skin care!

[peter_m]

I think this is pretty important, does anyone have any recommendations for anything?

 

[drinkrum]

Moisturizer after showers. Everywhere. Does wonders. Try Vaseline Intensive Care Healthy Body Complexion.

D.

 

[The Gardener]

My ex worked for a derm. Here was the derm's advice for me, I have a "T-zone" type combination skin, but I bet he would recommend these basics for someone with oily skin as well. If you have dry skin, he'd probably say something else so you are on your own. This simple skin regimen has really helped my skin, in a BIG way!

Every morning, shower or wash your face with a ph compatible soap and water. No, none of these "soap free cleansers" but a real quality soap. My derm recommends Lever 2000.

Shave, and finish with 10% Alpha Hydroxy Acid cream or lotion, whichever suits your face best.

In the evening, shower or wash your face again with soap and water. In the evenings, use a washcloth and gently brush over the skin to remove the exfoliate that the AHA has created by sitting on the face for the day. Afterwords, either apply Retinol, or copper peptigde gel.

 

[KANGA]

Depends on what skin. Face?

Before bed: Wash with cold water. I use spectro jel, but any soap without fragrance should be fine. After pat dry with clean towel, I use jojoba oil, and sometimes mix it with extra virgin organic coconut oil (both can be had for $10 a bottle). Massage into face, pat away with a clean towel excess.

Sometimes I splash my face with cold water in the morning, but you really shouldn't be washing your face more than once a day. Exfoliate twice a week (apricot scrub works great) if needed.

Haven't had a pimple in I don't know how long. And I attribute this regimen to it.

EDIT: I should add this as well, what goes in your body will definitely show up outside... stop eating crap. Dump the processed garbage, sugars (incl. HFCS, artificial), any "packaged" foods... if it's got more than 10 ingredients, you don't need it. Eat a lot of veggies, and make sure your Vitamin D levels are suffice (most people's aren't, and this is a big factor in bad skin). I've removed most dairy and animal fats from my diet, I stick with fish and egg whites for protein. I've actually leaned out and gained more muscle this way.

 

[Fallon]

KANGA has some good tips, I don't have much facial acne nowadays, but I wish I had known that back in high school. I remember what I did before bed, I would ALWAYS use a clean towel or shirt to cover my pillow. While it did substantially reduce my acne, never really got rid of it.

 

[Koga]

Sunscreen, yo!

Wash-moisturize-sunscreen aaaaand repeat.

 

[susu]

Stop eating fried, oily, processed or highly sugary foods (or limit them). Drink plenty of water, 2-3 litres depending on how much you exercise. Don't touch your skin unnecessarily. And use a gentle face wash which clears bacteria, reduces inflammation but isn't too harsh on your skin like taoist handmade soap. If you fix the internal, the external will heal itself.

 

[johnkeller]

Wash your face thrice a day and apply sunscreen before you go out.
Before going to bed in the night, clean your face and remove makeup if you wear it and apply moisturizer.

 

[JacquelynGuild]

You can use daily best quality product that moisturizes your skin. Take healthy food and drink lots of water.

 

[llttoo33]

I have mild acne but is has got so much better as I am getting older. Lately I have been using Proactive and it seems to be keeping me clear expect for the occassional pimple.

 

[Aeroes]

Wash face - Apply Witch hazel as a toner - then apply Moisturiser. Lip balm also make lips appear more youthful.

 

[MI92]

Vitamin E oil and emu oil as a moisturizer after shower or before bed has definitely made my skin look and feel better.

 

[1knox1]

Sunscreen > pretty much everything.

 

[Roox]

You can find some cosmetics companies, some of them I saw have free offers.

 

[Nathan Harris]

Skin is an vital part of our health. So, We, should take care of it.

 

[KmJyoti]

Drink more and more water, at least 8 glass of water a day. It is very helpful four you skin and lose weight.
Vaseline Is best for Intensive Care Healthy Body Complexion.
Before going outside or in the sun cover your skin perfectly. or use sunscreen.

 

[Captain Hook]

at least 8 glass of water a day.

This is archaic and unscientific advice. How are we defining '1 glass' here? 250 mL?

Basically just stay hydrated, a good rule of thumb is that if your urine is a pale straw colour you're well hydrated, if it's clear you're over-hydrating which you don't want (Look up dilutional hyponatraemia, there is such a thing as too much water to the point where it can cause death).

Back on the topic of skincare though, in addition to staying hydrated this is my current regimen, subject to brand change depending on where I am in the world but I always try to use the same type of products if that makes sense:

-Nivea Men Volcanic Mud Foam Face Wash in the shower daily (contains salicylic acid)
-Neutrogena Men Invigorating Face Wash right when I wake up and just before I go to bed
-Nivea Men Exfoliating Face Scrub 2x/weekly before shaving
-L'Oréal Men Expert Hydra Energetic Active UV Defence SPF15 Daily Moisturising Lotion daily before leaving the house
-L'Oréal Men Expert Hydra Energetic Anti-Burn Ice Effect Aftershave Balm 2x/weekly after shaving

In short: stay hydrated, have a balanced diet (Vitamin A, C, D, E and biotin are important for the support of healthy skin. As the old adage goes: healthy skin starts from within), exfoliate once or twice a week, wash your face at least twice a day, use a moisturiser that protects against UVA/UVB rays (minimum SPF15 so as to have adequate defence against photo-damage) once a day and of course don't touch your face!

Other products I use that aren't absolutely necessary but have nice benefits:

-L'Oréal Men Expert Hydra Energetic 3 Day Beard Moisturiser:

Since I shave anywhere from as often as 4 times a week to as seldom as once every 4 weeks, this product is nice because it softens facial hair as well as preventing and soothing the ravenous itch that accompanies 1+ week old facial hair. I'll never go as far as growing an actual beard but at the 4 week mark my facial hair will be at the Calvin Harris/Captain Hook/Ewan McGregor level.

-Clinique Acne Solutions Spot Healing Gel:

I use this immediately after I notice I have a spot, it contains 1% salicylic acid and has been the pinnacle of my skincare regimen since I was 12.

-Clinique Clarifying Lotion 2:

This is a toner type product that I'll use after a long day of being out in the heat and humidity, basically to remove any excess oil or sweat before I go to sleep.

-Vaseline (white petrolatum USP/white soft paraffin BP):

The only time I'll use this is to moisturise my lips in the winter or to remove eyeliner (I went as, you guessed it, Captain Hook last Halloween. A message to my fellow pirates: eyeliner is important, never swashbuckle without it!)

-Molton Brown Protecting Vitamin Lipsaver:

I'll use this to moisturise my lips in the seasons prior to and following winter.

-Nivea Men Clear Effect Gel Moisturiser:

I'll use this product as my moisturiser if I have a spot or a few spots on my face (not very often, maybe about once every two weeks or so), if I know I'm going to be out in the heat and humidity (hence sweating a lot) or if I know I'm not going to be able to wash my face for a while. It contains salicylic acid and L-carnitine which reduce and hence control sebum which in turn prevents that shiny/oily/sweaty look on your face after a 10 hour flight, night out or all nighter.

I plan on replacing the Clinique gel with tretinoin in the future, as I am getting older and hence can take advantage of the anti-ageing benefit tretinoin has in addition to its original benefit of treating acne. Despite having combination skin (I get spots on my T-Zone mostly) I've never had much acne at all even as a teen (worst case maybe 4-6 small spots on my face when I was 14-16) but I'm someone who's very particular about his skin and hence am adamant about treating even the slightest small spot, which currently the worst that will happen is I'll get maybe 1-3 spots every once in a while.

That being said, many people compliment me on my skin and ask me what products I use even back when I was only using face wash twice a day and Clinique gel (I was an enigma in high school as people were always perplexed as to why I never had the classic teenage 'pizza face' acne like most of the kids my age), I've only recently (2 weeks ago) started to use the other products and have noticed a marked 'glow' type radiance to my skin, even some of my friends made comments on the difference (some people even thought I was wearing makeup LOL)

 

[jumpinggreedy]

I just wash myself with warm water and mild soap although, I use natural facial mask once in awhile.

 

[1knox1]

All this stuff and no mention of the one and only thing that can considerably slow down signs of skin ageing - sunscreen.

 

[Captain Hook]

All this stuff and no mention of the one and only thing that can considerably slow down signs of skin ageing - sunscreen.

To quote my earlier post:

use a moisturiser that protects against UVA/UVB rays (minimum SPF15 so as to have adequate defence against photo-damage) once a day

A moisturiser that fits this criteria is by definition a sunscreen.