Skincare help - fairly tight budget!

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

I have dry skin but am prone to Acne on my chin, I've often seen La Roche Posay recommended among others but most of the anti blemish ranges seem to assume skin is oily.
So, any wise mnetters recommendations? Other info, I'm in my early 40's, no wrinkles yet, dry skin but acne prone. Don't like anything gel based and don't bother with eye cream so looking for cleansing, toning and moisturising I suppose? Don't really want to spend more than about £50 and need to be able to buy from Boots, Superdrug or Debenhams as I have vouchers.
Thank you

Superdrug simply pure hydrating serum. Really impressive ingredient list which will help boost your moisture barrier. £2.69.

If your breakouts are hormonal you could use some of your budget for good quality evening primrose oil capsules. These are really effective at preventing hormonal outbreaks.

Thanks mint. I'm not sure about my outbreaks tbh but when I read about Cystic Acne that seems to fit. Would evening primrose help with that?
Do you think it's necessary to use a full range of something or is it ok to mix and match? I've always bought the whole range but I wonder if that's just me falling for marketing.

Defo ok to mix and match. Buy products based on their ingredients and suitability for your skin. Ideally you want hydrating and emollient ingredients. Focus on improving your moisture barrier rather than the outbreaks. Acne can sometimes be caused by a damaged barrier.

Find a cleanser with a low ph (below 5.5 is ideal). Ones with higher phs (which is probably 95% of cleansers on the market!) dry out your skin further and damage your barrier. Eucerin DermatoCLEAN Mild Cleansing Milk is around 5.5 and superdrug vit e hot cloth cleanser about the same. I haven't used either as I use mainly korean skincare but found the info on google. Think a lot of people here rave about the superdrug one.

You don't really need a toner unless it's a hydrating one. Adding in even a spritz of face mist between cleanser, serum and moisturiser can add in more moisture.

Serum as recommended in above post.

Moisturiser. You cannot buy this in any shop in the uk but you can get it on Amazon prime. It is a very good moisturiser with excellent ingredients. Cerave pm lotion. Around £10 -12.

Finally you might want to consider a facial oil. Rosehip oil is excellent for dry acne prone skin. Apply 2 to 3 drops to damp skin after cleansing and before serum. I use trilogy rosehip oil. You can get it at debenhams and boots I think. It is around £16 for a small bottle but last you a good few months.

I won't lecture you on wearing a high broad spectrum sunscreen everyday. But really it is the best anti aging product out there. If you want any advice on sunscreen options let me know.

Oh and EP oil capsules are super good for skin. You need to try 1300mg twice a day for 2 months and you should notice an improvement in your skin re acne and dryness. Fish oils also help with dryness.

Hope this helps

Wow mint thank you I've never done any more than cleanse and moisturise really and my skin has always been fairly youthful, but I'm finding since I hit my forties it needs more attention. I do use sunscreen daily and drink loads of water so no wrinkles and my skin is still plump, it's mostly the drying out and the outbreaks now. I'll investigate the Eucerin and Superdrug and look at getting some rose hip oil and EP capsules.

If your skin is oily it may be dehydrated. A cream I liked recently was Olay hydrating designed I think for first wrinkles too, in a pot. Under £10

If it covers your budget and shops look at a cleansing oil like DDH, good for oily skin apparently. I'd look at tea tree or lavender oil for treating spots.

Boots also do a great tea tree oil concealer which I bought the other day and was super impressed with, hid a huge hormonal monster on my chin...

Thanks super but my skin feels dry rather than oily despite the acne.

Another thing I'd say, try to eat good fats, avocado etc... Excellent for adding moisture to body by eating, I see the difference if I eat them.

Also try to treat the outbreaks and/or prevent (like you're doing) as then you I presume would get less scarring. Are they hormonal? A friend of mine had terrible spots due to coil being fitted, once it was removed they cleared completely, my spots were hormonal but luckily got much better in 30s when off pill.

OP is it dry because you use harsh products?

I am almost wondering (don't go to a salon) if a dermatologist or nutritionist may be a good idea for you? My friend who had the coil saw a derm and he was great re diagnosing her skin and didn't do the hard sell on her at all just told her what to use

I don't take the pill, have coil or anything like that so not sure tbh. I haven't used harsh products for years, used body shop vitamin e for ages then simple before that so all fairly mild. May be worth seeing a dermatologist but doubt my budget would stretch to it!

To be quite honest your chin spots sound hormonal and there's not an awful lot (in my experience) you can do about it.

As mint said though evening primrose oil can help lots and also (yeah it's hard) a cleaner diet eg more salads and less chocolate etc...

I personally found (so did friends) that tea tree oil helps. Also after you have a spot in one area apparently it returns next time in same area (damage to skin?).

I also found (don't do it now) that yoga for about 4 years really helped as I was stressed and I'm sure it was coming out in skin outbreaks.

Harsh products like you say won't work. It sounds as if your skin is dry and oily on the chin. The skincare advice is to treat those areas separately so you could try that too. I also found drawing/aspirin/clay masks and exfoliation about 2-3 times a week helped too. Again you may want to just use mask on chin area.

I suspect my caffeine habit doesn't help but I find it really hard to give that up. Loads to look into thank you

Rosehip oil mixed with moisturizer (I use Physiogel).

I've been using the superdrug clearly youthful day and night serums and my skin is looking really good. I've got spot prone oily skin but it's not aimed at oily skin. I think the day serum is a hydrating one

To be honest OP I have lots of caffeine daily too and always have had. Not noticed it affected my skin.

My friend who had the coil tried everything with her acne including French skincare brands (she's French) not a lot made a huge difference she admitted but she found good foundations! Hormones are a bugger to control especially re skin.

I did see a difference when I ate more cleanly at least at lunch - I had pasta or rice salads with avocado and lots of veg. For treats ryvita minis and fruit.