amazing faces-join our quiche and watch the years roll back!

[bigbuttons]

sorry for rubbish title, it's been a very long day!

Thanks GERTI. Wonder how much earlier I'll have to get up in the morning to fit all this in!

Cetaphil is v generic looking, not at all girly. He needs a non-foaming wasg anyway. CH says she finds boys prefer pads so Clearasil pads (maybe not the friut ones ) would be ideal. Get started with these now as he already has the pimples, don't wait for blackheads. He might not need moisturiser at all, and it is a bit girly as well. Would absolutely need to be oil free or it will be too much. Wash and pads might be as many steps as he can do

Thanks GERTI .I'll have a look.

Ooops, was replying to piggychops

Gerti that's basically it but the most important steps are double cleanse, acid tone, retinol in the evening and SPF in the morning.

I don't do the hydration tone or serum yet most of the benefit is the acid, retinol and SPF.

Thanks for the comments about slowing down, I think I needed to be told! Tonight I'm just going to double cleanse and moisturise and maybe add some magic sudocreme to the little sore patches. And then wait until it's recovered before re introducing the steps one by one. Can I just ask about washing technique. Someone mentioned I maybe cleansing too harshly, and while i've always rubbed hard with a muslin cloth in the past maybe its too much exfoliation with the acids thrown in as well. Would using a flannel be any softer? I have a face full of make off to take off this evening and I want robe as gentle as possible!

Also when I reintroduce the acid, is it best to aha/bha in am or pm? I notice that most people do glycolic in the morning and salicylic I'm te evening, does it make a difference? Because I want to introduce bha to tackle my congested pores..,.

It makes no difference whether you do AHA or BHA in the morning or evening but if you have blackheads, BHA should be your priority. If you are using retin a then BHA in the morning may well be plenty. I've never used any AHA as the Paula's Choice 2% BHA basically did it all - Paula suggests you only need one acid and CH likes to mix them up.

CH is a big fan of flannels but not rubbing like crazy - your acid is doing the exfoliating so you don't have it

Illovetosleep I think the trick to hot cloth cleansing is not to be tempted to see it as a scrub, so use a flannel and gently remove the cleanser. I've been doing it the scrub with a muslin cloth way for years but my skin is much happier now I've gone all gentle. You can get flannels inexpensively from Primark.

Been absent for the whole of the new thread. Boo I wanna play.

I'm 31, problems are residual pregnancy melasma and sun spot type pigmentation marks.

am-

cetaphil
nip/fab pads
diy vit c
Eucerin 5% urea cream/ A-derma Epitheliale
Anthelios sunscreen dry touch gel or ultra matt fluid. Both have high PPD ratings.

pm-
Liz Earle Clease and Polish and Cetaphil double cleanse
Retin-A 0.025%
Eucerin or A-Derma moisturiser when needed

I also have rosehip oil that I dabble with sometimes. Looking to add a Kojic Acid product to my arsenal.

Muslin cloths are quite abrasive, I like a flannel as it seems more cushioned. Glad you're calming things down, I was worried for your lovely face!

Make up remover then cream cleanser. Soft, soft soft :)

Not even sure how this is possible but this morning I had a huge eye-watering-face-sting from my new hydrating serum
Of all the things in my routine I don't know why this bit would be the one to make my face burn. It calmed down after a few minutes but ouch! Maybe a night off the retinol for me? Or a morning off the acid time?

GERTI to me the Nutriganics night cream looks expensive for what it is. Edelweiss stem cells is clearly bollox and it looks like an ordinary moisturiser with Edelweiss(why??) and some Vit E. Remembering that moisturiser should be your least important step, it seems a lot of money.

Cerave or Cetaphil moisturiser would be half the price and if you aren't bothered by oil, you would get as much moisturising from Astral or Nivea! Do you already have a retinol step?

The sleep mask could be used every night - it looks like it's basically a hydrating product. Again no acid/retinol/anti-oxidants except for Vit E.

Night cream looks like a standard moisturiser with Vit E. If you have oily skin you might have issues with the oil.

Kundry Thanks for advice on DS. This thread moves so fast!

Gerti, I have the Bouncy Sleep mask and alternate between it and Liquid Gold, love the mask, but put it on a couple of hours before bed, it goes a bit tacky and can make you stick to the pillow, but the results are super!

Gerti, sorry read you bouncy sleep mask post first - had a quick spritz of the Vit E at lunch time, I have a tendency to look tired through the day, this was over make up(not much BB cream and some cream blusher) and then flapped hands around to dry face, wee tad lip gloss and some more eye cream (I reapply throughout the day) and gotta say face looked preet good, will report back tomorrow re it's usage as a 2nd hydrating toner! Xoxo

I saw that the Bouncy mask was compared somewhere to Korean masks. I've tried the Dr Jart Firming Sleeping Mask and Mizon Good Night White Sleeping Mask, both are absorbed in minutes and make skin incredibly glowy and smooth. Both are totally addictive. So if you need shortcuts to great skin, try these

GERTI I got nip and fab from boots online last week, on offer if you bought two tubs, although that may have changed after the recent MN stampede

Kundry I love the 'Eidelweiss stem cells is clearly bollocks' review. If magazines were ever this honest about all this then maybe I'd still be reading them instead of threads like this and blogs like CH's. I believed all that nonsense for years!

Gerti- the Body Shop Vit E night cream is lovely. I have used it before and would definitely buy again, smells divine and reminds me if 1987 when I first used BS Vit E.

Gerti You need either LRP Redermic R, Avene Ystheal, Indeed labs retinol reface or Vichy Liftactiv (as per Sali Hughes today). All would work as a night cream alone. Plus lots of products marketed as 'night creams' will have retinol in them, you need to look for retin-something in the ingredients list. But the 4 I've listed are the ones usually recommended for being mid-range price wise but still having an effective dose. I don't think there is a proper budget option.

Hope your dog is back to sleep

Super drug sell nip and fab stuff, it's often on offer too.

I don't know how I would fit the bouncy face mask into my retin routine. I am attempting to use it nightly now. Any ideas?

bigbuttons I don't use retinA but i have been using redermic and I use night cream after that - isn't the bouncy face thing a bit like a glorified night cream? Could you use after retinA, maybe leaving half an hour? I really like the sound of the bouncy face stuff, I might invest once my face feels less sore!