My mind is preoccupied with skin. Not just my own, but other people's skin as well. I mean I have enough problems with oily skin and blackheads, flaky skin on my chin and eye lids, pigmentation on the right side of my face, pigmentation on my knuckles, knees and elbows, keratotis pilaris on my arms and back, and rough thicken foot soles. Still my mind obsess on their problems.
I try to give out advice, but usually its a hit and miss. Skin is so hard to predict. What works for me will not work for you, what is claimed to be great, can just be lack luster on mine. One must not forget, that one must be extra diligent when dealing with problematic skin.
For those who says just splashing water on their face is the only thing they do,
Dr Leslie Baumann says you probably have resistant skin that is perfect and seem to be able to resist any harm to it. Damn you...
It just hits my button when some holier than thou claims that wuduk is the best way to treat problematic skin. I am sorry, but god does not want a lazy ass bum, you have to actually do something to treat it and he might grant you your prayers. Enough of my ramblings, these are what the 3 problems that people have that I can related to
Problems:
Person A is looking for a sunblock that does not add to the oiliness or extra acne, but must be able to protect him from both UVA and UVB rays.
Person B is looking for something to treat her pigmentation. Typical for someone after menopause or reaching 50.
Person C is now looking for a different cleanser that does not contain triclosan since FDA rulling on the status of triclosan only will be shown winter of 2012.
All of this problems obsess me, because I do have all of the problems in the above. The right and gentle sunblock that does not sting nor gives me acne, a way to treat pigmentation on the side of my face and maybe a cleanser, although I still like my triclosan cleanser very much.
Solutions:
These are my solutions based on what I read and understand although I only choose few references to support my claims and everyone who does research knows that this is not enough.
For Person A, I would recommend him Neutrogena Dry Touch Sunblock because it claims to not add excess oil to a person with oily skin, Banana Boat Ultra FACES because it was claim to be made for the facial area and that it also does add more oil to the skin and Ocean Potion Clear Zinc Oxide, because physical sunblock such as Zinc Oxide is better for acne prone skin because it does not irritate it.
For Person B, I would recommend BHA along with topical retinoid and a pigmentation cream. My choice would be Paula's Choice 1% BHA lotion, Retin-A 0.05% and a hydroquinone cream. If hydroquinone is not your thing then try Dermatoligica Extreme C pigmentation cream or Olay White Radiance Spot Corrector, White Essence or Serum.
For Person C, since she already uses Paula's Choice Clear cleanser, she should perhaps switch to Skin Balancing Cleanser, since its also light and foamy but without the triclosan that she is worried about.
Sigh, its just my prescription to them, but I want to take my advice before I give them this. The knowledge on skin care is a diverse as the research I did on toxoplasmosis. It gives me a headache and keeps me up all night. Not good at all for the skin. Oh well, I can only give them my point of view for the to considered it.