Confused about skincare

[MynameisFlo]

Let me start by saying I have previously never had a skincare routine nor do I wear make up. I usually wash my face with water but I'm nearly 50 now. A few weeks ago I thought I'd better start a skincare routine so bought some Nivea Q10 cream. I have the day cream and the night cream which I have been using and my family have said that my skin looks much softer and smooth. But I have some dark spots so want to try a dark spot cream.

I am very confused about what cream I should be using. If I buy a dark spot cream do I just use that and not use the nivea q10? Do i use a dark spot cream for the day and the night q10 in the evenings? I feel very stupid for not knowing this stuff at my age.

I could really do with some help.

No idea why voting has been enabled

Vitamin C in the daytime and retinol at night. You'll need a separate SPF though.

I second vitamin c during the day and retinol every night (start with every other night).

In the morning put vitamin c serum on, leave for 15 mins then put on moisturiser with an spf (you really need spf because of the retinol at night)

Try looking in style and beauty, there are a few skincare threads. I've had some luck finding things that suit my skin from there

As above, and also buy yourself Caroline Hirons' book, Skincare. She makes everything clear and easy to understand.

I'd recommend retinol as well but you do need to do you homework before using it. You need to start out low dose. I use a brand called the ordinary 0.2% retinol in squalene. You only use it at night because it makes your skin sun sensitive. I was recommended to cleanse my skin, apply a protective layer of serum, once thats sunk in apply the retinol and then apply a good moisturiser on top of that. It often makes your skin sensitive for a couple of weeks at first, but then it should settle down. Once you've finished the bottle you can increase the strength and go up to the 0.5%, 1% and so on. Hope this helps!

Thank you. I will look into the retinol and vitamin c. And read up on skincare. I cannot be the only person who finds it all mind boggling.

Whatever you do, use a sunscreen every day, at least 30SPF, preferably higher. There are lots available now that aren't greasy and don't leave a white sheen on your skin. That will help prevent skin cancer and also more dark patches.

After that, try any other skin creams etc.

Get over to Style and Beauty, there is an absolute wealth of just this information there.

If you like the Nivea ( I do, as does my mum!) then they do an age-spot version of Q10.

@MynameisFlo you are not alone, I'm in exactly the same position as you.

I wash with water and use a superdrug own brand moisturiser in the morning. My skin is quite dry and I'm a bit scared of things like retinol and acids because they sound hard core. And expensive! But I think I need a more grown up approach now that I'm closing in on 50 too.

I feel like everyone else just knows this stuff, and it's completely passed me by. I'll watch with interest...

Another recommendation for the book Skincare by Caroline Hirons. It’ll tell you exactly what you need to do - sounds like you might want to add transexmic acid before your evening moisturiser?

[quote clairedunphy]@MynameisFlo you are not alone, I'm in exactly the same position as you.

I wash with water and use a superdrug own brand moisturiser in the morning. My skin is quite dry and I'm a bit scared of things like retinol and acids because they sound hard core. And expensive! But I think I need a more grown up approach now that I'm closing in on 50 too.

I feel like everyone else just knows this stuff, and it's completely passed me by. I'll watch with interest...[/quote]
Doesn’t need to be expensive! Brands like Revolution Skincare, the Ordinary, the Inkey List, ELF and Boots own brand are cheap and excellent.

Nivea Q10 do a spf 50 facial sunscreen which is great, non greasy and doesn’t leave a sheen.

Superfacialist retinol products are also very good.

I've been through this confusion too and I've come to the conclusion that if you're just starting out with skincare it's better to have some kind of routine in place that's sort of about right than aiming for perfection straight away, getting confused and giving up

To put a good but basic beginner skincare regime in place you need a cleanser (doesn't have to be fancy) and a moisturiser (that soaks into your skin and doesn't leave it feeling oily).

Then get any Vitamin C serum to put on in the morning and a low level (like 0.2%) retinol product for evening.

The retinol product will feel tingly when you first start using it and may cause a tiny bit of redness for up to 30mins. If you get anything more than this then use it a couple of times a week to begin with and build up to using every night.

So morning is something like:

• Cleanse
• Vitamin C serum (leave 10 mins to soak in)
• Moisturiser
• SPF 30 or 50

Night is something like:

• Cleanse
• Retinol product (leave for 10 mins)
• Moisturiser

There's tonnes more to learn but if you try to learn it all up front it will make your head spin!

For reasonably cheap Vitamin C get Vit C in silicone from The Ordinary for £6.

For a decent but not tooo expensive retinol get something like Retinol 0.2% in squalene from the ordinary for £5.

Don't worry too much about the type of cleanser at the moment and just get a nice hydrating moisturiser. I like Fresh rose deep hydration moisturiser from Cult Beauty at the moment and it's only £13.

Once you've got into the habit of doing this morning and night then come back to S&B and share how you've got on, what you liked and didn't like and what you'd like help improving.

Progress is better than perfection

TBH if you do nothing now the beginner version I've posted should already make a big difference.

Then while you're getting used to it you can start researching things like Caroline Hiron's book.

There's a YouTuber called Cassandra Bankson I quite like because she does a thorough job of explaining the science (in an easy to follow way) of why certain things work or don't work. I don't watch her 'reaction to...' videos just the ones that are more explainers. Her video on eye creams for example is excellent.

@wheresmymojo you're a star, that's exactly the sort of information I needed, thank you! I'll make a list and get ordering

Thank you for all the advice. Will look into it all. @clairedunphy let me know how you get on.