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usagi
New Member
 
Joined: 29 May 2017
Posts: 1
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Mon May 29, 2017 3:45 pm  |
Just wondering if there is anything else I can do to reverse them, on top of what I'm already doing...
I'm turning 30 pretty soon, but managed to avoid wrinkles and fine lines all through my 20's (one of the few perks of my customer service job is that I'm often asked which high school I go to). A month ago I woke up and there were dark circles under my eyes and new lines around my mouth that have NEVER been there before. The undereye circles/lines were not too terrible (but definitely apparent), but the lines around my mouth make me feel awful, and look older than I actually am. I have always had lines when I smile, but they would mostly vanish when I stopped making an expression. Now the lines are there even at rest and they make me look like my face is stuck in a permanent scowl. (Now customers ask me why I look so tired all the time...  ) It also doesn't help that my facial skin feels "fleshy" and kind of flabby, like it's trying to sink down, not at all tight like it used to be. I think most of these changes are due to the fact that I went through an extremely stressful life event recently and cried almost every day for two months straight (also stopped exercising and eating right during that time period... I'm just now gaining back the weight that I lost).
I went to a dermatologist's office and the nurse practitioner seemed to think the only thing that could help my "creases" (as she kept calling them) was fillers. She did prescribe some Differin but didn't seem willing to prescribe Retin-A, which I've heard a lot of good things about. I have a consultation with a cosmetic derm for the fillers later this week, but I really want to take things into my hands and avoid any extreme options.
Things I have been doing (as of three weeks ago):
Changing my diet. My diet has always been mostly good, but I have a problem with drinking almost no water, and consuming way too much sugar and caffeine. I've been trying to get in my eight glasses a day and cut out coffee altogether (used to drink at least one Dunkin' latte every day for the last five years -- SO hard to go without  ), while switching over to egg whites, tuna, omega-3's, dark leafy greens, pears/prunes, black/blueberries, Greek yogurt, flaxseed, garlic, etc. For supplementation, I take turmeric, L-Lysine, and biotin gummies.
Exercising. I used to go out for a run every day before the sun rose, this stopped once I became depressed. Now I am trying to take it up again, and hit the gym to lift weights at least a couple times a week.
Sleeping. I've never had any problems with this. I sleep at least eight hours a night.
Adding topical products. In the morning I wash with my Cetaphil cleanser, then follow up with a few drops of TruSkin Naturals Vitamin C Serum. I sunscreen before heading out for the day. I keep a sunscreen stick in my bag so I can reapply as needed.
In the evening I wash again with Cetaphil, then apply Roc Retinol Correxion eye cream to my circles and Differin to the rest of my face. The Differin causes some pretty bad flaking, so I usually have to moisturize.
Once a week I exfoliate with Dermalogica Gentle Cream Exfoliant and apply Vitamin E oil. I don't apply any retinol products on that day or go out into the sun.
So far nothing's really changed. Should I add anything else to my routine, or is three weeks not enough time to expect any results? I'm also thinking of adding Tanaka massage, dermaroller, copper peptides, etc. but I don't want to make things worse, especially as I don't know anything about these methods. (I tried adding B3/Niacin for a few days but the flush was too intense and made me break out in a bad rash, even at small doses... would topical niacin be a better choice?)
Extra info: I am extremely pale, with oily skin that is prone to breakouts. Prior to any of this I would only use the Cetaphil cleanser in the morning and would get a Dermalogica facial once a month. I don't actually go out in the sun that much, but I never wore protection. I am so mad that my derm never told me to wear sunscreen or that sun exposure causes early aging (and I live in Florida!). I feel like that's part of what's responsible for this, on top of the stress. Better late than never to do the right thing I suppose.
I know this is a lot to take in for a first post. Thanks SO SO much for reading and for any advice you might have! <3
ETA: I'm also a never-smoker, and only drink alcohol a few times a month at social gatherings. |
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Tue Jun 06, 2017 10:55 am |
| You might want to google skin barrier damage to see if that might be what is going on. If the change happened that suddenly along with the other stress you had, it might be barrier damage. There are a lot of products that will mention repairing or protecting the skin barrier. |
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Over 60, dry and sensitive. Look younger than my age and want to keep it that way! |
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