Sick of my crap skin - willing to splash out on good face products, but which ones?

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Hi all,
I have awful face on my skin. My pores look like woodworm holes, my skintone is uneven and, worst of all, I have permanent flaky skin on my forehead. I have good abrasive wipes so give my whole face a good slough in the morning, which makes it feel very fresh and clean and I use nivea to moisturise but even the by lunchtime, the dry flakes are back. It's embarrassing. Could anyone recommend a good facial wash and a good foundation please? Preferably one where I can go to a counter and get advice from the make-up woman as I'm useless at this kind of thing.
Looking to spend £50 in total.
Thanks!!

I have really dry skin on my face, it drinks moisturiser and is dry again within no time

I have been using the Superfacialist rose oil and face mask for a while now, followed by a moisturiser. I really like it, my face feels smoother/less dry

www.boots.ie/en/Superfacialist-Rose-Miracle-Makeover-Facial-Oil-30ml_1273981/

www.boots.ie/en/Superfacialist-Rose-Intense-Moisture-Mask-125ml_1277156/

Abrasive wipes are where you are going wrong! They are full of drying alcohol and don't get your face properly clean. Wash your face with a cream or blam cleanser and a warm flannel followed by an acid toner then moisturise. I like Ultrabland from Lush as it's cheap and very gentle.

There's nothing you can do to shrink your pores but improving the general condition of your skin should make them less visible.

BALM not blam!

Your poor old skin sounds stressed out from all the abrasive scrubbing. The Una Brennan range that cailin linked to is really good. Their creamy rose cleanser is gorgeous. You might want to try the Body Shop's camomile balm or camomile oil cleanser too. Massage it into your face and then remove (gently) using a warm flannel. Then apply some oil afterwards.

You have to get away from the idea that your skin needs to be squeaky clean. If it squeaks your products are too harsh for your skin.

You need either an acid toner, or a glycolic mask.
I use the mask and it helps to clear out the skin and get rid of the dry flakes.

Get rid of the wipes though.

Step away from the wipes. I would get a hot cloth cleanser and double cleanse in the evenings. I have used the liz earl one for years, you can buy a small trial size. The other products in the range are nice enough but not essential. I buy the skin tint which is a tinted moisturiser for summer. I use an oil at night if skin is feeling dry. And either a clarins or Estée Lauder moisturiser with spf for day. The double cleansing really made a difference for me.

Oh wow - thank you!
I can;t believe I've been scrubbing away with these wipes and they have been making the situation worse!
I'm now going to look up all these recommendations. Thank you so much.

This is such a stupid question but... when I get out of the shower, I pat my face dry but it feels really tight and dry. I then put the nivea on but when I do that it feels like I'm only moisturising the dry dead skin.
I feel sloughing needs to be involved somewhere but it seems this bad for me!
Help!

La Roche posay physiological (sp ?)cleanser
Pixi glow acid toner
Superfacialist moisturizer for day and bio essence sleeping mask for night.

The acid will exfoliate instead of the wipes.

I'm looking up this glycolic mask right now - never heard of it before!

Clearasil pads are good too for exfoliating/acid toning

In addition to all the excellent advice above, its worth mentioning that you should never use anything foaming on your skin.

I have combination skin with visible pores that's getting a little dryer as I get older, but I always had flaky dry skin on and around my nose. I used high end foaming face washes, thinking they'd be better, but to no avail, but within days of changing to balm cleansing it all disappeared!

Try a balm to cleanse (double cleanse if you use spf - you really should use an spf ) followed by an acid toner then a serum and moisturiser. You don't have to spend a lot on these products, there are a couple of lengthy threads with great recommendations on - well worth a read.

With regard to foundations, I've just discovered Mishha BB cream, its 1/3 of the cost of my usual foundation and really is the best I've ever tried, its flipping amazing stuff! I ordered some samples from here, and have since ordered the full size shop.missha-deutschland.de/epages/es133810.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es133810/Products/10001

I use Ren, but I'm sure there are many others available.

cathyandclaire I got those Clearasil pads after reading a recommendation on here - my skin now looks fabulous! Smooth, bright and with a real glow. I am absolutely chuffed, especially as they cost the princely sum of approx £1.39 from a bargain buy type shop.

Had the same - solved it all with superdrug vit e products after reading about them on here. Double cleanse with hot cloth cleanser, then serum then oil. Horrid spotty skin made amazing. I see now that abrasive products making it worse. Took about a month but got there in end

Are you drinking enough water?

As above ^^ stop with the abrasian and try cream/hot cloth or oil cleanser. I like the two body shop ones recomended, and No7 hot cloth cleanser is nice too. Superdrug vitamin e also nice and fairly cheap.
Then exfoliate with an acid toner, bravura do a few, or nipfab do a convenient ready loaded pad...not tried the clearasil ones. Then serum/moisturiser like before- aldi lacura is good moisturiser....

I know what you mean about applying moisturiser to dry skin, OP. I spritz with a hydrating toner (lush Eau-roma) before moisturising. But if your skin is tight and dry after cleansing then your cleanser is probably too harsh.