Bare-bones minimum face care

In My Humble Opinion
1

You see, I’ve never been very good at being a girl. The closest I got was when I was single and on the prowl and even then, my attempts to look like the rest of the female population were sketchy at best. And if you don’t believe just how bad I can be at it, see the thread about “lopping off all one’s hair” where I tell that I just went Sigourney Weaver on myself. Of course, without her physique or facial structure, but you get the picture. Fortunately, I did much better at being ‘just one of the guys’, playin’ ball, telling dirty jokes and working with my hands… Least the SO loves me regardless. I think. :slight_smile:

Anyway, I know that your supposed to start doing stuff to take care of yourself the older (or rather, you’re always meant to, but I missed that section in my puberty training class – my mother sucks just as badly, or worse, at said things than I do, damn her) you get and in just five short years, I’ll be 40 and I’m thinking it’s about time that I get at least this part of my act together. So, in that department, I’m utterly hopeless for all that I do now is wash my face with soap and water and use the occasional astringent/Clearasil/patchy-things whenever I still get a breakout or zit.

Therefore, I’m turning to the Doper contigent to bail me out of complete rough and tumble behavior and shape me up for a little more glamour and womanly, um, attitude. Yeah, that’s it.

Here goes nothin’. :stuck_out_tongue:

So what I first need to tell y’all is this…

1.) I’ve got pretty oily skin.

2.) I’m unbelievably broke. Can’t stress this enough. NO MONEY whatsoever, so buying Clinique or something from the helpful counter ladies at Nordstrom’s is out of the question. If I can’t find it OTC at Wal*Mart (or some derivative thereof), I’m screwed.

3.) I absolutely must have simple and quick. Also, nothing that involves lots of different vials, tubes and bottles. Please, I’d like to keep this as streamlined as possible to prevent me from throwing over the whole thing and giving up in disgust.

4.) Did I mention how cheap I am? No, really. See #2 for further clarification.

Now, here’s what I’d like to know…

1.) What do I need to wash my face with? I’ve read that plain old soap is too harsh, so should I use glycerin? Is there something else out there that’s preferable for us tomboy novices? I repeat, easy is my mantra. :wink:

2.) What should I use to keep the oil and shine down? Is this where the astringent (or whatever) should come in or is that something else entirely?

3.) How about pimples and blackheads? I don’t get them often, but when I do they are a major pain in the ass. Any recommendations? I think I’ve mostly used stuff like Sea Breeze and (shudder) regular alcohol. Then, when those Biore strips came out, I tried those too, although they don’t seem to work very well for me. So, any tips on this minor part would be appreciated.

4.) Moisturizer. How important is that? And when/how often should I apply it? What kind? How thick? Gah, there’s just so much to learn and understand about just one freakin’ area of your body! I can see why this whole concept sends me into overload. :rolleyes:

5.) Lastly, I guess for my age, I should be also looking for something to begin keeping me firm, getting rid of lines, yadda, yadda. How the hell do you choose? I mean, my usual criteria is getting the most product for the least buck, so I’m truly clueless on this part, even more so than on the rest. Not to mention, if I haven’t already said it ad naseum, remember for all you folks playing at home, I have an almost non-existent budget to do this on, so be kind and think of how many redeemable Coke cans I’ll have to collect to purchase my beauty aids. LOL.

If there’s anything else crucial out there that I might be overlooking, please don’t hesitate to call it to my attention. Because if I’m going to do this, might as well go whole hog, like a proper lady. :smiley: What more can I expect? I need instructions to, for I obviously don’t even grasp the whole concept, let alone the particulars of what I’m 'sposed to be doing and when and how much and often.

Sigh. This is sooooo overwhelming. I feel like I’m reading Greek while looking at alien artifacts when I’m in the cosmetics isle. In other words…

HELP!!!

Thank you for taking the time to tutor and set straight the X chromosome challenged. Before and after pictures, I’m sure, available upon request. :eek:

2

I’m 38 and I do very low-maintenance skin stuff. I like Neutrogena Fresh Foaming Cleanser (I think it comes in two or three types depending on skin type) and Olay Complete (again, I believe different types are available, including an oil-free one that I used to use in my younger days when my skin was oily). I like the Neutrogena because it also takes off mascara (I don’t wear much make-up, either, just powder, blush, and mascara most days), but doesn’t sting at all. And they’re both relatively cheap - I buy 'em at Target or Walgreen’s. I don’t use much of the moisturizer - just a little dollop. It also has a 15 SPF.

I’ve read that glycerin soaps tend to be drying.

3

On preview…I see that porcupine and I think alike.
Neutrogena’s skin care products will take care of all your needs, and they’re all available at Wal*Mart. They have good cleansers and great moisturizers with sunscreen (which is a must for protecting your skin from lines and cancer), and they’re generally inexpensive.

Here’s what I’d recommend for ya, girl:

Fresh Foaming Cleanser – it’s oil free, so it won’t clog pores, but won’t dry out your skin, either.

Their most basic moisturizer – it’s got SPF 15 sunscreen and is oil-free.

For individual blemishes.

Mattifier – to reduce shine.

4

Welcome, dear and I do hope you will enjoy your stay here in the forties as much as I have…

Second for Olay. Get the basic lotion with SPF 15. You should use it after you wash your face. I use Buff Puff singles for oily skin. Start there and see how you feel. No need to run out and buy everything all at once. When it gets down to the bare bones, what you need is to keep your face clean without flaking off and moisturized (lightly, very lightly). Get comfortable with the cleansing/moisture routine before taking on specialized products for problem areas. These products canbe found at your local drugstore or the "super"store of your choice.

That’s my advice and, as always, YMMV

And happy impending birthday, congratulations!

5

What I use for cleansing is witchhazel pads. They’re slightly rough, so they scrub off all of the dead skin, and witchhazel never dries my skin out the way alcohol does.

Afterwards, I simply apply whatever lotion is at hand. I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that lotion is lotion-- that there’s no * real * difference between brands or products. (Excepting, of course, products which are oil-free. Those are great for oily skin.)

6

The one major thing you can do to prevent wrinkles is to stay out of the sun. If you don’t moisturize or you don’t exfoliate or whatever, the effect will be strictly cosmetic and you can always do it later on when you feel like it.

If you’re still getting breakouts now and then (I do, and I’m 42 now), use some cleaning product that has salicylic acid in it. I’ve been using Loreal’s Pure Zone cleanser, but it’s way overpriced and I know there are other brands out there that will work as well (I buy it for the menthol).

7

I’ll pipe in on Neutrogena, too. I use the foaming cleanser. It comes in a pump, and I leave it in the shower next to the shampoo. It’s as much a part of my shower as washing my hair. When I get out and towel off, I use the Neutrogena SPF 15 moisturizer on my face and neck. Two pumps works about right. Just after you’ve showered is a good time since your skin absorbs water, and the moisturizer will hold it in. I’ve gotten to where I can’t stand not putting on the moisturizer. The cleanser and moisturizer are each about $6-9, but will last several months.

That’s it; takes about 2 minutes each morning. Sometimes I wash my face again at night if I’m sweaty and or grimy after coming home from the gym or stable.

If I get a zit, I use a Clinique (I know, I know) on the spot treatment. One little tube lasts me about two years. However, upon inspection, it turns out to by salycilic acid, so I think you could just mash up an aspirin with some water and dab that on any zits you get. Let it dry overnight, and the zit will come to a head; you can pop it, treat it again, and it will be gone very quickly.

Biore strips are good if you tend to get blackheads, since they’ll clear plugged pores on your nose/chin/forehead. Also the other Biore products seem quite good.

8

One more vote for Neutrogena… I have to use their fragrance-free bar soap all over for other reasons, so I just wash my face with it too (with a terry wash cloth, to exfoliate). I also have their SPF 15 face lotion, and a tube of their zit cream.

I have always wondered about the aspirin trick–aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, which means it’s buffered… while all acne products have plain old salicylic acid. Is this because the harsher salicylic acid works better, or because it’s more expensive to manufacture the acetyl version?

9

I use Cetaphil cleanser, but I’m sure Neutrogena is also good.
When my skin starts looking like a pimple is going to develop, I use hydrogrn peroxide applied with a cotton pad. It kills germs and dries out the oil. Depending on the time of month, I may use it all over my face for a couple of days.

Also, I’ve read that you don’t need moisturizer, but what do I know?

10

Salicylic acid works better. The acetyl group isn’t hard or expensive to tack on at all. What you need from the salicylic acid is its acidity, its relatively low pH. Acetylsalicylic acid isn’t as acidic as salicylic acid is. The acetyl group acts as a base, reacting with the part of the salicylic acid molecule that does the most to make salicylic acid acidic. (BTW–the vast majority of face cleaning stuff with salicylic acid added are a crock. The pH of most cleansers is too high for a little added salicylic acid to do you any good. The salicyclic acid just reacts with the basic surfactant in the cleanser, and it leaves you with a salicylate compound that has a significantly higher pH than salicylic acid has. That higher pH makes the salicylate compound useless, at least for your purposes.)

[kinda long semi-hijack] Actually, a lot of the beauty industry is a crock. Especially a lot of stuff like hand lotions, special firming eye creams, etc. If you read the ingredients labels, you’ll often find that the fancy chemical names for what goes into these tiny, elegant, high-priced bottles are things like Crisco, olive oil, and tiny shreds of the plastic scrubby pads you use to do your dishes. And a lot of the stuff that isn’t an ordinarily cheap household substance is useless. Neutrogena’s visibily firm active copper hoosey-whatsis eye cream is an example. The copper does nothing for you whatsoever. But that doesn’t stop these guys from charging you a ton. So don’t feel too terrible about not sinking lots of time and money into “girly” product things. [/kinda long semi-hijack–Sorry, but I thought that, in the interests of fighting ignorance and all, it’d be OK to stick that in there.]

Oh, and ratatoskK–you only need a moisturizer if you’ve got dry skin. People with oily skin don’t need one.

And I thought I’d only be using my organic chem, biochem, and physiology course material for research…

11

I agree with Scribble mostly. If your skin is oily, you probably don’t need a moisturizer, but you (and everyone) should use a sunblock that blocks UVA & UVB rays (a lot of sunscreens don’t block both). The only products (that I know of) that block both types is avobenzone (sp? aka Parsol 1789), zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. You could get a tinted sunblock that would also even out your complexion (if that’s a problem for you). You can get this stuff at the drugstore or wal-mart. And you have to make sure you apply enough to actually block the sun. Good to also carry a pressed powder in your purse that has a sunblock to freshen up your block during the day. Revlon, Maybelline and Neutrogena all had one, last time I looked.

My understanding is that hydrogen peroxide is fine for minor acne, and you probably don’t need anything else if it helps. It didn’t help me, so I had to switch to something more powerful (benzoyl peroxide).

Anything with “scrubbies” could irritate your skin and aggrevate acne.

I hear that Cetaphil is a VERY GOOD basic cleanser that won’t dry out your skin. Your skin should not feel dry after washing.

And if you take the step of exfoliating with AHAs or BHAs (salicylic), you might create an added glow to your skin, if you want to go that far. You have to be careful, though because of what Scribble said.

12

shamefaced How do you know if your face is oily or dry?

13

Actually, people with oily skin need moisturizer as much as people with ultra-dry skin. Moisturizing right after you wash actually reduces the amount of oil your skin puts out. Weird, but it works. I’ve noticed a huge difference in my oily patches since I started moisturizing twice a day.

Personally, I really like the St. Ives line of face-care products. You can get them really cheap at Walmart, and they last forever. I squirt a little of the Clear Pore Cleanser on a facial loofah to cleanse and exfoliate at the same time. Rinse, dry, and dab on just a tiny bit of their Oil-Free Moisturizer. It’s very light and creamy, and a tiny dab will do your whole face. I bought a 4-oz bottle over a year ago (probably a lot longer than that), and it’s still nearly a quarter full.

Most of their stuff doesn’t have sunscreen in it, but I tend to sweat off sunscreen and cosmetics anyway.

More, feel your face a few hours after you wash it. If it feels oily, slick, or greasy, you probably have oily skin. Ditto if your face is always shiny. OTOH

14

  1. Grow some skin, bare bones tend to look bad under fluorescent light.

  2. :smiley:

15

Stupid computer.

Anyway, as I was saying, if your skin is always tight feeling, or if it seems to flake or peel a lot, you’ve got dry skin.

If neither of these is the case, you have normal skin.

Sometimes you’ll have dry or oily patches along with normal patches. Then you have combination skin.

16

Thank you all so much. I’ve studiously taken notes and I am now prepared to go hunt down some feminine frilly stuff just to pamper my abused face. :wink:

And to Scribble… what you wrote was very enlightening. I believe I’ve read something similar to that on another board some years ago, but of course, forgot everything.

::: hides oily, occasional zit, non-moisturized head in hands :::

That fascinated me then as it does now. Do you people that figure this stuff out make products for themselves? I think the other person who’d posted about it did and had developed a wonderful following as a result. Maybe something to think about as a hobby to make you rich.

Tapioca Dextrin: LMAO. I just knew some Doper wouldn’t be able to resist my oxymoron. :stuck_out_tongue:

I appreciate all of y’all helping me out. Off to Wal*Mart and hopefully, some clearance sales.

17

Oh, yeah–sunscreen is a good idea. I second Heart on My Sleeve about the need for UV protection. But watch it with makeup that claims to act as a sunblock–those claims are often highly inflated.

Also, if you’ve got oily skin, I highly recommend you get a sunblock that uses avobenzone, rather than octyl methoxycinnamate, as the active ingredient. (I have to admit–I’m often completely negligent about the sunscreen thing, although I really, really shouldn’t be.)

As far as moisturizer goes–heck, if it works for your face, go with it. I don’t find that it works for me, but giving CrazyCatLady’s technique a shot probably wouldn’t hurt. IMHO and IMHExperience, if you’re using a cleanser that’s not overstripping oil from your face, you probably don’t need a moisturizer to control the amount of oil your glands pump out.

BTW–simple old baking soda works really well as a gentle and effective exfoliant. I use it often. Neutrogena’s Clear Pore mask–the clear gel stuff, 2% salicylic acid, available at your local Mall-Wart, Target, or Meijer, is good to use at night. Just make sure you wash it off in the morning, or you’ll trap oil underneath the layer of gel during the day.

And I second the recommendation for Cetaphil’s basic (as in elementary, not as in especially high pH) cleanser. I forget the name of the one I use now, but it works pretty well. What you’re looking for in a cleanser is a concentration of detergent that works well for you, along with an absence of stuff that could irritate your face (a lot of the much-vaunted fruit and herbal extracts can be lousy to some people’s skin) and stuff that doesn’t do anything but monkey with the pH or jack up the price. Cleansers that claim to be pH balanced are usually a crock, as are those that add silk proteins, RNA, DNA, any kind of vitamin, (Vitamins A, E, and C can be useful in creams you leave on your face, but they don’t do squat in cleansers. And most of the forms of vitamins you find in OTC face creams are like acetylsalicylic acid–they’ve been chemically modified in such a way that they don’t work very well), etc.

Oh, and hopefool–I don’t make my own cleanser. It’s pretty cost-effective to just buy the stuff. Nor do I isolate my own active forms of vitamins, or make my own gels, etc. It’s just not been a very high priority for me. But I do use some homemade household cleaners, metal polishers, etc.

Thanks for the compliment–I’m glad so much of the obscure trivia I know can be useful to someone. I haven’t made a lot of cosmetic or face care products, since I don’t use many myself, but maybe I should start. Thanks for the suggestion.

18

Thanks CatLady.

19

Buy a bunch of cheap terry washcloths and use a fresh one every day. I just use water with the cloth to clean and exfoliate, then moisturize. I may use soap on my face once a month while showering.

20

Sometimes no skin care is the way to go: other than washing her face with soap and water my mum doesn’t have any beauty routine. She’s been described once by someone who didn’t know she could hear as a “battered looking 30 year old”. While I don’t know if I’d go that far she does look miles better than all of the other 50ish women I’ve met. (She’s about to turn 54).