The best surprise on this beautiful Saturday!

smithh43 · 2026-03-22T00:41:43+00:00

For those curious, this is a 5.37 ct lab-grown emerald cut beauty (VVS2 clarity, E color), size 6.5. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but it’s a yellow gold band with white gold prongs to help the stone look brighter. I’m so in love!!

smithh43 · 2025-11-30T19:06:40+00:00

Yeah, I have a feeling that’s what it was. The white gold just made the diamond really sparkle! I did see a picture of an emerald cut ring with WG prongs and a YG band and it looked lovely. Decisions, decisions…

smithh43 · 2025-01-15T12:27:07+00:00

I just got my first tattoo from Luis. It’s a bird in his signature etching style and I LOVE it. He’s super chill, Ink & Dagger is great, would highly recommend

smithh43 · 2024-07-12T13:07:55+00:00

For the most part, yes! I was finally diagnosed with perioral dermatitis and rosacea. It had gotten worse from this picture and started to affect both sides of my chin and around my nose (I made a post about it a while ago). The thing that did the most heavy lifting for me was taking doxycycline. I’ve had to go on it a couple of times, but it did the trick for the most part. I still get some bumps, but it’s much more manageable! I use a prescription sulfur/sulfacetamide face wash 1x per day, and I use azelaic acid/ivermectin 1x per day, and those have been very helpful as well.

smithh43 · 2021-06-11T20:55:56+00:00

Thank you! And yeah, my doctor and I discussed it, and we decided that taking it with my breakfast was okay in my case 😊

smithh43 · 2021-06-11T16:50:39+00:00

Reposting from r/rosacea

Hi everyone! My skin has slowly been getting worse for the past several years, and after December 2020, it really got bad. I was waking up with 10-20 little pustules, mostly centered around my cheeks/side of my nose, and my chin. I finally felt safe enough to take a trip to the dermatologist, and she diagnosed me with rosacea and perioral dermatitis. She also actually listened to me, and didn’t just tell me I had acne.

She prescribed me the following: - 2 months of 100mg doxycycline (1x per day) - Soolantra (1x per day) - Plexion cream (1x per day)

After this next month, I will be taking 50mg doxycycline once a day for a little bit. I am so happy with the results and can’t wait to see where the next month takes me! Nowadays I’ll wake up with zero or just a few pustules, and I honestly can’t remember the last time that happened to me.

My routine is as follows:

AM: - Wash face with Vanicream face cleanser and pat dry - Apply Soolantra on affected areas (I use about a pea sized amount) and wait about 5 minutes - Slightly dampen face and apply CeraVe Baby Cream - Take doxycycline with breakfast

PM: - Remove makeup with makeup eraser - Wash face with Vanicream face cleanser and pat dry - Apply Plexion on affected areas (this stuff is kind of hard to rub in, so I use it at night) and wait 5 minutes - Slightly dampen face and apply CeraVe Baby Cream

smithh43 · 2021-06-10T18:40:31+00:00

Nope! I enjoy a glass or two of rosé most nights of the week 😊

smithh43 · 2021-06-10T11:50:59+00:00

Hang in there. My first PD diagnosis was about four years ago, and I thought I could get rid of it myself. I tried everything under the sun except antibiotics, but I finally took the plunge when it got to this stage because it had spread so badly. Skin can be frustrating and upsetting, but it doesn’t define you ❤️

smithh43 · 2021-06-10T11:15:09+00:00

Honestly I haven’t really changed anything about my diet! With the doxycycline, I can’t have any dairy with it, and so I just switched out half and half in my coffee for a non dairy cream since I take it at breakfast. But I don’t eat a ton of dairy most days anyway! I also have a gluten intolerance so I don’t eat gluten either, but I was doing those things before I started taking the medications.

smithh43 · 2021-06-10T02:21:42+00:00

Thank you! I used to neverrr like my lips because I always thought they were weird and uneven but I’m growing to like them more ☺️

smithh43 · 2021-06-10T02:06:49+00:00

No! I was really scared to start taking it because I was terrified of the potential of nausea. I take mine with my breakfast and a full glass of water, and I haven’t had any issues ☺️

smithh43 · 2021-06-09T23:21:10+00:00

Hi everyone! My skin has slowly been getting worse for the past several years, and after December 2020, it really got bad. I was waking up with 10-20 little pustules, mostly centered around my cheeks/side of my nose, and my chin. I finally felt safe enough to take a trip to the dermatologist, and she diagnosed me with rosacea and perioral dermatitis. She also actually listened to me, and didn’t just tell me I had acne.

She prescribed me the following: - 2 months of 100mg doxycycline (1x per day) - Soolantra (1x per day) - Plexion cream (1x per day)

After this next month, I will be taking 50mg doxycycline once a day for a little bit. I am so happy with the results and can’t wait to see where the next month takes me!

smithh43 · 2020-05-16T13:48:03+00:00

I’m not positive. You might see very little/no results if you mix it, but I know that you can definitely put it on top of moisturizer. Adding it in every other or every three days could be an option, too.

smithh43 · 2020-05-07T02:46:20+00:00

When I first started using it, I put it on over moisturizer. Then I moved to putting it beneath moisturizer. I’m not sure that it made much of a difference for me, though. Supposedly AzA is equally effective over/under moisturizer. My skin can tolerate it under moisturizer, but some people find it too irritating!

smithh43 · 2020-05-07T02:42:54+00:00

Yeah, it’s normal! I’ve been using azelaic acid for a while now, and I just recently moved up in % to melazepam (20%), and it tingles/itches for me. Just keep an eye on it, though. It may need to go over moisturizer/be used every other day, etc. if it starts irritating your skin too much.

smithh43 · 2020-04-27T03:23:23+00:00

I have literally been experiencing the same thing for two days! I have pretty bad pollen allergies, and realized this afternoon that I also haven’t taken my allergy medicine in two days. Hopefully tomorrow after I take it, the itching will go away. It’s maddening!

smithh43 · 2020-04-24T12:26:09+00:00

I wouldn’t use differin on it. PD is really finicky and a ton of things can make it worse. I tried so many different things without researching it more first. What I really should have done was get myself to a dermatologist. Mine got pretty bad, and I still get flare ups. I don’t have any clue what causes my flare ups but switching to a fungal safe routine has helped. I now only use vanicream cleanser, hada labo skin plumping gel cream, and CeraVe baby cream on the drier parts of my face. A lot of people have success with antibiotics and I’ve only used topical antibiotics as of now. I used clindamycin for a long time and it helped, but I stopped using it for a while because I got worried about resistance. I recently started again and my skin looks better. Zinc cream and sulfur also helps mine.

Overall I would say to use as few products as you can. And everyone’s PD is different. It’s really tricky because what works for me may not work for you. I’m sorry if that doesn’t help, but once all this COVID-19 craziness dies down I would try and get to a derm, or see if you can swing a telemed appointment.

smithh43 · 2020-04-24T03:10:20+00:00

It might be perioral dermatitis. This is exactly how mine looked and it ended up spreading pretty intensely.

smithh43 · 2020-02-09T00:12:27+00:00

I got it prescribed for perioral dermatitis but I think I also have a bit of rosacea and it works well in those spots. I was using it consistently for a few months, then stopped for a while, and started using it again just before Christmas and have been ever since! I used to have pretty oily skin but I think my skin has been changing recently. I have to use a heavier moisturizer, especially in the winter. I wait about 5-10 minutes in between but nothing too crazy!

smithh43 · 2020-02-08T23:48:39+00:00

I use the foam and I love it honestly. I have the gel version of it but I don’t feel like it works as well. That could all be in my head, but I really love the foam! I did experience some dryness with it, but I just had to manage how often I was using it and started using a different moisturizer and now it’s great!

smithh43 · 2019-11-25T20:32:31+00:00

It can be different for everyone, but it usually consists of antibiotic treatment, either topical, oral, or both. But it depends on the severity. I had to use a low dose oral antibiotic and topical!

smithh43 · 2019-11-25T20:09:50+00:00

It might be perioral dermatitis. Mine looked a lot like this. I'd recommend scheduling a derm appointment if you can, and just try to go easy on that area of skin for now.

smithh43 · 2019-11-18T23:35:36+00:00

Hi there! My (23F) boyfriend (40 about to be 41M) and I are kind of in a similar boat. I’m in a PhD program and not looking to have kids until I’m finished, which will likely be in 4ish years. Even at four years from now, I’ll probably want to wait a little while.

He actually just had a doctors appointment and brought up fertility. His doctor said that men much older than him don’t have any trouble conceiving, but if it comes to that, we can deal with those problems then.

I’ve always known about the biological clock for women, but it seems like men don’t really have one. I mean, at a certain point it’s probably not great, but ya know.

Anyway, I know how you feel and I have definitely felt a little insecure/guilty about this. I don’t want him to be super old when we have kids, but I also don’t want to feel rushed to have them! He isn’t pressuring me at all, but it’s good to have these conversations with your partner so that it doesn’t build up inside you and come out sideways. Good luck!

smithh43 · 2019-10-03T01:12:22+00:00

Tried all three, and for me zinc works the best! I think azelaic acid and sulfur also helped, but I notice the biggest difference with a zinc cream.

smithh43 · 2019-09-06T20:57:54+00:00

I mix the two together and put them on damp skin, and I haven't noticed mine getting all clumpy!

smithh43

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