Skin care advice

[justabigdisco]

Hi all

Just thinking I need to re-think my skincare regime as have never really found products that make much of a difference to my skin.

Where is the best place to get independent skin care advice and recommendations of products? I imagine that if I go into a department store / salon they will only recommend products of particular brands, and I'd like someone who has knowledge of ALL brands.

good question! would love to know the answer to this.

Have a look at the blog Beauty Mouth. Or Sali Hughes in the Guardian.

You won't get independent advice in any shops. They all have an underlying mission to sell something.

I Beauty Mouth and A Model Recommends is not as 'modelly' as you'd think! I also like the beauty section on this site, StyleNest: www.stylenest.co.uk/beauty/ especially this weekly column www.stylenest.co.uk/beauty/the-beauty-bird/ x

That was meant to say 'I like Beauty Mouth' ;-)

• less is more
• ask for samples of everything, try before you buy
• go for face creams you can use round your eyes

how old are you and what sort of skin type do you have? budget?

Thanks for suggestions so far. I hadn't thought of blogs etc - always imagined someone would have to physically look at my skin, but I guess not.
I'm 31, fair, combination/oily skin. I do get spots from time to time (which I make 100x worse by picking and squeezing) but my main concern is congested/open pores in T zone (esp nose). Would love to get them cleaned out! If I squeeze the pores I can get stuff out, like little whiteheads.
I don't really have many wrinkles/lines - guess that's the benefit of oily skin!
I use bog standard Clean&Clear face wash in morning and Liz Earle in the evening, when I remember/can be bothered! I do like the hot cloth cleansing as it does seem to help when I do it regularly. I use Clinique anti-blemish toner. It is quite alcohol heavy I think - but I like the super clean feeling it gives. Then whichever moisturiser I've bought recently - currently using Simple oily skin moisturiser which is quite nice. I use Clinique exfoliating scrub from time to time - again it is quite harsh (super scratchy menthol scrub) but feels lovely.
Budget - happy to spend ££ if required but I'm not convinced that expensive moisturisers are worth it are they?
I'd like to start using a day cream with SPF for future protection, and maybe something for eyes?
Would love to hear suggestions!

your skins sounds like mine, I'm lazy about cleansing in the morning, usually just use water, but I do double cleanse at night and use a clarisonic;
currently also doing a series of chemical peels which have helped t zone,
aside from this, I dont use any products containing silicone, mineral oil or parabens, so hardly anything found in boots/dept stores, so can't advise on any of those brands really.
I miz spf 30 sunscreen with my day cream (John Masters Organics spf 30), and currently use a mix of various brands: Antipodes, Suti, Aesop, Oskia, Dr Alkaitis, which are not cheap, I know. I review products if you're interested (yumetcetera.com)
For cheaper brands you could try Laidbare, Melvita or BalanceMe?
Also, watch what make up you use as silicone in foundations/primers adds to blocked pores/blackheads

Newby Hands is the harpers bazaar beauty editor, she has never put me wrong yet and has aged beautifully. I would google her and see which articles come up. Esp the harpers top 100 products.

Clinique city block 40spf is very good, I put it on under my eyes too.

Please stop picking spots! I'm older than you with fair combination skin and imho your using products that are too harsh. Gently does it so you dont irritate the skin. I dont use scrubs anymore, I use No7 hot cloth cleanser every day am and pm. My skins much better without scrubs. I used the liz earle toner for ages but now I just use spring water after cleansing. Alcohols going to dry your skin out so it will produce more sebum to compensate.

I use liz earle deep cleansing mask too, very gentle but makes your pores look so clean.

Dermabrasion can get rid of any blocked pores on the nose, I get them too but they dont bother me that much.

Some great advice here, thanks! Lots for me to read/look at. I've already got a sample of Liz Earle toner and the deep cleansing mask, will start using these. I've had city block before so will have another look.
You're a knowledgable lot!

MissFoodie - can you tell me why you avoid silicone, mineral oil and parabens? Thanks