Turning 30- need to grow up my beauty routines and products. HELP!

[Rubbishfeminist]

I'm turning 30 in a couple of months and need to make my beauty routines and products more mature.

At the moment I wash my face with Superdrug Tea Tree face wash and moisturise with Nivea Essentials SPF15.
I exfoliate twice a week with Superdrug Tea Tree scrub on a muslin cloth and moisturise with the Nivea afterwards.
I wear Clinique Superbalanced foundation SPF 15 but I only wear make-up about 3 times a week when I'm in work.
I use Rimmel concealer.
I have huge dark circles under my eyes that I've inherited from my mother.

I'm quite happy with my face wash and scrub and my foundation but my questions are;
(1) What moisturiser should I be using to stop very early signs of wrinkles, fatigue etc.? I'm happy to spend up to about £15-£20.
(2) Should I be using eye cream? If so, which one? How should I apply it? Again, happy to spend up to about £15.
(3) Are there any creams or gels around for reducing dark circles? Or what else can I do for this? I eat well and drink lots and lots of water. I don't really get enough sleep but there's not much I can do about this with work.
(4) What concealer should I be using to cover dark circles? And how should I apply it?
(5) Are face masks worth it. If so, which ones? And how often should I use?
(6) Is there anything I can do to avoid getting a saggy neck? I moisturise my neck everyday with coconut oil.

I should add that I don't smoke, hardly drink and I exercise everyday. I also use a gym steam room about 3 times a week.

Any help you can give me is most gratefully appreciated- the internet is full of such conflicting advice! Apologies for the long post!

Sorry can't help with most as I'm also trying to stage an intervention with my skincare at the moment so I'll be watching this thread with interest. I can however recommend the following as an excellent concealer-

www.boots.com/en/Collection-Lasting-Perfection-Concealer_1436032/

it's cheap and when set with some powder will last all day!

I have a thread going about daily spf as I think this is very important in terms of aging skin, but I'm sure someone else with much more knowledge will be along soon.

Hi Fruitypie77. Thanks for the concealer recommendation- it looks great. Sorry to be thick but what do you mean when you say set with powder? I'm rubbish at make-up!

Check out SR Skincare for good budget stuff, including anti-aging. Consider getting a serum as well as a moisturiser. The bulk of your spend should be on a serum, which goes on before moisturiser, but £20 is not a massive amount of money for an anti-aging serum, which is why something like SR Skincare would be good for you.

Eye cream - meh. I don't bother personally. I just take my serums up to the eye.

There are no creams that will make much of a difference to dark circles. Like you've pointed out, it is genetic, really. Sleep and water will improve them, but it sounds like you've got that covered. Concealer really is your best bet.

Yes to face masks, and it depends what you want to achieve. I'd recommend a clay one weekly for a deep cleanse. You don't have to spend that much on a clay mask. I've just discovered Quick Fix Facials in Boots and they are £4.99 each.

For your neck, just treat it in the same way you do your face. Take your face routine right down to your boobs. It makes a difference. I wouldn't use your facial scrub on your neck though. Might be a bit harsh.

Nabootique Wow, thanks that's such a lot of great advice. I've never come across serums- why are they so beneficial over just moisturiser (I don't really know what they are)?

you need real suncream, not a dilute potion with a french name.

apart from that, do what you enjoy and makes you feel comfortable. Nothing will have any effect on ageing, except not smoking (you don't), using sunscreen (you should) and correct genes.

Serums are designed to tackle specific skin issues. They usually have active ingredients, whereas moisturisers are more for your skin type.

For example, my skin is prone to dehydration. It struggles to retain water. I easily look sort of haggard (humph), so I look for hydrating serums containing things like hyaluronic acid, which helps skin get and retain moisture as it is a humectant. Anti-aging serums typically contain things like peptides and retinol (anti-aging gets quite scientific, and I'm not quite there yet!). Serums for dry skin tend to have oils, for blemish prone skin things like salicylic acid, you see what I mean. It is very confusing at first.

What is your skin type?

Also, serum is by no means essential, in my opinion (although some will disagree!), but an anti-aging serum will be more effective and money better spent than an anti-maging moisturiser.

specialsubject Ah right, okay, thanks about the sunscreen tip! I know you can't stop aging but it'd be good to slow it down for a bit!

You can't 'stop' wrinkles with a cream.

good spf is a start 50 is good. stay out of or avoid the sun. also a good diet high in fruit/vegetables/proteins/good fats helps.

eye cream has been proved to be a waste of time use your normal moisturiser instead.

the steam may be good but I'd close pores after it with cold water/mild toner.

i personally would ditch the moisturiser you have and get a separate SPF and another moisturiser. also try to work out if your skin is dehydrated and if so use a hydrating moisturiser.

the face wash you use is a bit harsh unless you really need it in my opinion.

Nabootique I think I've got oily skin.

OP - you're lucky in a sense if you have oily skin as it won't age badly. My mum has similar skin and hardly any wrinkles.

a lot of ageing is down to genes though.

Superfly My mum hasn't aged too badly at all actually

The Body Shop Nutraganics has some lovely stuff for first signs of aging, including a light serum which isn't at all greasy. They're are really reasonably priced, particularly the serum.

Another range which is very reasonable for what it is, but a little more expensive is First Aid Beauty. If you are in the UK I recommend Look Fantastic as a stockist. They usually have really good deals.

Concealer (or makeup in general) will last longer if you use a dusting of powder to 'set' it, good advice here

www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/how-to-apply-concealer

OP - re your mum - well you're lucky then!

My mum's skincare routine when younger was Nivea in the blue pot but always SPF in sun (not facial sunscreen). about 10 years ago she started using L'Oreal in red pots anti ageing with spf15.

she has rarely had facials, doesn't use anything else apart from simple soap on face and doesn't muck around with her face. no plastic surgery or anything.

i've got a friend who refuses to believe my mum is 74 - she looks easily mid 50s...

superfly Your mum sounds ace.

Fruitpie Thanks for that- I'd never come across that. God, I am so bloody rubbish at make-up. I need to take a full day off work, watch some make-up tutorials online and invest in some good stuff I think. But that's potentially a whole other thread!

OP - if you want to start another thread about makeup I can possibly help you.

My SIL has oily skin. She uses the Clinique foundation - I think she may use the Superpowder one and she also uses medicated wipes to remove her makeup not sure what she uses in morning. she'd probably get slated re the wipes here but they work for her!

she uses Precious or Immortelle moisturiser from L'Occitane.

Rimmel concealer is fine but maybe a bit drying. There's a great one from Natural Collection which is liquid in a tube and gets rave reviews here and you can also use it under eyes.

You really don't have to spend a lot on makeup just what suits you.

SIL wears brown eyeliner, mascara and maybe a light eyeshadow pallette for special occasions so she doesn't wear a lot. But she's dark haired/pale skin/dark brown eyes.

Superfly Wow, thanks ever so much for that! I think in a couple of weeks I'm going to spend some proper time researching make-up and I most likely will start a thread on this coz I need all the help I can get

Hello all I'm not sure if it's useful but I read this post this week and it convinced me to invest! She's in her thirties and doing the same thing as us!

A good way to make sense of skincare and make-up is to read Sali Hughes's book Pretty Honest. It's a good, ahem, foundation and a lively-ish read.

I have that book too, its very good!