Please recommend skin care regime/produ

[Iusedtobecarmen]

I was going to post on the current retin a thread but thought better start my own.
Im in my forties. Skin ok, no acne, rarely get spots. Few scars on temples from chicken pox and from a period when I would get these giant spots without heads that would literally just scar.
Skin on the dry side. Most wrinkles on forehead but I do have the odd botox!
I dont stick to regular products for skin but perhaps I should?
I normally cleanse with lush ultra bland or sometimes an oil (whatever on offer) but currently using micellar water. Again, I moisturise with various creams. Always with spf. Currently using a sanctuary one and a nivea night one. Sometimes add facial oil.
Wondering about retin a or hyaluronic acid? Fo you have to stay out sun entirely with retin a?
What happens on holiday. I do use spf but do like bot of tan in summer.
I know this contradicts with anti ageing .
Just eant skin to look younger amd plumper I guess.
Ive been reading threads on here saying expensive creams pointless.

Excuse mistakes. Bloody phone

Check out the Amazing Faces threads.
What you need is:
A cleanser or two. The important thing is you do the hot cloth thing with it. Your Ultrabland gets good reviews, but micellar water generally doesn't. At the moment I am alternating between Liz Earle (which I'd gone off tbh, but now I'm using it again I can really see the difference) and the Body Shop chamomile butter which is lovely. I have the Superdrug radiant one which MN seems to rave about but it's horrid. Smells of chemicals and is v drying.

Then an acid tone. Probably the most important thing in your routine. Its the one which has made the most difference to my skin. Loads of them around, some £££££s some cheap as chips. I started with Olay Anti Wrinkle which was about £4. Now I have Nip and Fab Glycolic fix pads and NF dragon's blood salicylic ones. Both half price in Superdrug at the time.

A hydrating toner of any kind. I have boots glycerine and rosewater.

Serum. Received wisdom is that this is where you spend the £££s if you can. That said, my current favourite is Superdrug pure and was £2.99!

Any moisturiser, I alternate between Astral blue pot and Neal's Yard Frankincense facial oil in the evening and (at the moment) boots vitamin E and boots botanics hibiscus something in the morning.

I do a retin A night once every 10 days or so. Or a glycolic peel.

The more I experiment with products, cheap or not, the more I come to believe it's what you do with them that matters.

Thanks that's very helpful. What sbout retin a and any sun exposure ?

Sunscreen always, more so after any retins or peels.
Forget the spf 15 in foundation and moisturisers as well, unless you put it on with a trowel it's never going to be effective.
People recommend the La Roche Posay sunscreen and the biore watery one (check the Asian/Korean beauty threads) I have a fac50 nondescript one for faces.

Thenlater
Thanls a lot. Very informative. Ive seen those nip tuck products on offer before but never tried
Where do you get your retin from

Nip and fab I meant!

The y are really nice, the pads. I was on another thread a couple of days ago where we were trying to work out why the DB ones are called 'cleansing pads' while the GF ones are called 'treatment pads' when the difference just seems to be the type of acid!
I got my retin from some eBay seller in Thailand!
Others used a seller called Geoff's Pharmacy (still in the Far East)

Thenlater
Hpe you are still around!
So if I cleanse with my ultra bland
Use.something with salicylic acid
Then any toner (I don't usually use toner)
A decent serum
Any . moisturiser.
Ocasional retin A. Is this necessary if skin decent, no . acne. And what strength?
No facial oil. Ive ofyen used one after moisturiser and skin feels nice

So sorry to be thick. To recap salicylic acid and decent serum is where need spend the cas

I just use retin a and glycolic acid on alternate nights and my skin looks much better. I have built up to this over 3 months. So I started using 0.25 retin a and am now using 0.5 as my skin is getting used to it.
I use Clinique factor 40 sunscreen everyday and try to keep my face out of the sun.

I use Cerave over the retin a.

Noticeable improvements after 3 months:-

dark shadows improved,
overall complexion brighter,
fine lines have diminished,
skin looks plumper and is more resiliant,
generally face just looks better in the morning I feel my skin is getting better every day.

I am early forties btw hth.

So.again, sorry to sound stupid. Start with.low retin a? Does it cone as a liquid that you wipe across your face? Why does the glycolic do and what form does it come In?
I thought I knew what I was doing skincare wise.but this is all new stuff!

You don't really need retin A if your skin is generally good, no. I am still on the .25 one. I am 49 so decided it was time for some extra help! I need to use it more regularly to really see a difference I think, though have always seen a difference when I do Glycolic peels. I useva 30% one and do it in 6 wk cycles, once a week, 1 min, then 2 etc. Then 2 wks off. The GA is a watery substance which you kind of paint on! (There is a massive thread called schizzle or something, I'll try and find it when am on the PC)
You don't need to spend the cash on the acid toners, no. Boots time delay is one, as is Olay anti wrinkle and both fairly cheap and often on offer.

hackedoff did you have any issues alternating the retin a and GA as
I was doing GA (bravura though I have just bought active solutions 30% but not used yet) but stopped when I started retin a as didn't think you could use close together

Sorry to hijack