I don't look after my skin or wear make up, but want to. Help!

[ElfandSafety]

Honestly I don't take care of myself at all but at my request dh got me some John Lewis vouchers for xmas.
So, I have £100 plus could throw in extra.
I really don't know what to buy though.
I have dryish skin I think my skin must be crying out for some moisturiser. I am in my late 30's.
Could anyone tell me please what normal people do in terms of skin care/makeup?
tia

Bunbaker - John Lewis sells Liz Earle but I tend to wait until Liz Earle's own website is doing a free postage offer as when you buy from them they send little freebies which are fab and have introduced me to other lovely LE products I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise. The cleanser is amazing, as is the toner. The moisturiser is nice but TBH I get the same results with Simple at night, and in the day I like to use a cream with sun block which LE doesn't have.

The Oil Cleansing Method gives not dissimilar results to LE's cleanser (Google it) for practically free but I find LE much easier and not that expensive. I've never seen another similar cleanser - I have an idea that Soap & Glory do a copycat one but don't know what it's like.

Great thanks. I will just stick to what I am using at the moment. Luckily I don't have problem skin, other than it is getting a little on the old side , but I have used moisturiser since I was 15 and always wear something with SPF15 on my face. And I look younger than my years.

I disagree, Amelia - I had crap skin (spots and dryness - alluring) for years despite using a squilllion different cleansers with or without a hot flannel - LE has genuinely changed my skin. It's wonderful stuff for me, although I appreciate that different things work for different people.

LOve it might have been coincidence!

Okay- we are all different.

I have a sample tube almost full- hate the minty smell and it feels so thick on your skin!

Boots No 7 do one almost the same which other people have said is good.

I've used cleansers costing £30 and £3. I find them all the same really, so stick with the cheaper ones.

I am following this thread with interest- I am 35, very oily skin with the odd blemish round the time of AF. I still haven't found the perfect serum, mosituriser etc., but I swear by the hot cloth and cleanser method. I am currently using Sanctuary's hot cloth cleanser and it is fantastic. I skip using a toner, as you close your pores by putting a cold cloth on your face for 30 seconds. However, I still don't know what mosturiser/ serum to use. I am very oily, so something very light???

La Roche Posay is a good quality skincare brand that's very reasonably priced. I use the Hydreane range for my dry skin.

If you don't currently wear makeup, then a tinted moisturiser is a good start- Laura Mercier's is lovely and has a good SPF too. Go to a counter to get colour matched.

Go to a beauty salon and get your brows tidied up and your eyelashes tinted.

Start small or you could look like a little girl who got at her Mums dressing table!

After that, you might consider some concealer- bourjois healthy mix is nice. I wouldn't go too full-on, cos when you blank your skin out too much, then you have to start using blusher/bronzer to put contours back in!

When your happy with that, look at blusher and mascara. Cream blusher might work best- Mac do nice ones. Clinique and Bourjois do nice mascaras.

I use Aqueous cream and a clean flannel to cleanse followed by a splash of cold water and Elemis pro-marine collagen to moisturise. I'm another fan of LM tinted moisturiser which I apply over Barbara Daly primer. The counter assistants at Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier are really helpful and will show you how to apply their products.

Oh yeah La Roche Posay could be a good one try - I have personally never tried it but my SIL uses that and her skin looks great.

I agree that you don't need expensive brands for everything. You need to find good products that suit you for the basic every day things which make a difference to how good your skin looks, like cleanser, moisturiser, foundation and for a lot of people the more expensive ones are just more effective, feel nicer etc - I don't think it is all marketing!

IMO once the basics are in place you can mix in some cheaper stuff. I am using a pressed powder from Rimmel which cost about a fiver and it is fine, keeps my face matte and I am generally very prone to shine. Currently using a Botanics "moisturising body balm" which is really lovely, will last ages and cost hardly anything. I find there is no need to spend £££ on moisturiser unless unless it's for the face!

Clinique is hypo-allergenic, but I managed to react to it - they took it back! I was most pleasantly surprised.

I use Nivea, just the stuff in the blue tub. Seems to work well. Generally take off makeup with baby wipes

Wow, loads of replies :) I should have checked in again before hitting town this morning.
Went to Bobbi Brown for make up and they were fantastic, really happy to test some different products on me and if I did'nt like them they wiped them off and started again.
Spent a fortune but got moisturiser, concealer, eyeshadow, blusher, mascara and lippy, laid out nearly £200 but am happy with what I got.
Will nip to boots and get something to wash my face with. Take it soap is not good!
Thanks for all your help btw, much appreciated :)

Brilliant! Sounds like a day well spent .

Amelia I'm sorry but you are talking a lot of tosh you really are. I'm not gunna get into it. I'm tired. But I'm glad op has had a nice day treating herself and got lovely things she wanted. Enjoy them op!

Sounds like you had a fab day OP!

Is the general consensus that caffeine is detrimental to skin?

I think it may be true granary
I drink far too much coffee and smoke but I moisturised and took my make up off :)
And I got a hair cut, feel fabby :)

Sounds like a good day Elf

I've loved Clarins for twenty odd years and my skin is still great (smoker too). I never put my face in the sun, Joan Collins seems to look good on it! Bobbi Brown was my wedding make up and I adored it. Recently used pure almond oil bought for two pound in an asian supermarket and the results are amazing, evened out the skin tone that comes with age (am 45)

I really think now that the less you use on your face, cleanse and moisture wise, the better. Always moisturise, just think the more you faff with it and touch it, the worse it gets. I like to spend on good make up though,, very satisfying And of course, perfume...

"Amelia I'm sorry but you are talking a lot of tosh you really are"

How odd. I think she has given a lot of sensible advice.

Another question, if I was to use a hot flannel on my face and then moisturise would that be ok or is a facewash necessary?
Just need to find a decent hiding place to keep my goodies away from dd now

Elf- I think you need to find what suits you.

If you take off your make up with the cleanser and hot cloth, then apply moisturiser, it should all be fine
It is possible to over cleanse skin which results in irritation and break outs as much as under cleansing.

2wwmadness kindly say which bits are tosh? I'm saying what suits me- and as I have really good skin now after years of misery with facial eczema i think it's worth passing on my gems of knowledge