Lady Arwen: Thanks! Glad that someone noticed my post and helped too.

joy93: I need help with acne, LOL. They are currently popping out of nowhere!

Studymate, my aunt does nails and she threaded my eyebrows once and it hurt so much, but in the end they looked pretty good. She did it enough that they were shaped but not like unnatural. My mom says its just easier if you use a tweezer and pluck them out yourself because then you know when is enough. I occasionally pluck one or two hairs that I see out of place to give it a better shape, but besides that I like to leave them alone. (oh and if someone does try that at home do NOT pluck the hair in the opposite direction. It HURTS)

sandyentersnarnia, I have acne problem too, but mostly blackheads because my skin's so dry. One morning I'd wake up and be like ooh yay clear face. Then the next day i'd have like 2 blackheads from nowhere. And the worst part is they always pop up when I have a special occasion coming up, like a birthday or a night out with my friends. I used to try those pads that clear your acne in under 24 hrs (i forget the name, but I'm pretty sure they came from Neutrogena) They worked sometimes but never 100%. The thing that's worked best for me is the Biore Pore Unclogging Scrub. I'd use it every night and my face stayed pretty clear. But of course as puberty intends, I still got breakouts. I guess the best thing we can do now is just take care of our skin as best as we can and wait for those gosh darn puberty yrs too pass...

Sandy, if you are trying to get rid of acne, may I suggest the natural route of diet and water? The discussion begins on page 14, so a bit of a summary for you (also, more in-depth starting here:

As for healthy looking skin, it's good that you're drinking lotsa water! It really does make a difference. I usually drink two 750 ml bottles in a day (withOUT flouride is better), and also take a little salt to help with the hydration, so that the water you drink is not just going straight through your system. But not the bleached stuff they have the nerve to call salt in the supermarket, the Celtic sea salt which does not raise your cholesterol but helps hydrate your body. Keeping skin clear is much less about what you put on your face, and much more about what you put in your mouth! [later...] Aloe vera Barbadensis Miller (not the synthetic stuff we buy over the counter) is known to penetrate up to seven layers of skin, is an antifungal, antiseptic, antibiotic etc and helps with external skin conditions, such as eczema (and wrinkles!) and internal conditions such as diabetes and even cancers. Link: http://www.dpdotcom.com/freebie/Aloe%20 ... xtract.pdf

It's really powerful stuff, and I say that coming from a family that has tried almost every natural treatment option available for health reasons. Try to buy the real plant over the pill versions of anything, even if they are expensive and 'organic' check if they are synthetic or heat-treated; the majority are, which makes them about as nutritional as eating hay. Try and drink the real stuff, or grow the plant and make the tea/tonic/remedy/pills yourself, the potency is far stronger.

[even later....]
Another thing to note regarding increased water intake:

""Drinking large amounts of plain water is not ideal in itself [i.e. without also consuming salt] because it shuts off the sense of thirst and produces more urine which results in further fluid loss even though you are dehydrated." -not table salt, btw.

For even more info on the health benefits of drinking water, you might want to google Dr. Batmanghelidj. We have one of his book's, 'Your Body's Many Cries For Water' and it explains so much about this amazing liquid that you'd think would be common sense, but isn't.

This week I'm really trying to clear up my skin and get it looking the best it can--so, loads of water, lots of berries & fruit, face masks once a week, and tons of mosterizing! [later...] Both blueberries and green tea are amazing for skin cause of all the antioxidants...and the other day I was reading about some super expensive "miracle skin" drink that celebries used that had high extracts or something of blueberries and green tea. [even later....] You can get green tea pills, but my mom doesn't want to spend the money on them if I don't "need" them, and I don't have tons of money to throw around...so for now I take a big mug of green tea with my dinner, and I put in probably about a quarter of a cup of honey in Thankfully honey is also really, really good for your skin! Then I guzzle it all down as fast as possible while my family watches and makes fun of me.

Val later adds that blueberries are incredibly helpful, and I concur.

Fish oil is really really really good for your skin too. I've been taking a fish oil pill 3 times a day for almost 3 weeks know and my skins completely clear now.

I agree, but I hate taking the stuff--I can smell it later when I breathe.

I cut sugar from my diet a few months ago and since then my skin has really improved. I still get a breakout here and there (Hormones. Bah!) but my acne is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. Plus, I feel a whole lot better in general. The absence of sugar highs and lows has been really good for me.

Right on track, here.

And get plenty of sleep.

True again!

If you have acne, one of the best soaps you can use is Neutrogena Grapefruit Acne Scrub. My skin is very dry so I don't get acne, although I do have my share of black heads (yuck!). But my sister uses it, & it works very well for her! I also gave some to a friend of mine with acne, & hers cleared up almost completely in just a week! Both of them eat very healthy though, & that is a big part of it.

Never had success with this one, but I use Clean&Clear. If one doesn't work, try the other. I've noticed that when one doesn't work for a person, the other usually will.

I really would urge the drinking of eight glasses (I know, sounds like a lot), rather than just eating more fruit, for a couple reasons:

1. Your body NEEDS the water. Try drinking eight glasses for 4+ days, then try going back to your original water consumption. Your body will make it very obvious that it isn't happy.

2. Fruits are high in sugars. This isn't a problem, if your main meal components are other fruits, veggies, and grains. However, if you eat processed foods, your body isn't going to know what to do with the extra sugars which means...yeah.

3. Slightly unrelated, but oh well: Be Fore Warned. Drinking more water and/or switching to a predominantly non-processed meal plan will make your face break out for a day or so, as your body flushes out any extra toxins that have been floating around.

[later...]
if you drink any caffeinated beverages, you are *supposed* to drink even more water, going ounce for ounce (So if you drink one cup of coffee, you should drink a ninth cup of water). I...find this pretty hard to do, but I actually drink about ten glasses of water in the hotter months, so I probably ignore this more than I follow it.

And all of this for clearer skin...wow. But it does work--I used to have the WORST acne on my back, and it went down drastically about a week after I made sure I was getting adequate water. [even later....] I've kept forgetting to post this, but: if you don't drink enough water, your body will often not tell you that you are thirsty, but instead tell you that you are hungry. So, if you are feeling constantly hungry, that may be a sign that you need more water.

Finally, C.S. sums up what happened when she put some of the above tips into practice:

I don't have acne (except the occasional pimple or w/e), but I do have a few teeny tiny blemishes, and yeah, you get it. Blech.
So, I put your tips into action and started increasing my water intake, bought and ate a few blueberries, didn't eat much sweet stuff, etc. etc. This morning I actually felt a huge, gigantic (we're talking wooly mammoth gigantic!) change on my face! It was nice and clear, felt so very fresh, oh! my goodness! It is much to the amusement of my mom who is laughing at us silly girls getting excited about our skin.

Hope that helps!!!

P.S.: I think NarniaWeb should start publishing books. Lotsa info floating around here.

Lady Arwen, you have to eat it with something else like I take it before I eat dinner. And do you take it in pill form? Because the capsule shouldn't break in your mouth.

thanks Kate! . I surely will use those tips, very helpful indeed!

I know, sillygoose, but I still can smell it when I breathe, kind of like some people can smell garlic when they breathe, even a day or so after they eat it. I haven't taken it in quite a while--I've found other things that do the same, including evening primrose oil (which I also take in a capsule).

Studymate, my aunt does nails and she threaded my eyebrows once and it hurt so much, but in the end they looked pretty good.

Oh cool, that sounds great! I WISH I could thread! I have an aunt who threads (and God blessed her with two boys, so she's happy to use her talent on her nieces ) but she lives a fair way away. My hairdresser threaded them for me once too, but they were too thin for my liking -I'm trying to get them as thick as possible, as I certainly wasn't born with much and I like the thicker look. I agree with your mum, plucking a bit here and there is easiest -at least until I find a threader who was born outside of a certain over-plucked era.

Wow, LadyA that's an impressive list of suggestions! I was reading about primrose oil recently and how good it was, but couldn't remember why. What do you take it for, and does it taste alright?

Re ACNE and ADULTHOOD -this girl's great:

Edit: Ok, obviously I fail at technology -does anyone know how I embed a video?

StudyMate, my skins been really awful this year. I have eczema (it's a chronic skin disorder that leaves me with rashes) and for some reason my skin was by far the worst my skin has ever been for me. It caused a tiny "bald spot" near my hair line and my face, neck and arms have all been really dry and itchy. And then to top it off my eyebrows started really thinning because of the eczema. I have never been that pretty to start with but boy was all that a blow to my self esteem. Anyway, you could always use eyebrow pencils. They work and I heard that Vaseline helps darken your eyebrows to give it a fuller look. I tried that but my skin doesn't agree with Vaseline so I had to stop. You could give it a try though.

Lady Arwen, really? I've never had that problem.

This thread needs reviving.

Sillygoose, I had horrible eczema on my neck for about a year until I started putting this lotion from Melaleuca called Renew on it - and it hasn't bothered me since and it's been a few years since I last had it! Just an idea.

My skin is being really weird lately, it's really dry and really oily at the same time. So I'm using a whole bunch of different stuff to battle it and I'm wondering if that's possibly my problem So I use Roc cleanser, toner and moisturizer usually, and Neutrogena cleanser and some random astringent stuff on days when my skin is really oily. And on days when my skin is extra dry I use a heavier moisturizer which always works but usually ends up with my face all oily again. It's like a vicious cycle but not really. I always put Vaseline on all the driest spots too (my eyelids are always really dry for some reason ). Help?

Sooo... I have gel eyeliner. My liquid eyeliner flaked off after about an hour (probably cause it's so cheap!) and the pencil kind doesn't work how I want it to. However, I can't recall how I thought it was gel eyeliner. It looks like cream eyeliner. I'm so confused. Anyway it works amazingly! And it was cheap too! i think it's Maybelline... [/random]

I heard Eucerin Cream is the best for dry skin because it absorbs really well into the skin. Vaseline kind of just sits on top. My eczema isn't exactly that severe. It just got really bad that one yr and now I'm still kind of recovering from it. My doctor gave me prescription lotions, but they leave my skin with white spots so I stopped using it when I didn't have to. I'll give Renew a look and ask my mom. So far the reviews online say its really good.

Oh and about eyeliner and stuff, I think its really worth it to invest in an angle brush. Instead of buying eyeliner in different colors, I just use my eyeshadow set. It works just as well. I have two khol sticks and I love them but I like the eyeshadow way better because it gives me more variety. My favorite makeup store is Sephora, but the thing is it's soooo expensive!

Sillygoose, Renew is awesome! And totally safe to eat too cause it's all natural stuff! I have had several siblings who have consumed large amounts Melaleuca products including Renew and the poison control people have always said that they'll be perfectly fine. We use it for everything. One of my brothers had REALLY bad dry skin all over his entire body during the winter/spring and we just slathered him with Renew every night and it eventually went away. It's about $20 (Canadian) but I think it's worth it, I know eczema, even if it's not that bad, is super annoying. I don't know if you can buy it if you're not a Melaleuca member person though.

I didn't know that about Vaseline. It doesn't seem to be helping too much in any case. Eucerin cream... the website makes it seem like it's for really extreme cases of dryness. My skin isn't THAT dry, and I'd be afraid it would make my skin more oily with too much moisture.

Hmm, so you basically use eyeshadow as eyeliner? I've kind of tried that before but it just goes onto the upper part of my eyelid after a while and it looks horrid. But I just buy cheap eyeshadow cause I don't wear it usually so maybe that's why.

My skin is being really weird lately, it's really dry and really oily at the same time. So I'm using a whole bunch of different stuff to battle it and I'm wondering if that's possibly my problem So I use Roc cleanser, toner and moisturizer usually, and Neutrogena cleanser and some random astringent stuff on days when my skin is really oily. And on days when my skin is extra dry I use a heavier moisturizer which always works but usually ends up with my face all oily again. It's like a vicious cycle but not really. I always put Vaseline on all the driest spots too (my eyelids are always really dry for some reason ). Help?

I had the same problem with my eyelids recently. Very annoying! I just slathered them with vaseline for about a week (Even during the daytime) and eventually they got better.
If you have dry skin, I would leave off the astringent stuff or toner. And don't use any heavey-duty facewash. Keep moisturizer on ALL the time, maybe using a thicker one at night, and DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I found that really helped.

I know sometimes, the reason our skin gets acne/oily is because it's irritated from being dry...so yeah, a vicious cycle.

Oh! I've been meaning to post this here. I seem to think a while back we were discussing the possibility of putting vaseline on eyelashes, and well I've been doing that at night recently, and it's definetly a good thing. Keeps them strong even when I wear makeup every day, and gets off the last bit of mascara while moisturising them.

I don't wear much makeup, just some lip gloss usually, sometimes mascara. But - I've got shoulder length curly hair, and I don't really know what to do with it. I almost always leave it down, but I'm kind of bored with it, and I'd like some simple, everyday things to do with it. Any suggestions?

Well I only use Eucerin because it absorbs really fast so I don't have that yucky sticky feeling on my skin all the time. Oh and make sure if you do try it out you use the creme one not the lotion. Creme works better. If you don't want it too oily, i guess you could only use a thin layer of creme. Also when you get out of the shower immediatly like cover yourself in lotion. That way it keeps the moisture in.

I don't know if you have TJmaxx in Canada but I found a 4 dollar set of eyeshadows. I think it has maybe 50 colors or more and it works really well. But of course being on the cheaper side, I have to kind of break the powder up a little bit to get decent color.

I've got shoulder length curly hair, and I don't really know what to do with it. I almost always leave it down, but I'm kind of bored with it, and I'd like some simple, everyday things to do with it. Any suggestions?

You could get colorful headbands and wear them. That's what I do when I get bored of just leaving it down. You could also put it up into a messy bun or if you really want to go for another look you could straighten it one day. But I don't recommend it because straightening your hair too much ruins it. I guess you could do it once in a while but not too often.

I had the same problem with my eyelids recently. Very annoying! I just slathered them with vaseline for about a week (Even during the daytime) and eventually they got better.
If you have dry skin, I would leave off the astringent stuff or toner. And don't use any heavey-duty facewash. Keep moisturizer on ALL the time, maybe using a thicker one at night, and DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I found that really helped.
I know sometimes, the reason our skin gets acne/oily is because it's irritated from being dry...so yeah, a vicious cycle.

Cool, so I'm not alone! My eyelids were really dry all summer and it would only stop bothering me if I put Vaseline on EVERY DAY. We went camping and I didn't put any on for like two days and it took my eyelids about a week to get over that. Sooo annoying. Hmmm, I didn't know that about dry skin sometimes making your skin more oily... I'm thinking I'll leave the astringent stuff for a while and see how that goes. My toner is really gentle though, I don't really see any point to it. And water, yes, if I recall correctly you were talking about that during the summer (me=lurker), that and green tea. I tried the green tea, nasssty stuff,, precious, and I've been trying to drink more water. I can't believe you actually drank it. *shudder* That was you, right? Now I'm scared... Thanks Val!

Elanor I have about the same length hair as you, and I basically just do as sillygoose said - cool headbands (I like bows ) and messy buns (which should look awesome with curly hair). Ooh, and fake clip-on flowers! I love those things even though I don't have any. I almost bought a whole bunch from a dollar store but then I had to run to catch my bus so yeah I still don't have any. Pity, really. I tried loose braids a couple weeks ago and I looked ridiculous but you could try if your hair is thinner. Thick hair doesn't work with loose braids, haha. Half ponytails are niceish. Aaand that's basically all I ever do because my hair doesn't work in any of those fashionable-er hairdos.

sillygoose, you have now quite sold me on the idea of this Eucerin stuff. I shall look into it more, thanks! I don't think we have TJmaxx in Canada (at least not in my tiny city). I'd like more eyeshadow though. I like my gel eyeliner anyhow, it is awesomeish, but I shall keep this eyeshadow idea in mind. I haven't tried it recently, maybe it'll work better now.