It's too late for twins, but you can still do a sibling study. It'll be super straightforward, you can sign all the releases yourself.
That is the most American thing I've ever seen.
Actually, I take that back. The most American thing I've ever seen is the laser sight scope accessory for the bug gun.
I detect that note of envy in your voice.
On skin, my answer is no. Sunscreen and wind/sun exposure is arguably a lot of hand-waving--surely that's 90+% of all skin damage--but skin itself replenishes so fast that it's hard for me to believe that 10 years of neglect wouldn't undo all previous care effects.
With exercise, I think it depends a lot on what the baseline assumptions are. In the second instance, if the difference is between USDA-approved activity levels for B vs. A doing ultramarathons or whatever, then I think 10 years of A living at B levels ends up in about he same place*. But if B is living an ordinary American life while A is a diligent exerciser (but maybe not an ultramarathoner), then I think 40 years of decline >> 10 years.
*also, big genetic effects here. Even when AB & I had similar overall activity levels, I could get in shape to run a 5k in a fraction of the time she could. If the twins were genetically similar to me, then, in the first instance, I think Twin B would catch up pretty quickly, but if they were similar to AB, Twin B would be hopelessly behind. And that's before you get into aging curves, where some people put on middle age weight at 40, others at 50, others never.
I endorse both 2 and 3. How on earth are you supposed to stop your kids from shooting each other with it?
This item does not ship to United Kingdom.
Dammit.
I endorse both 2 and 3. How on earth are you supposed to stop your kids from shooting each other with it?
Let them play with the real guns.
At the local middle school, an 8th grader brought a bullet to a school, and managed to fire it by rubbing it on the pavement. No one was hurt but it did make a loud bang, apparently. All the parents received an automated phone call from the district.
I literally know those twins. They are monozygotic, no less. In my judgement there is no way a decade of twin B exercising gets her to where twin A is. Moisturizer meh, though.
But is the moisturizing twin also the exercising twin??? Or do they split the virtues?
I now see a podiatrist who is appalled by the condition of the skin on my feet. She keeps telling me stuff I should rub on my feet and I keep telling her that I just want to be able to run without pain.
My mother had suggested she'd like a new copy of Joy of Cooking because the binding is lousy and keeps coming apart with heavy use, so I got a copy but then had a copy shop cut it open and ring-bind it in two halves so it can lie flat. I'm fairly proud of myself for that.
All the parents received an automated phone call from the district.
Depressing (and also very American), that this is something they'd have an automated call ready for.
12: Our automated phone calls are a recording the principal makes for that call, not necessarily something preprepared. (I like him very much but do look forward to someday no longer having "Good Eeeeeeeevening, WILDCATS!" bellowing out of my phone at me on a regular basis.)
I got myself this dunkleosteus toy and two necklaces I'm wearing today. I had to go to child support court this morning, so I took the dunkleosteus out of my purse before I left home rather than send it through the x-ray machine.
Our automated phone calls are a computer reading something typed into the machine. This results in fun things like "Due to adverse weather conditions, school will not begin until one-zero-colon-zero-zero a. m."
12: oh, it wasn't prepackaged. They recorded it that day, and then robo-called everyone.
11 is so thoughtful! I love it.
We got a Nintendo Switch so now the Japanese cartoon animals can shoot lightning at each other from the comfort of the living room.
5. But Amazon.co.uk stands ready to serve you. And it's fair, This item does not ship to the United States.
That is the most American Texan thing I've ever seen
Ok, I'll stop.
In a few years.
I suspect heebie you are working from two exclusive categories of skin stuff: 1) sunscreen (biggest cumulative effect over the long haul as can prevent irreversible changes in skin structure*); and 2) moisturizers acting on the surface as emmollients and occlusives to provide comfort. But there's a third - topical creams, goops and liquids with ingredients that can penetrate the skin barriers (to different layers, depending on active ingredient) and cause changes in skin structures. I strongly suspect long term appropriate use of cat 3 would also have a cumulative effect, but not as dramatic as sun protection, by a long shot.
This is all hilariously moot ime bc gulf between what most people do and what has any chance of effectiveness wiiiiiiide. Reminds me of ~3 yrs ago when gazillion step Korean regimes were all the cutting edge rage and all these people were like "oh my god I never used to even regularly wash my face at night, go to bed with mascara flaking all over etc, and then I briefly adopted a seventeen step regime involving WASHING MY FACE BEFORE BED LIKE I AM NOT A BARBARIAN and wow my skin is soooooo much better" and I was like, hey, live a little and go for broke - brush your teeth too!
*this is why my most brutally honest answer to questions re skin care is you need daily sunscreen and a time machine.
Well, what's the low-hanging fruit in Category 3?
I got a Neunaber Immerse. Which was a present I bought myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCDi3uSYiy0
(it's a fancy reverb pedal for those who aren't interested in youtube guitar demos)
re: the ageing and exercise thing.
My grandfather lived to 102 (died in Feb), and until he was 100, was pretty hale and hearty, and in his 80s could play football. I remember him beating me at tennis when, now that i look back, he was over 70.
I'm pretty sure he stayed as healthy as he did, and maintained a base line of physical fitness, because he was a very fit young man and maintained exercise habits into old age. We had some photos at his funeral of him in his late 20s, and he was buff as fuck. The fact he stopped doing his daily push-ups and so on at some time in his mid 70s, I think, didn't alter the fact that he started the decline into old age at a way higher starting level than most people do.
it's a fancy reverb pedal for those who aren't interested in youtube guitar demos
I was ready to believe that it was, in answer to 24, a skin care product.
I stopped wearing sunscreen while surfing and absolutely wrecked the skin on my face. So don't do that
(died in Feb)
Sorry to hear that. I remember the really charming photos of him that you posted.
We had some photos at his funeral of him in his late 20s, and he was buff as fuck.
Why did he have a funeral in his 20s?
Lenny caution
Did I miss a pseud switch?
Heebie and Thorm, thanks for the great ideas-- the dinosaurs those people make are great!
I got all three volumes of Looney Tunes on Blu-ray. The perfect thing to have on Blu-ray.
Looney Tunes just isn't complete without Space Jams.
This is over the counter, everything start with ONE time per week, then 2 for eg 2-3 weeks, then 3x per week, etc - this is a race the tortoise wins every time:
- chemical exfollient, start with something mild in an AHA - will have overnight effect! Fun!
- retinol, again start mild and not on same night as exfollient
- vitamin C
- niaciminides (sp? Forms of vit B)
Can't do any of first three unless you seriously commit to daily sunscreen or risk making things worse. Be gentle washing your face, and for the love of god don't use scratchy physical exfolients.
Good drug store brands, in general - cerave (favourite of all time, so good), roc, some loreal and olay. Online, Paula's choice good value for money and informative. Don't buy this stuff in a dept store or Sephora unless you are made of money, although the drunk elephant stuff is indeed bombish. Am checking out the ordinary soon, looks good on paper for someone who already knows what they want, overwhelming & complicated otherwise.
re: 29
Thanks.
It was time, so I don't think anyone was surprised, or sad except in the most general sense. He'd been unwell off and on for a year or so.
xelA talks about him all the time, so it was nice he got to know him, and bond with him (it's odd how well kids bond with some relatives).
36 Let me add my condolences, I always enjoyed your stories about him and what a gift for xelA to have known his great-grandfather and to remember him so fondly
102 and hale&hearty to 100 is amazing, and so lovely your son remembers him.
In non-obsessive-skincare-holiday-haul news, my favorite present is The Sunday Night Book by Rosie Sykes, along with Rachel Roddy's two books are supplying nearly all my cooking inspiration. The beans-on-toast recipe in the Sykes book instantly went into my Top 5 Last Meal Contenders. I was suspicious about the spinach, but they play a delightful swirl-up-the-juices role. Also i received this odd self-heating mug thing via a client gift rigamarole, and despite being completely baffled as to how to control it - when it works it is amazeballs and very strange to go in for those last 5 sips of tea and find them not cold. uncanny! would never have asked for this from anyone and absolutely never bought it, though!
I'm hoping that old-man leathery skin is a good look for me. I'm not really invested enough in skin care to hope for anything else.
I'm not even drinking enough lately to hope for gin blossoms. Stupid responsibilities.
My FIL gave me this vest for Christmas, in size men's medium (I am not a men's medium.) We sneakily returned it, and I took instead one of his 4 extra tablets he had lying around. (Basically every time his tablet runs out of battery and my MIL doesn't charge it in time he orders another one.) It's a low-level small amazon fire, which is nice for reading PDFs, and my husband got a slightly larger version, which I use to watch skiing. So, I am very happy with my present.
a) I don't know about moisturizer per se, but retinol a plus sunscreen will make a visible difference to your face, and the time you spend not using moisturizer with sunscreen can't be caught up on later. if you've ever seen a man who has worked on a boat his whole life you will see what I mean. having said which, much of whether you have wrinkles is genetic imo; my mom spent plenty of time in the 60s on the beach tanning with bain de soleil spf 2 and tin-foil reflectors and has always looked great. secondary caveat: she switched to retinol a and sunscreen sometime in her 40s. (I'm aware we were meant to exclude sunscreen, but you can't use retinol a without it).
b) exercise absolutely makes a difference and cannot be caught up on; the chances of forming new muscle tissue after 50 is very low. my father-in-law was a diligent exerciser in great shape up till this year when he had a double bypass at 88 (for genetic reasons; his dad died at 87 of a massive heart attack). all his doctors have told him that if he hadn't been a life-long, healthy gym-goer he would be in much worse shape now, possibly even unable to walk on the treadmill as he does now in cardiac rehab. his recovery has been dependent on his previous habit of exercising daily.
sorry to be a bummer: you'll look better if you start using retinol a in your 40s and get exercise, and you can't be like, "nah, I'll do it when I'm 60."
Also, my favorite picture of the vest is the last one. Who would see a 70-year-old man in a cowboy hat and think, "this is just the thing for my daughter-in-law."
Also on the plus side, I made formal dibs on the kitchenaid mixer he ordered several years ago and is still sitting in a box in their garage.
I misspoke: rather, you won't just look better if you exercise, you'll be fundamentally healthier in a way that can decay if you give it up and can't be made up for after a certain age.
So, I'm a pretty intense fidgeter, which is the same or better than exercise for keeping weight down, but I'm wondering if fidgeting has similar health benefits to exercise?
I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and I absolutely see what all the fuss is about over these things.
I still want the pot crapped by a dog.
: you'll look better if you start using retinol a in your 40s and get exercise, and you can't be like, "nah, I'll do it when I'm 60."
Good news! I turn 40 next month!
What else should I start doing?
Would you like an easy and relatively starter routine? Will type out on phone for you if wanted ...
By 50, you should be going to the basement when you hear the tornado whistle, instead of popping out into the yard to see the tornado.
48: Coffee enemas are the key to healthy aging!
The Starbucks by my office now has a sign up about buying "One for the commode".
9: I don't inquire about their moisturizing regimes! But predawn runs get posted on FB so exercise I know about. Still it is neat to actually know a real-life twin experiment. And because of FB, child photos galore! (They were indistinguishable). I haven't talked with either of them directly but imagine everyone who knows them thinks about it.
It feels weird to share it even pseudonymically.
I have one cousin who is always posting about his running on FB. So annoying, especially since he was faster than me even before my ankle problem.
Fortunately, his skin looks ridiculous.
Her skin is cracking by the second.
The big splurge was a cruise coming up in February; we'll see how it is once we've done it. It's my wife's first cruise and my first in 20 years, so it'll be interesting to experience. We'll know some other people on the ship, though who knows how much time we'll spend together. (It's a nice safety net.)
The more planned splurge was a PS VR. My wife is amazing and does very well with it; sometime in the first day, I crashed into the TV and have been a leery ever since.
OT: Take that Shaker Heights.
Nice work! I admit that I would in fact choose living in Squirrel Hill over living here if the job market had obliged.
I'm going to need a new job soon anyway.
23: To add to that, retin-a (prescription) and some versions of retinol too.
Do you use a moisturizer with sunscreen included, or a separate sunscreen?
I really need to pay more attention to sun protection. AIMHB, my sister has a ton of precancerous spots, and is a few days into using a topical chemo cream that is apparently going to get very scary for a few weeks, appearance-wise.
Do you go to a dermatologist yearly? My onc told me to but I gather the jury is out.
I do (and yeah, last that I heard the jury was still out on BRCA-skin cancer links). He has mapped my moles, and removed two. My sister doesn't have the mutation, but has spent much more time in the sun than I have.
This is the topical chemo my sister is using: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/01/27/these-graphic-photos-skin-precancer-treatment-are-must-see.html
I spent a lot of years in the tropics and I'm expecting my face to look like a baseball mitt when I am older.
68: If you were in Ghana, there would be at least a reason to have "Rawlings" on your face.
Okay I'm selfishly glad this subject has come up b/c I have this crazy fast-growing skin-tag(?) under my arm that's been annoying me and I have no reason to think it's a scary-type mole and I have all the sterile scalpel blades and lidocaine and cauterisers I need to take it off myself but I'm scared that I'll dispatch it no probs and then find out 2 years later that it was melanoma and now I'm dead oh if only I had listened.
What should I do, you guys.
I'd get it looked at before cutting it off.
Go to a dermatologist. What do you have to lose by having a professional take care of it?
Fast-growing is suspicious.
God dammit, I knew that would be the answer, you responsible assholes.
What do you have to lose by having a professional take care of it?
Just time and money.
My real problem is that I'm an American in the UK trying, without much experience, to understand how to optimally work the NHS. Every problem I've ever been to see my GP about, I had to inform and coach him about what to do. So if I don't already have a solution in mind, I don't know what to do.
Go to your GP and tell him to biopsy your growth.
On second thought, cancer screening is more important than making inappropriate sexual puns at your doctor visit.
I am embarrassed to post this totally un-feminist question, but I have several times caught myself wondering how the US media's love affair with Kate Middleton is going to go once her appearance starts to (even more) visibly show signs of her smoking habit. It's extremely apparent to me even in the periodic photos of her I see waiting in the checkout line or on Twitters, so I have to assume it's only going to get worse as she ages.
/uncharitable and sexist speculation
-s
Also, sorry about your g-g, ttaM. Very glad you have such a long and mostly happy store of memories to look back on.
Too bad chewing tobacco is illegal in England. Or was in 1992.
79: What signs? It doesn't surprise me to hear, but I can't think offhand what the signs are.
Her post-laryngectomy electronic voice box is very noticeable.
Apparently my aunt had a doctor who told her to smoke while pregnant because it would make for a smaller baby and thus and easier labor.
71: It's probably nothing, but yeah, you should have it looked at, if only for the peace of mind.
dairy queen: thanks for the drug store brand suggestions. I do think AHA and retinol can make a difference (even if the effects aren't really long-term?).
74: I'm sure the Brits can weigh in better, but are you saying you think your GP would just shrug at your worry unless you know what you're asking for? And if so, couldn't your default plan if that's their reaction be "so can you send me to a dermatologist or someone who can give me an answer?"
Okay, here goes!
Morning:
Wash with cerave hydrating facial cleanser - just massage a pump of the stuff on your dry face and then gently take it off with a cotton terrycloth washcloth wet with water hot enough to be comfortable on your hands. other good cleanser options are the burts bee's sensitive facial cleanser (often on sale) or the say yes! to carrots cleanser (what an asinine name, and the competition is steep in this neighborhood). I also use good old pond's cold cream, but then i'm not mineral oil phobic. Cleansing oils are another option, there is one from muji that is very good and very reasonable. stay away from cetaphil, i can never figure out why people think it is good. pretty darn harsh in my opinion, avoid it. in a cleanser you are looking to get extraneous stuff off your skin whilst doing the least damage to your skin's integrity, so surfactants that mess with your skin's lipid barrier are not good, and cetaphil has a surprisingly high proportion of relatively harsh surfactants.
(And just buy a bunch of cotton washcloths cheap at ikea or something, get the softest ones you can find. Wash as often as you feel comfortable - i don't do the laundry in our house so i don't go through them that often, but change them as frequently as you can handle.)
OPTIONAL: After you wash your face, put a vitamin c product on, paula's choice is a good option here for quality-price ( http://www.paulaschoice.com/shop-category/vitamin-c ) as you need this in a somewhat finicky formulation because it deteriorates quickly when exposed to light/air and needs to be at a certain ph to be effective. the drunk elephant vit c thing is wonderful wonderful wonderful but soooo pricey. am going to check out the ordinary's options, will report back.
If your skin tends to be uncomfortably dry you'll want to moisturize next, cerave's PM facial moisturizing is excellent, has niacinamides (thanks SP!).
If you don't notice dryness enough to be uncomfortable, go straight to a sunscreen. I've given up chemical sunscreens bc apparently the active ingredients are super bad for coral reefs, so its all about the zinc and other oxides for me these days, cerave again to the rescue!!! their AM facial moisturizer with sunscreen is amazeballs - physical sunscreen that does not make me look like i just rolled in from the clown orgy. you have to wait a few minutes for the white to fade, but it does and then i only need to add back a very small amount of human color. also has niacinamides, hyaluronic acid, other nice ingredients. other options - la roche posay's ultra light anthelios (the formula sold in france is much nicer imo and has a super lovely fragrance) or the Neutrogena ultra sheer - that stuff got me through my teens, 20s and 30s.
... go about and enjoy your day ... if you are kate middleton, remember to smoke with your cigarettes on alternative sides of your mouth so that you kipper yourself evenly.
before you go to bed - wash your face again, same deal as the morning. then -
OPTIONAL 1: put on a retinol product. for quality-price go back to paula's choice (www.paulaschoice.com/shop-category/retinol) or roc from the drugstore. here - start slooooooow and gentle. get a low concentration formula and start with once a week for a couple of weeks, then to twice a week for a couple of weeks, etc. i would build up to every other night, tops.
OPTIONAL 2: AHA chemical exfoliant. i'm currently using a paula's choice thing but i'm not that happy with it, seems to assume i'll use a cotton wool pad or something but god that is wasteful, so i end up trying to get a watery solution on my face and end up with it in the eyeballs - my lack of coordination exacerbated by one or both of the men hanging out chatting whilst i'm trying to get the damn stuff on my face. so, not thrilled there. once again the drunk elephant stuff is fabulous but ouch the price. alpha skin care have a 10% glycolic gel that looks good for a pretty reasonable price. as with the retinol - go slooooow. 1x/wk for a few weeks, 2x/wk for a few weeks, etc., and don't do this on the same night as a retinol product. basically, i alternate.
After this moisturize. I slather on the moisturizer like a fiend bc skin has gotten drier over the years, but i used to just put on some of the cerave face moisturizer stuff. now i use vast quantities of their full-on moisturizing cream that comes in the big tub, fantastic stuff and super useful for most general skin unhappiness that happens to kids, partners, etc. - better half gets occasional eczema patches in the winter, quickly sorted with this stuff. worth looking for the tub with a pump, putting fingers in tubs of cream is not good.
assume the retinol and vitamin c will take 4-6 weeks to start showing what they can do. the AHA step should start to show some effects pretty darn quickly.
treat your neck and chest like your face down to the lowest neckline you regularly wear so that the effects don't stop abruptly. rub the last vestiges of active products on the backs of your hands.
have fun!!!
71: don't conduct surgery on yourself! (This really shouldn't need to be said out loud.) Don't cut off bits of your own body and then cauterise the wounds like you're Stephen Maturin and you're rolling (medically speaking) Regency-style!
You have a cauteriser? WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A CAUTERISER? Do you also have a fleam and a set of cupping vessels?
Go and see your GP and tell her that you have this skin tag, it's growing fast, and you're worried and would like a referral to a dermatologist. She will give you a referral.
re: Swope and GPs.
I've been to GPs about similar issues. Some GPs are able to perform minor surgery -- of the skin tag or mole removal variety -- in their GP practice. It depends on the GP. So they may actually deal with it in practice. Otherwise, they'll refer you.
You need to be somewhat assertive about what you want, but generally, in my experience, that kind of thing is something that'll get dealt with well.
Generally, GPs will go into 'fob/postpone' mode if:
1) the thing you present with isn't obviously serious,
2) doesn't seem to be causing you real pain/distress,
3) might go away on its own, or
4) is complex and has no obvious simple investigation/test
They only have 10 minutes or so to see you, so you need to basically help them a bit by being clear about what you want. Think of it as a form of informal rationing where vague, not very serious conditions that don't seem to be massively bothering the person tend to get a very low priority. So ... tell them clearly what the issue is and what you want, and generally you'll get what you want, with no problems.
If you present with anything remotely serious, they'll act very differently, in my experience.
Would agree with ttaM. It also helps to be 100 years od, like my mother. Then they take *everything* seriouslly. But I have a couple of nasty fatty lumps ("Sebaceous cysts") on various parts of my anatomy. GP took one off a few years ago but otherwise they are regarded as cosmetic blemishes, not treatable on the NHS. But they will certainly look at them and give you a diagnosis. Just say "Dr, I am worried about this x on y and you know we're always told that it's better to be safe than sorry so could you just check it out". As ttaM says, they have too much time pressure on them to find out what's really worrying you if you can't tell them clearly up front.
WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A CAUTERISER?
I feel like that question is a trap.
This is the thread for best Christmas presents? I'd been idly bitching that my rowing machine hadn't been working for years because the performance monitor was fried, and then a new one showed up at Christmas. (Allowing me to install it, figure out that the machine was busted in some other respects, order more parts, bitterly regret not having a good set of wrenches because trying to unscrew nuts with a pliers in a tight space sucks, but ultimately get the silly thing working for the first time in years and years.)
But now I want a cauterizer.
89. Just so long as you don't have a trepanning kit, you are probably not going full Stephen Maturin.
Just get a referral to a dermatologist. I did that when I had a surface growth on my cheek, and they used liquid nitrogen* and were done in five minutes or less. (They said something on the order of, "Oh yeah this is a cancer but it's on the surface so it's really only a cosmetic issue. Also, stay out of the sun.**")
* Dermatologists are very fond of liquid nitrogen.
** Not an issue in the UK, right?
I think that whether or not you burn growths off of your own skin is a personal choice. I just recommend having an expert look at them first to rule out cancer.
Also, stay out of the sun.
You should have stayed out of the sun when you were younger. Probably too late now.
re: 95
Yeah, I had one GP liquid nitrogen some skin issues on my hands. I had another who did a more involved process with scalpel, etc for a dodgy mole. The second was specifically qualified and licensed to do dermatological procedures, and was the practice specialist (in a large London GP practice) for that sort of thing.
I have a Bug-A-Salt which my boyfriend gave me last year -- then there were hardly any bugs around then. He got one for himself and thoroughly enjoys it. It's hilarious.
I'll just leave this here for anyone still wondering why "the women's pages" have always been political: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/01/03/style/dressing-for-sexual-harassment-hearings.html