48 pm

Ok girls, here is a picture taken today. I can't find one "pre-Obagi" where the dark patches can be seen. Almost all of them I have makeup or the light is not very good and the one I took well into the 4th week looks pretty much like this one.

Anyway, so far so good. I still have some stubborn freckles, but I am so very happy my under eye circles are waaaay better.My only problem is that my skin is getting very dry between my under eye skin and my nose, like horizontal fine lines. Seems it lost its elasticity just on those spots and I am very worried. I don't know what to do, everything else seems fine to me and it is such an improvement from how it was. My Spa clinician told me she would like to do some lactic acid peels for the fine lines and to prevent the hyperpigmentation but she says I need to stop the hydroquinone Sad

and I don't want to do that since I don't want to go back to my dark patches that I usually get no matter what. It's the first time in a long time my skin seems cleaner.

free skin care · Mon Jun 07, 2010 11:51 pm

Wow Margarett, I think your skin looks great! From what I can see,I don't think you look anywhere near 47! Way to go! I certainly don't think I can say this about myself.

Are you continuing with the full Nuderm regimen, or are you going into maintenance mode at this point? Please let us know how things work out for you. I think you look fabulous!! Smile

ETA: I think your under eye area looks amazing; I see no lines at all!! This is my worst area -- I have many horizontal lines under each eye and NOTHING I am doing seems to help!

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:02 am

kims wrote:

Wow Margarett, I think your skin looks great! From what I can see,I don't think you look anywhere near 47! Way to go! I certainly don't think I can say this about myself.

Are you continuing with the full Nuderm regimen, or are you going into maintenance mode at this point? Please let us know how things work out for you. I think you look fabulous!! Smile

ETA: I think your under eye area looks amazing; I see no lines at all!! This is my worst area -- I have many horizontal lines under each eye and NOTHING I am doing seems to help!

Thank you, Kims. You are so very kind!

I am using only the Clear at this point, twice a day and from time to time the Exfoderm.
I noticed these lines -just below my under eye lids and close to the nose, from the nostril to where the eye meet, like in a triangle kind of way- are very dry and lines.. so I guess it is part of the cheek??

I have never washed my face with any soap or wash, I only used to wipe it with cream cleanser or those face wipes, baby wipes and toner. So, I suspected all the drying from the washing and the other products were doing those lines, plus the other lines around my mouth.
I stopped everything, except the Clear since about a month and rarely, maybe once a week, I use the retin-a and Exfoderm.
I now clean my face with the Clarins gentle oil, use only Evian water to rinse in a spray, several times, of course, and tone with Clarins almond toner like I was doing before and maybe once or twice gentle exfoliation. The last thing after the Clear at night is the emu oil, which I think it has done a good job overall, except those little spots.

ALso, I have been using the TNS Illuminating eye cream (maybe 3 weeks now) plus emu oil on my under eye lids and my lines have diminished quite a lot. I also apply it on my upper lids, even when it says you should not, and my lines have diminish there too. I am starting to wonder if I should apply that TNS on those lines that I mention or buy the TNS serum for the entire face, it has "Human Fibroblast", which sounds interesting. I have purchased so many things for those spots that I don't want to get disappointed again, so I will apply it on those spots to see if there is any change. The good thing with me is that I react to everything so fast; my body absorbs everything right away and processes it.

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:25 am

Margarett,
So, during your stint with Obagi, you never used the Nuderm cleanser? Did you use all the Obagi Nuderm products or did you personalize the protocol to fit your needs?

I'm on maintenance at this point, and I do incorporate Clear, Exfoderm Forte, Blender and retin a on a regular basis. I am also using IS Clinical Youth serum and MD Forte (for eye area).

My personal goal with all this skincare is to look approximately 10 years younger than my chronological age. So far, I feel very unsuccessful as the last few people that I've met (in a random conversation) have guessed/assumed that I'm in my early to mid-fifties. Needless to say, this makes me feel very,very sad. Crying or Very sad

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:44 am

kims wrote:

Margarett,
So, during your stint with Obagi, you never used the Nuderm cleanser? Did you use all the Obagi Nuderm products or did you personalize the protocol to fit your needs?

I'm on maintenance at this point, and I do incorporate Clear, Exfoderm Forte, Blender and retin a on a regular basis. I am also using IS Clinical Youth serum and MD Forte (for eye area).

My personal goal with all this skincare is to look approximately 10 years younger than my chronological age. So far, I feel very unsuccessful as the last few people that I've met (in a random conversation) have guessed/assumed that I'm in my early to mid-fifties. Needless to say, this makes me feel very,very sad. Crying or Very sad

Kims,

I used the enitre Nu Derm program to the T the whole 10 or 11 weeks when my face could not take the dryness around my mouth anymore, and it is good because I was taking off my peels myself and that scarred me a little bit around my mouth. Bad, very bad idea to remove the peels manually ourselves and it gets addictive.

On the other hand, I did have a mini-lift surgery last year, which to tell you the truth, did nothing for my face texture and I also had a blepharoplasty twice, which got rid of my saggy eye lids but not my wrinkles. I guess the wrinkles got much better starting last year with Estee Lauder Advanced night repair and after Obagi with emu oil and I do think the TNS has eliminated the creepiness I had on my upper eye lid and lower.

Aww Kims, don't feel bad about yourself. I know how you feel because the wrinkling battle is starting to get me and it is very discouraging, but I think we tend to be very
hard on ourselves and even more at our age.

What are the issues with your skin? or lines? or saginess if I may ask?

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 1:48 pm

Margarett, you look Great! You definitely do not look 47. I don't see any freckles at all on your skin. Are you wearing make-up?

Kims, don't feel bad or sad. I am sure I would get the same response if I asked anyone the "how old do I look" question! Remember we started this skin care stuff later than a lot of people and it will just take some time to undue the damage. Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:02 pm

Thank you, Obagi sister!

I am using just a tiny amount of MMU to cover all the shiny stuff from all my miracle creams and oils Very Happy

, otherwise I look like a mirror! No blush and no concealer, the bit of redness is natural, I guess from the Clear and probably vitamin C that tends to make my face reddish after a few hours of application.

I do believe that damages can be undone! A woman has to do has she has to do! Bad Grin

I have a picture of myself from last year that looks 10 years older than I look now and I think what made me look older was the darker discoloration and the bags under my eyes. Now that I am cleaner on my skin I can see a huuuuge change and that motivates me a lot.

Rileygirl, have you had any experience with lactic acids? I am tempted to do it for my dryness and those lines I explained. I don't know if they are worth it if I have to give up my hydroquinone.

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 2:35 pm

This one is pre-Obagi, pre everything.

I am using heavy make up, concealer here and even then could not mask the under eye circles and the shadow around my mouth, and the bag under my eye Laughing

yuk!

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:37 pm

margarett wrote:

Rileygirl, have you had any experience with lactic acids? I am tempted to do it for my dryness and those lines I explained. I don't know if they are worth it if I have to give up my hydroquinone.

Hi, Margarett. I do have experience with lactic acid. I do a lot of peels on myself. I am not sure why you would have to stop HQ to be honest with you. Do you know what percent of lactic acid she wants to use on you and did she give you a reason why you had to stop the HQ? I haven't heard that before.

Most of the time you stop acids a few days (to a week for deeper peels) before the peel, and then you go back on your regular skin care a few days after the peel. With lactic acid it is very gentle and there will be no down time at all, no peeling of your skin, etc. Have you considered using a lactic acid topical product first? Is your concern dryness, Margarett?

BTW, I just saw your "before" picture and I think you look great there too! Very Happy

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 3:50 pm

rileygirl wrote:

margarett wrote:

Rileygirl, have you had any experience with lactic acids? I am tempted to do it for my dryness and those lines I explained. I don't know if they are worth it if I have to give up my hydroquinone.

Hi, Margarett. I do have experience with lactic acid. I do a lot of peels on myself. I am not sure why you would have to stop HQ to be honest with you. Do you know what percent of lactic acid she wants to use on you and did she give you a reason why you had to stop the HQ? I haven't heard that before.

Most of the time you stop acids a few days (to a week for deeper peels) before the peel, and then you go back on your regular skin care a few days after the peel. With lactic acid it is very gentle and there will be no down time at all, no peeling of your skin, etc. Have you considered using a lactic acid topical product first? Is your concern dryness, Margarett?

BTW, I just saw your "before" picture and I think you look great there too! Very Happy

Thank you Rileygirl! but I did mask the hyperpigmentation very well with my heavy make up there, no results for my dark circles though. I think the concealers made them even worse! and funny thing, I did not start Obagi for the dark circles since I thought nothing would get rid of that, but oh!!! surprise!!!

About the spa lady... well, she thinks that retin-a and hydroquinone thins the skin. I don't use retin-a as I said before because I never get results from it and longest I use it was for 8 months. Some women just don't have good results. I also used Tazorac for 3 months and right away, my wrinkles started to show around my eyes, even after I just had botox, then I stopped it. I did apply Tazorac around my eyes, my skin overall on the other parts texture got better and I think in that picture, the last one, I was still using Tazorac and vitamin C. I have used vitamin C since January too.

Going back to the lactic acid peels, I've read that the ones they sell online, the MUAC is very hydrating, so I am not scared about it and I am even thinking about doing it myself instead of paying maybe 200 dollars total for the whole facial, or just try it once with the lady and go from there. She also put some Sothys mask Oxy something and my face got even lighter, but it was temporary, like one day lasted.

She says she will start me with very mild lactic and go from there to a heavier peel.

I will send you a pic of what I mean of my fine lines -I don't want to show it here, yuk- that they started and getting worse over the last period of time. I don't know if its dryness anymore. Emu oil does moisturize my face very well overall, but just those lines...

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 4:58 pm

Margarett, I understand what you are saying. Just want to say that with Retin A, it will usually take at least 1 year of nightly use to get the most benefit. However, I do understand that not everyone can tolerate the RA. I would definitely add in some form of topical A if you can. Retin A will thin the top layers of the skin, but it actually thickens the inner layers. It is still one of the only proven topicals.

If you haven't done a peel before at home, I would try 1 peel with your lady and then I would think about purchasing the lactic acid and using it yourself. It is very easy. You apply with fingers, time, rinse off with a ton of water and you're done! Repeat weekly for 6 weeks!

free skin care · Tue Jun 08, 2010 8:08 pm

Thank you so much, rileygirl! It does help so much posting our face problems here and get great and experienced advice! Two heads think better than one!

I will keep you posted girls on what I decided to do, but most likely I will do the peel with the spa lady -being the first time- and see if I like it and then on my own and we'll see about bringing back the Tazorac leaving out my eyes completely. I will definitely will put back the EL Advanced night repair and continue with my other products.

Tue Jun 08, 2010 8:47 pm

Hello, this is my first post! Sorry in advance for the length.

A girlfriend of mine just had some amazing results with the obagi nuderm line, and I'm interested in trying it. Her freckles have almost completely disappeared, along with her fine lines. I'm very jealous! I'm wondering if I should jump in and try the obagi, or just start by getting some Retin-A. I'm 28, my skin tone is quite even, I just have a smattering of small brown spots around my eye area, 1 brown scar about the size of a pea, and a few faint acne scars, so I'm not too concerned about focusing on lightening my skin, though it would be great to get rid of these imperfections. I do however have genetically large pores and have recently developed an overall crepiness as well as fine lines under eyes and labial folds. Does it sound like I need the whole Obagi line? If so, which line? Or would a nightly Retin-A do the trick?

I know I should consult a dermatologist, but I've recently moved to an Island in the South Pacific where I haven't been able to locate a derm w/ obagi knowledge Sad

My skin is also unhappy with the climate change (from Dry So Cal weather, to hot humid tropical weather. No breakouts, but clogged pores, general oiliness along with dryness). Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

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