Had my first " your skin looks amazing" comment-- THANK YOU Caroline Hirons!

[bigbuttons]

A colleague said this at work today, I was so chuffed.
I'm 47 and was looking not so good. This last month I have invested in serums, acids and what not have gone back to Caroline Hirons properly this time. I have been religiously cleaning and tending to my face AM and PM. I use a 30% glycol peel every couple of weeks and use tretinoin every 3 days.
I must say even I have noticed a difference, it has knocked years off me.
All blemishes gone, skin is ultra smooth, wrinkles reduced.
There is hope for us more (ahem) mature ladies!

kewtogetin mumsnet caused a shortage of cetaphil and retin-a across the lands! Hah.

frowns I had never considered all the lurkers who have gone off and bought stuff as well as the posters! That's so funny.
I am currently starring very impatiently at my ascorbic acid as it won't dissolve(grr)

mrsguy are you pleased with the botox?

I foolishly did a peel after upping my retina A. I burnt half my face off

Mrs guy hope you love the Botox :) have you had it before ? I have hD it about 5 times .... In the long gone days I could afford it :( jealous much ;) loved it Especially that oh so stubburn vertical line between my eyes that makes me look a grump !! ( now joined by one across the bridge of my nose !! Hopping a big change in skin care can help a little as sooooo out of my IVA budget now !! Perils of a champagne taste and brown ale budget !!!
Love that feeling as it is activating and checking the mirror every morning !! Could usually see results in 3 days and max at 7 , enjoy :)

Just got my retinol in the post today. Courtesy of Mssrs Johnson & Johnson in Mumbai!!!

I also got retin a from frowns link! Have been using cetaphil cleanser now too which I really like.
My skin is quite sensitive and soon lets me know if it doesn't like something. I went for a run earlier and used my usual sunblock but it really irritated my face! It's fine now but I think my face is letting me know change must be slow and gentle. Haven't started retin a yet. Will wait a day or two till I'm sure my face is ready for it!

Thank you :) think I give it a go !! More for lines(forehead and between eyes) really as apart from getting old ( ie feel haggard and frowny ) my actual skin is clear and no spots ! God I hate getting older ;)

Is it okay to put moisturiser on over retin a? And how many times a week do I use it? The instructions say every day!

Only had the Botox a couple of days ago so I'm still mobile, I've had it once before but it didn't last very long. This time when I mentioned that he told me to come back for a top up so fingers crossed it'll last more than a month this time.

Did I miss a post with instructions/recipe for Vit C serum?

I bloody love Mr Garvey too, I'm a bit of a saddo because a large part of why I love him is because he reminds me of my DH, that's not really how your fantasy husband is supposed to work.

I have been double cleansing for over a year now, my skin is amazing! No spots no dry patches etc. I buy a massive pot of pure organic coconut oil and a flannel! Niva blue at night and cheap Olay SPF 15 daily fluid! The coconut oil gets all make up off and leaves your face really soft, also no harsh chemicals as I have sensitive skin

Struggling to keep up with this thread now! Have bought Aldi 's hydraulic acid gel stuff and they had a night cream which said it had retinol in it to try.

It has also just dawned on me that I don't have any salicylic in my routine.. I have an sr salicylic peel in my cupboard so might try that soon, see if I can't scare of the buggers I have lingering at the moment..

This is ridiculous, I'm too scared to get the Redermic.

I get pigmentation quite badly so am loathe to exacerbate the problem and somehow I don't have confidence in the heliocare spf50 as it goes on after moisturiser. The ultrasun bonded to bare skin which gave me some confidence but it also brought me out in spots. Bugger.

Argh I've spent even more money. Bought the LRP redermic today and a botanics retinoid eye serum that was half price.

But then I had a realisation that I haven't for one moment thought about my skin type. All my life I've been buying normal to dry skin products because I had dry ish skin as a late teen. Never questioned it tbh. This afternoon I realised that my face was actually quite shiny! I think it might be all the xtra products I'm using? I looked at CH cheat sheet about how much to use and its about double what I used to use, so maybe I'm now using too much and my skin has become oily? Or can skin type be hormonal? (I'm still bf after a year and not got cycle back yet, so probably all over the place hormonally) Anyway my day and night creams and serum are for ' normal' skin and I have an oil serum for 'dry' days but I doubt I need that now! I'm really confused. How can I tell what skin type I have? I am totally clueless. I have just double cleansed and used acid toner so am going to leave my skin clear all night to see if any oily/dry patches appear, is this the best way?

ilove I have never been able to slot myself into a skin type, changes with the seasons, is not dry all over or oily all over, I find it hard to choose between things like: hydrating, anti aging etc- why not both? perhaps old hat now and like advice on here just buy what works best rather than type you believe you are. I am the same with shampoo, either buy the one I like or smells best. Sorry can't help more, very new to this whole new world I have discovered down yet another great MN rabbit hole

Can everyone make sure they have an spf 25 in their morning routine.

I use zelen because it is not greasy but it's quite expensive but others may have more reasonable options.

kundry thanks and at the spreadsheet, feel like I need a Phd, why was this not covered in science at school? would have been much more useful than the sodding period table!

Anyway feedback on my plan welcome if anyone is around today or tomorrow, going to push the button on Monday. I live overseas but DH will be in UK next week so can bring back for me, ordering all from Boots to save multiple packages for him to keep track of, includes using up what I already have which is embarrassingly not much at all, (just 2 Khiels products):

AM
Superfacialst rose hydrate cleanser/Khiels liquid cleanser
Nip fab glycolic pads
Hylamide serums - face and eyes
Khiels spf 25 moisturizer

PM
Superfacialst rose hydrate cleanser/Khiels liquid cleanser
LRP efoclar clarifying lotion
Hylamide serums - face and eyes
LRP redermic R ( have melasma on forehead)
Khiels rosa something cream which is v thick so I use as a night cream

I am 40, skin that tans easily but not olive, blackheads on chin and nose, pores you can see from space despite what CH says, no disrespect intended, aforementioned melasma, hardly a wrinkle but ominous frown line developing on forehead, probably not helped by concentrating on all this new science beauty stuff. Off to watch the videos mentioned on here

Thx

Oops tell a lie, also have Khiels midnight recovery oil which I put on before night cream, will slot this in somehow

I have just spent way too much time reading through the whole thread...and then way too much money ordering new products.

Oops!

But my skin is awful at the moment, and I feel as tired and grey as it looks, so hopefully something I've ordered will help!

I have botox every 12 weeks
I'm not very good at beauty stuff but I had a crevice between my eyebrows that looked like an axe wound

Been in Boots, the 500 points offer on £25 spend is instore too but check receipts because my points didn't add automatic I had to ask.

My DP mentioned I looked younger today, I expected to find a new motor bike in the kitchen or one of his squaddie pals passed out on the sofa but no.
Turns out I look all relaxed like I just had a holiday

Thank you so much everyone, I'd just started double cleansing when this thread started and now I've had the best part of a week of the full 'routine' and my skin already looks so much better!

Currently I'm on:

Morning

Cleanse with body shop chamomile oil
Serum - Vichy Liftactiv
Moisturise - Eucerin hyaluron filler

Evening

Double cleanse with body shop chamomile butter then oil
Acid tone with clearasil pads
Serum - No7 P&P
Moisturise - Aldi Lacura with retinol

I had all of these already except clearasil but I see a shopping trip in my near future. I'm planning to get nip & fab for gylcolic in morning, a new serum (maybe vit C) as my other two are nearly done and a new night moisturiser but not sure which yet, may try TK Maxx. I also fancy a retin-A because despite my skin falling off with roaccutane in my youth I looked amazing after it and despite being in 30s my eyes are decidedly crinkly.

Thanks all!

Hi Twitchcoco - I walked round in Italy in August all day with the Heliocare and never even got a hint of tan. The stuff works.

If you got spots from your previous SPF then you either need oil-free or you need a mineral SPF or both. Try Clinique City Block.

And finally the only thing that will make your pigmentation worse is the sun, Redermic can't make it worse only hopefully better

However finding an SPF you like should be your top priority - last year Ruth Crilly had some good videos about SPF, CH also has a video where she talks to Marko Zelens about SPF which is really helpful.

Can anyone tell me if there's a difference between liquid gold and Pixiglow (except for price)?

Pixiglow is an acid toner you can use twice a day. Liquid Gold is a stronger acid treatment you use 2-3 times a week.

Good point about the spf, I've got some Mac Spf left from last year although there's not much so I'll have to buy some more. Has anyone found a good inexpensive one? My moisturiser has an spf as does the Clinique CC cream I use - I presume that's not enough though.