skin care recommendations

Personal Finances Taking Care of Parents
#3

Thx, Sheila.

What do you use for hand-washing? And dishes? My hands didn’t used to be dry, but now that I wash them so much more often, they are.

Here’s what I currently use:

At the kitchen sink I keep Dr Bonner lavender liquid castile soap for hand-washing and Seventh Generation orange-scented dishwashing soap for dishes.

At my bathroom sink I use Free & Clear Cleanser for Sensitive Skin for hand-washing and morning face-washing (and for at-the-sink body washing when I don’t shower in the morning). I’ve been cycling through various rich gentle cleansers for bed-time face & body washing (when I don’t shower at night). I shower & wash my hair 3x/week.

I use Dr Bonner lavender in the shower, but I’ll try your Andalou conditioner–I need fresh conditioner for my hair, too. I’ve been using Ginger Scalp Care Shampoo from The Body Shop for my hair.

My face is still a wee bit oily at 72, although much less so than it used to be even a few years ago.

#4

What do you use for … dishes? Rubber gloves.

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#5

DW uses Gold Bond for rough and bumpy skin for her legs and arms - and it works pretty
well in smoothing out bumps as they develop.
Amlactin seems to work to repair the small cuts I develop from slicing onions, green peppers,
celery plus making up alcohol-soaked cotton balls for wiping fingers for DW’s finger sticks and
pre-wiping spots for injections and the like.

Howie52

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#6

"What do you use for … dishes? Rubber gloves. "

real wimps use automatic dishwashers.

Howie52

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#7

I was going to say “the dishwasher”. Though, I generally rinse the dishes quickly if I’m not going to start it immediately. If I’m going to start it immediately, I usually don’t even bother to rinse.

1pg

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#8

real wimps use automatic dishwashers.

LOL! That may be!
What does it make me if I use the dishwasher
and hand wash?

Robyn

#9

"real wimps use automatic dishwashers.

LOL! That may be!
What does it make me if I use the dishwasher
and hand wash?

Robyn "

Not sure?
The lumberjack of wimps?
Or the wimp of lumberjacks?
Or perhaps just a belt and suspenders kind of person?

Howie52
However, I expect it merely means a wimp with especially clean hands.

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#10

Gold Bond for rough and bumpy skin for her legs and arms… Amlactin seems to work to repair the small cuts I develop from slicing onions…

Each of those has some good compounds, but so many chemicals that have nothing to do with helping the skin. And Gold Bond has petrolatum in it. Which is derived from petroleum. Honest has a skin balm that prevents moisture from evaporating from the skin, just as petrolatum does—but it doesn’t have any ingredients that shouldn’t be there.

I would really recommend neem-containing products for both of those problems. Therneem’s salve is wonderful for skin damage of any kind. Put it on after you nick yourself, and put it on before bed, and it’s so much healing will have taken place by morning. For the skin bumps, I would take a look at the Neemtreefarms.com website and choose a skin lotion. Neem is anti-inflammatory, skin protective, skin normalizing, healing. And you won’t find any of these products filled with all sorts of chemicals that really should not be there.

=sheila

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#11

What do you use for hand-washing? And dishes? My hands didn’t used to be dry, but now that I wash them so much more often, they are.

Most of my handwashing is actually not with soap, but with the Tierra Mia skin lotion. I use it as if it were liquid soap. Does the job without drying my skin. If my hands are really dirty, I do use soap, but it’s Skin Trip by Mountain Ocean: coconut oil, olive oil, palm oil, vegetable glycerin, water, aloe, sorbitol moisturizer, coconut fragrance.

At the kitchen sink I keep Dr Bonner lavender liquid castile soap for hand-washing and Seventh Generation orange-scented dishwashing soap for dishes.

I would never ever use a castile soap. They are drying. Maybe not as much as some, but still too much. I used to use Seventh Gen dishwashing soap, but I love a German-made line of environmentally-friendly products—including dish soap—that my local supermarket began carrying. Sonnett.

At my bathroom sink I use Free & Clear Cleanser for Sensitive Skin for hand-washing and morning face-washing (and for at-the-sink body washing when I don’t shower in the morning).

Looking it up, it contains Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate and Sodium Laurate, which can be very irritating to the skin, especially after long-term use. For your face, I would look at the Paula’s Choice website and see what cleansers are recommended for oilier skin. And/or look at Isvara Organics.

For body washing at the skin, I put some Dr. Haushka’s Moor Lavender Calming Body Oil (which is creamy) on a moist washcloth. I don’t bother rinsing, since it’s not a soap. And it cleans—and moisturizes—very nicely. And it smells so nice. This site has a very good price: https://us.lookfantastic.com.

Re the shampoo you use—I can’t find a full listing of the ingredients, just the ginger and honey.

=sheila

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#12

=sheila,

Thanks for the link to Neem Tree Farms. I was especially interested in the pet products they offer.
I will be placing an order and will add something for me since I like getting free shipping.

Robyn

#13

" Gold Bond for rough and bumpy skin for her legs and arms… Amlactin seems to work to repair the small cuts I develop from slicing onions…

Each of those has some good compounds, but so many chemicals that have nothing to do with helping the skin. And Gold Bond has petrolatum in it. Which is derived from petroleum. Honest has a skin balm that prevents moisture from evaporating from the skin, just as petrolatum does—but it doesn’t have any ingredients that shouldn’t be there.

I would really recommend neem-containing products for both of those problems. Therneem’s salve is wonderful for skin damage of any kind. Put it on after you nick yourself, and put it on before bed, and it’s so much healing will have taken place by morning. For the skin bumps, I would take a look at the Neemtreefarms.com website and choose a skin lotion. Neem is anti-inflammatory, skin protective, skin normalizing, healing. And you won’t find any of these products filled with all sorts of chemicals that really should not be there.

=sheila "

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The lotions for DW’s legs were recommended by her dermatologist and alternate with medicated
steroids. She has had skin cancers removed from her legs about 4 or 5 times and suffered through a
bout of cellulitis a few years back. The doctor had also recommended Aquaphor - forgive the spelling
but DW felt the material was much like petroleum jelly and was just to yucky for coating a
large portion of skin.

Howie52
Natural products are fine, but in the case of DW’s dermatologist, we feel he saved her legs by
getting her admitted to a hospital a few years back. He and his group has removed cancers from
her head, arms and legs - apparently from spending a lot of her childhood outside doing chores
around her family’s farm in the sun.
Once upon a time, sunscreen was largely considered unneeded.

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#14

The lotions for DW’s legs were recommended by her dermatologist and alternate with medicated
steroids. She has had skin cancers removed from her legs about 4 or 5 times and suffered through a
bout of cellulitis a few years back…

Most dermatologists know only the commercial products. I wish dermatologists were aware of neem, because the research is there. Neem has so many benefits that in its countries of origin—India and several African countries—people call it “the village pharmacy plant.” It is anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, anti-microbial. It support skin healing from cuts and rashes and surgeries. I would suggest getting one of Neem Tree Farms’ products, and try it. That’s the only way you’ll know. If you’re unsure what to try, you can call and speak with Vicki Parsons, who founded and runs the company.

Did DH have significantly more skin cancers than others in her family doing the same outdoor chores? If she did, there may be a genetic component to having had so many. Wonderful that your dermatologist realized that she needed surgical attention.

And don’t forget that sometimes our doctors can learn from us. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been thanked by one of my doctors for learning about a skin-care product or supplement or Ayurvedic herbal treatment.

=sheila

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#15

DW uses Gold Bond for rough and bumpy skin for her legs and arms - and it works pretty well in smoothing out bumps as they develop.

Keratosis pilaris? Has she been diagnosed?

I only had KP on my upper arms, and a very mild case according to multiple dermatologists I saw over the years, but it all but disappeared when I started taking better quality supplements (I think Garden of Life omega 3s was particularly good for skin. Cheaper omega 3s did nothing). I also noticed decades ago that whenever I ate chicken livers, kp seemed to clear up over night (vitamin A??). I had chicken livers last night–yup, bump-free instead of my usual 4 or 5 tiny bumps per upper arm (improved from 10-20 bumps of years past).

ASIDE re NEEM
About neem ointment. I bought some on Sheila’s recommendation for my husband’s stapled scalp gash last month. Except that neem is bright yellow and a bit drippy (and looks like it will stain), it works great. It washed out of the hubster’s pillow case.

I’ve had intermittent cracks behind my ears since puberty. They used to exude what I presume was lymph years ago when they got very bad. Now I just experience it behind my right ear, much more rarely, and not to the point of “lymphing.” Cortisone cream has always worked well for this (it’s what my family dr gave me as a teen–he’d give me a handful of tiny sample tubes), but it supposedly “thins the skin,” so I used to alternate between antibiotic ointment and cortisone for the occasional “flare.” Right up until I had neem ointment. Just one application once around a month ago and no reappearance of the itchy/weird crack since.

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#16

oh, sorry, Howie. I should’ve read ahead more before posting.

#17

How are you & DW doing?

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#18

heh (dishwashers).

There are many items I don’t put in the dishwasher…expensive Shun knives, Le Creuset pots & pans, cast iron skillets, wooden spoons & implements w/wooden handles, garlic press, Instant Pot lid, immersion blender & Vitamix parts, toaster oven parts, refrigerator shelves & drawers (cleaning fridge today :wink:

Anyhow, my dishwasher leaked the last 2 times I used it–worse the second time–so I’m handwashing everything now while I try to decide whether to go for repair or just skip to replacing my dishwasher, which is 11 years old (lifespan averages 10 years, which has been true for me). [I’d love comments on that subject, btw-]

What I miss most about the dishwasher is putting the kitchen sink drain baskets in it–really shines 'em up! I didn’t have a dishwasher for about half my life, so it’s not as big a deal for me as it probably is for most Americans. And I kind of like washing dishes. And --plus it’s good for core and arm/wrist/hand strength. I have a thick, squishy mat to stand on, too.

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#19

There are many items I don’t put in the dishwasher…expensive Shun knives, Le Creuset pots & pans, cast iron skillets, wooden spoons & implements w/wooden handles, garlic press, Instant Pot lid, immersion blender & Vitamix parts, toaster oven parts, refrigerator shelves & drawers (cleaning fridge today :wink:

I have solved that problem. I don’t have expensive knives. My moderately priced knives are in the dishwasher as we speak. All of my pots and pans are fine in the dishwasher. There are a couple that are too big to fit, though. I put my cheap wooden implements in the dishwasher. Have done so for a couple of decades. They’re all fine, if a bit worn. No garlic press. I chop them instead. No instant pot, so no lid. No immersion blender. No vitamix. Toaster oven parts go in the dishwasher. Fridge shelves are too big. Besides, I usually need them back in the fridge quickly to hold food.

(lifespan averages 10 years, which has been true for me). [I’d love comments on that subject, btw-]

My dishwasher is over 20 years old and going strong. It’s missing a trim piece that got mangled by a wheelchair a few years ago. But it works just fine without that bit of trim.

I did have a problem with leaking a few years ago. Cleaning a decade and a half of buildup out of the vent fixed that right up.

—Peter

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#20

Natural products are fine, but in the case of DW’s dermatologist,…

To emphasize the reality that doctors, derms included, are unaware of the drawbacks of products they recommend for the skin, I want to mention talks I’ve covered by Dr. David Cohen, a dermatologist at NYU Langone who is an expert on products that are responsible for allergic and irritant reactions in the skin. He is greatly distressed at the commonly recommended products that should not be sold, because they are actually bad for the skin. Among the items he had talked about the first time I wrote up one of his talks were Neosporin and Bacitracin. They were always recommended for cuts, infections, etc. But it turns out they contain an allergen, so while they may get rid of some bacteria, they also really irritate and inflame the skin. Surgeons used to use them routinely in dressing an incision, and advise patients to use them at home. But surgeons no longer use them.

Dr. Cohen usually begins a talk by mentioning the current Allergen of the Year, which is voted on by the American Contact Dermatitis Society. In fact, checking that list now, bacitracin won the honor in 2003, and neomycin in 2010.

And how about cocamidopropyl betaine, a common surfactant in personal care products, which was the 2004 Allergen of the Year. Methylisothiazolinone, chosen in 2013. It’s a preservative in many cosmetics, lotions, and makeup removers. Corticosteroids were selected in 2005.

=sheila

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#21

I do a lot of cooking. Each of my 2 Shun knives cost about the same as 2 meals out for the 2 of us at a nice restaurant. They make food prep faster and more fun. I love them every time I use them.

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#22

Looked it up…

https://shun.kaiusa.com/damascus-tsuchime-san-mai-edge

So it is a solid core wrapped by a “softer” outside. Not actual folded steel (which is top of the line, like Kramer Knives, plus some artisans in Japan). But the wrapped core method seems to be favored by a lot of higher-end makers.

Nice to have a recommendation. Good knives are treasure for a cook. I’m always sharpening ours because they don’t hold an edge for very long. I want to replace them, but 1poorlady say they are “good enough” (i.e. she is frugal, and these knives do work if you keep them sharpened).