Rosacea, PSF, and my first Gibson Tuck!

I got my order from Pure Skin Formulations today. Whee! I've got my fingers crossed that the products will work for me. They were highly recommended by a number of very knowledgeable ladies on NC.com, so I have high hopes. But not too high.

I've been having a lot of trouble with my skin lately. I have rosacea, which is a chronic inflammatory skin condition. My case has been mild for most of the 15 years since I was diagnosed. Unfortunately, it's been moving into the "moderate" category for the past couple of months. In fact, it's worse than it's ever been. After a couple of flare-ups I went to a dermatologist, who turned out to be a butthead. After a bizarre encounter with him ("Nothing topical is going to help you", "You should be using something topical" - what???), I decided to try changing my skin care products, along with using the new topical prescription.

After getting some recommendations, I ordered samples from Diana Yvonne: Wheat Germ Cleanser, Rose Hip Cleanser, Hyaluronic Acid, and Ultra Emu Oil. The cleansers were a bomb out. I have combination skin and can get a pretty good oil slick going on my nose and forehead. The Wheat Germ dried me out so badly after two or three uses that my skin cracked near the corner of my mouth (I put some raw shea butter on it and it healed up almost overnight). The Rose Hip was better, but still left me very dry (to the point of peeling in places), and the HA and Emu Oil weren't enough to counteract it. I ended up putting jojoba oil on over them.

PSF doesn't offer samples; however, they do have a 30 day no-questions-asked money back guarantee, AND they sent me a 25% off code for Memorial Day weekend. How could I not try them? I ordered the Gentle Cleansing Castile, DMAE Gel, HA Serum, Vitamin C Serum, and got a free full-size Bio-Copper Serum! I've heard good things about copper peptides from other rosacea sufferers and I'm really curious to see the results.

This morning I used the cleanser, vitamin C, and DMAE, along with the HA sample and emu oil from DY. So far, so good. Sounds ridiculous to people with normal skin, but it's a small victory not to have developed any immediate irritation. I was particularly worried about the vitamin C, so I only did a patch test (I didn't want my whole face on fire if I reacted badly). No extra redness, bumps, or burning, so that's a good sign!

Will the stuff work in the long run? Who knows. I'm not expecting miracles. What I'm hoping is that, with consistent use, the products will improve the texture of my skin (not so happy with that either) and tone down the redness a little. I don't expect to get rid of it, but I'd like to go back to being pink as opposed to scarlet. I'll post progress reports.

In hair news, I did my first Gibson tuck today. Successfully! My hair was a wreck - it's Saturday, I forgot to wear my sleep bonnet last night, our dews have been in the upper 80's - and I had to run to Walgreen's to pick up a few things. My pony looked nasty, and I didn't feel like putting in a lot of effort just to go to the drugstore. I had run across the Gibson tuck a couple of weeks ago, and it looked easy enough, so I decided to try it.

Excuse the frizz and crazy curls at the nape of my neck - I was only to the drugstore, after all! It took me all of three minutes. Not bad for a first try.