Anti-ageing creams and general face care

[Libido]

Hi,
Wierd how I stumbled upon this forum. Have been looking for general products for face care all around the net and only find trash everywhere. But then I noticed in some other threads that some of you seem to take well care of you skin, so figured I´d ask.

Male, 23-24 years old, generally look a bit tired. I mean, when im tired, I look pretty wasted. Overall I´d think my skin could use some threatment. Not looking for perfection or anything (wont happen :innocent.

Doing fine with workout, doing okey with food.
Need easy to use and not too expensive creams to help my skin in the right direction. Any help?

Side note: Last time I felt like getting something for my skin I ended up buying the first thing I found for like 150$. It was trash of course; made mathers worse. It was just so stupid that I had to mention it.

 

[Felk]

Retin-a is the only topical medication with substantial evidence to suggest it helps with ageing of the skin. It's use for repairing sun induced ageing is the best documented, but I believe there is some evidence to suggest it has an effect on ageing of the skin in a more general sense.

Oh, and it certainly helps with acne/blackheads, and possibly hyper pigmentation and hair loss too.

 

[Libido]

Thanks, I looked for it, but seems its ilegal here (sweden). Or rather, its under prescription. How come? Substantial sides?
Any ideas how to get it?

Or other tips?

 

[Cassin]

Let me let everyone in on a secret.........

Use what women use for EVERYTHING like this as much as possible.

Pond's age defying - for dark eyes
oil of olay - skin care for everything else

All of which can be found commonly at grocery stores in America anyway.

 

[metalheaddude]

Get these two products. One for the face the other for the eyes. This is what I use. It will cost you around $150 from Ebay, but its pure quality. Keeps the face incredibly moist all day without being greasy or giving you bad skin by blocking the pores. Anti-aging is all about retaining moisture in the skin.

 

[Cassin]

Get these two products. One for the face the other for the eyes. This is what I use. It will cost you around $150 from Ebay, but its pure quality. Keeps the face incredibly moist all day without being greasy or giving you bad skin by blocking the pores. Anti-aging is all about retaining moisture in the skin.

read reviews on amazon....

no thanks

 

[DoctorHouse]

I read that those products Metalheaddude uses get absorbed systemically and can alter your brainwaves and cause you to create very strange topics and cause you to come up with some off the wall thoughts. No way am I touching those products. I have enough crazy side effects already from using Propecia and Rogaine. :innocent:

 

[Follically Challenged]

retin-A is good

i'd also recommend epidermal growth factor, superoxide dismutase, keratinocyte growth factor, oat beta glucan, niacinamide, vitamin C derivatives or GHK copper peptides (i've read the combination of the 2 causes free radicals to form), coconut endosperm (contain kinetin), Matrixyl, green tea extract, the list goes on...try Garden of Wisdom's Seamollient as a base for your actives, it's great. If money is no object, you might prefer Skin Actives' Sea Kelp bioferment

Do-It-Yourself skin care sites

http://www.gardenofwisdom.com
http://www.skinactives.com
http://www.thepersonalformulator.com

http://www.smartskincare.com is a good resource for information

One thing I don't recommend is co-Q10 I remember I used this once and it brought out all the red in my face, I honestly looked like a freak. I got a bunch of laser treatments to get rid of it. Everything here I've tried except the oat beta glucan.

 

[Follically Challenged]

The only active ingredient in Strivectin is Pal-KTTKS a.k.a. Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3 a.k.a. Matrixyl.

Pond's Age Defying cream (which is discontinued, BTW) has retinol (a.k.a Vitamin A) and that's about it.

Smart skin care on Vitamin A:

A word about vitamin A. Some experts (usually non-scientists) include various forms of vitamin A (such as retinol, retinal and retinyl palmitate) among retinoids. Physiologically speaking, vitamin A is not a retinoid because it does not interact directly with retinoid receptors. Cells have to first convert vitamin A to retinoic acid (i.e. to tretinoin or other retinoid). The rate of such conversion is low and varies significantly among individuals. What does this mean in practice? Low strength topical vitamin A formulations are usually ineffective - not enough of vitamin A is converted into a retinoid. Stabilized, high strength topical vitamin A may be effective, but due to variability in conversion rates the results are far less consistent than with true retinoids and the side effects may be almost as significant. For people who cannot tolerate or cannot afford retinoids, a well-selected vitamin A formulation (see our article on active retinol) may be worth a try. Otherwise, a retinoid is likely to deliver a better performance.

Oil of Olay Regenerist serum has the same stuff Stivectin-SD has...Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-3. It also has niacinamide.

Up until a few years back the creams in the drug stores had absolutely nothing in them worthwhile. Slowly they are putting some good stuff in their serums but they are way behind the curve, imo.

 

[Felk]

Thanks, I looked for it, but seems its ilegal here (sweden). Or rather, its under prescription. How come? Substantial sides?
Any ideas how to get it?

Or other tips?

Huh? I was saying how it was the only topical drug which has been proven to do anything, so yes it's a drug. It's under prescription precisely because it does work and has side effects. The side effects aren't bad - irritation, peeling of the skin mainly and some sensitivity to the sun, but if you get these side effects you just reduce the dose until they're gone and your skin is used to it. Alternatively you can use another "retinoid" instead of tretinoin (active drug in Retin-A)

And yes, as FC pointed out, "retinol" in no way equates to a retinoid like tretinoin. The assumption is that skin enzymes convert vitamin a (retinol) to retinoic acid and have the same effect, but the metabolic activity of enzymes in the skin is extremely low. Putting retinol in a product is just the skin care industry's way of duping you into a purchase. It's for these reasons I'd pass all the commercial "active" products by (even the women's stuff) and use something that actually works, and save money. For more basic things like moisturisers and cleansers, i guess you might want to hit up a high quality one for women. Some of the other things FC listed i have no idea about, but I'd steer clear of epidermal growth factor, it increases risk of cancer.

I've never had any trouble getting a prescription for it since it's readily prescribed for acne (doesn't have to be sever), and lot's of women etc. use it for it's anti-aging properties so I assume doctors prescribe it for these reasons as well. It can be prescribed by a GP, doesn't have to be a dermatologist.

In any case, any online pharmacy will stock it. Inhouse, united, etc do. Medsmex stocks a dirt cheap one

 

[metalheaddude]

read reviews on amazon....

no thanks

You trust/believe reviews on amazon? :shock:

I quite often read some music reviews on my favourite cd's (classics) on amazon and many people go on there claiming they're crap when they are master pieces. Don't believe everything you read my friend :shakehead:

 

[optimus prime]

I use Clinique, I dunno if its good. I got it for the past two years for Christmas. Seems ok.

 

[Cassin]

read reviews on amazon....

no thanks

You trust/believe reviews on amazon? :shock:

I quite often read some music reviews on my favourite cd's (classics) on amazon and many people go on there claiming they're crap when they are master pieces. Don't believe everything you read my friend :shakehead:

I always read reviews on amazon and believe them. In my experience they have never been wrong.

See here is your problem, you're taking into account something that relies on taste (music) and I read amazon for product functionality (TV's and other electronics) to see if it works or not.

 

[Lucky_UK]

Try pile cream :whistle:

 

[Guest]

I use clinique for men.I have incredibly oily skin around my t zone area and it works pretty good for that.Its a bit expensive but.

 

[Yuber]

Relatively few topical agents are clinically proven to improve wrinkles and other signs of skin aging. Others are supported by some positive evidence but not enough to confidently say that they work. Numerous others aren't backed by any reliable science at all and can even be harmful. As you may know, cosmetics is not regulated by the FDA. Hence it is largely up to the manufacturer's conscience not only to ensure effectiveness but safety as well. Conversely, it is up to the consumer to buy wisely.


Clinically Proven Effective

Alpha-hydroxy Acids
Tretinoin (Retin A, Renova)
Retinoids
Estrogens
Vitamin C
Vitamin C derivatives
Anhydrous vitamin C combo

Possibly Effective but Need More Research
Palmitoyl pentapeptide-4 (Matrixyl)
Copper peptides
Alpha lipoic acid
Active retinol
Coenzyme Q10
Idebenone
Lycopene
DMAE
Green tea
MMP inhibitors
Furfuryladenine (Kinetin, Kinerase)
Progesterone
Niacinamide
Oat beta-glucan

Popular but Unproven
Acetyl hexapeptide-3 (Argireline)
Ethocyn
Resveratol / Sirtuins
Beta-hydroxy acids

Male, 23-24 years old, generally look a bit tired. I mean, when im tired, I look pretty wasted. Overall I´d think my skin could use some threatment. Not looking for perfection or anything (wont happen ).

Skin care in your twenties
At any age, good skincare starts with protecting your skin from avoidable damage, particularly sun damage, and establishing a sensible basic daily routine matching your skin type. You can further optimize it by taking into account the physiology of early adulthood.

In your twenties, the rate of cell turnover in the outer skin layers is still high. As a result, most 20+ year-olds do not need to exfoliate and may actually make things worse if exfoliating too much. If you feel the need to exfoliate, a mild mechanical exfoliation, such as table sugar scrub, may be optimal. Some acne sufferers see reduction in breakouts when using certain mild chemical exfoliating agents, particularly beta-hydroxy and alpha-hydroxy acids. In that case, mild chemical exfoliation would make sense.

Dry skin is uncommon in the twenties because hormone levels are high and sebaceous glands are still largely undamaged. There is usually no need to moisturize frequently. If you have oily skin you may not need to moisturize at all. In any case, unless you happen to have dry skin, stick to oil-free and low oil moisturizers. On the other hand, your skin's "oil resources" are not unlimited despite what you may have thought in your teens. You should avoid stripping away too much of the oil your skin naturally produces. Therefore, it is best to avoid harsh soaps, alcohol-based toners, and other drying agents.

A significant proportion of 20+ year-olds have some degree of acne albeit most cases are mild. It is best to use oil-free or low-oil, noncomedogenic skin care products. If that is not enough, and your acne needs to be actively treated, try to avoid excessively harsh acne treatment you may have used in your teens.

In most cases, the 20s is not yet time for aggressive wrinkle treatments that modify skin physiology. It is too early to tinker with cell growth rate or aggressively stimulate collagen synthesis. Therefore, treatments like retinoids (e.g. tretinoin a.k.a. Retin A), hormones, growth factors and the like are generally inappropriate. On the other hand, extra steps to prevent future wrinkles may pay off later in life. You can supplement your basic skin care routine with skin care formulas containing protective ingredients, such as antioxidants and/or anti-inflammatories. Some potentially useful ones include green tea extract, pomegranate extract, vitamin E (mixed tocopherols and tocotrienols), lycopene, and others.

 

[Follically Challenged]

Nice post Yuber....MMP inhibitors would be a smart thing to use for anyone wanting to prevent wrinkles.

Have you heard of ursolic acid before? I've read this downregulates MMP-9. I see it is available from http://www.diytrade.com (a place for Chinese goods) but I would prefer to get it from a place where there is the chance it is not coming from China.

 

[KielMcK]

All you need is Clinique. They have it for guys and it comes in a gray container and works better then anything I've ever used.

 

[KielMcK]

All you need is Clinique. They have it for guys and it comes in a gray container and works better then anything I've ever used.

 

[metalheaddude]

All you need is Clinique. They have it for guys and it comes in a gray container and works better then anything I've ever used.

Never heard of it.....


Many people are missing the point of moisturizers. Of course they dont work. None of them work! But what they do is exactly what there name implies and thats "moisturize" and help keep the skin hydrated.

Dry skin is the enemy :nono:

This is what ages you....


On cheaper creams I find they retain moisture for a much shorter period of time than the product i recommended. (strivectin). So its worth paying extra in my book, because you dont use as much.