I quite like Caroline Hirons but at heart am more of a Dr Sam Bunting girl because she recommends cheaper products
However they both can be boiled down to:
am -
cleanse with bland non-foaming cleanser
acid tone
Serum or oil
moisturise with SPF
pm -
as above with double cleansing if you wear make-up and retinol
Caroline is product crazy so throws in extra steps but that is the core of the routine. I sometimes do that because it's fun but it also costs £££ and you can get 99% of the results by doing the above.
So my version is:
Cleanser - Cetaphil. I don't double cleanse except when I wear makeup which is rarely.
Acid tone - currently Clinique Mild Exfoliating Lotion. Frankly not liking it as much as Paula's Choice 2% BHA. Or 2% Salicylic Acid from SR Skincare which is my favourite cheap as chips option. Effaclar Duo was nice too.
Hydraluron - will not buy again, am suspicious that 'dehydrated skin' is a myth
Serum - usually Paula's Choice again, I want my serum to have peptides and anti-oxidants in it
Moisturiser - am I just use SPF, like Heliocare gel, pm Cerave for the ceramides and niacinamide.
Am then in the evening I use Retin-A stopped over the winter because my bathroom is too cold to stand fussing in-- just working up again with 0.25% alternate days. Last year on 0.5% every day I got comments on my skin looking amazing. Was great as my skin is oily, fully of acne and blackheads, starting to wrinkle and with blotchy pigment left to it's own devices.
In order of importance you have SPF (if you aren't using SPF you might as well not bother with the other steps), retinol, acid tone and then anti-oxidants/peptides/ceramides/niacinamide which may help but aren't as important. Note cleansing isn't important and neither is moisturiser or toner (without acid). Toner without acid is pointless, cleansing should be cleaing but not stripping but won't improve anything, just leave a clean surface for other things. Moisturiser is helpful if your skin is dry but won't achieve anything lasting under your skin.
Acid toning - you can use a toner, a treatment a few times a week such as Alpha H, a peel (I use SR Skincare peels once a week) or loads of moisturisers have acids in now. Doesn't matter how you do it, just do it! The get rid of spots (salicylic if you have blackheads, lactic and glycolic if not), exfoliate gently and so make your skin glow and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Amazing.
Retin-A is the hard stuff and easily available if you look for 5 minutes. You might get results from over the counter retinol products but it won't be the same as Retin-A - glowing skin, acne banished, reduction in pigmentation. Build up slowly, SPF religiously, my skin did get a bit sore but I just slowed down and moisturised with Cerave and the results were fabulous.
Caroline Hirons is a lot of fun, I couldn't do a routine as long as hers and sometimes she is clearly recommending products from brands she works for - although I do think she genuinely only recommends stuff she really likes. If you have read her whole blog because I am a saddo who got obsessed you can also see where she's contradicted herself, usually after advice from a dermatologist.