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Crossposts: http://telophase.livejournal.com/2672212.html

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*reading /r/skincareaddiction*

post: "Hi, I just starting having a really terrible breakout 2 weeks ago after never having very bad problems. I haven't changed my skincare routine at all. Oh, I did start using [highly recommended and reviewed product] about 3 weeks ago, could that be it?"

replies: *every suggestion under the sun except STOP USING THAT PRODUCT FOR A WHILE AND SEE IF YOUR SKIN GETS BETTER.*

*sigh*

Anyway, I've totally fallen into the wide ~~morass~~ sea of Asian skincare routines and keep intending to make a post about it, but never quite get around to it. But I can tell you that I started a routine, then started getting terrible (for me) breakouts, then realized that of all things, it was the cleanser that was causing it, and if I just went back to my usual washing my face with water when I remembered to, the breakouts stopped. :)

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Ahahaha.

I totally want to hear about Asian skincare routines! My mom was big into them and trying to make me put cucumbers on my eyes and use lotions and things. Ah, nostalgia.

I've only really waded in up to my knees, as I haven't even cracked into things like ampoules and serums! I've been using AHA and BHA lotions/toners/what d'you callems, a two-step moisturizer (because one step is JUST NOT RIGHT) and a set of skincare samples from a Korean shop that I kind of like, but probably won't order because it took them 3 weeks to get here, and then languished at the post office for another week because the damn thing was shipped signature required and we weren't home when it arrived.

I'm still bemused at the two-step cleaning, sorry, cleansing, process that' the foundation of this whole shebang, in which you first use an oil-based cleanser, then a soap-type cleanser. I've come to realize this is set up based on the assumption that you're wearing makeup, because the oil-based cleanser emulsifies it and takes it off without being too harsh, and then the soap takes the oil off. But I found the oil-based cleanser caused my breakouts! The soap stuff seems a bit harsh by itself, so now I just wash with water and only use the soap stuff when I've been sweating or frying something and gotten oil all over my face. :)

Fascinating! I don't wear makeup (I tried eyeliner and realized that since I am COMPLETELY BLIND without my glasses, I couldn't figure out how to put it on without being a raccoon or, alternately, poking my eyes out) so that setup would never have occurred to me.

I remember some moisturizing thing my mom had me do that involved not a cream but a liquid thing? That was actually kind of nice. I don't know what it was called or how to get it or even if it was still made (this was back in the late '90s, God only knows). Any ideas?

What are ampoules and serums??? I thought serums were like how you vaccinate people...

I used to wear makeup every day in highschool, to the point where one day I was having a bad day that started with my forgetting to put my blush on, so I decided to fake sick and went to the nurse's office. I walked in, and she said "Oh my gosh you look so pale!" and I just had to say that I felt bad and wanted to go home, and it was a done deal. XD It mostly takes practice (and with eyeliner, drawing your skin taut to help you draw the line). But I haven't worn any on a regular basis since I started college, and I think the last time I wore some, besides my wedding when I paid someone else to do it for me, was for a dinner out where I felt like dressing up a bit.

I'm betting the liquid was some sort of humectant. My two-step moisturizing thing starts with a clear, slippery humectant from Hada Labo, a Japanese company, and then I follow it up with an emollient from the same place, which is a layer that goes on top and prevents the moisture from evaporating. (Regular moisturizers can have one, the other, or both, from what I am given to understand.) The humectant is the Hyaluronic Acid Lotion in this review and the emollient is the first one listed in step 7 of her enormo-post on her morning skincare routine. She has 2 other steps in between those things (the humectant is step 4), and I just slap 'em on one after the other. :)

As far as ampoules and serums, I'm really kind of hazy on exactly what they are! The blogger I linked it above has a book coming out in October or November that I'll probably get, and I hope she explains them. XD But the skincare world is lousy with sciencey-sounding terms to disguise the fact that most things just kind of work the same.

This is fascinating reading, thanks!

I couldn't use the enormo-post as a guideline because it sounds like my skin is very different. After 5th-6th grade, I got lucky in the acne department. My skin trends oily rather than dry. :] But it's still interesting to learn about!

There's a whole world of skincare bloggers out there with all ranges of skin, so there's probably someone out there with a 37-step routine for oily/non-acne-prone skin!

If I weren't reading this AWESOME BOOK BY

rachelmanija I would be hitting up Google right now! :D

Also, are fragrance-y skincare products generally bad for you? I adore floating around in a haze of scent, which I get to do because I am at home almost all the time, but I bet it would drive people nuts in an office environment.

:D

I haven't read much about scent. I'd assume, based on nothing more than a gut instinct, that it's fine if your skin doesn't react to it.

There's this site I haven't had time to explore yet that all the beauty bloggers seem to use: http://www.cosdna.com/ It's a database of cosmetics and ingredients with ratings as to how comedogenic, irritating, and safe each one is. The Hada Labo humectant I use is here: http://www.cosdna.com/eng/cosmetic_43ee75890.html

Meant to add: I need to look up my cleanser and see if I can figure out which ingredients it has that were making my skin go nuts!

In re oil-based cleanser: my experience as a person with awful skin is that you don't want to use it! The stuff is often formulated based on research on which oils are "most noncomedogenic" that is largely bullshit, because different people break out due to different things, and sometimes you develop a sensitivity to something that worked fine before, and etc etc.

If you want to cleanse with oil, the best thing to do is get a cheap thing of food-grade oil from the grocery (EVOO being the usual place to start), use it for a few weeks, and then dump it for a different food oil if it doesn't work for you. That way you know exactly which oils you react badly to.

Edited 2015-09-18 12:27 (UTC)

I've been using the trendy Oil Cleansing Method (tm) off and on for a couple of years now, with a mix of jojoba and castor that seems to work...well, by "work" I mean it doesn't break me out and leaves my skin feeling soft. I just rarely do it because it's a hassle and takes time. XD

One of my major skin things is "just stop touching your face."

It's at times like this that I really miss my daughter (now on the Other Coast), because she was my Stop Touching Your Face buddy.

I don't think touching my face has anything to do with starting my breakouts, but being unable to stop poking them when I do get them does not do good things!

I have that issue too! But really, if I don't lean my face on my hand(s), the situation around my jawline is much better. And I tend to break out along the path of my CPAP masks straps, too, so I have to remember to wash them every couple of weeks (I do the mask seals every day and the other removable parts once a week). Grubby things (hands, mask straps) pressing on skin = breakouts for me. And for The Young Lady as well.

I was sleeping with a sleep mask for a while (blocking light, not a skincare-type mask), but during the Great Breakout Episode realized that it was contributing to that, as the worst zits were right where it touched my face. So I've stopped using it on a regular basis (gone back to my old pillow-over-the-head habit) except when Toby is staying up late reading. I'll also take it with me to hotels and such, since you never know when you're going to have a bright blue microwave clock glaring out at you or a parking lot light outside improperly-closing curtains.

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