Like many of you on here, I am a huge skincare addict. Over the last few years I really got into the whole skincare blog /Caroline Hirons et al. world of balm cleansers, exfoliating toners, and £100 serums.
I am genuinely mortified to admit this but I have probably spent £1000+ on skincare these last few years, and I am by no means well-off. I have honestly tried 100s of products and brands and feel like I've had a decent insight into the whole skincare industry after months and months of 'research' on mumsnet, makeupalley, dermatology journals, and skincare blogs. My cupboards are now filled with lotions and potions, most of which are completely neglected.
So, before everyone else rushes out and does the same thing (and it seems like the popularity of these elaborate routines and skincare blogs is on the rise) I want to lay out 12 things that I've learnt.
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Excellent products come with all price tags - from the very cheap to the very expensive. Don't let anyone tell you that the more you spend, the better you'll get. From my experience this is not true. That said, on the whole I've found that being prepared to spend, say, £10-20 for a cleanser or a moisturiser will get you a better product than spending £4-6, as a general rule. This is not to say that great products can't be found in the cheaper range, just that there are fewer of them. The difference between a £10-20 product and a £140 product is ZERO. Once products start to get really expensive, invariably you can find a cheaper, just as good alternative, so never feel you need to spend hundreds.
- When choosing a product, try and see beyond the 'added extras', the nice smell and the fancy packaging. Ask yourself whether it's actually performing a function. I was smitten by lots of lovely smells and luxurious feeling creams, but they often did nothing more for my skin that a basic cream half the price and without the expensive extra ingredients.
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The simpler the better. Choose products without large amounts of alcohol, fragrance, essential oils. Go back to basics. Certain ingredients just work - glycerin, lactic acid etc - they have been clinically proved to do X, Y or Z, and have probably been around for years. Google around, look at ingredients lists, find out what the absolute staples of decent mositurisers/toners/cleansers are and then make sure you're choosing products with these ingredients in them, and not too many added extras. Don't be fooled by marketing spiel: there is no evidence that, say, triple-milled pearl oil or blue lotus flower extract have any benefits. You're just paying for a company trying to woo you with a fancy sounding ingredient.
- Be wary about trusting blogger recommendations or products endorsed in magazines or newspapers. Chances are they're in some sort of financial or mutually beneficially arrangement with the company they're promoting, so think twice before believing what they write.
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Simple routines work best for most skins - dry, combination and oily. I've had all of these three different skin conditions over the last five years and found that in each case, the simpler the better. Perhaps if you have a genuinely 'normal' skin type (lucky you!) then you can have an 8 product routine, but for most of us this really isn't helping. So: Get a decent cleanser and a decent moisturiser. Focus on these, first and foremost, and then add in (one by one so you can see whether they make a difference) a toner or a serum or any other extras that might target any particular skin complaints.
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Double-cleansing, in the sense of one cleanse to remove makeup, one to wash your actual face, makes a lot of sense. You don't need it if you're not wearing makeup or SPF, but if you only cleanse once with makeup on your face wont actually be properly cleansed. Some cleansers might be better suited to taking off makeup and others to washing your face, but work out what works for you as there is no hard and fast rule. You might find you can use the same cleanser for both steps.
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Face wipes/micellar waters are NOT the devil, although they shouldn't be your only cleanse. I frequently use face wipes or micellar waters for the 'first cleanse' at night and then wash my face properly with water. They're practical and cheap. Balm cleansing can be a lovely, effective and luxurious step in a skin-care routine, but more the time or cash poor - I've honestly found that there is no visible difference when I use Garnier Micellar Water (£4) than when I use Emma Hardie (£35) as the first step in my cleansing ritual.
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Pharmacy brands (like Eucerin, Vichy and La Roche-Posay) are better formulated and more functional/'to the point' than many more expensive brands. They conduct more research before formulating products, and don't waste much time going for swanky packaging, advertising and smells and bells. That said, I've tried bad products by all these brands, so they're by no means the definitive answer, just a general good option to explore.
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Learn to 'read' your own skin, to assess whether its dehydrated/sensitive/spotty etc, and then tweak your routine accordingly. Do what feels right for your skin - if something is working for you but has terrible reviews online or loads of alcohol or other such maligned ingredients - stick with it! Why change it if it's working for you?
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Think holistically. Often it's not the products that are the problem. Before chucking your old moisturiser and going out to buy a new one, ask whether there are lifestyle changes you can make that will have more of an impact: hot baths, diet, air conditioning, exercise, fluid consumption, general health. Address your skin more holistically before looking for the miracle cure in your products.
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Don't waste products - pass things on. If you've bought something and it hasn't worked out for you - why not pass it on to a friend, daughter, mother etc. and see if it works for them. Alternatively, repurpose your products - if an eye cream does nothing for you, use it up on your hands. In the long run you'll save money, and you'll feel less regret about splashing money on useless products.
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If you have acne/dermatitis/psoarosis go to a GP or dermatologist. You wouldn't trust Clarins to sort out a throat infection or any other medical condition, so why would you expect a beauty brand to provide expert medical advice on a skin condition. Go to the GP and get a prescription or recommendation for medically-tested, tailored products. These will contain the same ingredients that you might find in beauty brands, but without the frilly extras.
And finally, these things were true for me personally (but wont necessarily be true for you):
- I love the idea of me sitting in a facemask on a Sunday evening. In reality I'm cleaning the kitchen, catching up on work/emails and spending time with my family. I never use masks or peels or any of the 'one off' type products i bought. They sit gathering dust on the shelf. In fact, beyond face moisturiser, cleanser, hydrating toner and lip balm, I don't really use any of the skincare extras I bought - no liquid gold, no over-night treatments, no oils (although some might use them in lieu of a moisturiser).
- I don't need a 'day' and 'night' cream but have just the one which I use for both. I do see the argument for having two, but personally I don't.
- Eye creams are just more expensive, smaller pots of exactly the same bunch of ingredients in a face cream. I have repurposed all my eye creams on my neck and won't ever buy an eye cream again.
- acid toners seemed to exacerbate my spots and I now avoid them altogether. Friends have found the same thing.
- Most hydrating toners are useless, but find a cheapish one that doesn't irritate your skin and it can be a useful makeup base
- water sprays are nonsense and completely useless (e.g. Vichy/Avene Eau thermal etc.)
- no targeted spot cream made any difference to the size or speed of disappearance of my spots. And trust me, I tried EVERYTHING. See point 15 above - if spots are really bothering you, go to the GP.
AND, here is an initial list of 'raved about' products that I tried and didn't rate:
Caudalie Eau de beauté
Dior rose lip balm
The Body Shop camomile cleansing balm and oil
Most Omorovicza products (apart from the charcoal cleansing balm which was nice but £££)
Sunday Riley active eye cream
Clinique 3 step program (most of the skincare is rubbish imho)
Zelens - fine but overpriced
Most expensive brands from Cult Beauty/ Space NK e.g. Revive, Algenist, Goldfaden, Strivectin
Eve Lom cleansing balm
Oskia renaissance cleansing balm (meh)
All the Diptyque skincare range I tried
REN glycolic mask; Oskia renaissance mask
Clarins lotion cleansers (so many better alternatives for a fraction of the price)
ALL expensive cleansing wipes
Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream
Any/all creams designed for stretch marks/cellulite/fat - none of them work and its frankly immoral that brands play on women's insecurities to tout bs products that evidently don't work. At best, some moisturiser might help the appearance of your skin, and keeping your skin in a decent condition will help with the natural fading process of stretch marks, but for that you only need a basic, budget moisturiser.
I could go on for days... (Sorry for the already mammoth post!)
Let me know if you disagree with this (I'm sure many of you will!) Clearly these are my own personal findings and won't be true for everyone.
Likewise, feel free to ask about specific products - chances are I've probably I tried it and have an opinion on it!