Hair and skin issues

Get some benzoyl peroxide cream...leave it for 30 minutes to give it a chance to bind to your skin Oh my god. Please do not do this if you've never used bp before, or haven't in a long time. A lot of skin is incredibly sensitive to it...no joke 30 minutes of it would burn my skin off. If you want to go the benzoyl peroxide route, test it first at night (so you won't be going anywhere after) on a very small patch of skin for just a few minutes. I used the stuff when I was a teenager with no problems and was very surprised to learn several years later that my adult skin just can't hack the stuff. I was pink for two days. Just be careful. That said, the fact that this seems to have happened to your hair and skin at the same time and all rather suddenly makes me think it's something hormonal. I agree with the folks above saying you should see a doc and get some bloodwork done.

IANAD but the confluence of changes to hair texture + increased facial hair + breakouts suggests something hormonal to me. I'd definitely make an appointment to get your levels checked out. This all sounds really frustrating and depressing. In terms of making yourself feel better in the short term, I'd ask around and find a really good hair dresser (who specializes in curls) and facialist. Throw some money at this situation in the form of services. A great facial and a great cut/colour won't fix your problem in the long term, but it will make you feel better immediately, and you'll feel like you're doing something. Personally, I'm super devoted to http://www.paulaschoice.com/who-we-are/about-paula/ both for her products and her advice. Her website(s) are a TROVE of information about evidence-based skincare, and her reviews are really helpful for finding a new skincare routine and finding effective products (even from other brands). It might be worthwhile having a poke around to see what you can see. I also few of her products (most notably the BHA gel, antioxidant serum, but also some other things) and find they make a big, big difference. Good luck!

Well, there are changes that happen in early 30s, but I can't speak to them other than noting that hormonal acne, specifically, tends to occur along the jawline and neck, as opposed to other areas of the face. 2nd benzoyl peroxide in general, but if it's hormonal, there are other approaches that a doctor is placed to help with. I'm not a medical person, but excess weight, excess facial hair (if it's that and not just your perception) and acne are things that go along with http://www.webmd.com/women/tc/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos-topic-overview; if you have any issues with menstruation, I suppose that's a possibility that your doctor could help rule out along with any other major issues. (PCOS is thought of by some as a metabolic condition; if it's part of the picture, a high protein, high fat, low carb diet and exercise can help reduce symptoms.)

I went through something similar several months ago. All of a sudden, I was funky looking, with dry, frizzy hair and problem skin. I too thought it was an age thing (I'm 41), and was about to give up and just sink into no longer being hot when I happened to turn on the local news. There was a report about Louisiana requiring all cities to increase the chlorine in the water by a certain date. I did the math and that date was around the time that my disaster started to happen. I bought a filter for my shower and after a couple of days, I was hot again. It also helped my children. They were itchy all the time. I kept changing shampoos and soaps, thinking they were allergic. It was just the extra chlorine.

I'm skeptical of beauty blogs as a source of useful information. Beauty bloggers basically have to try out new products and routines all the time, or they won't have anything to post about! I learned a ton by reading articles by http://www.paulaschoice.com/expert-advice/skin-care-advice/, whose skin/hair care tips and product reviews are based in science. [Upon preview, I totally agree with nerdfish! ;)] It really helps to know which ingredients do what and which products are worth paying for. What products and methods do you use to remove your makeup? I noticed a positive difference in my skin when I started spending an extra 10 or 20 seconds really massaging my http://www.paulaschoice.com/shop/skin-care-categories/cleansers/_/Skin-Balancing-Oil-Reducing-Cleanser/ in with my fingers. Also, following up with a http://www.paulaschoice.com/expert-advice/skin-care-basics/_/do-i-need-a-toner (not astringent!) only takes a few seconds and will remove any makeup remnants as well as moisturize your skin. And regular use of an AHA or BHA exfoliant can help prevent acne.

A word on diet. Obviously a good diet will make you look good overall, however, you can't treat acne with diet. (Much. I mean there is some evidence that a low GI diet might have a role to play in managing acne, so that wouldn't hurt, but it's not a cure, just one more way of managing it. Also if you consumed huge amounts of shellfish or red wine, that could make acne worse, but you'd have to consume a LOT.) Basically don't get hung up on diet, treat it as a red herring for the purpose of this exercise. Anyway, here is what I do: Morning: splash face with lukewarm water, apply 2% salicylic acid face wash. The Garnier brand works for me, the Neutrogena brand does not, YMMV, SPQR. Leave it on for a couple minutes while I brush my teeth. Shower. Once out of shower, pat face dry (no rub or scrub, no pulling or irritating the skin). OPTIONAL: Apply Cetaphil Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Lotion. Wait 15 minutes. You do this if the next step is really irritating your skin. Get some benzoyl peroxide cream. Get the lowest percentage you can find, which will probably be 5% since they took my beloved PanOxyl 2.5 off the market. Put a thin layer over your face, avoiding eyebrows and hairline cause that stuff bleaches. Now the most important thing with any topical acne treatment: leave it for 30 minutes to give it a chance to bind to your skin. Nobody will tell you this, but when someone did it was the single thing that made the difference for me. Now, apply Cetaphil Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Lotion. Wait 10 minutes. Apply your sunscreen. You may have to hunt around to find one that doesn't make you break out. Zinc oxide based ones are likely to be the kindest to your skin, but it's a crapshoot. EVENING: Fill a basin with lukewarm water, not hot, not cold. Splash your face with water. Take some Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser and schmear it all over your face, including eyelids if you are wearing eye makeup. Rinse off with 20 splashes plus an extra 5 for the eyelids. Pat dry. Refill the basin and repeat the above step. Refill the basin and do the final rinse: repeat the above step, but leave out the Cetaphil! Drain the basin and splash your face with lukewarm water. Schmear on some salicylic acid wash. Go brush your teeth or something and come back after a couple minutes. Refill the basin and repeat the rinsing process. OPTIONAL: if the acne treatment is irritating your skin, apply Cetaphil Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Lotion and leave for 15 minutes. Apply a thin layer of benzoyl peroxide cream as above. Leave for 30 minutes. Moisturise with Cetaphil Daily Advance Ultra Hydrating Lotion. IANAD, IANYD, but my guess is that you will see at least some improvement after following the above regime for two months. BTW you always have to give any acne treatment at least two months to work, though a few of them take longer. Hopefully you'll be able to skip the morning application of benzoyl peroxide after a while, too. I realize this shit is time consuming but it did work for me as long as I followed it religiously. Depending on the state of your skin after this you might then want to consult a doctor since you'll have done all you reasonably can with topical treatments. Or you might want to swap out the benzoyl peroxide for some other topical treatment like Freederm and see how that works for you. Skin care is completely idiosyncratic so a product I think is the Holy Grail might be Nemesis to you. However benzoyl peroxide is a really effective and underrated treatment so I urge you to have a real go at using it properly as I think it's highly likely you'll get some benefit at least. IANAD, IANYD.

Sure, I noticed this at 31-33, like a switch had been flipped. AFAIK it's normal hormonal changes. I exfoliate more (in areas your skin can take it), use less shampoo, moisturize occasionally. Also, I have to shave my chin!!!! Your specific fixes may vary, but I think it's normal--ask your ob-gyn. Happily/sadly, the extra attention to grooming has me looking better than before, I think.

I could have written this question at 32 (I'm 34 now), although my hair didn't really freak out. But I got dermatitis on my scalp and broke out like mad. My skin care regimen and diet have always been pretty decent, so there was nothing I could do much differently. My doctor gave me a very clean evaluation and gave me a prescription acne cream. It worked like a charm. Before that I tried BHA, salicylic acid, some other stuff. Nothing worked. The antibiotic cream I got cleared my skin up in two weeks. It was glorious. I joked with him that I've had more small annoying health issues since turning 30 than I have in the previous decade combined (throw in my first UTI and seasonal eczema flare up), but such is life, hormones and aging. I consider myself lucky that I have acne and not say, diabetes like some friends, or high blood pressure like others. A good side effect of this transition has been to finally get regular exercise to stick. Seeing real observable changes in the body scared me straight, and now I work out more regularly and eat a touch better. I lost about 30 lbs in the last 2 yrs and built a foundation of muscle that I hope to keep forever.

I'll mention that my periods were like clockwork too.