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!

Whattaride I would try acid + Retinol (Avene Ystheal or LRP Redermic) and a Vit C serum for your acne scarring.

Sillybillymuckypup I use the acid peels from SR SKincare, v cheap, work v well - were recommended on a previous thread here about peels.

I get cystic acne and scarring from oils, definitely on the oil-free bandwagon.

Whataride- have you tried proper scar therapy? You could try the gel/cream in the day and maybe a patch at night. I had great success with a big surgery scar. I've heard Healgel is excellent although I used scar zone cream and silicone plasters.

I think I must be thick

Am totally confused. It's all the science. Can someone tell me if I've understood this right, please?

AM
Cleanse with bland cleanser
Tone with acidic toner
Serum
Moisturise with spf moisturiser.

PM
Double cleanse with same bland cleanser
Tone with same acidic toner
Use same serum
Moisturise with a moisturiser that contains retinol.

My two main areas of confusion are:

In the morning, is it ok just to use a moisturiser that has an SPF, or do I have to use a separate SPF?

In the evening, how do I get my retinol fix? Is it in a serum, in which case, can I use that in the morning as well? Or is retinol an evening only thing?
If it's in a moisturiser, should I just use a retinol-based moisturiser in the evening and an SPF one during the day?

Am feeling very

I think it means cleanse twice at night (once in the morning).

I guess it's to make sure all the makeup is off.

Do you reckon that routine looks okay? I'm completely confused.

Single cleanse in the morning, double cleanse in the evening, preferably with two different cleansers, for example one balm/oil to get rid of gunk/make up/spf, then something lighter (maybe water based, rather than butter/oil based) to cleanse the skin. The second cleaner can be used for the AM cleanse if you don't want to have three on the go.

I have a few moisturisers, serums and acid toners that I use in rotation, depending on skin needs, but in theory you can use the same serum twice a day, ditto acid toner if it's not too strong.

Double cleansing means cleaning once then cleaning again. For some reason cleaning once didn't do it for me, the minute I switched to double cleansing it made a huge difference. Twice a week I use a glycerine toner.

Start off doing that and add other steps as and when needed- my face would fall off if I did all the things CH recommended

It does seem a bit intense.

My poor old fizzog will go into shock if I chuck all that stuff at it

At the moment I cleanse with Ren stuff and moisturise with Neal's Yard Frankincense Hydrating cream, and er...that's it.

It's not cutting it. I look like shite.

Thanks kundry will check those peels out

I definitely think the double cleansing/acid tone thingy is making me look less grey and deathly, after only a couple of days! DD1 even said I looked well this morning .
Only problem is, I don't have sensitive skin (in face it's like old leather) but if I put ANY cream/lotion/serum anywhere near my eyes it just makes them puffy, not allergic puffy, more like the liquid plumps up excess skin so that there are swollen folds (I know, I'm sounding gorgeous aren't I?)
Is this just me, should I just chuck eye creams and avoid my eyes totally?

I've been following CH's advice for the past 3-4 months by adding an acid toner, balm cleanser, double cleansing, serums, and oils. My skin has really improved so much and has a natural glow to it now, I went from slapping on full coverage double wear to a light tinted moisturiser or even bare faced which would not have happened before.

I recebtly invested in the Alpha H Liquid Gold from QVC, they are the cheapest I could find with the two bottle combo set. I feel it is starting to make a difference as well. Her advice makes sense and works for me. I can't afford all the very pricey things she recommends but knowing where to invest (serums/toners) helps budget my overall skincare regime.

cathy have you tried taking a facial oil up under the eye? That might work.

I will try that thanks Naboo, it probably is all the water based stuff usually.
Although I did have an alarming result when I put vaseline on my eyes, it took days for the bags to go down.

Ooh, yes I should think that would be far too heavy. A light, good quality facial oil should be fine to take up to the eye. I do (Eye do - ha!). I think a lot of people find rosehip oil good for fine lines if that's a concern.

cathy I get small bags of fluid under my eyes sometimes too. Usually when I go on holiday. I'm pretty sure it's my body telling me I'm dehydrated as it improves if I drink lots of water. I can't put any lotions etc under my eyes either . So I just put my serum/oil on my laugh lines and leave the under eye area alone. Anyone else have this problem and found a solution?

There's a fantastic Roc rollerball thingy

Hi stevienickstophat My understanding is v similar to yours.

My answers to your questions would be:

I just use an SPF in the morning. I have oily combination skin that doesn't really need a moisturiser most of the time and I can't be bothered to use two products. I'm also suspicious that people telling me I need two just want me to buy more products - am I really going to use moisturiser, SPF, foundation as well? Plus some moisturisers have a lot of SPF in - I use 25 in the cold months and 50 in the hot

In terms of retinol, it's usually advised in the evening as it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun. How you get it is up to you - there are serums, night creams and specific retinol products just like some serums are acids and some moisturisers have acids in. Lots of creams marketed as night creams will have some retinol in. It's up to you. I like going for Avene or La Roche Posay or Vichy as I feel confident in what they are selling me.

The manufacturers also make it hard by not marketing on the basis of 'acid' or 'retinol' but 'brightness' or 'hydration' or something else unmeasurable. And having hundreds of products that essentially do the same thing (Avene I mean you). I've just looked at the Vichy website and really can't tell which is the retinol product as they haven't put the ingredients up and aren't using the magic word retinol. I think it would be the Vichy Normaderm Night as it says 'night' and is 'anti-imperfection' - but I'd need to pick the bottle up to know.

Of course this suits the manufacturers as they want you to keep swapping about in despair, hoping to find the holy grail product as this means you buy more stuff. I really like Vichy products (the Hyaluspot is brilliant) but if you were looking for something against wrinkles you would never find the Normaderm Night as they are only directing people with acne to it. Drives you insane

Thanks, Kundry

I'm off to Boots tomorrow, so I'll bear your advice in mind.

Do you think foundation with an SPF is enough? I use No 7 with SPF 15.

No!

SPF wears off during the day so you are supposed to reapply, which no-one actually does (do they?)

Also to get the SPF claimed you have to apply a lot - not the v fine amount you would apply for makeup.

If you have ever wasted a whole weekend reading Caroline Hirons blog from the very beginning (yes, I did become slightly obsessed) you will see this is something she's totally changed her tune about - in the early days she was all 'I get my SPF from my makeup'. Nowadays she's all about SPF being a separate product - the change happens around the time she meets a plastic surgeon who tells her exactly how much SPF you are meant to use!

Plus your SPF should cover UVA and UVB which a lot of makeup doesn't. Look for the ++++ as well as the SPF.

My non-scientific take is to use SPF 25 ish in the winter months and 50 in the summer, knowing I probably am not getting 50 but hopefully am getting more than 15. I also have v pale skin with some sun related pigmentation which I don't want to get worse.

Given SPF is the single most anti-ageing thing you can do for your skin, you might as well not do any serums etc, if you aren't going to SPF.

m Thanks for the info, I'm very scared of using new products on my skin after the beating with acne it's taken. I've been trying 5% Glycolic Acid every so often. The Turmeric I take daily is with Coconut Oil and gulped down, I haven't had a spot in 4 months. I've been told to wait another 2 months until Dermastamp Treatment for my scar. Has anyone had Dermaroller? I'm absolutely baffled by all the products mentioned on here but going to Boots a recky in the morning.

kundry this is the Vichy sample ai picked up recently which contains retinol:

I reapply sun screen during the day now. I am fanatical about it since I resumed the tretinoin.

I am completely confused. I have glycolic acid from bravura and the instructions say you shouldn't use glycolic acid and retinol products during the same week.