Help me muddle through the skincare section!!

[elvislives2012]

I have a 10mo DD who doesn't sleep. As a result I look exhausted with sallow skin, bags, millia and crows feet
While I was pregnant I developed rosacea and as a result I could only use face wash for sensitive skin and cream e45. I want something to make me look better!! What's BB cream? Or CC cream? Can u recommend a good day and night cream and facial wash? Is tinted moisturiser a good idea? Would it block my pores and make more milia? I was in boots today and was looking at their botanics range. Any good? My budget would be about £30 for them all. Ive been out if the loop for a couple of years so am all by it all! Thanks!!

Am 34 33 so am thinking I need anti aging stuff too

I like the Botanics stuff. Avene is a French range sold in boots which I like and Sali Hughes (guardian beauty) recommends two of their products for rosacea (redness relief and something else)

I suspect good cleaning with a flannel (hot cloth method) would help a lot - it's certainly helping me recover from rubbish, tired skin!

Botanics BB cream is lovely BTW - recent thread raving about it got me to buy it and I have had 3 bona fide compliments in the past week from people who've known me for years.

Sorry for 3rd post - I keep thinking of things! Superdrug have 2 good own brand ranges - vitamin e and radiance something. Both a few quid for cleanser and moisturisers. I like what I've tried.

Thank you for that! What IS a BB cream? Does it help crows feet?

Hi,
I would recommend cleansing with the hot cloth method, this has made most difference to my skin, I use Liz Earle.
Avene is great for roseaca (i suffer too) and I use nude or liz earle face oils.

I use MAC foundation at the moment and they have never aggrivated my skin whilst lancome, chanel, clinique and bobbi brown always have!

BB is beauty balm and is more for treating skin problems. CC cream is colour corrector and is more for balancing out skin tone and redness etc. So not quite sure which one would suit you best as you say you have redness and some skin problems. Maybe ask someone at a counter like Clinique. I just tried their new CC cream in store and it seemed lovely, quite pricey though. I also tried the No 7 one and it was lovely.

I just got the botanics cleansing balm and its good. I am also trying an oil and cleanser from the Superfacialist range at boots by Una Brennan. It is nice and smells lovely but not sure if its doing much.

I have an 8 month old and am just getting back into a skincare regime. In trying to do a double cleanse in the evening, I think the action of the double cleanse is perhaps more beneficial than the actual products.

The oil cleansing method might work for you too. It's cheap as you can use any oil although different oils are better for different skin types. There are threads on here about it.

Superdrug do have really good products in their skincare ranges to suit lower budgets.

Another thought - go and check out www.beautymouth.com. Caroline Hirons is a skincare genius. She has cheat sheets on routines, milia etc. which have helped me loads. She tends to prefer high end products but you can replicate her methods with high street stuff easily (I do!)

Thank you for the replies. I bought a flannel for the hot cloth regime and botanics bb cream for the morning then the botanics cleanser and toner for evening. FX it works. Am in a hot bath with wine and have locked the door. NOONES COMING IN

Western BB and CC creams are basically just tinted moisturisers. There's not much else to it - the rest is just marketing.
The Asian BB and CC creams are more than just tinted moisturisers.

But if it makes your skin look nice, then it doesn't really matter if it's just a tinted moisturiser with a new name.

I recommend that you get samples of the products before you buy, especially if you've previously have had or still have some issues with your skin. There's no point in spending a fortune on products that just make your skin worse.

I'd go for Avene or La Roche-Posay for skincare, and then try Bourjois healthy mix foundation or serum, depending on your skin type.

I don't live in the UK, but I've found that the Bourjois stands have the little satchet-style samples of the foundation here. You might be able to find those where you are.

Thanks that blog is great!

Good luck! I've been very strict for the last 3 months and it's made a huge difference. I am still tinkering with products and how I do things but there is a noticeable difference. There's been a thread on here in the past few days (has beautymouth in the title) which should give you lots of product and routine ideas.

Sali Hughes in the guardian has a similar approach to skincare and she has past columns on got cloth cleansing, night creams, serums etc. def worth reading her columns http://www.theguardian.com/profile/sali-hughes

There have been threads recently about the superdrug skincare equivalent to liz Earle. Seems to be a fraction of the price and has excellent reviews.

Ps I think the Clinique lady said that the BB and CC creams are a light/medium coverage. So, more than a tinted moisturiser but less than the heavier foundations.

I was going to mention Caroline Hirons, I heard of her on here and find her blogs really interesting. But, she only uses reeeeeeeally expensive products which is annoying. Alot of them aren't easily found on the high street and so you would have to order online which is quite a big risk. That puts me off her slightly.