I am having trouble with my girlfriend, she bought me two bottles of lotion and emulsion as well as some exfoliating cream. She is angry at me after I refused to use them.
I wash my face with water only as even the mildest hypoallergenic soap dries my skin and I end up with spots. I do not have any trouble with my natural body oils.
She argued that the products she bought would help prevent wrinkles and keep your skin smooth and healthy. Is this true?
I would have thought that after millions of years of evolution our skin with our natural oils would be optimised for our bodies.
I have noticed that women in their 40~50’s (despite all their skin care fanatics) do not have that much better skin than men.
I would like firm scientific/factual evidence on what is better: natural skin oil or skin lotion emulsion. (Please exclude material sourced from potentially biased sources, eg. Nutrogena, Johnson & Johnson)
Agreed. Those who believe all of the claims made in commercials completely lack even a basic understanding of what exactly hair and skin are capable of, like absorbing nutrients and minerals (they can’t). Wrinkle “smoothing” creams are actually minor irritants, causing the skin to swell slightly and temporarily “smoothing” skin. It’s all just marketing bullshit designed to fleece the vain.
I’m from Korea and I see androgynous men everywhere; wearing tight jeans, women’s tops, waxing, make-up, grooming and skin care.
I feel that if I give in to my girlfriend JUST once, it will be a slippery slop to androgyny.
It is imperative that the silliness is stopped at the source with firm scientific backing.
Your girlfriend bought the stuff. So we know she’s not big into science-based thinking. Do you really expect some legit study I might cite to change her mind? If so, why do you think that? If not, why ask for a study cite you know won’t be effective? Seems to me that in either case a cite of a legit study would be ineffective.
You can use the stuff & observe no change. Or you can pretend to use the stuff while secretly squirting it into the trash each day. And observe no change. And in either case you can point the non-results out to her & piss her off.
Or you can thank her profusely, use it or not, pretend you notice it’s working, and chalk the whole thing up to just one of several silly accomodations you make in exchange for regular sex.
You don’t need any credible cites to see for yourself what beauty products do over a lifetime subscription. Why do you think women have to wear make-up? It’s from putting layers of it on every morning after using exfoliating creams in the shower, putting layers of other stuff on later at night to remove the previous stuff, then putting more stuff on after applying new stuff to remove the old stuff to smooth it all out. So, they have to wear make-up to hide the damage the make-up has done. It’s a great marketing scheme, honestly. Like spreading viruses and selling the anti-virus, or starting up a McDonald’s franchise as a gastroenterologist.
Your skin will more likely respond to diet, exercise, and a consistent sleep cycle. Some ultimate skin super foods I’ve found to be effective are: raw vegetables, especially carrots for vitamin A, coconuts which are a good source of M.C.F.A’s, oily fish like salmon or Chilean sea-bass for omega-3’s. It takes about 3 weeks in order to notice a visible change, unfortunately. The skin creams may give results right away, but when you stop using it, it messes with you. Too dry or too oily, red and itchy, etc.
Exercise is critical for skin health also in order to get the body moving and to assimilate your intake more effectively, in addition to sweating. Sweating will cleanse your pores – initially if your sweat is staining yellow and is sticky or salty, you’ve got some major detox to do. It took me roughly just into the second week of moderate daily exercise after taking a few months off to stop tasting the salt.
Honestly, face cream stuff irritates the hell out of me (and my skin) and so my opinion is obviously biased. What you could do as a last resort is to use bar soap on your face and say you used the face cream she gave you. Eventually the bar soap will dry out your face bad enough to where she may beg for your old face back.
Photoaging: prevention and topical treatments. [Review] [73 refs]
Antoniou C. Kosmadaki MG. Stratigos AJ. Katsambas AD.
American Journal of Clinical Dermatology. 11(2):95-102, 2010.
[Journal Article. Review]
Clinical and cosmeceutical uses of hydroxyacids. [Review] [24 refs]
Green BA. Yu RJ. Van Scott EJ.
Clinics in Dermatology. 27(5):495-501, 2009 Sep-Oct.
[Journal Article. Review]
Clinical tolerance and efficacy of capryloyl salicylic acid peel compared to a glycolic acid peel in subjects with fine lines/wrinkles and hyperpigmented skin.
Oresajo C. Yatskayer M. Hansenne I.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 7(4):259-62, 2008 Dec.
[Comparative Study. Journal Article. Randomized Controlled Trial]
The use of hydroxy acids on the skin: characteristics of C8-lipohydroxy acid. [Review] [53 refs]
Saint-Leger D. Leveque JL. Verschoore M.
Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology. 6(1):59-65, 2007 Mar.
[Comparative Study. Journal Article. Review]
I can find more if you like. Despite what you may believe, many OTC products have actual active ingredients that improve the appearance of skin. Sun screen is the best preventative product, but AHAs, BHAs, Retinols, etc have proven clinical efficacy.
Now, do any of the products the OP’s girlfriend purchased contain any of the above? I have no idea, but it’s not really fighting ignorance to dismiss outright.
Actually while I was joking, this may not be too far from the truth. Modern Homo sapiens sapiens is pegged at around 50,000 BCE. The earliest flint razors found, so far, are from about 30,000 BCE. So shaving has been around for most of humanities existence.
