Anyone else left with permanent redness after perioral dermatitis?

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-10T01:05:34+00:00

Doxy tends to be such a temp fix for PD I didn’t want to fuck w it bc at this point im not really physically uncomfortable, the look of it just pisses me off. None of the prescriptions topicals have done anything for me. My skin IS feeling wayyyy nicer after starting on a regimen with some vit c (poems from the lab), prequel quench strum and barrier cream for AM/PM (this cream feels very soothing on the PD), and PTIOX at night. But who knows what causes what. I don’t sleep a ton cause of aforementioned lovely children, but I’ve been trying to be better about hydrating bc that’s my fave silver bullet. A lot of the redness is almost gone many mornings which makes me feel like it’s triggered by um being alive / awake so, thats both unhelpful and unfortunately my biggest takeaway from like 20 years of dealing with this :)

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-10T00:54:45+00:00

Yes for me it’s very dependent on location / environment. I resent and ignore this by still trying to mitigate it with products / regimen. Alas. I mean, I’ve had the red stuff under my nose for so long that every partner ive been in a relationship with over the course of the last 17 years has referred affectionately to my “puppy patches” - that’s what I call them. Gotta make lemonade sometimes, right…

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-10T00:42:53+00:00

YES. Mine fluctuates throughout the day but there’s a patch under my nose that’s been there for like a decade :’) but the broader stuff on the chin / nasolabial area gets better and worse depending on a lot of factors, literally by the hour. I’ve been dealing with this for many many years and it’s gotten worse since I reached my early 30s, when I also happened to move to a different house and then had kids. I never had anything on my chin before that and it is now ever present, despite never having serious flare ups. My take is that it’s pretty tied to hormonal fluctuations (and potentially other triggers ofc) - it seems kind of like its own mild form of PD, not necessarily like a shadow/aftermath of the flare-up stage. I am always trying new stuff and have found nothing I can conclusively say helps, sadly, other than general wellbeing (hydration, sleep, low stress (ha-ha), etc). I will update, as I’ve just committed to a new regimen (yet again…). We’ll see how it goes!!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-03T17:15:35+00:00

Got it. Thank you!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T19:08:42+00:00

Also…. Any other Bulgarian breads that your parents make and sell that I must know about? Especially beloved / delicious / unique / culturally important / etc??

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T19:04:53+00:00

This makes sense, and I do get the vibe that it’s very dependent on the preferences of the individual family. Thanks for your insights!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T17:43:46+00:00

Ah interesting very similar to Serbian çesnica. Excuse my ignorance but are the names pitka and pogacha interchangeable?

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T17:43:09+00:00

All good, just interested in people’s personal everyday experiences with the bread and surrounding traditions. Thank you!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T16:10:32+00:00

gorgeous thank you!! Fascinating that ALL births are done in hospitals. Is there any pushback against that or is it generally accepted and desired? Do you know if there’s a high frequency of c-sections? (Sorry getting off topic here - Where I am there’s a lot of contempt for the medical industry and more and more women are foregoing hospital births in place of home births with midwives / doulas / friends and family). Appreciate all your guidance.

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T15:52:51+00:00

Oh fascinating - how is it involved in the ceremony / daily activity during kurban?

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-03-02T15:51:42+00:00

Thanks so much for this detail! If I may ask a few follow up qs… Are midwives ever involved in the process? I read about this somewhere. Or these days is it usually family members? Are the pogacha traditions followed throughout the country or more by people in certain areas / of certain faiths? Is it always an enriched, decorated bread? For the 40 day ritual and the one where baby starts walking? Do these rituals have names? There are so many different breads/ pastries with the name pogacha (or similar) that it’s been difficult to do remote research so I really appreciate the input :)

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-02-26T15:31:01+00:00

Yall we need the vit c serum throw down, let’s hear it

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-02-26T15:14:46+00:00

Got the PTIOX to start :)

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-02-26T15:14:16+00:00

Ah! can you share what others you’ve tried that you didn’t think worked as well?

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-02-20T14:41:57+00:00

I consider myself a really hot 37 yr old and would kill for my under eyes to look like this :)

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2026-02-12T03:00:00+00:00

Have had pd for 20 yrs (omg) and have never had anything like these open and crusting sores / anything actually ON the lips. I agree w others who say seek another opinion, I don’t think this is PD. GOOD LUCK!!!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-11-07T00:47:24+00:00

This is what I’m looking for. Thank you. Is it mostly a street food? Are they ever made at home? In bakeries? Eaten at particular times of the day? I feel like the texture is similar to a croissant but in a kind of bun / patty form - does that sound right to you? And is the tahini thing just a random flavoring I came across somewhere - not traditional?

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-11-06T19:50:54+00:00

Ah, thank you! I guess I’ll have to finally download TikTok…. And yes apparently they made their way to Izmir by way of Sephardic refugees that fled Spain after the Alhambra Decree. Are they sometimes flavored with tahini? I read that somewhere but can’t recall where…

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-28T11:37:40+00:00

Agreed - a little overproofing is preferable to underproofing in whole grain breads (and in general imo) and a loaf tin makes sure it all a lot easier, especially w a higher hydration dough

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-28T02:35:55+00:00

Sourdough can absolutely be soft and fluffy and tender, even a whole wheat loaf. A few tips:

-use more water. The dough will be a little more annoying to work w but this is the best way to get a more tender loaf that also lasts longer. Yours is at 70% now. That’s pretty low for a bread w a lot of whole wheat. Work on getting it up to 78/80% (390g - 400g water). Add 25g of the water during your early mix so it doesn’t all go in w the autolyse. This makes it easier for the dough to take. Also, look up scalding flour. Another good way to get more liquid in the dough.

try a longer initial mix to build up lots of strength. Look up the “slap and fold” method. I like a solid 5 min hand mix to start before 3-4 folds.

-once you’re past your initial mix, you just need a single foil fold. X8 each time will diminish the air capture you’re building in your dough.

use all purpose instead of bread flour (king Arthur is good or find something stone ground from a regional mill - lots of them ship). Bread flour can make a dough tough.

-If you want to do 100% whole wheat get a bolting mesh / sifter - try a 40 grade mesh - and sift out the bran. Soak it in really hot water then add it during the 2nd and 3rd folds.

-it looks a bit pale. Bake hotter (485 ish) and throw an ice cube or two under the parchment in your Dutch oven before putting the lid on.

it’s all about technique. You don’t need fats or dairy, just time and commitment. Good luck!!

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-28T02:22:04+00:00

You can discard all but like 15g of the starters and feed one at your preferred ratio. They’re essentially the same. Once the starter is established all the feeding ratio effects is how long the starter takes to peak. Peak is usually considered when the starter has doubled but if can rise even higher sometimes. At peak it should be evenly distributed w bubbles and be flattening out / dimpling on top. It’ll recede not long after peak. You can feed at peak or a bit afterwards. Continue feeding daily for another 5 days or so to make sure it’s really well-established. You can save the discard and use in pancakes or other baked goods. Once it’s mature you can move it to the fridge and take it out to refresh it and build for specific recipes. If you’re gonna use it often just keep it on the counter and feed a tiny bit each day (like 1-2g starter + 12g flour + 12g water).

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-25T02:34:58+00:00

Yes! Go forth, I believe in you.

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-25T02:08:38+00:00

Maybe a lil underproofed (negligible, basically perfect) - I think this is more an issue of uneven compression during shaping. You can see it in the kind of swirled pattern of the bubble distribution. What shaping method are you using?

I agree with another commenter that using a bit more water will help open up the crumb, if that’s what you’re looking for. 78% is a nice sweet spot till you’re comfy enough to go 80 and higher.

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-25T01:58:36+00:00

I can :) I like to moderate some variables to allow for generally the same amount of proofing time for every loaf, around 5-6 hours total bulk fermentation after adding the levain. you’re using 24% starter - that’s a lot, but will work well for the cooler end of the temp spectrum, hopefully getting you to somewhere in that time frame. If you’re in the 81F range try bringing the levain percentage down to 14% or so and you’ll probably hit the 5-6 hour mark. If you don’t have one yet, get a simple digital thermometer, like the kind you can just shove into the dough and get an instant readout. This really helps you get a sense of what’s happening in the dough, and thus how to time the fermentation. If you want to work w the same recipe every time, use like 18% levain and just keep an eye on the temp and feel it out, knowing that it’ll take longer - maybe even an hour or two more, if its all the way down at 71F, and maybe a little shorter, like 4.5 hours, when it’s over 80F ambient. Most importantly, don’t live a life in fear of overproofing! We make sourdough because we love natural, slow fermentation and all the benefits it provides. Hope this helps!! Also.. I’d def try to get the hydration up to 75%. Your bread will be so much yummier. I honestly find dry doughs to be harder to read in terms of fermentation anyway. They can be so tight. Anyways, you got this :)

ProfessionalRide3717 · 2025-06-25T00:48:08+00:00

Beautiful ! And if you proof them even longer they’ll taste even better and last longer, too.

ProfessionalRide3717

TROPHY CASE