I used to watch a lot of forums, but this is my first time posting in one.

Hell yes.
I am now a person dart frog.
Edited to make a pun

 

Depends entirely on your hair texture? Mine never frizzes, but I have kind of the whitest of white girl hair and wash it far less than the average person (what are hygiene spoons and how do I collect more than brushing-my-teeth worth a day?) and natural oils do seem to generally contain frizziness, so.

 

Anti frizz serums can work pretty well. I have this biolace stuff that is the only stuff that tames my mop of hair.

 

Short answer: start with damp hair, use a wide-toothed comb instead of a brush, possibly some form of anti-frizz or blowdry cream through the hair if you have especially curly or fine hair. French braids are also less prone to frizz, in my experience.

Long answer: It depends on your hair type/cut! Most frizz is either damaged hair (from chemical services or elastic hair ties, mostly) or hair that has broken and therefore is a different length from the rest of the hair. If you have a layered cut, this contributes too. Your hair also gets less healthy in general the further it gets from the scalp, because even though it's "dead" like the surface layer of skin cells, the oil from your scalp helps keep it healthy and obviously the longer the hair the further the oil has to travel. The ends tend to split or get frayed which can damage the rest of your hair and cause breakage up the shaft, therefore causing frizz. So regular trims (~6 weeks, depending on your hair growth rate) are actually really important for hair health. Curly hair is also more prone to frizz (it has to do with the hydrogen bonds and the porosity, I can't remember specifics off the top of my head), and products with a lot of alcohol in them (say, the first 3 ingredients) also dry hair out and cause frizz.

 

I misread that as "person dart frog" and thought it was a great pun. alas.

 

You probably just have a drier scalp than I do; I only get flyaways the first day or two. The amount of oil in people's hair varies.

 

Yes, this. It's actually healthier for hair in the long run to only be washed every few days. I wash mine 2-3 times a week, and that's pretty typical for everyone that works in my salon! My hair used to be platinum blond, and it had to have the crap bleached out of it to get there, which damages the hair, and not washing it a lot helps contain the frizz. If you have oily hair, this can actually be exacerbated by washing too much - most shampoos contain detergents which dry the scalp, which your body reacts to by producing even more oil. Also, the detergents are not that great for overall hair health! I have several friends with oily hair that have much more luck with only washing every few days. The transition period from washing every day to every few kind of sucks, though, as your scalp gets used to the new status quo.

But yes, hair texture has a lot to do with frizz. I've got very thick, coarse hair that tends towards wavy (it was full-on spiral curls when I was younger and had colored it less) and so my hair tends to frizz a lot more than your average person. But it can be controlled!

 

What would you describe an actual strand of your hair as, relative to other people? Thin or thick? I was looking at the pics and couldn't quite tell. (Also, if you're trying to get your hair as long as possible, regular trims are important, even though it seems counter-intuitive, for the damage reasons I talked about earlier.) In general, with hair your length, I'd suggest a brush with natural bristles (i.e. boar) to be used when it's dry. It should help tame the frizz because it helps bring those natural oils down the entire hair shaft. But yes, for a braid with your hair type, I'd definitely suggest damp (not wet!) hair and an anti-frizz serum. But the wide-toothed comb when it's wet, for sure. Brushes on wet or damp hair cause breakage and damage and therefore more frizz!

(please let me know if I sound preachy, I tend to assume it's better to explain too much than not enough and I am aware it does not always come off well)

 

hm, so, i've had acne/blackheads/etc. since i was about 11 or 12, and while it's died down since i hit my twenties, i still have a lot of blackheads in particular and they drive me crazy. i have a prescription topical acne treatment that works wonders for the acne, but it doesn't do anything for the blackheads. i tried proactiv and it just made my skin worse, even after the "purging" period they warned of. i'm never entirely sure which advice online applies to me - what do people mean by sensitive skin? prone to rashes/allergies? any advice, or questions i can answer so that you can give advice?

 

I wish I had thought of that now. Can we just pretend that's what I said? XD

 

that's what the edit button's for ;)

 

shh, no one saw anything.

 

Ooh, this is well inside my wheelhouse. I actually just finished a course about just this! Okay, so going backwards: when people talk about "sensitive" skin, they're actually talking about two different things. There's "sensitive" skin, which is genetic, and "sensitized" skin, which is caused by a whole host of things but is in general a reaction to outside factors. (If you're interested in the difference, this article is fairly good at explaining it.) When people talk about sensitive skin in a skincare context, they're talking about skin that's easily irritated. If your skin often feels itchy, tight, tingly, or you sometimes get a burning sensation or a lot of redness from products, that's sensitive skin. Allergies and rashes can definitely be a part of that!

As far as the acne and blackheads go, there are three things that have to be present to cause a breakout: bacteria, sebum (your skin oil), and some sort of blockage to the pore. Breakout treatments have to deal with all three to work properly. To give you more advice, I'd definitely have to know more! Does any of what I've described above as sensitive skin seem like it applies to you? What's your skincare routine like (what products are you using and when do you use them)? What's the active ingredient in your prescription cream? Do you feel like your face is "dry" and tight-feeling? Do you tend to get an oil shine around midafternoon?

From what you've described about proactiv, though, I'm willing to bet that you have drier or more sensitive skin. If skin is being washed too much and not moisturized properly, or if too much of certain breakout treatments are present on the skin, it can cause worse breakouts, because the same factor I talked about with hair above is present: it reacts to the over-drying by producing more of the natural oil, since that's your skin's natural moisturizer, and it has to be moisturized to be healthy.

 

i think the only time my skin's felt "tight" is right after using the boscia face mask, and it's been a while since i've used it. while i burn easily, from what you're saying sensitive skin doesn't describe me. i had what i thought was a recurrent patch of flaking dry skin just under one eyebrow, but it turned out to be seborrheic dermatitis according to my doctor. maybe skin that is naturally dry that is overcompensating with natural oil in some places? my lips are often quite chapped, despite the fact that i drink quite a lot of water (my water bottle's about three cups, and i usually go through it at least twice a day, on top of whatever i drink with meals). i'm not sure about the "oil shine", but i'll pay attention tomorrow and see.

my skincare routine is admittedly pretty lax. i've gone through a few cycles of "ok this is the time i'm going to get my skin straightened out" and "well no this isn't working, forget this". right now all i'm using is effaclar foaming gel for oily/sensitive skin in the evenings, and stievamycin on whiteheads (no more than a couple times a month). the packaging says tretinoin 0.025% and erythromycin 4%. i change my pillowcases weekly, i don't wear any makeup, and while i have bangs my problem zones tend to be more my cheeks, jawline, and nose, along with a lot of little blocked pores/blackheads right around my lips.

 

One more question, and it's fairly nosy so feel free to tell me it's none of my business - do you have ovaries? I ask because generally the chin/jaw/lip area of breakouts are estrogen-related, and if you do, they can sometimes be controlled with hormonal medication if they're severe. Estrogen-related breakouts also have to be treated slightly differently than other breakouts.

Longer reply forthcoming!

 

ah

oh, right! yes, i have ovaries, although i'm currently on depo-provera. my acne has definitely gone down since i started hbc, although that also coincided with me being 19 or thereabouts, so i'm not sure how much is age and how much the hbc. the blocked pores are pretty much constant, but i could try paying attention to the rest and see if there are notable patterns.

 

Don't beat yourself up about being kind of lax, I took like six months to get into a 'real' routine. I will say that I don't think your current skincare routine is addressing all the breakout causes! Your topical acne cream is an antibiotic, so it is taking care of the bacteria present on your skin, so it makes sense that it helps with the actual acne. The Effaclar is also helping to reduce the sebum, but it will be most effective combined with other products. The thing with blackheads is that they have to actually be dried out and scrubbed off the skin, unlike acne, which can just be treated with antibacterials. The first thing I would suggest is upping your routine to twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. I would also find a good oil-free moisturizer that you like, and apply it after cleansing. A lot of people swear by all kinds of toners, but I don't like them - they tend to have a lot of harsh things in them that can sensitize the skin and make it produce more oil. I would also get an exfoliating scrub to use once or twice a week! That will help actually physically remove the blackhead (which is caused by a blockage in a pore) from the skin. If you don't see a difference in a week or so, I would get some witch hazel (in a liquid form) and dab it on a cotton ball and apply it directly to the breakouts/blackheads in a thin layer once or twice a week, not on the same day as the exfoliating scrub. Witch hazel is an astringent and will help dry out the breakouts.

If, at any time during this routine, you start to get any dryness or or tightness in the skin, definitely use the scrub and witch hazel less often. If it continues, you might try a different cleanser.

I have very sensitive skin and hormonal breakouts actually caused by my birth control, and this is basically the routine I use, albeit with just sensitive skin products, and a different brand.

 

thank you! i do have a gift card for lush, and i remember their cosmetic lad moisturizer was quite nice, so i'll go pick some up this week. i'd actually heard bad things about facial scrubs, and that they irritated the skin and cause more breakouts. is that just if you use it too often?