Do we really need face lotion??? GAH!!!!!!

[big brown horse]

After 40 years of trying EVERYTHING on the market and not on the market, including recently tea tree oil and coconut oil, I give up. My face breaks out no matter what. When I go without, it is fine...so do we really need it? I mean as a woman, should I really worry about my face drying up into a raisin if I'm on a clean diet?


(I have naturally oily, yet very sensitive skin.)

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

After 40 years of trying EVERYTHING on the market and not on the market, including recently tea tree oil and coconut oil, I give up. My face breaks out no matter what. When I go without, it is fine...so do we really need it? I mean as a woman, should I really worry about my face drying up into a raisin if I'm on a clean diet?


(I have naturally oily, yet very sensitive skin.)

Just eat good fats and call it good!
Tea tree oil WILL dry you out and cause issues if used all the time, by the way

 

[moolie]

I'm almost 40, have no wrinkles, and get the odd blackhead on my forehead/nose. I have oily skin on my forehead and nose but fairly normal (to dry in the winter months) skin on my cheeks and chin/neck.

I've never used anything on my face but a clean face cloth and water (twice daily) and soap (once a week in the shower, just washing with my hands which is gentler than the face cloth).

I don't wear makeup other than Burt's Bees lip gloss or balm. I don't use sunscreen, I prefer to wear a big hat and to moderate my time in the sun so that I never overdo it. If I have to be in the sun for hours on end, I use a sunblock (with titanium dioxide and none of the "dirty dozen" cosmetic ingredients) rather than a sunscreen.

I find that the people who have the most skin issues (breakouts, wrinkles, dryness or excess oiliness) are the people who use the most products on their skin. YMMV.

 

[savingdogs]

I think the answer is individual. I have very dry skin. I would get an itchy rash on my face and feel chapped if I went without a nice regular face moisturizer.

It sounds like you have plenty of natural oils, maybe you don't need any at this stage. Especially if you take care not to dry out your skin when you clean it. I was surprised how much better I like the goat milk soap (homemade).

 

[Damummis]

I stopped using lotion a while ago and my skin is loving it. I canned the makeup, sunscreen and store bought soap and I am always getting complements on my skin. I just turned 40 and I have better skin than when I was 35.

Just try to remember that it will take about a month for you skin to acclimate to the change, so don't give up.

 

[Wifezilla]

It is counter-intuitive, but dry skin can mean you need more sun. Low vitamin d is a big contributor to dry skin. Also excess cleaning. Soaps strip the natural oils from your skin so your body tries to over compensate and pumps out more oils. Nothing worse than dry flaky oily skin!

Dairy can cause break outs for some people. Another cause of breakouts are carbohydrates. They did a study with teens last year and the higher on the glycemic index the food they ate the more acne.

I am 47 and still break out right before my period. Hormones can mess with your skin. Thyroid issues can also effect break outs and skin dryness.

Being in a dry climate, I do need a little moisturizer. My favorites are shea butter or jojoba oil.

 

[freemotion]

I made it through last winter without using anything on my face or hands for the first time. Not sure why. We did add lots of pastured pig fat to our diet, and have been using only homemade goat's milk soap. I only wash my face once a day. I wash my hands a gazillion times.

My hands did get dry once when I was doing some excessive washing (can't remember why now) for a day or two and I coated them with......lard! .....before bed. I had no lotion in the house. I did this one time and they were fine.

I wonder if it was the vitamin D in the lard, as fat from pastured pigs is high in D.

Yep, lard cures everything!

 

[Wifezilla]

 

[keljonma]

I agree with WZ that hormones do fun things with our skin.

Until recently, I used only glycerine soap for washing and aloe vera gel as a moisturizer on my face (as an adult) I got the aloe gel from the plant I had in the house. I'm in my late 50's; have had no problems. I think 90% of being problem-free is a genetic gift.


edited to add: I recently stopped doing the aloe vera gel because my plant died, but am searching for a new one soon.

 

[patandchickens]

It has never, in 46 years of life, occurred to me to use face lotion.

Very occasionally, despite good diet and washing with usually just plain water or only the *tiniest* amount of soap (i.e. not buying OTHER facial products EITHER), parts of my face get a bit dry and flaky. I rub in a little bit of whatever's handy, and that usually fixes it fairly long-term.

Lotions and all that type thing were invented chiefly to give people something to sell (and bored women something to play with).

Pat