Ugh, all this peeling and exfoliating sounds awfully hard on dry skin - which is usually thin and tender skin.
I’ve made a facial serum (no alcohol, emulsifiers or added water, just balanced oils) which is pretty damn good. It’s carrotseed oil, rose hip seed oil and jojoba, with chamomile and lavender essential oils. It’s great for moisturizing, as well as relieving redness and preventing breakouts.
But for the master of all facial serums, call my teacher, whose number can be found on her website. She makes a facial serum to die for, and mine is an only partially successful attempt to clone hers. I don’t think it’s listed on her website, because it’s a special order product, but it’s all natural and premium quality oils and essential oils, all or almost all organic. It’s expensive (though not as expensive as La Mer), but you literally need only three or four drops a day, it spreads so well and absorbs right in.
Question: doesn’t it clog your pores? Whenever I used anything with petrolatum in it, I break out. That’s why I buy the Nature’s Gate stuff, because it seems to have the least amount of pore-clogging ingredients. Though almond oil might work well too.
Aveeno is good. Kiehl’s might work–I haven’t tried their face lotion, because the cheap stuff works fine for me, but everything else I’ve used of theirs has been good.
Lay off the exfoliation a little. Seriously, unless you have an oily or combination skin you probably don’t need to exfoliate more than about twice a month - more than that will dry your skin out worse (as opposed to removing the flakies, which is what I assume you’re doing it for).
I’ll second Eucern - it contains Urea which is a great hydrator.
Finally, seeing a dermatologist if you have one/can afford it (I don’t know how these things work in the US) is always a good idea.
FWIW - despite being a high maintenance pain in the ass, I would never spend $250 for La Mer - I spend $50 for Biotherm and feel like a bit of a tool for that (although it really does make a difference for my skin).
My face tends to be oily but I’ve found that when I use moisturizer it cuts down on the amount of grease my pores put out so my skin looks more matte and less shiny. I use Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint liquid soap on my face in the morning followed by Malibu Hemp lotion I get at Wallymart. It’s light and goes into the skin quickly and doesn’t feel greasy. Then a I use a hot washcloth on my face in the evening to get all the daily grime off, and put on some Tree Hut Shea Butter lotion–I used to use the Mango which is yummy but now I use the regular stuff, which smells like coconut crunch donuts and doesn’t feel as sticky on the skin. This regimen is doing wonders for the back of my hands as well, which are more true indicators of my age than my face skin is–women in my family don’t wrinkle, it’s kinda nice…
I would see an esthetician, get a nice, soothing, moisturizing facial, and then try the moisturizer THEY recommend. It’s bound to be cheaper than La Mer.
I saw a TV study once that showed oil-water emulsions (most moisturisers) are actually long-term drying on skin. Can’t find any cite for that but, eh, I have found that switching to facial oils has done wonders for my skin. I also won’t exfoliate other than an occasional gentle buff with a warm steamy facial cloth as, again in the long-term, it makes my skin flake and dry out even more. Facial oils do seem to help the skin to be able to heal itself and also to regulate its own moisture levels. I used to have dry cheeks and an oily T-zone and the oils have even sorted out the oil problem! These days I mix my own out of jojoba oil, a few drops of avocado oil, apricot kernel oil, and a small amount of expensive rose absolute and neroli oils. I like not having loads of chemical stuff on my face if possible. I use a few drops in a very thin layer over freshly washed and still damp skin.
I’ll also use vaseline when my eczema gets really bad. I’ll start off with my oil, then use a small dab of vaseline rubbed between my fingers to add a small amount of extra protection to particularly sore and red patches.
Another vote for Bag Balm. I slather it on at night around 7 or 8 and let it sit till I’m ready to go to bed. Then I tissue it off. I also find an olive oil cleanser (I use the one by DHC Skin Care - www.dhccare.com) is wonderful.
We have something called “Melkfett” (melking fat) in Germany, used also by farmers for cow udders, and available cheaply. I have heard several recommendations, because apparently, it’s mostly made from Lanolin (wool fat) which is very natural for human skin.
My ceramics class had a huge tube of Cow Udder cream that we used on our hands after every class. Worked like charm, but can’t imagine using it on my face.
Something I recomend (IANAD, just someone with dry skin on my hands) is simple Aloe Vera gell. Get some of the clear, 98% gell (I buy mine at the drug-store, but I’ve seen it in health-product stores and such places as well.) It doesn’t make your skin sticky or oily at all, it feels just like water, really cool and nice, and soaks right in. It works wonders on my hands, and cleared up a weird dry parth on my cheek that just would’nt go away in a matter of days. Great for eczema as well, according to a friend of mine.
In theory, you should be able to just get an actual Aloe Vera plant, and just break off a leaf and use the sapp directly. I havent tried this though, since I have a soft heart for any plants in my care, but the same friend claims this works, as does my boyfriend shrug
Doesn’t count as “cream” but its the only skin-care product I really like.
Spring 2006, a German consumerorganisation tested different facial cremes.
At the top (awarded a 90 out of a 100) came Creme de la Mer, at 41 euro’s per 10 ml.
Second best was plain old Nivea in the blue can, at 8 eurocents per 10 ml. Nivea was rated 70 out of 100.
In that same test they tested anti-wrinkle creams. Best was Nivea Vital triple action, (rated 78 out ot 100) and second best eas La Prairie, rated 50 out of a 100 and about 20 times as expensive as Nivea Vital.
I like MOISTURE THERAPY Intensive Extra Strength Cream from Avon. $6 for a 5.3 oz jar. I swear by the Mositure Therapy stuff, particularily the lib balm and hand lotion. Very effective and not oogy feeling. Also virtually no scent, so if’t good for guys not wanting to smell like a tampax box :eek:
Wow! Thanks for all of your responses. In answer to a couple of posts, it’s possible that I’ve been over exfoliating. I use the L’oreal 2 piece kit about 2-3 times a week and I’ve really scrubbed hard, trying to get rid of that scaley patch right between my eyes. I guess I’ll switch to a gentler cleanser and a simple oil moisturizer and cut down with all of the fancy exfoliating until my face settles down.
A-holy crap, medstar! I exfoliate, but only twice a month with generic apricot scrub. I wouldn’t scrub any harder than I would when washing my face. You want to make sweet love to your face, not treat it like Spike.
