August 05, 2005

• I just slather a basic, unscented moisturiser on after I shave (every two or three days, that is). Dove works for me.
• Use a vitamin-E supplemented Sorbolene type moisturiser, spread a little bit on the dry areas of your face, around your eyes etc, maybe after a shower rather than before you hit the sack, so it don't get on the pillow. You may find that if the pool is chlorinated it will create dry skin, I hate that. If you are having worries about blocked pores, I suggest washing grains or a mild scrub cream that will unclog the sebum that can build up and lead to acne and crap. Cleanser is supposed to break down the oils and do the same thing, but I don't dig it. Those washing grains or whatever they are you can get from The Body Shop are good, take away the layer of dry skin and crap; just rub 'em on while you wash your face in the shower with soap, Dove is good like rodgerd says. Toner is supposed to tighten and firm up your face: fuckin' waste o' money. You can't beat aging with face creams, but you can beat basic dryness and superficial damage with moisturiser. As for spending time in front of the mirror, if you don't do the work, you won't get the benefit. Men can benefit from this stuff too, and the chicks will notice and appreciate it. Doesn't take long. I hear you about vain men, though. Personally, I need all the fuckin' help I can get! :D Also stay out of the sun. Fucks your skin up bigtime.
• at the risk of sounding like a cock, i use: neroli cleansing gel daily in the shower, with a light exfoliating face scrubber thingy from the body shop that they don't seem to sell any more. The neroli stuff smells pretty intense but it's really good. i moisturise with a geranium moisturising emulsion which is really light and doesn't bollix up my already kinda oily skin. this stuff is great for your pre-night-out cleanup, and this face mask is awesome if ever you need that total facial cleanout thing. Also, eat well. You always look better if you're well fed and happy!
• i'm a fan of Kiehl's stuff. They aren't stinky, they aren't overpowering, but they are somewhat pricey. but you're worth it, aren't you? :) lots of different preparations to suit your taste. their shaving cream is the best.
• My facial care routine is Neutrogena facial cleanser in the shower, followed by Vaseline Intensive Care on the face afterwards. In winter, when I need heavy-duty spot moisturizing, I use Vaseline Soothing Moisture, which is half petroleum jelly and does a real number on painfully flaky skin. It's also good for sunburn. I generally wear no makeup other than lip gloss and maybe some cheek stain, so I don't have to worry about cleaning it off. If I need a facial, I pay to have a pro do it. I'm not a swimmer, but my ex was. I have no skin advice from him, but he swore by Infusium's leave-in conditioner for hair.
• In the morning if my face is a little puffy I'll put on an ice pack while doing stomach crunches. I can do 1000 now. After I remove the ice pack I use a deep pore cleanser lotion. In the shower I use a water activated gel cleanser, then a honey almond body scrub, and on the face an exfoliating gel scrub. Then I apply an herb-mint facial mask which I leave on for 10 minutes while I prepare the rest of my routine. I always use an after shave lotion with little or no alcohol, because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older. Then moisturizer, then an anti-aging eye balm followed by a final moisturizing protective lotion.
• Neutrogena makes an oil-free moisturizer in a little pump bottle that's really good for the face. Pretty much any soap or cleanser will dry my face out, and this stuff does the trick. It's light, you don't need much, and it makes a huge difference. There are even varieties with SPF built in to protect you from the sun, if you're concerned about that. If you have problems with acne, Proactiv isn't just infomercial hype, it really works. I used it for years. Really, it's as simple as keeping your skin clean and moist. Find a good cleanser that doesn't dry your skin (if you can), and find a good, light moisturizer that isn't greasy. Get exercise and eat healthy food. Go outside, get a little sun now and then. Despite what some may tell you, you don't need a shelf of expensive products. Also, if you shave against the grain, stop it.
• From what I've read, moisturizers don't do much for you unless you use them when your skin is damp and they can prevent moisture from evaporating. Using them on dry skin can prevent them from helping. (Most of them are oil based, and oil floats on water, but can shut out water if used incorrectly.) Olive oil is a favorite of some people - there's a soap called Kiss My Face which has some in it, or you could go for the gladiator look of extra virgin (or whatever,) used right after the showering. Baby oil is another alternative, which my mother swears by. But, I really think that dermabrasion is a great help. Scubbing with something, like a loofa or a bath brush, which takes off layers of dead skin, revealing the wonderfulness underneath is the best bet.
• Aquaphor, made by a company called Eucerin, is a superior protectant - and I mean superior. For moisture, a *teeny* bit of Lubriderm - I'm talking a fingertip's worth here, too much will clog your pores and *blammo* it's sophomore year again! One other thing you might try, if you find shaving troublesome, is buy one of those stick on shower mirrors and shave in the shower. HUGE difference in irritation, nicks, and bumps if you're prone to them. Can't help you with hair, dude.
• I'm also a shower shaver -- the more hot water on those bristles the better!
• Me too. Can't figure out why I ever shaved in a sink. Do you ever worry about sharing too much personal information online?
• Me? Nah. My life's an open book. A boring, poorly written and even worsely edited open book.
• What would anyone conceivably do with this incredibly valuable information?
• *gales of fiendish laughter*
• 3. Profit!!
• OK, now I'm worried.
• Some good stuff so far. I'm taking notes. I probably should have been explicit in saying that, for me, "low hassle" means a maximum of 2 products. If it's more than 2, then the chances of me (a) using it (b) remembering to use it are slim.
• To use the right stuff, you have to figure out what kind of skin you have. It's really easy to do, since there are only 4 kinds: dry, normal, oily, combination. If your face feels too tight or is flaky, it's dry. (If you're allergic to things, your skin is also called "sensitive." That usually goes with dry skin.) If your face is shiny all over (but probably especially around the nose), it's oily. If it's shiny in some places, but tight and flaky in others, it's combination. If you don't usually notice any of this (or if you didn't before the swimming), it's normal. The two products to own are cleanser and moisturizer. Since you're a boy and you shave, you probably don't need an exfoliator (aka: dermabrasion or skin grains). You may need to exfoliate occasionally if your skin is very oily or flaky, but you can buy an exfoliating cleanser! Stay away from exfoliators if your skin is sensitive (are you fair? Do you burn easily. Exfoliators may be too harsh for you) Types of cleaner: They'll be labelled for the type of skin you have. If you're not sure what you have, start off with the kind for "normal" skin. (If you're prone to breakouts, get the kind that says it clears that up.) I'd probably also use a foaming cleaner or an exfoliating cleanser. (Milky or creamy cleansers usually serve to remove makeup.) Then, if it works stick with it. If it makes your skin too dry, switch to dry skin formula. If it makes your skin feel oily, switch to oily formula. If it makes you red and splotchy, switch to sensitive. You may need to experiment, you may like the first thing you try. A good cleaner will make your skin feel refreshed and clean, not tight and itchy. Unlike hair, you don't want your face "squeaky" clean. Moisturizer: Try to get the same brand and same skin type as your cleanser, so the ingredients won't clash and break you out. Get one with at least a 15 SPF. Get one in a pump-type bottle. The kind in jars require you to stick your finger in them, and that makes them prone to bacteria growth, which will break you out. A good moisturizer will make your skin feel soft and comfortable, not greasy (it won't make you look shiny), and shouldn't burn your eyes. To remember to use them, put your cleanser in the shower and use it after you shave. I'd also wash and moisturize after you swim to combat chlorine damage. Put your moisturizer wherever you dry off and put it on before you put on your clothes. Sorry for the extra long comment, but you said you wanted basics :)
• *sigh* cleaner = cleanser
• i feel unusual - what do you think of Huey Lewis and the News?
• meredithea. that's exactly what I wanted to know. thanks. The two product limit also comes about because I have to drag this stuff to the pool with me (since I usually swim in the morning before work.) Now, if collected monkeys could hit me with some good/accessible brands I'd be indebted. Some of the more boutique/esoteric brands don't make it to .au, or if they do, they're bloody expensive.
• I never really got the hang of the early stuff, ooga_booga... it was too artsy. Too... intellectual. Supplementary question. As I get older, my beard hair is taking on the quality of mithril. The wet shave is just not doing it for me anymore, at least in the limited time allowed to it of a morning. Does anyone have any tales of fiendish and shower-friendly depilators, possibly also featuring ceramic blades, chobham armour or science speed?
• Oh, and defibrillation. I want a shower-friendly defibrillator more than life itself. Which is handy.
• A really good place to get this kind of info, as well as no-BS reviews and evaluations of various skin care products, is Cosmetics Cop, which despite the name covers a lot more than makeup. Check out the "Products Reviews" links. I can also vouch for the quality of her own products, which, while not dirt-cheap, are straightforward, good quality, and do the job.
• I know that there will be doubters, but I have been using owl semen for years.
• i feel unusual - what do you think of Huey Lewis and the News? Heh ... are you in murders and executions? I have very sensitive skin. I can't even use ChapStick, because it has too many chemicals. What Chyren said above is dead on; I use Dove soap, Olay moisturizer for sensitive skin (plus a tiny amount of Curel around the eyes), a gentle apricot facial scrub, I drink plenty of water and avoid the sun. I spend less than a minute on my face. If you want to reduce to only 2 products, I would recommend Dove soap and a good-quality moisturizer, but a facial scrub once a week might help too.
• Hoot hoot!
• Nothing special here. Just Pears. It smells like soap should smell. Plus, I like having something the Queen endorsed being rubbed all over my nekkid body. Once in a while, a fancy Neutrogena cleanser with a Body Shop grouting cloth in the tub, and I'm set for the week. As for shaving, more problematic. Tried the shower shave, and indeed, it's much more convenient, but it left me with massive razor burns. So, an ordinary aloe-based cream, followed by a good ol' Alum block as an apres-rasage. For years, I went for fancy alcomahol-based aftershaves -- and indeed, there's little as satisfying and invigorating as an alcohol-burn-wake-up, but now I swear by the Alum. Easy, nick-curin', unscented, all-natural. Good enough for grandpas, good enough for me. Plus, I like having something 17th-century Venetian prostitutes used to fake their virginity being rubbed all over my face.
• All this stuff can be a real pain in the ass. I found that just using something more mild than bar soap to wash my face in the shower was all I needed. Nivia and gillette make soapless facial cleansers for men. Nivia makes an exfoliating one too. They all worked fine for me. Once I found a good cleanser I no longer needed to bother with moisterizer. The nutragena oil free one that mct mentioned is very good though. Little bottle, funny little nozzle.
• One of the best things you can do for your skin and hair when you are swimming is wet yourself down in the shower before you get in the pool and make sure you really lather up after to rinse away the pool water. After that, I use an abrasive washcloth to keep down the dry skin caused by swimming and put a decent lotion on afterwards. My skin tends to be very dry and this simple regime seems to work just fine for me. Soaking your skin and hair with fresh water will prevent it from soaking up too much checmical-laden pool water.
• I have sensitive skin, I can't use any harsh cleansers or washing grains or I'll break out in spots. I use Cetaphil to wash my face (recommend by my dermatologist), which should be available in any drugstore. It feels nice, cleans well, and doesn't dry out my skin or have a scent. If you want to keep your skin looking young and healthy, the #1 best thing you can do is to use sunblock. Strong sunblock. My favorite is Neutrogena Oil-Free, it disappears into my skin and doesn't feel heavy or greasy.
• I don't shave, I just bash the whiskers in with a hammer then bite 'em off on the inside.
• Beekeeper's tip: Honey, slightly heated, can be used as a skin treatment -- massage a small amount over face, leave it on for fifteen minutes or so, then rinse off. Honey cleans pores, and tones skin, and it's antispetic. Honey is used in a number of cosmetics; like glycerin, it's a moisturizer and is very easy on skin. Witch hazel is soothing on scraped or chafed skin. I've used it as an aftershave for years. Has a slighlyt berbal aroma that usually disappears fast.
• I've always found this site helpful (basic descriptions of scrubs, toners etc.. here).
• oogabooga is cruel, or wise. Certainly, a lot of people with special tastes enjoy Huey L&TN. On the Cetaphil: nice, but doesn't it have severe amounts of restrictions? Check the bottle.
• islander: are you a logger? "As I sat down one evening, "Twas in a small cafe A 40 year old waitress To a man these words did say" "I see you are a logger, And not just a common bum, 'Cause nobody but a logger Stirs his coffee with his thumb. "My lover was a logger, there's none like him today. With Newport whiskey on it He could eat a bale of hay. "He never shaved his whiskers From off of his horny hide. He beat them in with a hammer, And bit them off inside. "My lover came to see me 'Twas on one freezing day He held me in a fond embrace Which broke 3 vertebrae. "He kissed me before he left me, So hard that it broke my jaw. I could not speak to tell him He forgot his mackinaw. (Bits and pieces of a folk song on an Odetta album I bought in the 1950s. I can't remember the last verse or three. The logger was frozen after after he survived temperatures up to just below 100 degrees below zero. The song is called The Frozen Logger.) /derail.
• "I watched my logger lover going through the snow, he went strolling gaily homeward at forty-eight below. "The weather tried to freeze him and tried its level best; at a hundred degrees below zero he buttoned up his vest. "It froze clear down to Chuna, and froze to the stars above; at a thousand defrees below zero it froze my logger love. "They tried in vain to thaw him, and if you'll believe me, sir, they made him into axe blades to chop the Douglas fir. "This is how I lost my lover and to this cafe come, and here I wait till someone stirs his coffee with his thumb."
• =China
• MonkeyFilter: Has a slighlyt berbal aroma Ah, Bees, you're typos are so classy.
• ...at a thousand defrees below zero :-) As a callow youth I worked in the woods and the mines but nowadays I stir my coffee with a spoon.
• Saved by beeswacky yet again! islander - but you need to give us a demo on the whiskers thing.
• Cetaphil *cleanser* (dunno about the moisturizer, which is a separate thing) does not have a severe number of restrictions. Some ppl react (mentally) to the "alcohol" in it, but they do not have proper understanding of types of alcohol: cetyl alcohol, the stuff in Cetaphil cleanser, is more like a wax, and one of the few kinds of alcohol that won't dry skin out. But Cetaphil also freaks people out because it doesn't foam. Lather actually has nothing to do with a cleanser's effectiveness; some lathering agents can actually cause skin dryness. Some people are bothered because it doesn't strip oils from their face & make it feel "tight", which is a feeling that we associate with a properly clean face, but which isn't actually good for your skin. It's best when used with a light toner (even chilled chamomile tea, or witch hazel, or some other non-irritating herbal concoction), especially because it's lousy at removing eyemakeup. Toner or eyemakeup remover can help with that, and toner can help remove oily makeup remover, and OH MY GOD IT'S A HORRIBLE CHAIN OF ONE FACIAL GOO AFTER ANOTHER NO MATTER WHAT YOU USE. Most people will also want to use a scrub maybe once a week. You can use a separate scrub, or you can just add baking soda to a dollop of the Cetaphil. Blah blah blah. As far as Lubriderm clogging pores, waaay earlier in the thread? Try Curel. Similar moisturizing properties, doesn't clog pores. I've used both on my (sensitive combination skinned) face & neither has given me much trouble.
• My favorite facial scrub is sugar mixed with honey. You mix it yourself so it can be as mild or scratchy as you want, sugar is a good exfoliant because it doesn't burn like salt, and honey is a really good moisturizer. Use it in the shower so you don't have to worry about stickyness (the heat of the shower also makes the honey nice and warm feeling on your face). You also don't have to worry about it getting in your mouth like most soaps. mmmmmm.... (Of course, this mix might not be a good idea if you have acne, because honey can have bacteria in it. YMMV!)
• Honey has been used sucessfully to dress wounds from ancient times. And in fact it is considered an antibacterial substance.
• Really? How interesting! I thought it's bacteria was why you shouldn't feed honey to babies?
• Ach! its
• Re infant botulism: It seems in 1976 a condition known as infant botulism was discovered in the US. Some honey, about ten per cent, may contains botulism spores which the digestion of older children and adults can cope with easily, so they are harmless, but babies cannot manage this. Nowadays it's recommended babies not be fed honey until they're 12 months old, because about ten per cent of honey contains these spores. the other 90% does not. So how do ye tell which is which? Honey which has been certified as being free of spores can be given safely to babies, Naked eye scrutiny won't work in this case. The thing about botulism is, it's ubiquitous, being found in the earth, in dust and sediments -- so I have to wonder now what other foodstuffs could also contain botulism spores. Apple juice and apple sauce seem like good bets to me, knowing how apples are harvested. Boiling and baking and even pasteurization don't necessarily kill the spores, so breads and other products made with honey would be on a suspect list unless the honey were certified. Have to wonder about molasses and maple syrup, too. Corn syrup has also been implicated in infant botulism. The CDC says there are an average of 110 cases of botulism every year in the US, of which 72% are infant botulism. Further breakdown of this seems to indicate that only one in every five cases of infant bolulism are tracable to honey -- the others may come from the baby's ingesting dirt or dust.