The Girl Stuff Thread

Actually, last year when I had a severe infection on my foot I had to have it debrided weekly and after each one the doctor doing it would put raw honey on the wound before bandaging it back up. Honey is so good for wounds that they do actually use it in the hospital! I was impressed.

It's still plaguing me unfortunately. The honey is definitely working (done it 3 times), but then the dryness returns. Now I'm paranoid I might have picked up some sort of fungal infection.

Still have the dermatology appt. next month, so we'll see... :-/

RedRajah said:

I think I may have stumbled on a treatment for my spot. Made a paste w/a tsp of raw honey & ground turmeric and applied it to the area for twenty minutes a couple days ago.

The redness and irritation have gone down and the dryness seems to be healing. I don't know if it's placebo or what, but I'll take it.

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Just to say I was checking if absolute write was back up (just like you're not meant to touch spots, I know you're not meant to but it's so hard not to) and I saw this. And I thought, hey, my skin's been a bit irritated, so you know what would be better than putting honey and tumeric on a spot? Putting it on my WHOLE FACE.
Pro-tip: if you choose to do this, be careful that you are comfortable with how yellow tumeric is. It is really very yellow, and it is keen to share some of that yellowness with you.
But it's also pretty effective, so I'll be doing it again.

RedRajah said:

It's still plaguing me unfortunately. The honey is definitely working (done it 3 times), but then the dryness returns. Now I'm paranoid I might have picked up some sort of fungal infection.

Still have the dermatology appt. next month, so we'll see... :-/

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I don't think dryness is necessary a sign of a fungal infection. I find in winter I have to use really, really heavy cream on parts of my face. Perhaps you could use a barrier cream on those bits? Zinc oxide cream is quite effective in my experience.

RE: honey and turmeric on spots/pimples/face -

This is one of those rare home remedies that works. It's a good combo for oily and blemish-prone skin. Honey will kill the bacteria that causes breakouts while turmeric, being VERY astringent, will suck out excess oil. They're also both pretty anti-inflammatory, which is good for redness and swelling. But, aside from turmeric staining your skin slightly yellow, it will also dry your skin out. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who already has dry skin and urge everyone else to get a good moisturizer.

Also, it's an allergen for some people. So, you know, make sure you're not allergic to it before spreading it on.

So, I likely have a hormonal imbalance (acne everywhere on body, unwanted hair, night sweats, etc.)

Last month I went to Planned Parenthood to look into birth control to deal with it (and since I have a boyfriend, might as well deal with THAT too). One of my medicines for Bipolar interacts with it and makes the "birth control" part moot. I told them the other reason I wanted it, which they SEEMED to understand.

Yet they gave me a brand that doesn't have the estrogen needed to combat hormonal imbalance - and can even make it worse?? (I looked up the brand online)

So I dunno if I should go back and request a new one or just wait until I see my FIRST EVER (yay!) primary care provider to give advice. Probably the latter.

I has a sad.

Maryn said:

Here's a recent beauty problem. Ever since my doctor urged me to keep my nails both short and polished, I've bought far more nail polish than before, when I might go months natural. Then a friend decided to gift me with most of her collection because she decided she was too old for nail polish. (Nonsense! I could not dissuade her, though.)

Now I have way too much, and some of it I don't especially like. I want to keep favorite brands and colors, but what do I do with the rest? It's still good, so I hate to toss it. Wait until warm weather, then put it out with a sign that says FREE?

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Sounds like a plan - wish I could take it off your hands as I use nail polish in the lab to seal samples and different colours are useful. And we're running really low at the moment!

Melanii said:

So, I likely have a hormonal imbalance (acne everywhere on body, unwanted hair, night sweats, etc.)

Last month I went to Planned Parenthood to look into birth control to deal with it (and since I have a boyfriend, might as well deal with THAT too). One of my medicines for Bipolar interacts with it and makes the "birth control" part moot. I told them the other reason I wanted it, which they SEEMED to understand.

Yet they gave me a brand that doesn't have the estrogen needed to combat hormonal imbalance - and can even make it worse?? (I looked up the brand online)

So I dunno if I should go back and request a new one or just wait until I see my FIRST EVER (yay!) primary care provider to give advice. Probably the latter.

I has a sad.

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I agree with Maryn - unless it's going to be hard on you, it's worth going back. They may be able to just correct the mistake.

Is it OK to recommend a product here? I swear on the spaghetti monster I have no conflict of interest with this product. I also cannot swear there won't be any long term negative effects or lasting benefit. It's a dietary supplement, not FDA tested, and not cheap.

My evidence based practice makes me horribly concerned to give a testimonial for the product. And I have no clue if my experience can be generalized, or how long the effect will last, or if anyone will have a bad reaction to the supplement.

So please take this with a skeptical grain of salt, but damn, it actually worked. OK that's a sample size of one, but I did careful objective observation looking at the hair in my hair brush and the hair all over my sweaters with and without the supplement.

I have an autoimmune disease, I'm 65, and I'm on too much prednisone because if I don't take it I can't eat anything solid. Any one of those could be the cause of my significant hair loss. There's hair everywhere (mine) because so much is falling out. If I brush my hair the brush will be full of hair several times a day, and I mean full.

OK, so enough not getting to the point. I heard about and began taking Viviscal. Two tabs a day, none of the topical products, I can't vouch for any of those. It friggin worked. There was a marked observable decrease in my hair loss: less in my brush, less on my clothes, and less hair all over the house.

To be sure, given it was that sample size of one and only a single observer, after several months I stopped taking it. The massive hair loss returned to previous levels.

I'm going back on it. It's not cheap, about $50-60/month. Please post in this thread if you have a good or bad experience with it should you try it.

And if this post is out of line, my apologies, just delete it.

MaeZe said:

And if this post is out of line, my apologies, just delete it.

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I'm fine with it MaeZe. It's not an ad, and you've clearly indicated that you're using personal, anecdotal evidence.

mrsmig said:

I got sucked into the Rodan & Fields skin regimen thing in 2017, via their Lash Boost product. I used it for about four months and discovered that while it DID lengthen my sparse lashes, it didn't make them any fuller (which is what I was really hoping for). I also experienced, for the first time, issues with dry eye, itchy eyelids and eventually, a chalazion cyst that formed on the inside of my lower left lid. I thought maybe the dryness of my temporary NYC housing was to blame - I was also experiencing nosebleeds - but I stopped using the product, got a little humidifier and used hot packs until the cyst subsided.

When I returned home in November 2017, I started using Lash Boost again, applying with a lighter hand on the advice of my R&F consultant. Once again, I experienced the itchy eyelids, and the cyst came back. So that was that as far as I went with the very expensive Lash Boost. I think I still have half the tube left.

I also tried out the R&D Redefine skin care regimen (cleanser, toner, day & night moisturizers). While I have no specific complaints with those products - they apply easily, have a very faint but pleasant scent, and don't feel too heavy or greasy - they're extremely pricey. I had been a Murad user before my temporary move to NYC, but decided to try out some cheaper drugstore products for a while. (It was after a brief flirtation with Olay and Dove products that I tried the R&D line.) I've since returned to Murad, which is more expensive than the drugstore stuff but not as expensive as R&D, and just as - if not more - effective.

Now I just have to put on my big-girl panties and tell my R&D consultant (who's a friend) that I'm not going to use the product any more.

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Any 'friend' who thinks that you should continue to use something that gives you chalazion cysts (or any other problem) is no friend. Or, indeed, much of a 'consultant'.

And, is 'R&F consultant' like 'Avon lady'? Only fancier, and more expensive.

Anyone here have familiarity with Bactrim when dealing with acne? My dermatologist had me switch to it from doxycycline. My face has been feeling itchy and red, but I don't know if it's due to the new drug or the weather. I'm using Cerave as a facial moisturizer.

Being a girl is hard especially when you don’t live up to the social mirror. Since leaving college McDonald’s have got the better part of me and as a couch potato, I’m having a hard time struggling with tummy pooch and muffin top. But during a girl’s day out or special occasion, I work around it by slipping into shapewear such as Squeem perfect that rolls up the pudge into a nicer silhouette. I also check the innerwear I buy coz I believe self esteem and confidence flows from within. I go for classy underwear such as the ultra-breathable Ex-Officio bikini briefs.
For face skin care, I also go the traditional way of steaming followed by plain honey face mask. Works like charm.

ooooh girly stuff. I have been a woman for so long, and I still don't know a lot of things about makeup and such, its actually kind of tragic. Like what is the real difference between foundation and concealer, like honestly. It is almost unnatural how confused I am about these kinds of things!

My goddaughter told me if she was a pro wrestler her big move would be called the "Chickaboom"

Asked her to explain.

"Well, I would hit the girl and she would be a chick who fell down and went boom."

Her parents helped her with that, but I don't care. My goddaughter is awesome.

Oh a girl thread. Can we talk about hair? Mine's been getting steadily thinner and less there for years. Hereditary alopecia, earlyish stages (there's a more scientific name but I don't remember it at the moment). My mother and 2-years-older sister both have hair so thin you can see too much of their skin. Mine was on its way and I was tired of trying more and more tricks to make it look better, so back in October I buzzed it and started wearing wigs. And I gotta say that I love it! I can have long hair, short hair, wavy hair, straight hair, purple hair, etc. That's the best part, I think, being able to change it up whenever I like without committing.

Maryn said:

That not having to commit part must be awesome.

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It's the best part! There's some maintenance, but I do that on the weekend. And it takes about 17 seconds to do my hair in the mornings, costs about the same as the salon trips I was making, and I love saying "Thanks I just bought it" when someone compliments my haircut.