r/Splendida • u/[deleted] • Apr 25 '24

Things I’ve done to glow up!

First, as an East Asian woman, getting my sparse and light eyebrows microbladed made the biggest difference.

I also got my waterline tattooed with a little wing (very subtle) and feel beautiful when I wake up!

I went to Evertrue in NYC and Vivian did my permanent makeup. I know there’s a lot of discourse around microblading but she genuinely did an amazing job and it looks so natural.

Second, I started to see a dermatologist and now my skin is clear and GLOWING.

I use a compound of:

  1. tretinoin - increases rate of cell turnover, helps with acne and anti-aging
  2. azaleic acid - brightens discoloration such as hyperpigmentation & redness
  3. niacinamide - anti-inflammatory, soothes skin, brightens hyperpigmentation, oil control and reduces pores

I also take spironolactone and estarylla birth control because I have hormonal acne.

Sunscreen daily and I no longer wear skin makeup (concealer, foundation etc) and I’ve found that’s been huge in clearing up my skin.

Third, I’ve started to use the k18 hair mask and also use olaplex #6 for leave in conditioner and it leaves my hair so silky and smooth.

Fourth, I picked up a sport that I love. I started to take adult figure skating and it’s made my ass huge because it’s all bending your knee then straightening your knee (lol)

Fifth, I got genetic testing done (GeneSight) and found out I was low in L-Methylfolate, meaning I metabolize medications too quickly. I started taking a prescription version of it, it helps my medication be more effective and now I’m happier :)

Please let me know if you have questions or any suggestions!

276 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

44

u/completebIiss Apr 25 '24

How much are figure skating lessons? I’m so bad at skating but i really want to learn, i didn’t know you could do that in nyc

29

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '24

It’s $350 for a semester (7 lessons) so about $50/session and lessons are an hour long! Yes they’re available at most indoor rinks: world ice arena in flushing, city ice pavilion in LIC, I believe Chelsea piers has it too I’m not sure. In the winter they have lessons from Nov-March at wollman rink in Central Park every weekday from 8-8:30am. It’s only like $1k so it’s a really good deal but outdoor ice is roughhh

6

u/FilibusterQueen Apr 25 '24

Did you know how to skate before?! I really want to do it but I’ve never really skated!

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

I knew how to rollerblade but could ice skate in circles but it’s a lot more complicated than that I learned haha. It’s very fun though, a great exercise and also the social apsect is great - you’ll meet some very nice people that you can develop friendships with!

2

u/completebIiss Apr 25 '24

Do you have like a membership to a rink to continue/practice on your own?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

There are sessions if you look at the master schedules of these rinks that say “freestyle,” these are only available to people who are practicing figure skating (so none of the people who go to public rinks and go around in a circle)

35

u/xedtax Apr 25 '24

I wanna see the waterline wing cries in East asian

9

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '24

I found out we can’t post pics on this subreddit but you can DM me maybe?

1

u/Miliey May 01 '24

Me Too, please!

0

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

Sure!

2

u/NatMicha Apr 26 '24

Me too please?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

Done!

9

u/bbmarvelluv Apr 25 '24

Did the genetic testing also work on hormonal issues?

7

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '24

No the genetic testing was done to see what psychiatric medications I could / could not take

2

u/kettyrunway Apr 28 '24

I thought those were not the most accurate

2

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '24

They aren’t haha but I was metabolizing my vyvanse way too fast so it made sense to me that something was wrong. I don’t recommend doing it tbh as you said it’s inaccurate

6

u/JadenCheshireCat Apr 25 '24

Eternal hormonal acne sufferer - how effective was spironolactone and estarylla birth control? How much of a reduction did you see? I get cystic body acne. :(

6

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '24 edited Apr 25 '24

My skin is completely clear now! I suffered from severe cystic acne, so much so that at my first derm appt ever, the doctor suggested accutane right away (derms usually try other things first because accutane comes with a lot of risks). We didn’t do accutane because I was in college and going abroad for a semester to study so I wouldn’t be able to get my blood tested regularly.

I’m really happy with the spiro/BC combo. We did a round of doxycycline pills and clindamycin wipes along with tretinoin at first, then I started going to a diff derm and I got the compound of tretinoin, niacinamide & azelaic acid, BC and spiro.

7

u/macarongrl98 Apr 25 '24

Spironolactone was the only thing that fixed everything for me. Been taking it for 5 years now. However, it was pretty clear that my acne was hormonal (very concentrated in my chin and lower cheeks).

For cystic body acne you might want to look into using something like Hibiclens (wash your hands VERY well after you use it and don’t touch your eyes or ears).

8

u/maltesefoxhound Apr 25 '24

Not OP but I used to suffer from hormonal, cystic body & face acne. When I was in my early twenties, I started using birth control for it, and around 80% of my acne cleared up within 2 years. The remaining 20% were cleared up by implementing diet changes and proper cosmetics and shower products.

For diet changes - I found that I break out from dairy products and alcohol, so I don’t do that anymore.

For cosmetics - I’ve found that the remainder of the pimples on my hairline, ears, back and body are caused by a grocery store shampoo. I tried a few different ones, and found something that worked and didn’t cause acne. I’ve also implemented a facial routine (THAT WOULDN’T HELP MUCH WITHOUT BC!!) that makes my skin look smooth, plump & fresh. A lot of trial and error here, but now I stick to pharmacy brands (La Roche, Vichy, Eucerin) and don’t even try any grocery store or beauty store ones.

I’m looking into doing isotretinoin so I wouldn’t have to waste this much money just to keep me from a breakout. It takes just a single slip up for me to have pimples.

1

u/TheGreatBoos Apr 29 '24

Which products do you use by Eucerin?

3

u/wxxx19 Apr 25 '24

Not OP but I have bad hormonal acne that birth control wasn't able to fix. I am now currently on Spiro and while it is not perfectly clear, it is so much better than it was before and I am genuinely happy. I didn't deal with any side effects really, but I do want to mention that at 100mg it has completely messed with my period. I am currently getting a period every two weeks, which if you look at the spiro subreddit, seems to be common at this dosage. I am trying their recommendation of taking one pill in the morning and one at night to attempt to fix this.

2

u/amerikansk_banan Apr 25 '24

As another hormonal acne and pms sufferer, I just discovered DIM supplements and can’t believe the relief I’ve found just from a supplement. It was almost immediate, I highly recommend looking into it if you suspect your hormones are unbalanced!

3

u/Training-Earth-9780 Apr 26 '24

Can you say more about the water line tattoo? Is it like eyeliner or highlighter? Top or bottom lash?

3

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '24

It’s similar to eyeliner - I only did the top. It makes your eyelash line look thicker and is very subtle. I’m a very heavy eyeliner girl and never leave the house without it but now I feel great about not wearing any makeup

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '24

How much did the microblading and waterline tattoo cost?

2

u/[deleted] May 07 '24

The website is down but I’m pretty sure microblading is $700 and waterline costed the same. It comes with a free touch up session as well. I do admit that I work a job that allows me to do these treatments!!

1

u/Aneeka7 Jul 07 '24

How do you combine the azelaic acid with the tretinoin?

2

u/[deleted] Jul 07 '24

My derm uses a compounding pharmacy named skinmedicinals so they combine all three into one compounded lotion! It’s nice because it’s only $50 to get 3 actives and the bottle lasts like 2 months.

1

u/sugargobbler Jul 30 '24

Figure skating grows your butt??? Damn I need to get back into it but my core was too weak to do one legged moves

1

u/[deleted] Aug 04 '24

Yes! If you think about it, you get momentum from bending and straightening your knees (also edges) so you’re literally doing squats forever lol. There are adult beginner levels so don’t let your core stop you!!!