Cleanse, Tone and Moisturise - do you?

[Rhiannon]

and if you do what do you use.

I just use soap and water with a slap of Vaseline moisturiser and my skin seems quite happy with that but am I going to regret it?

Rhiannon, I used to do it all & it doesn't seem to have made much difference. I now use Simple cleansing wipes - they're great, once you get past the feeling that you're cleaning your face with botty wipes.

I have been cleansing, toning and moisturising every day since I was 16. Can't say really what my "dorian grey" alternative would have been like but I like to think that as a 36 year old who spent the best part of her first 24 years sunbathing in Australia, it has served me well!

I never used these things but hitting thirty and a warning from a Body Shop consultant I decided I would at least moisturise. I use the Body Shop Light moisturiser(mmm... notice the connection! ). Yet,it lasts for ages and,whilst I've no idea whether it is having a good aesthetic effect, the texture and feel of my skin has improved greatly. (Although I have to say the best thing for my skin ever was being pregnant! Constantly pregnant would be a rather extreme route to good skin!)

Religiously - even if I'm lucky enough to be drunk and really late to bed. I have never washed with soap and water on my face but since the age of 16 I have used baby lotion as a cleanser (not Johnsons as it's too strong. Just cheapo stuff) and I went for a Clarins facial,gift from a friend,recently. The girl was using all this fantastically expensive Clarins stuff and said how good my skin was and what did I use and I was a bit reluctant to tell her but I did.A big tip about moisturising from a woman who worked for Chanel is always include your neck as most women don't and that's the big give away when it's like a turtles but your face is wrinkle free.

Moisturise ,yes but nothing else apart from a splash in the shower.I think one of the key things is drinking loadsa water ahhh my body is a temple!!
Can anyone recommend a good anti wrinkle /anti ageing cream (not that I'm paranoid about approaching 40!!)

I think it depends largely on your skin and your lifestyle. I have always had very dry skin and live and work in London so removing the daily grime takes some time...

Moisturise every day and after bathing/showering as water on my face makes my skin tighten up like a gnats a**e. If I can be bothered to cleanse I use L'Oreal's cleansing gel as it is soap free. Yup, my face can't stand soap either. I only ever used toner in my early teens (when I was trying to follow Jackie magazine's tips on how to get a boyfriend). Soon realised what a faff it was and have never done it since! Toning, that is, not trying to find a boyfriend - although having said that ...!

I try and do this at least once a day, sometimes twice a day, with sometimes washing with soap in the shower. Always try and moisturise twice a day. I use Oil of Olay, works for me.

Clarins, Lancome, Elizabeth Arden etc. - when I had pots of spare cash, which I don't now! I used to have a terrible weakness for expensive beauty stuff, I liked the packaging almost as much as the products.
Nowadays I use Olay cleanser (and toner as I have an oily t-zone and prone to the odd spot flare-up - I'm mid 30s and STILL get them, grrr!).
I always use a sun block in the daytime and Olay moisturiser at night - girls, don't forget to slap the moisturiser on your necks as well as face!

Boo321, I find that a good anti wrinkle cream is Oil of Olay Visible Effects night cream. Not saying I look 21 but it is by far the best I have ever used. I'm in my early 40's and have pretty 'normal' skin, but have always had problems with finding a moisturiser that doesn't encourgage spots. Visible Effects Moisturiser, day or night is the business. Only thing is that the day version has no SPF factor in it so I use some other moisturiser in the morning depending on the time of year.

Don't use toner. Refuse to pay good money for coloured water, which is what it looks like. I love using mild soap on my face, like the Body shop Vitamin E bar, but have recently taken to Boots Number 7 Matte Perfect cleanser, (very light) in a big way - the only cleanser I have tried that takes my make-up off without making me spotty.

I'm starting to feel guilty now.

Rhiannon - don't feel guilty I too am just a soap and water person and a fairly cheap moisturiser afterwards. I think your lifestyle has got a lot more to do with it - nothing beats a good nights sleep, the right kind of food, not drinking too much, not smoking etc...

Quite boring really! However I think most of these skincare products are probably not worth the money. At the moment I really have no choice - I just can't afford them but I don't think I look any different from friends who do use them.

Also genetics play a part. My mum looks brilliant at age 72 and she's always used soap and water.

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I know I shouldn't but I love the feeling of the sun on my face. When it's brown my skin feels lovely. I only use sun cream in burning emergencies but do tan easily.

My Mum has just turned 70 and looks great. She's never used much but soap and water so I'll have to hope it's in my genes.

Don't drink or smoke so that should help.

Tigermoth ,Thanks for the advice I'll give it a go
Rhiannon, I'm like you and love having a tanned face and expose my face to the sun at every opportunity,not that often in this country.

For the third time, (it has been deleted twice) I use Boots cucumber range and Ponds Gel once a week.

Rhiannon I'm with you on the sun front. When I've a tan my skin is a hundred times better than in winter when I try all the products there are known to woman, to sort out my v. oily skin. Its been the bain of my life and its taken me all these years to realise that nothing works except fresh air and sunshine.

I've no doubt beauty products are the biggest marketing ploy ever, scented soap in fancy packaging. Lotions and potions may make you feel better but their amazing attributes are pure theatre!

Mind-you if someone has found the right magic concoction I'm open-minded enough to be converted!!

Lancome and Clarins. Can't really afford them but tend to save up points on my Advantage Card from Boots and use them to help pay the cost. Glad to hear I am not the only woman sprouting grey hairs AND spots. This seems so unfair somehow. My little fiend of a son started crooning "mummy got spot" at breakfast this morning and it was the last thing I heard as I stomped off to get the 7.40 "B.O. Express". Phew, I wish a few more SE Londoners knew about deodorant and daily washing, never mind toning their faces.

In my view, while genes, lifestyle and sun exposure are obviously the most important determinants as to how well your skin ages, I must defend beauty products. I wouldn't normally say this, but I have been a disciple of cleansing, toning and moisturing since I was 18 and now at 34, don't have a single wrinkle. Even my eye area is wrinkle free (I have used eye cream every day for over 10 years). The same can't be said of my contemporaries!.

For all you doubters out there, next time you get a burn on your hand, go along to your nearest department store and ask for a bit of Estee Lauders's "Night skin repair" to be put on it. I swear you just won't believe how quickly it heals.

Isn't it just common sense that thoroughly cleansing your skin every night of dirt and grime will stop you getting blackheads and another outbreaks and so on?.

I would urge all you non-cleansers and non-moisturisers out there to have a peer in one of those hideous mganifying mirrors!!. Having said that, I do agree that there are many out there blessed with perfect complexions and they clarly don't need a lot of help.

Croppy, OK I'm going to start. Someone once told me that the beauty products in M & S were made by Clarins, can anyone enlighten me on that?

Croppy, I've lurched from one cream to another,crap routines but here I am early 30s, no wrinkles. But that's because I have oily skin. Its my payback for having spots! and its genetisc look at your mother, that's probably how you'll be - has your mum got wrinkles?

Don't know about that Rhiannon. I certainly wouldn't be too hung up on the brand or the price but I do think a good regime can't hurt!. One other thing, I have extremely dry and excessively thick hair which has always been the bane of my life. I have ended up spending vast fortunes on frizz control etc etc.. Anyway, after an argument with my husband in Bath last year I stormed off in a huff and ended up spending a vast fortune on Aveda hair products. Much to my surprise, the effect on my hair was miraculous. A year on (and many 100's of pounds later), my hair is now silky and shiny!!.

Fair point Lil. I have dry skin and certainly those with oily skin will be much less prone. My mum is 70 and looks good for her age - but then like me, has always been a rigorous moisturiser!!. I do wholeheartedly agree that genes are the number one thing, but for those of us living in grimy places like London, I do think that only a really good cleanser can remove the gunk.

ALso, can it be mere coincidence that people like Catherine Deneue, Isabella Rosellini etc look totally fab in their 40's and 50's?

Croppy, Lil, you are but spring chickens. Oh to be in my early 30's again! I am about 10 years older than you. My skin is pretty good. I have some wrinkles now, but I'm no Sid James. I have mostly followed some sort of skin care regime, but let me tell you, looking at my friends, its around the late 30's that the rot begins to set in. As you approach your 40's it's then that the benefits of a skin care regime, or your genitic make up etc become really apparent. Before then, you still have youth on your side.