Is this strange?
I have not cleansed my face in over ten years. I don't wear makeup (other than mascara which I remove nightly with baby oil) and I have a pretty good complexion. I always have. On those occasions that I do wear full makeup, I cleanse my face prior to going to bed but this happens rarely.
I've never had acne - other than a couple of zits here and there during that time of the month. My skin is quite normal. I have a T-Zone but it's not oily nor is it dry.
I don't use facial cream or anti aging products on my face. Sales people are always trying to sell me some twelve step regime for my face. Why bother? I don't need it and it's a waste of time and money, AFAIC.
People find it strange that I don't wash my face nightly. I don't feel the need to.
Do you cleanse or use products on your face? What is your routine?
I could never not wash my face, but I'm a little obsessive with stuff like that. I have terrible acne-prone skin that drives me nuts. However, I think that the more products you use on your skin, the worse your skin is gonna look.
Finding products that don't make my skin break out is a nightmare, but I finally found a soap that I love on Etsy. It's made from charcoal and tea tree oil (and other soap stuff, haha). I've also found that Cetaphil works well for me. I use an acne gel from Clinique and their All About Eyes cream (they always give it out in samples when I buy my acne stuff - I have enough to last me until the end of time). I want to use a wrinkle cream because I'm getting wrinkles, but I haven't found any that don't make me break out, and that stuff is sooooooooo expensive that it's not really feasible to "test" them. I have been considering giving Frownies (a wrinkle patch you can get at The Vermont Country Store) a try. Everyone who uses them swears by them.
I hate how much money my skin costs me, but the Clinique stuff is the ONLY thing out there that will keep my face looking somewhat human. I also occasionally use their pore-minimizing gel, which is awesome. But I don't use it that much because I always forget to put it on. XD I also don't wear makeup, save for lip gloss. I have mineral makeup for special occasions, but I don't wear it on a daily basis.
I splash water on my face before bed, and when I wake up, because by the end of the day (especially a teaching day -- chalk dust) there's a fine layer on my face! HA HA! Not noticeable, but I can feel it, so a nice rinse is all I do.
I wear Oil of Olay Regenerist with SPF any day I'm going outside. It's the only one -- even among super expensive spa stuff -- that actually seems to have results, according to Consumer Reports. The Regenerist line, that is -- not specifically the one with SPF.
I occasionally scrub my face with a face brush and some special cleanser, or use a special face wipe, or do a mask -- just for the heck of it. I never do it regularly.
Oh! I also keep a tube of St. Ives Apricot Scrub in the shower, and I use it about once a week to scrub away the dead skin cells. I use it exclusively, because it's the only facial scrub that uses organics for its scrub (specifically, apricot seeds, or grape seeds, or walnut hulls, or a mixture), as opposed to plastic beads, which, being plastic, will harm aquatic life and the ecosystem.
I use the Dollar General brand equivalent of Cetaphil which is great - my skin is clean, but not dry and it gets rid of the oily areas (yes, at nearly 50 my skin is still oily!). I wash every morning and at least wipe with warm cloth at night. The few times I wear makeup, I use a Buff Puff and Dollar General's version of Noxema, followed by DG's version of Sea Breeze for sensitive skin. At least once a month I do the St. Ives Apricot Scrub with the fake Noxema to slough off dead skin cells.
I almost never wash my face per se, although it gets wet in the shower. I use Olay with SPF to protect it from the sun down here. I've never worn makeup in my life. That's all.
I don't know if this really counts. I shave each morning with shaving cream and a blade. Then I rince my face out, no soap. Feels good that way. I also wash my face while showering.
If I don't wash my face, BP will come and drill it for oil. Yes, it's that bad and it's never gotten any better. My pores are huge and at 41 I still have lots of acne and blackheads. I wash my face in the shower with that AcneFree facial cleanser, it's kind of like Bioré but I can get it at Costco and it costs less.
After the shower I wipe on the AcneFree toner. A few minutes later, the oil comes pouring back, but it's still slightly better with the AcneFree. Later in the day and before bed, I'm lazy, I don't like to wash my face in the sink and get my shirt and arms wet, so I'll use face cleansing pads I get at the organic market to cut down on the oil, and then again wipe on the AcneFree toner. I've only been using the AcneFree for just over a year, but I've been battling my oily skin and acne since the age of 12, and so far AcneFree mostly works for me instead of not working at all like everything else I've tried. Unfortunately, I've never found a product to get rid of blackheads. I've talked to several doctors and dermatologists and they all have told me it's hereditary and there's nothing that can be done.
I don't wear makeup, not for the past 15 years or more, and I can't use any sort of anti-wrinkle cream or moisturizer or sunblock without causing acne breakouts. So it's just fucking great.
Me either! I have oily problems. I have acne problems. Most products make it worse. I find if I don't wash it (water splash only) it's much better. I'm on prescription acne meds. I ONLY put that on my face. I do have an SPF moisturizer and an exfoliator, but I tend to find if I use either of them more than once a week it's not good.
Yeah Anastasia - sounds like we have the same problem!
As for the dermatologists, that sucks they can't help. I don't know if what I use would help you with oil, but it helps dry me out and helps a LOT with acne. You could ask for it - I use Erythormycin and Retin A, both topical. It's helped SO MUCH.
I wash my face twice/day - in the AM and just before bed. I have to - I'd feel dirty otherwise. But I use my own homemade soap, not some drug store stuff. I did win at a cat shelter auction some pampering products that included face washes so I'm using them currently, but once they run out it's back to CNK's old fashioned soap.
(06-18-2010 02:24 AM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]Later in the day and before bed, I'm lazy, I don't like to wash my face in the sink and get my shirt and arms wet, so I'll use face cleansing pads I get at the organic market to cut down on the oil, and then again wipe on the AcneFree toner.
I'm the same way. I hate getting all wet before going to bed.
In the summer with the humidity, I do find that my face is a bit more oily than usual so I tend to use a cleansing toner at night if I need to.
Other than that, whatever water/soap/shampoo falls onto my face during my morning shower, is good enough for me.
(06-18-2010 02:24 AM)anastasia Wrote: [ -> ]If I don't wash my face, BP will come and drill it for oil. Yes, it's that bad and it's never gotten any better. My pores are huge and at 41 I still have lots of acne and blackheads.
LOL at the BP line! That's totally my face, too!
And I'm soooooooooo pissed at every article I've ever read that said acne was just a teenage thing! I was looking so forward to my skin clearing up once I hit my twenties. No such luck! I'm almost 30 and I break out like a 15-year-old. *sighs*
Nadleeh - don't think it goes away at 40, either! UGH!
(06-17-2010 07:23 PM)NKBurlington Wrote: [ -> ]Is this strange?
I have not cleansed my face in over ten years. I don't wear makeup (other than mascara which I remove nightly with baby oil) and I have a pretty good complexion. I always have. On those occasions that I do wear full makeup, I cleanse my face prior to going to bed but this happens rarely.
I've never had acne - other than a couple of zits here and there during that time of the month. My skin is quite normal. I have a T-Zone but it's not oily nor is it dry.
I don't use facial cream or anti aging products on my face. Sales people are always trying to sell me some twelve step regime for my face. Why bother? I don't need it and it's a waste of time and money, AFAIC.
People find it strange that I don't wash my face nightly. I don't feel the need to.
Do you cleanse or use products on your face? What is your routine?
WOW I never thought I would hear anyone confess this.
So I guess I can be brave too, and say that I am the same way.
Although I do have acne problems. Its always everywhere other then on my face.
I don't wear make-up either other then on special occassions.
And when I do, at the end of the day, I take it off with Clinique astringent (sp?)
But aside from showers or swimming, water rarely touches my face, let alone soap.
I just don't like to do it. And I don't feel the need for it.
No I am no raving beauty. I am just different.
But,Its nice to know I am not alone.
Quote:Nadleeh - don't think it goes away at 40, either! UGH!
It gets worse in your 40's. It's called hormonal aging and it's a pain. I've had acne on my back since I started puberty but my face was always pretty clear. Even as a teen I never got zits on my face. Not so now at age 45. I get quite a few of them! Blech!
I use Noxzema in the shower each morning. In the evening, if I'm going to use a Breathe Right strip on my nose (which I can't do every night because my skin is sensitive), I'll use astringent on the t-zone. Otherwise, I don't do anything to my face in the evening unless I'm taking a second shower. I don't wear makeup. I don't feel the need to wash my face again.
I use Neutragena's (sp?) acne free cleanser, and a little Olay moisturizer every morning and night. I do wear make-up which I used pre-soaked make-up removing pads before I wash, and I usually don't have break outs except during that special time of the month. My skin does tend to be oily, so it needs it.
I think what you meant to say is you don't specifically wash your face with products marketed as facial cleansers or toners or stuff like that. Of course you wash it in the shower/bath, like you would wash any other part of your body.
My face is just like any other part of my body. I wash it when I wash everything else, and I do not fall prey to the marketing machine that tells me I need special products and special regimens for it. It's just skin.
Yeah. I suppose you're right. I don't use any of those anti-aging creams or cleansers. They don't work. Soap is soap, skin is skin.
We're not getting any younger and sooner or later, we're going to look our age. There's nothing we can do about that.
I have never understood that either. Some of that stuff works temporarily, but it's so expensive, and as you said, it's just a matter of time before nothing is really going to help. Even all that outrageous plastic surgery people spend so much on eventually just looks like plastic surgery on an older person.
I started using Mary Kay's facial cleanser years ago, and now if I use anything else, I break out like crazy.. luckily, I can get it from the web for cheaper than most store brand cleansers. I still have some oil problems around my T zone but other than that I have clear skin.