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!

kundry it's one of those shops where you want to buy EVERYTHING isn't it? I have filled and deleted my basket more times than I can count. I really really wanted to make a serum with argeline(sp?) and matrixyl. It is supposed to be AMAZING for wrinkle busting. The former ingredient acts like a temporary botox, relaxing the muscles. Not surprisingly it is sold out!

Ultrasun is a once a day sunscreen so has to go on first as it bonds with the skin (or something along those lines). I use it as it doesn't break me out and doesn't need reapplying during the day as I wear makeup etc every day I can't reapply my sunscreen.

Heliocare is def last step before makeup, can answer that one.

It's shocking isn't it, how little the fancy ingredients cost. The serums on SR-Skincare are similar prices. Is there something in the formulation that makes mainstream products cost more? am suspecting not

Marketing, advertising, celeb endorsements I suspect. It's shocking really how much these companies charge.

I'm trying to introduce all my new products one by one every few days and am getting ridiculously excited about redermic. I have so far introduced double cleansing, ren toner in Am and nip and fab in the evening.
Tonight I started using my new eye cream (first time I've ever used eye cream) it's botanics triple age renewal hydrating eye with hyraluonic, vit a,c and e. Anyway the ski around my eyes is now a bit stingy half an hour later. Is this normal or am I reacting? They look normal, just feel a bit uncomfortable...

I suppose they can charge what they can get away with charging. People don't think they can make this stuff themselves. They have no idea how much it could cost. They think it is terribly complicated and is made only by chemists/alchemists, locked away in labs with the secret to eternal youth.
Chemistry is not my strong point at all. But by reading threads on EDS, researching how to make my own balms and body butters etc, I have learnt so much.

Then you realise that most of this stuff is made as a water based product or as a lotion, serum, butter, (so oil and water base.).That needs an emulsifier to bond the oil and water and the rest you can add yourself.
Products made by lush for example are very, very simple to copy and cheap too. I can't believe how people are paying for their stuff. Lovely as some of it is, it's daylight robbery.

I always make my own body butters. I know exactly what is in them, no nasties, they are cheap and effective.
I am nowhere near the stage of making my own recipes and probably never will be. Luckily there are enough generous people on forums prepared to do the hard work and share their knowledge with us.

Rant over

I mean I looked at the zelins website, having watched the Ch vid with Marco lens. My eyes popped out when I saw how much he was charging for a poxy pot of cream. This is a man who claims to care about people's skin. Well he doesn't care nearly as much about that as he does about lining his pockets.
He has gone down in my estimation.

Wow big thread now! I've been reading all week, thank you to all the contributors for sharing experiences and amazing chemistry knowledge, I'm inspired :)

A question if I may... I've got dry/dehydrated skin with some fine lines (I'm 37). I want a hydrating serum but not one with silicones as although I quite like them usually, I've started using retinols (baby steps with Skinceuticals) and don't want anything blocking the retinols path to my skin. Any recommendations?

Ideally one that's hydrating AND has peptides and antioxidants (so I can use a cheaper moisturiser like Cerave) and doesn't interfere with the retinol at all. Asking too much?

Hylamide - hydrating, no silicones (that I can see anyway and it doesn't feel siliconey), peptides, there are antioxidant versions too.

Or make your own

Thanks buttons That active formulas website is a revelation! I love this! I can make this serum up easily in the lab - using my own ingredients of course! except fine might nick some ethanol/vodka I can test the pH of stuff and find out how many days L-ascorbic acid in solution lasts before it goes off. If anyone wants this information let me know.
buttons once I've made this serum (ordering stuff tomorrow, hopefully it'll still be in stock!) I'll report back on how I'm getting on. Thanks again!

mrsD yes please, anything you discover ! My latest serum has a ph of 3. My strips are a bit basic though . I do have a digital tester but it's not good with smaller amounts.
Since you are a proper chemist maybe you can cook us up a delicious recipe .

Last night I was putting on my final layer before bed and I noticed that my NL folds ( the ones that run from nose to mouth ) are significantly reduced. I have a genetic predisposition to them but they are really shallow now rather than deep crevices. I have no idea how this has happened. The skin on either side of the crease has flattened out or the crease has come up.
I never ever thought I would be able to help these. They were so aging.

bigbittons, I really liked the look of that website but have no idea what to do with all the ingredients! I'm a bit nervous I think of making my own stuff maybe I've been too well brainwashed by the industry but I do like the idea of making my own stuff especially the vitamin c and it seems easy enough if I follow the basic recipe but I'm totally confused about what the benefits of vit c are and where it fits in the routine. I tried to find the info on this thread but it's a big thread!
I liked the look of the acne creams on the site for my dd but was looking at the ingredients and the acne wash contains a surfactant and the acne cream contains alcohol...I'm sure advice is to steer clear of these things?

Sorry another question. .when you make your own serums what do you put it in? do you sterilise the containers first?

I put them into containers I have saved over the years. You can of course buy mini bottles from ebay/ Dark blue/amber are the best. When i have finished with shop bought serums, toners etc etc i save them to use for my on stuff. yes I sterilise, you must always sterilise. I do this ether in a diluted bleach/water solution or use Milton.
Vit c helps to brighten the complexion, protect against free radicals, repair the skin, amongst other things.

Start with a simple serum of Vit c and water. Here are the instructions again
1/4 teaspoon vit C
1/4 teaspoon glycerin
1 + 1/2 teaspoons distilled water

You must disolvce the Ascorbic Acid in a small glass ( shot type glass is good) in room temp water. It will takes FOREVER. If you can't stand it then you can stand the small glass in a larger glass of warm water, NOT hot. Heat destroys vit c. Do NOT be tempted to blitz in the microwave. be patient it will dissolve.The gylcerin gives a nice texture.

Oh, vit c used like this is a serum. So you would use it after you have toned. Whether morning or evening or both is up to you. People have personal preferences and these are affected by other stuff that they are using, but I suspect it doesn't make much difference, if any. Just get the stuff on your face

bigbuttons which serum helped your nl folds? That would be an amazing find for me!

This thread is getting a bit eds forumy with all the diy, love it! I was a biochemist pre-ds and made a few simple serums myself and it was pretty addictive.

If you're too lazy to make them and don't want to pay ££, you can buy them off eBay, I think there was a seller called forever young that makes these serums and creams and sold them for £4-10. Worth a look!

Meant to say I was too lazy back then to make more than simple serums so am feeling inspired that so many of you are really getting into it!

Thanks Kundry I'll give that a go.

Fascinated by all this talk of DIY stuff. Am going to try the vit-C serum at some point but I would LOVE to know more about making my own facial oils (currently spending too much on decleor but my skin loves their oils) and body butters. Any tips to get me started?

I thought I had it sorted and now I am confused again :-(
I have Liquid gold which I plan to use twice a week. Do I need to skip the acid tone in the evenings I use LG?
Also, I have Effaclar Duo plus. I have been using this in the mornings after acid toning and before moisturising. Is this right? I also plan to use it on the nights I don't use LG, again, after acid toning and before moisturising.
Does this look ok?

Liquid Gold is glycolic acid. Don't acid tone alongside it!

In fact, I'm leaving it out of my routine for now as it lasts for ages even when opened. I'm using FAB pads just mornings.

Can somebody please confirm that silicones are not like cling film. They don't prevent anything going through. They are like teabags.

Used Redermic last night and my face didn't fall off :)

Thanks Twitchcoco, I'll skip the acid tone and just dbl cleanse and apply LG.

I have managed to start using LG every other night, my face reacted to it badly when I first used it but its fine now & my skin is getting really soft & appears brighter.
I have ordered some 0.025% retinol. When it arrives when should I use it? Should I stop the LG completely? Use the retinol once a week & LG once a week? Any advice?
Also, I have quite deep grooves going down from the sides of my mouth, are these 'marionette lines'? They're the only lines I have apart from a few very faint lines on my forehead.
Is there anything I can slap on my face that will help my mouth lines? They make me look grumpy!

mowgilk I don't think it can have been any one particular thing. It must be the resurfacing from the acids and plumping from serums and oils. I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth