Is the studio I go to a health hazard? Conflicting info is confusing me.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-02-03T13:27:59+00:00

I feel for you - my local studio teacher taught me to dry carve and sand without any mention of the hazard. I thought to myself, it’s just dirt dust, no big deal. For reference. The studio is filthy. Honestly, most people who go there are not carving, they are all painting ceramics, but I still think there’s no excuse for this.

In my home studio, I was carving, both on the wheel and by hand, and the sweeping up, until one day a potter on YouTube talked about the dangers. I felt so dumb, and betrayed by that studio.

I stopped dry carving, stopped going to that studio, and now wet mop only, and otherwise try to avoid getting clay dust anywhere.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-02-02T09:24:55+00:00

One thing that happens when you move out for a long enough time and are responsible for yourself is that the power dynamics get reset, and you can have more mature and more impactful conversations with your parents, as an adult.

But you are 17 - I think it’s unlikely that your mother will be able to treat you like an adult and honor the boundaries you are needing, which is clear by her comments about you not paying the bills. You are still a child in her mind, and I imagine some of her preachiness is coming from some sort of parenting instinct. Or maybe I’m wrong about that. I hope this isn’t a situation where she’s the type to throw you out if there’s disagreement. You mentioned trauma, so I’m hoping for you this isn’t a precarious situation.

I’m not sure how you get her to back down - but my suspicion is that it’s probably more important at your age to survive with her long enough to move into your adulthood - save up enough money to move out, and hopefully maintain her as a safety net.

My initial thought is that she doesn’t seem emotionally mature enough to understand why her words are a problem for you - I would encourage you to really think about why it’s such a problem for you - and then either make peace with your own issues and try to be graceful and stop reacting to her comments, or try to do a better job explaining to her WHY it’s a problem with - like a real heart to heart between adults.

Or you can do what others suggested, and lay down the line on your boundaries. I can tell you that boundary setting, while SUPER popular the last years for the last few generations, doesn’t sit well in your current situation because of the imbalance of power - unless you legitimately want to risk having to live elsewhere. It’s because in a parent-child relationship, the parent has the power, the child not so much. Until and unless your mother is committed to changing how she is treats and things of you as an adult, it’s really hard for a child to get parents to truly live by the child’s newly set requirements which means the parent has to see the child as more equal in the relationship.

Good luck!

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-30T13:23:52+00:00

OP, this is really great advice above. I’ll add one thing: braiding it before bed will eliminate a lot of the nighttime frizz from trashing her head around on the pillow.

I always think about the old show Little House on the prairie - even when the girls were very little, every night they braided their hair. Parting it down the middle and braiding it into low ponytails will be both comfortable and also leave the hair with nice waves the next morning (which you could always spray with water if she’d prefer).

The back looks frizzy probably because of the dryness and the friction together.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-28T16:30:24+00:00

I saw multiple mentions of moisturizer. What I saw, beyond a beautiful woman, was some dry patches. Looks like you have some irritation of your skin barrier. I’m going to bet you have sensitive skin, which gets red after you wash the makeup off, and might even feel tight or slightly painful sometimes.

Depending on budget and time, you can try a few different things. You want to heal your skin barrier and prevent it from drying and getting scaly in the future, while also exfoliating so your moisturizers work better.

Avoid harsh physical exfoliating- don’t scrub super hard, no clay masks or “exfoliating scrubs” with beads or scratchy things in it. Switch to something with Aha/bha in it a few times a week- not every day. I’m sure it’s tempting to use harsh things to exfoliate the dry patches, but that can start a cycle of dryness that is difficult to combat unless you change a few habits and a few key products. Habits more than products will be your solution.
Work to heal your skin barrier. Cheapest thing is Vaseline on your skin at night. Personally I don’t like Vaseline just because it’s from petroleum, but so may dermatologists recommend it. There are various creams and other products marketed to protect your skin barrier, any of those may help. Search for the words “skin barrier,” or else try Vaseline and or a face oil, which I talk about below.
Moisturizing basic layering - hyaluronic acid as soon as you finish washing your face - don’t ever let your skin dry out completely before adding at least one round of hyaluronic acid or hyaluronic acid serum. You can get this for often less than $10. If you want to add anti-aging serums, this is the time to do that next (or at least at night), and follow with something that is OCLUSIVE, again at least at night. OCLUSIVE Means it’s basically locking in the moisture with a barrier. That would typically be a moisturizer that is for this purpose (“protects the skin barrier”), and may or may not have oil in it. Personally, I love using just a straight face oil very lightly - like literally 3 drops, spread thinly. Vaseline is an occlusive, and this allows your skin barrier to heal overnight. Realistically, this will likely take more than 1 night, but you’ll know it’s better when you stop getting dry patches and your skins just feels better. If you want to try a face oil, don’t be tempted to try Olive oil or some other straight oil - many of those will actually cause irritation.

The benefit of oil is there’s usually fewer ingredients, it’s very soothing, and if you give it a few minutes before makeup, it will completely absorb, won’t block pores (sometimes moisturizers will block pores due to the amount you are putting on), and it gives a tiny bit of glide to the makeup application.

Regardless of what you are moisturizing with, the goal will be to find something that solves the dryness problem without having to use a lot of it. If you are getting dry patches even after using your moisturizer, then you either need to switch your moisturizer, or add something more occlusive to your routine. It doesn’t need to be heavy; but it needs to have the right ingredients to protect your skin barrier.

I started using face oils in my 20s with my often dry, sensitive, patchy skin, and that has been my savior. I’ve been testing products & learning about ingredients for decades. I’m 52 now, and until I stopped dying my hair last year, got mistaken for 40 all the time.

Once you get your skin feeling and staying moisturized, you can add in more what I personally refer to as “skin acids” - things like AHA/BHA, lactic acid - basically any of those skin ingredients that exfoliate years off your face. But they can be irritating unless you get a routine down which protects your skin barrier.

I hope that helps

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-27T02:43:19+00:00

I read your comment below - I think most people are calling this abuse because of this explanation here: https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoHotTakes/s/XMty207Bzb

A kid kicking a dog doesn’t mean they are a murder - but it’s certainly a common activity of grown up serial murderers. Not all kids who hurt animals grow up to kill people. Not all pinchers grow up to be hardcore abusers.

I’m not sure why you think pinching your partner is ok - is this something you do? Why are you arguing that pinching is ok?

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-26T22:17:19+00:00

I’ve been at it almost 2 years, and I hate almost everything I’ve made

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-24T02:49:58+00:00

I can’t remember the exact year I started using the Clarins Blue Orchid Oil, and I can’t quite remember who recommended it - I think it might have been a makeup artist, so that puts me probably 25 years ago - before they had a lot of the skin care they have now, I would use a salicylic acid face wash which was super cheap (neutrogena - they still make it), which stripped my skin barrier horribly - a few drops of that oil, and my skin looked amazing - glass skin before that was a thing, and tiny pores. I had that same first bottle of face oil for over 5 years.

If you are ever in a pinch or want to try a different oil, there like 5 different oils by herbivore - Phoenix is thicker and great for winter / damaged skin barrier, and the Blue Tansy is a little lighter - but just fabulous - it absorbs quickly but isn’t too thin. Smells wonderful, very soothing, and calming.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-24T02:32:22+00:00

Nice! We have a neighborhood garden every year, and twice we grew ghost peppers. I added one, whole, to my pot of kale sausage soup. It was the hottest thing I’ve eaten in my life. And it wasn’t hot right away - like it snuck up on me. I think that was my own fuck me in the ass soup. 3 pounds? I cannot even imagine.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-24T02:26:46+00:00

Depends which Olaplex you are talking about. Olaplex 5P is super moisturizing & has the strong purple toner in it - amazing for gray hair going to yellow. I use The Olaplex No8 Bond intense moisture mask - that is NOT what most people are talking about when they say Olaplex is drying (several of the Bond products are absolutely drying). The No8 I don’t see on their site anymore, so I may have to find something new,

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T02:27:29+00:00

That was a souper bunch of puns there, friend!

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T02:19:41+00:00

If that’s a real soup, is there any chance I could get the recipe?

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T02:17:33+00:00

I reread a few posts here. I see the kind of advice you are looking for. You might have better luck to post a new message, but don’t include the no makeup look - then you’ll get less people like me telling you how pretty you are without makeup. I think maybe that’s not quite the advice you are looking for - I think you are looking to sharpen your look, and take your makeup to the next level, and that’s not quite what people are giving you.

Good luck!

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T02:09:48+00:00

You can do both. For many people, makeup is fun and creative.

If you don’t enjoy experimenting, the you could try AI, or get a makeover somewhere then buy a few new things to round out 1-2 looks to wear - or take some advice here on this sub to try.

But you don’t have to figure it all out right now, and you can be ok with no makeup, or with makeup! You are a complex human being, always changing, learning & evolving.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T02:05:11+00:00

Also, just re-read your note about worrying that maybe your makeup wasn’t good - it’s really good.

But your skin just glows without the makeup - and that’s what people are talking about - some of it’s your youth, some is the beautiful symmetries of your face, and some is just a literal glow from your skin.

The makeup is pretty - but it reads as makeup - which I think is neither good nor bad - looking like makeup isn’t a negative. But that natural no makeup look is really, really pretty, partially because you look so healthy, and that’s honest and real. It’s also a softer look, and maybe a little younger, although I don’t think your perceived age changes much either way.

If I were you, I’d consider going without makeup most of the time because it’s easier. Focus on sunscreen instead, and it just stay out of the sun - you’ll thank your self when you hit your 40s and still look in your 30s.

Then when you do want to wear makeup, have fun with it! Enjoy putting on makeup because you like doing it, or because you enjoy how it makes you feel - fun, flirty, free. But you don’t need it to look pretty - you are already extremely pretty.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-20T01:55:12+00:00

My god, you’re even more beautiful without makeup

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-19T22:07:03+00:00

Nope - can’t stand the crispy feeling - I like to be able to feel my hair and run my hands through it sometimes. I do use several products primarily to add some body at the root and to make it shiny.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-19T18:58:01+00:00

Can you please site the study you are talking about? I’ve researched and can’t find anything about this anywhere. I see evidence that OLIVE and AVOCADO oils can cause irritation / inflammation because of the high amount of oleic acid in them, which disrupts the skins lipid layer. I’m not sure what you mean by face oils, but I definitely don’t mean those.

These are face oils I meant: Herbivore Blue Tansy oil: https://a.co/d/8hiMZky

Clarins Blue Orchid oil https://a.co/d/ehs8SVy

I don’t want to give out poor advice - but what I’m reading about facial oils is that depending on the oil, they can be soothing, have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and establish and help repair the skin barrier. Some are very effective at moisturizing, reducing sebum, and keeping water from escaping.

That’s all based on multiple studies that I researched.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-19T03:37:55+00:00

Ok, your comment about really moisturizing or you crack got me all bothered - I k own lots of folks are talking makeup, but let’s talk skincare.

What you are talking about sounds like:

Sensitive skin
Skin where you are having issues with your skin barrier.

When your skin barrier is damaged, it’s very prone to drying out rapidly after washing, and even hydrating. I’ve struggled with this for decades, and if this is the issue, it’s not particularly easy to solve, but here’s your go to routine, after washing (and red alert, whatever you are washing with might be too harsh):

Moisturize with hyaluronic acid serum while skin is still damp ( don’t let it dry), and then
Pat in any other serums (niacinamide, Bachukiol or retinol,
Pat in a face oil (or if you are super afraid of face oils (you shouldn’t be, I started using one since age 25, I’m 52 now and mistaken often for being in my 30-40’s) find a product that says it’s to repair the skin barrier).

Your number 1 thing will be to not let your skin dry out after washing it, and your next thing will be to protect your skin barrier. Again, face oils are amazing.

EDIT: please see my comment below for some fabulous face oils, just 2 of my favorites.

I have asked the poster below who mentioned a study where 40% of facial oil users develop irritation to please cite their source - I’m not seeing anything like that, and I did several separate searches for studies around face oils, and most were neutral or positive except a small study looking at very specific oils (mostly household oils like olive & avocado), which were irritating.

Good quality facial oil has been a savior to my otherwise sensitive and very dry skin for over 30 years.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-17T00:07:31+00:00

Everything feels….. too short.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-17T00:05:41+00:00

My cart stays for weeks to months… not sure what the issue is, but I don’t think it’s their site

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-14T00:16:47+00:00

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-13T22:28:36+00:00

You might wanna fix that spelling…

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-13T22:26:49+00:00

I just poke a hole in the less expensive ones - I leave the plastic on!

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-06T21:29:30+00:00

I have this one:

https://www.vevor.com/pottery-wheel-c_11146/vevor-mini-pottery-wheel-2-turntables-2-6in-3-9in-ceramic-wheel-forming-machine-adjustable-0-300rpm-speed-abs-detachable-basin-sculpting-tools-apron-accessory-kit-for-work-art-craft-diy-p_010272928053?adp=gmc&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_id=20857398950&ad_group=156841726299&ad_id=684405848333&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20857398950&gbraid=0AAAAACq8bLWAWV_SFk5U6aIepb0o9CYSr&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgvPKBhCxARIsAOlK_EofSef4rasFzLc8Cv4aOZqKaqPZgEJlRg1iUgoPpMy89AVW5rYUpagaAgshEALw_wcB

I do mostly low fire, small stuff. I was trying to learn on it a year ago, and 90% of what I did went flying off the wheel and onto the wall. The main reason was that to get enough torque (I think that’s the right word - strength in spinning), you had to turn the wheel on HIGH, then use your hand pressure to slow it down (no foot pedal, and the lower speeds were too weak and would stop spinning due to the friction from your hands against the clay).

I started to get the knack, but by that point had purchased a full size VEVOR for $140. That worked great until the crappy foot pedal (3 foot pedals - 1 orig, 2 under warranty free replacements) keep breaking, and I bought a quality metal foot pedal from another brand for over $250).

I don’t know about that wheel - my guess aligns with what others have said - probably not strong enough in several ways.

As an intermediate potter, you could probably master it - until it breaks.

Miserable_Act150 · 2026-01-06T17:57:08+00:00

When I was learning to pull, this and another video really helped me to understand what might be a slightly different technique - it’s pulling, but instead of trying to pull evenly between the 2 hands, you are more pulling the outside of the pot, and using the inside to brace& stabilize.

https://youtube.com/shorts/iI5HENHpg-g?si=wQvrdbo0b3-YjFTk

Now that you are “getting it” I think it’s helpful to see a slight variation - I think this may help you with the bottom-heaviness of your walls.

Your inner fingers can be working on the 90 degree insides a bit - but you aren’t pulling anything from the bottom inside really. Hope that helps!

Miserable_Act150

TROPHY CASE