If you're heading towards 50, come and share your skincare regime please!

[Ponymagic]

Mine is non-existent. Facecloth and water at night, micellar water and moisturiser in the morning. I exfoliate once in a blue moon, use Clarins Exfoliating Toner now and again. And go through phases of using Lancôme Cream Cleanser but really that's about it.

I'm getting older and had best start giving my skin more time. I've noticed that my foundation sits in patches on my cheeks and seems to absorb into my chin. I've been using Benefit Porefessional. Need to sort the foundation issue but suspect skin condition is the problem.

Can anyone recommend products or where to start please?

Thanks.

Agree about serums. I always read the adverts as I assume that, if they really did anything significant, they would be shouting it from the rooftops. But all they ever undertake to do is 'minimise the appearance of wrinkles'. Which isn't to be sniffed at but any old cream will do that.

Well... I am 45, and have a really pared down skin regime. Admittedly, I have pretty well-behaved skin - though this might change as I get menopausal! I do an oil cleanse, but with a pretty inocuous oil e.g. almond, avocado or grapeseed and remove with a hot cloth twice and then a cold cloth. In winter, when my skin is drier I add a few drops of said oil onto my skin and then put sunscreen on. In summer, sunscreen with out drops of oil. I might restart the Eva Fraser facial exercises too.

I find what I put into my body has more effect on my skin tbh, Since doing low carb, high fat, my skin is really well-tempered, I do eat a fair amount of oily fish, nuts, avocados, good fats etc.

I'm mid fifties and the thing I find helps the most is taking Perfectil hair skin and nails plus a fish oil capsule every day. I fall off the wagon every now and again because I'm too lazy to keep the routine going and I always find that my nails start to break and my cheeks are dry. Within a couple of weeks of starting again I look at my nice strong nails and calm skin and go "oh yes that's right, the stuff makes my skin and nails better, I remember" which lasts until I fall off the wagon again...

I also wear a sunscreen SPF50 every day and have done for about 25 years. I do think this makes a huge difference if you keep it up. I have virtually no lines and people generally think I am a lot younger than I actually am. Need to start using it more regularly on my hands and arms though.

which sunscreen do you use? Do you use it under foundation? I used Clinique City Block for decades but it's now much more yellow, so I've recently swapped to E Lauder Crescent White (sounds like toothpaste) spf 50 but it's quite thick and greasy and makes more foundation a bit oily. I prefer a zinc oxide based sunblock rather than chemical.

I use La Roche Posay Anthelios gel formulation as that doesn't give me spots which a heavier formulation does. I have tried lots of different ones and thought the Eucerin tinted high SPF cream was pretty good but I prefer the LRP one. I found Clinique city block a bit heavy, haven't tried the Estee Lauder one, but I have very fussy pale Nordic skin so anything at all pore clogging is guaranteed spots for me.

The LRP Anthelios is slightly tinted so doubles as an everyday makeup base. If I am going out I do just stick foundation over the top which seems to work fine

I normally use Ultrasun Face - SPF50 in summer, 30 the rest of the time. To be honest, I don't shop around much - if my skin tolerates a product then I stick with it.

I'm in my early 50's and pretty skint so I don't use anything expensive at all. I use Aldi Lacuna moisturising face wash in the shower and moisturise with Nivea soft. At night I use Aldi face wipes for sensitive skin and moisturise just round my eyes with E45 cream (I find it too heavy during the day). My skin is clear and although I do have the post menopause sagging just beginning, I'm wrinkle free for the most part. Don't know if this is luck, genes or my routine! Lots of people are shocked when I say I'm in my 50's - I'm not vain enough to think I look massively younger, but probably late 40's. I'd also say that you don't need to spam
No huge amounts of money - I have in the past and my skin is happier then it's ever been with my bargin products.

Sorry, should have checked before I posted - it should say:
You don't need to spend huge amounts of money.

I like a creamy spf but I don't like tinted because they are all so dark and darker than my foundation (I'm always the palest shade in any brand except Nars.) They make my skin dark before putting foundation on.

I've looked at LRP but find the labels really confusing- all in French- and am unclear which to try.

I almost bought Ultrasun recently but it was completely sold out on JLewis website and I assumed it was the skiing lot who'd bought it all up.

I will use up the Lauder as it was very pricey- £42- but I don't need any moisturiser under it. I am also finishing of their Daywear lotion spf 40 but it has a weird pearly finish and is slightly blue. It's also quite greasy and foundation slides off.

Am I the only nearly 50 year old that just uses water? I don't have particularly dry skin, so don't moisturise every day, and when I do I just pinch a bit of DH aqueous cream. I don't wear make-up. I don't have skin that burns easily, so can be a bit lax with sun cream, but wear factor 30 when I water it.

Can anyone talk to me about eye cream? I've never tried one that doesn't make my eyes sore, so just use my usual moisuriser - not sure there's been any visible negative effects!

I'm early 60s and my skin is loads better since I started double cleansing with Body Shop camomile butter and a hot cloth.I alternate this with Akin Rose and Geranium toner according to how I feel on the day.I use serum and a Aldi Caviar moisturiser and sometimes add SPF 50 if it's sunny. At night after double cleansing I use either Bravura glycolic acid or Lactic acid peels or Indeed labs Retinol.I might occasionally use an Alpha H glycolic scrub if I want to polish my skin.

This is making really interesting reading - thanks ladies.

Polly - am hoping to get to Debenhams with a CD counter tomorrow so will definitely try the Star foundation. I want skin and a lovely polished finish like that of the model on the video on the CD website .... however, she has youth on her side which I certainly don't!

ThenLater, your post is really informative! I might try to find a glycolic acid toner in Boots and see how my skin reacts. I use a Lancôme moisturiser and have a lovely Lancôme night cream but rarely bother to use it .

Off to google some of the products mentioned!

Okay, so the Clarins Exfoliating toner languishing in my bathroom cabinet ticks a box .... time to get it out again!

Serums ... hmm mixed reviews here. What makes a good serum? I had a Decleor serum once upon a time ... it smelled lovely!

I think serums just make your face a bit more slidey. I can't use a serum and a moisturiser during the day, I'd be like a sweaty oil slick.

I was very cautious about acid toners/creams, having had a really bad experience a few years back with Clinique's Turnaround cream which turned my face bright red, sore and angry looking for several days, but have had no problems with the Nip & Fab pads or the glycolic souffle cream (although the latter does prick a bit when I apply it).

I use Clinique Dramatically different moisturiser in the mornings, then cleanse with Liz Earle in the evenings, and put on a new night time serum I've recently discovered made by a small company called Nura Skincare. It smells lush, and it seems to work.

Shotgun I get milia from most eye creams and they don't seem to do anything. A total waste of money. I'm genetically programmed to get crows feet but I've always thought that they look sexy -in the sense that you have to earn them by living and laughing a lot.

Cupcakes fussy Nordic skin sounds like my skin. I get clogged pores from everything, cannot really use most moisturizers, and throw mild rosacea and the tendency to burn easily into the mix. Salicylic acid used sparingly works for me, it helps to combat clogged pores. Because of the rosacea proneness (redness/broken vein subtype) I cannot use scrubs or hot cloths or cleansing brushes. Daily sunscreen is a must.

I'm a few years off 50. I use protect and perfect serum twice a day and then the day or night moisturizer that goes with it. If I wear foundation, I wear one with spy 50. But I only wear it for something special. Otherwise spf 50 moisturizing sun cream instead of the boots day cream. For cleansing I use the boots beautiful skin face wash stuff. I'm no oil painting but my skin is fine.

Mrs S - I think acid toners have different stuff in (glycolic/sacylic acid) than Clinique Turnaround, which has AHAs. I think. I can't use AHAs either - redness and horror results.

I think eyecreams were another scam, invented in order to scare us into buying two products instead of one - the serums of the 90s I use a dab of almond or wheatgerm oil (that's my normal moisturiser). But then I don't understand why people worry about crows feet - I think they look pretty cool.

Apparently it's down to squeaky clean skin. However you like to achieve this is up to you. Spend money on good Vitamin C and Retin A serum. Everything else after that is just cupboard filling crap so I have been told (I have lots of it). Moisturiser is simply to prevent dehydration so no point spending ££ on expensive ones. If you are looking jowly a dab of filler in the cheeks work wonders.

Staying out of sun definitely helps. So do having good genes. I'm a bit more sceptical about giving up sugar etc. I did this and didn't see any difference in my skin.

That reminds me, I gave up sugar in all its forms for several years; for a couple of those I also eschewed wheat and dairy, which helped with the digestive issues I was having but not a jot of difference to my skin. Actually, I also went without tea, coffee and alcohol and can confirm that this makes no difference to the appearance of cellulite. Drinking or not drinking water also effects zero change ime.

I quite like an eye cream.

I started to get dry patches on my eyelids a few years back, and I prefer to use an eye cream, rather than just general mosturiser, because they seem to be formulated for delicate skin around the eyes, they soak in quickly, and are less likely to irritate the eyes (I wear contacts). The one I use at the moment (Boots No.7 P&P) has a lovely soothing effect, and you only need a tiny dot of it.

I'm sure a regular moisturiser would do the job, but perhaps not as well.

Serums - well, I use one of these too - I understood that, being water-based, they deliver concentrated "goodies" to your skin more effectively than a moisturiser. Is it all hype? Who knows?

Sorry, wrong thread