I Feel Pretty: The Beauty Thread

[ophy]

Oh, so glad you found something you really love, em. I'd never heard of the brand, but there are some great ingredients in there. Do you love your Clarisonic? I've been on the fence about getting one for a long time.


The ogirl has just started *very slightly* breaking out, and we are experimenting with various stuff to clear her up. Right now, she is using tea tree oil and tamanu, and a charcoal facial bar. Nothing has been miraculous yet, though. Pre-teen skin is so delicate, so I don't want to try anything crazy on her. I'll look into First Aid and see if they have something suitable.


Speaking of miracle products,I have a rec for boosting thin, flat, or oily hair but . . . well, it scores a 7 on the skin deep site, so I feel evil even posting it.

Garnier Fructis Volume Extend Instant Bodifier Dry Shampoo for Fine or Flat Hair:
http://www.amazon.com/Garnier-Fructi...dp/B00CZE9YHO/













It scores a 7 because of fragrance and butane. It's the only 7 I use, I swear! (I think, anyway) and it super duper works. I can actually skip a day of shampooing by using this stuff, which has never been true for me before. It's also really cheap (like $5) and lasts me a few weeks. I've tried more 'natural' dry shampoos, but this is the only that has ever actually worked on my hair. It also acts as a holding spray when I'm styling my hair and oh my beek don't buy this it's evil and will kill you.


And not a miracle product really, but a *pretty nice* one, Pond's Luminous Finish BB Cream:

http://www.amazon.com/Ponds-Luminous...dp/B00D6EDGZI/











Scores a 2 -4 (depends on the shade) and has SPF 15 in it. Great for everyday . . . not very thick or heavy, and doesn't sting my eyes the way so many things with spf do.

[LaaLaa]

Ooh, sounds like all good things in here! Has ogirl tried the konjac sponge?

I was looking for hyaluronic acid, vitamin c and retinol serums that weren't $40+...This has all of it AND it's $20! And reviews are good! I hopehopehope it's legit.

[isadora]

I WANT THE SERUM.

I don't even know why since I don't actually use many cosmetic products at all and barely wash my face (outside of showering) with any regularity.

I'm still struggling with giving up shampoo. It's been months and my hair is always weird and I hate it.

[LaaLaa]

Whoa, you gave up shampoo? Did I miss a page?

I'll tell y'all if the serum is real. I want magic for my smile area and the lines on my neck that are probs from looking down all the time, Nono-ing on my damn phone.

[isadora]

I gave up shampoo (mostly) several months back. And at first it was weird--greasy, etc. and I just pulled it back and powered through. I read brushing a lot during the "oily" phase distributes the oil to the roots? IDEK, it's all madness. But then I washed it with Dr. Bronner's weird hippie shampoo (even tho it's not marketed as such) and it looked SPECTACULAR on that day. Like I put zero product in it at all and it looked fucking amazing and I was like: WUT IS THIS.

But since then it's been really uneven. So I often just use warm water in the shower but if I feel like it's getting weird/oily/overly dry (it's been ALL OF THESE THINGS, including flaky like Ally Sheedy in B'fast Club), I wash it with either some random shampoo I have, the Liggett Shampoo Bar I got, or Dr. Bronners. But I only wash at the scalp (except for that time I randomly had a patch of oily hair near the bottom in the back? IDK what to make of that one).

Anyway, the benefit is that my hair appears noticeably thicker! I was suffering from rather thinning hair and so that's what kicked this whole thing off. I used to wash every day and now I wash when it seems to "need" it? But I rarely use traditional shampoo now.

[IssieCol]

For you anti-poo peeps, why? There are so many sulfate and paraben free options now and those were the big bads of that industry. Is there other stuff in it we need to avoid to prevent teh cancer? I can't go through several months of trial and error with shampoo alternatives while my hair goes through a greasy rebellion. I lost my glorious unicorn hair after Dude 2 and legit went through a season of sadness about it for real. After A LOT of work and time, I'm finally close to my pregnancy hair again and don't wanna undo it all with another change in regimen. Since the beginning of last summer, I've been squeezing a bottle of biotin into my shampoo, taking biotin and prenatal vitamins, using a thickening shampoo, and finishing with Moroccan oil every day.

I honestly don't know if any of the above is the magic potion because I started everything around the same time and was mega aggressive about it all. Plus, I didn't see results for a couple of months so who knows? Just in case y'all have hair thinning issues, I totally rec my method but it is not cheap. Wevs, man, you gotta commit to something in this life.

I use the gel cap biotin pills from NatureMade, Fave4 thickening shampoo with the light conditioner, and the MoroccanOil brand because DK and Klossy can't both be wrong about its miraculous healing powers.

[LaaLaa]

I have Biotin horse pills that I forget to take every day! Still use shampoo, but my scalp would get so angry if I washed it every day, so at least I'm reducing exposure to the chemicals? (Sidenote: The cheapass shampoo I grabbed from CVS on a whim has CRAZY bad reviews on Amazon, all not-verified purchases, talking about clumps of hair falling out or rashes...and all the other products from that brand have at least 4 stars on Amazon. Buh? I think it's WebMD-style paranoia at its most intense, tbh. A lot are: "Thank God I came here and read the reviews! Now that I think about it, I have been shedding more often!" One person claimed it got rid of 50% of her hair and ruined her hairline. All the verified purchases are like, "Um, it's normal shampoo." It's BIZARRE.)

[isadora]

My hair has been thinning like whoa! And I was like: I'm gonna stop poo'ing every day and see what happens. Because that is the actual laziest course of action so I took it.

I would never be able to remember to take a pill. I can't even remember to take my Vitamin D with any regularity and that keeps me from spiraling into winter depression.

Where do you get the thickening shampoo? Does biotin thicken the hair or just make it grow faster?

[emmaleigh]

Oh, so glad you found something you really love, em. I'd never heard of the brand, but there are some great ingredients in there. Do you love your Clarisonic? I've been on the fence about getting one for a long time.

Tbh, I don't think the Clarisonic is worth the price as I'm not convinced it's some kind of miracle product. If it were like $50, I'd say do it because what can it hurt but it's a legit investment (I got mine as a bday gift) especially since you have to purchase a new brush head every three months and that's like $40 on its own. It does make my skin feel clean but I had a lot of trial and error w/ my suuuuuper sensitive skin and now I use the delicate brush for even less time than the factory-set suggested time.

I went down to washing my hair like once a week when it was falling out because the shower seemed to exacerbate that and my scalp got crazy, crazy dry and flaky. I'm back up to every 2 or 3 days but I still have the dry scalp. My hair is so fine though that putting any kind of oil on it or in it makes it greasy like whoa. Meh.

I do know people who SWEAR by the no 'poo thing though. My childhood BFF has done it for years and her hair is crazy wavy and full of body now where as it was stick straight when we were kids. (She does have a 20 month old though.)

If you do want to take a pill every day, the trick is to take it at the same time every day and set an alarm. OR keep it on your nightstand and take it right before you get in bed so it becomes as routine as anything else you do every day. If it's recommended to take on an empty stomach, same thing but take it when you first wake up.

<--- takes a bazillion pills daily

[LaaLaa]

I got a great, cheap silicone brush just so I wouldn't have to replace brushes. /lazyass

Taking pills before bed! Doing it.

[IssieCol]

Is, I get the shampoo and conditioner at fave4.com. I don't think any stores offer it, at least not anywhere near me, but I haven't tried all that hard to find it tbh. I have super straight hair so I use the light conditioner to keep it bouncy and not look mega weighed down by the thickening shampoo. I learned that trick on YouTube lol.

If oils make you greasy, em, you might wanna try the Bamboo Fiber Full cream from OGX. It's lighter than oil and way cheaper than MoroccanOil so if it doesn't work, you're only out like five bucks.

[emmaleigh]

Oh! Totally trying the silicone brush and the Bamboo Fiber Full cream. Those are totally within my 'nothing to lose' wheelhouse. Thank you!

[vanessa]

Have we discussed Baby Feet yet? Because a coworker talked me into trying it and it's almost-miraculous. The first time I did it about 3 months ago, I only had so-so results, but this time, I soak my feet every evening, and the skin is coming off in big sheets. It hasn't gotten completely through all of the hard scratchy skin on the back of my heel, but it's almost there. Another treatment in a few months, and all of that will be gone.

I am sure Ophy will tell me it's super bad for me, but I don't care because soft feet.

[LaaLaa]

I bought it for the Mr. last year, but he still hasn't tried it. Now we have to wait until winter so he doesn't have to worry about his feet peeling in the middle of a pool party.

[ophy]

I am sure Ophy will tell me it's super bad for me, but I don't care because soft feet.

I don't love the ingredient list! And it's always a concern when they tell people not to use it if they are nursing or preggers! I mean, if the stuff in there is harmful enough to babies that it requires a warning, then it's probs harmful in general.



But! It's not a product that you are going to use every day over a long period of time, so I guess your exposure is kinda limited?


I really wanna know if this works, so I say GO FOR IT.










(actual footage of vanessa at home.)