Stretch marks & Keratosis pilaris

[ParisGal]

What products / routines are good for these two skin issues?

I have slight stretch marks on my bum / thigh area - slightly silvery and not very marked, but in an ideal world they'd go away. I currently exfoliate with the Boots gloves a couple of times per week and moisturise when I remember to. I think this has already improved things. I used a Nivea anti-cellulite cream for a while and I think that helped too (as well as with the cellulite!). I don't want expensive products (no Strivectin etc), just the supermarket type price range.

Mr PG has what I think is keratosis pilaris (bumps on his upper arms & back that are like white heads with no head. Some of them are red but mostly they're just raised bumps. My instinct for this is exfoliation & moisturising, but his skin isn't dry at all. Any better tips?

Thank you

[smalex]

I have KP and Exfoliating does help a bit. I've tried sulphur soap (which is meant to help) but it didn't make much difference. and exposure to sunlight I think is supposed to help. I hate it. It looks so ugly, and is all over my upper arms. I've never found anything which makes a major difference tbh, and generally lose interest in trying it (which probably doesn't help).

[Zoomer]

exposure to sunlight I think is supposed to help.

I used to have KP, and my sister still has it. We were discussing one day how mine just went away and concluded that it must have been the sun over here, because I didn't do anything different.
So tear the sleeves off all his t-shirts, is my most helpful advice.

I have found the best solution for stretch marks is to ignore them in the hopes that they'll go away. They won't, but I'm not looking at them anymore so I don't care.

I'm shit at advice. 8)

[smalex]

I spent loads of time in the sunlight most the year round when I was rowing, but it didn't seem to budge it.

[Turtle Bean]

Nothing can make stretch marks go away, so don't waste your money. They look better if you exfoliate and moisturise with anything.

[Lovely Me]

I have KP on my upper arms too, as do my mum and sisters. My mum swears by some Avene cream (this one I think?) and my sisters and I all use Weleda body oil religiously. Mine is gone within three to four days when I use the Rose oil. Not your typical man smell, though, but there are other smells - and I think the key thing is to moisturize daily anyway!
The Rose oil also seems to help with the couple of rogue stretch marks I recently noticed on my right boob :grump: , but it's not as amazing as for the KP. I can't bring myself to pay 40 or 50€ for a pot of Clarins cream, or whatever crazy price Strivectrin is, but I used Mustela on my bump and don't have a single stretchmark there (I think they do a special healing cream for existing stretchmarks? hopefully it's as good as the "preventative" one). My friend swears by the Lierac repair serum thing but I think it's crazily expensive too.

[ParisGal]

No miracle cure that is applied once and costs £2.50 then? I'm disappointed in you all.

;) Thanks very much - I'll try to get him to exfoliate & use some kind of oil then I reckon. I have Bio Oil myself which I find quite good but I'm not sure even that is really worth the price /cheapskate/. I suppose the trick is to actually be consistent with the routines.

I'm impressed with the Rose oil results though LM!

[Pippedydeadeye]

Squeak has mild KP too, and I find that the Weleda Calendula oil makes a real difference to her.

[Calico]

I have a very effective cure for KP, but wouldn't recommend it - alopecia. Mine has vanished completely along with the body hair. Well, I suppose there have to be some benefits to losing my hair

[Disco]

My KP went when I went to live in Majorca (sun). It comes back a little in the winter and exfoliation sorts it. Flake Away, I've found, sorts very mild KP in only a couple of uses.

[Ruby]

I have had stretch marks since puberty and what Bean says is correct. Nobody should be parting with hard earned money. Even on Extreme Makeover they can't get rid of them except by cutting the offending skin off.

[ParisGal]

...by cutting the offending skin off.

I'm not properly bothered about mine TBH, I'll just keep them moisturised & fake tanned & that should do.

I have sorted my ingrowing hairs due to epilation (double ) with repeated exfoliation though so one unsightly skin affliction down at least!

[Zoomer]

I thought epilation caused ingrowing hairs? Although I am not at all offay with these latest technologies. :stillusesimmac:

[ParisGal]

Yep, it does, unless you exfoliate religiously & constantly

[Starry]

I think that's what PG meant, Zoom. It's been sorted with repeated exfoliation.

[Derek Nimmo]

KP is a tricky bugger - what works for one person moisturiser wise will be far too rich for someone else. It is a case of trial and error, as the best thing I've found is a body cream from Sephora* with AHAs in, so it's smoothing as it's moisturising, but someone else I know tried it and it didn't do a thing.

Drink lots of fluids though, if you don't already. That definitely helps me.

*Only available in France, goddamn it. ETA Oh! That would work for Mr P. The clue being in your username.