I have the same problem I think but have not been diagnosed. My skin is very red, oily, itchy and I break out in hives a lot. The ONLY thing that has helped me is staying away from products with chemicals. That's pretty funny what that girl's dermatologist said about s**t being natural but think about it...people want to sell products and the FDA doesn't regulate what goes into them. The more toxins and chemicals you put on your skin the worse you will get. Sorry, but not even Mary Kay or Neutrogena are chemical free! Drink LOTS of pure water, stay out of the sun (but don't use sunblock unless you are going to be out for hours, and then use a natural one), and use natural skin care products. I know they are more expensive but it's a good investment. I gave up some other things I knew I didn't need so I could buy better food and healthcare products. I absolutely LOVE Dr. Hauschka products. They are wonderful and work like a charm. They have great rosacea products. My favorite item is the Normalizing Day Oil. I couldn't believe the clerk told me to PUT oil on my face, but it actually made me less oily, red, and sensitive. They have great make-up too, and items for hypersensitive skin. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Hauschka's Roseaca line

You can use Clinique, this product helps pores to appear minimized and more refined with prolonged use of this lightweight, oil-free foundation. After the whole day activities make sure to deep cleanse your skin your the natural facial wipes.

Oh Aunt Jen.............you are definitely NOT as zig-zaggy fast as that wand! You are blond and cute, but not ziggy fast. I know. It hurts to hear, doesn't it? Check out the youtube video. No, it's not me. But I should do youtube videos, huh? Well, heading into day II of the MAC foundation. DD loved it on me. My 29 yr old (too cute for words) boss loved it on me. But again...........need my dead flat look. Going to try again and see what I think. And I have another review. I bought the Maybelline Color Sensations lipstick in Coffee Craze yesterday. The color is so close to the MAC verve I just got. (Can you tell I was excited about the MAC counter???? Been in Macy's 1200 times, but never ventured over to MAC till this week. Favorite part? No perfume smell at MAC.) Anyway, the color was good, but the smell...........! Whoa. Color Sensations smells like old paint. And the MAC smells like chocolate vanilla. Double the $$ but I do love this lipstick. Red and oh my goodness......while searching for a short little youtube video on the ziggynes of PP for Jen, I found someone reviewing it, who was worried about inserting the battery in the tube...........wow. wow. Here is a link that might be useful: Pulse Perfection Review on youtube

Thanks all for your replies! " buying an old home NEVER "makes financial sense". It will always take more monetarily than it will give when you go to sell." "Totally depends on location!!" I totally agree!! The home is not at our max budget but is at the max asking price for the location. We have new-built our 6 previous homes ( DYI projects don't faze us!) and in doing so always kept the home's investment inline with what the market would bear in a re-sale market. Of course, doing much of the work ourselves always allowed us to realize more when we moved on. Now we want to try something different by way of a character home. We are not limiting ourselves to move in ... some repairs improvements while keeping as much of original features as possible is fine. This particular home is essentially move in ready (needs more storage in the kitchen but that is minor) but the current owner bought the home two years ago for top dollar for the area and of course has a mortgage to pay off and his asking price is at the top of the market. It's a small town and took a hit in the commercial district a few years back. It is a crap shoot if it will rebound and iffy if the housing market will realize an upswing . A major investment in structural work ( which is above our abilities) on an already top dollar home for the area is more than likely never to be realized if in fact we were to sell in ten or so years. The home had been under offer a few months ago but that deal fell through. Our agent is unsure if the appraisal came in low or if indeed, something is going on with the foundation. Are bricks actual broken in pieces, are you seeing big cracks within the entire wall or along the mortar joints? And one person's "very musty" can be another's normal old house funkiness on a humid summer day." Looking at the brick face you can see where ,under the paint, the surface of very large areas has deteriorated/flaked off. We did find a few where the paint had blistered and the under lying brick had become essentially powder with some varying sized particles. Did not notice any cracks in our first look over. The brick dust is what I consider to be a significant amount. It looks like someone took a huge feather duster, dipped it in the dust and hit all over the walls. There is an actual light orange hue over the painted surface. I imagine it's coming from above where the sills lay on the brick which has not been painted. This basement is damp... it has a definite musty odor and the de-humidifier left in the basement is needed. If this home did not have as much of the original, fantastic wood work and really nice plaster, we would not give it a second look due to the basement concerns. Again I thank you for all your replies. This potential Old House Novice appreciates all of your perspectives!!