Skincare Ingredients

[Pupsiecola]

Following on from the skincare routines post, what ingredients do you make sure you include in your products, for example, Vit C, Vit E, Hyaluronic acid?

TIA

Ohhhkaaay, thread just took a turn through the dairy whilst I was out!

Help yourself to some Donkey's Milk, the Asians and Cleopatra love it.

Oh dear, I just remembered adding half a bottle of red top to my bath as a teenager after reading about Cleopatra. My DM wasn't happy about the waste.

Or was it silver? Don't think it did much either way.

A couple more questions from me (sorry to derail the milk tone). If you do your evening routine earlier in the day, say 5pm for example, would you top up with anything before bed? (I know CH has just done a blog post about this but I'd already had the question in my mind).

Secondly, I've seen vloggers recommend that you spray the Serozonic (or whatever they're using) then apply serums on top whilst the skin is damp. Is this what you do bo?

(I skim read the two posts about vloggers in the beauty industry from a few months ago the other day and I'm a little more cynical about it all now lol).

I do my PM routine early eveningish as later on can be disrupted by toddler DD2. I usually do the layers up to a final night cream, and depending on how skin is just before bed, might plaster on a layer beforehand. This is not any skincare know how on my part - just a pragmatic response to trying manage to actually take care of myself undisturbed by kids!
I use serozinc but have usually blotted it before serum stage...be happy to do otherwise if it was more beneficial tho. I find it quite 'wet' as a spray so have assumed serum would penetrate better if skin was drier but this might be wrong....

That's what I figured re wetness of serozinc too yong. I still think I'm in the getting to know my skin phase and need to be better at figuring out what it needs when etc. I'm getting on well with all my products and my spreadsheet routine lol.

Oo good pupsie - same here. I might get brave soon and post some non-identifying skin shots. Since I've upped my game a few notches, skin is looking much better. Long way to go though!

Good to hear yong. I should have taken some before shots lol.

Are you following Dr. Sam Bunting's videos on specific ingredients? Very timely...

www.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/skin/science-of-skincare-what-is-vitamin-c/

Oh please derail the dairy talk! The smell of milk makes me retch so the thought of it everywhere on my body

Picked up a skinfood moisturiser in TKmaxx to try. No idea what it'll be like!

Can you eat it?

In all seriousness though, Weleda's Skin Food is a brilliant lifesaver, especially with winter dryness or after a long haul flight. Great as spot treatment for dry patches (all over the body), works well as an (overnight) mask too. Also like it as a hand cream.

Oh, I never used Skinfood as a mask. Very interesting! How do you do it?
It saved my life a few weeks ago when the weather got colder and I had a few very rough weeks and some very dry patches on my arms.

No I haven't seen those vids pupsie though read Dr Sam's MN post and learnt a lot, will check it out.

Ah it's not the weleda one (although I own that too!)

My "farmer's tan" chest area has definitely improved. I've never taken good enough care of it before either with taking my skin care down that far or SPF.

Bo and others, what do you make of the Paula's Choice Vitamin C? Not sure I would buy The Ordinary one again. I've been browsing the PC website and I do like the idea of the boosters that you apply before or mix in with moisturisers. I have the Niacinimde one and it works well. So I might get the PC one once this one is used up...

I've never used anything by Paula's Choice. The whole brand ethic/ PR puts me off, but that is just me. Besides if you mean the booster it's only 20ml... How many % is it?

Got an email about a new NIOD over night mask this morning. Sadly it contains TWO types of silicones (incl second ingredient). Just goes to show how important reading the INCI is!

I hear you aurora. I wouldn't discount a product that suits me on that basis though but I agree it will likely stop me exploring what a brand has to offer in the first place. It's 15% btw.

Skin food mask- steam with wet flannel (reminder not the best for the sensitive skinned among us) then apply thin layer of skin food and leave for 10 mins, then wash off with warm flannel. I've used it as a thin sleeping pack too but that's really in an emergency only.

I tend to go by the rule of always buy skincare you can afford to use down to the boob area, if you're using it frugally on the face only you really can't afford it. Neck area is often neglected and the first thing to age because of it.

I'm not familiar with C15 booster, (they can't sell anything over 10% Vit C here, I can't seem to find it on the UK website either, can you link?). The first reviews that are coming in say the PC Niacinamide is somewhat better than the Ordinary Nia but enough to justify the price discrepancy. I only really like PC for her BHA, the rest contains a lot of silicones and in recent times it's moving very much away from its original ethos of transparent universal skincare at affordable prices (the company's been sold twice now, prices are rapidly increasing with a very clear for profit model, PB used to bash Asian Beauty now all the new products seem to be inspired by it) not to mention the many issues I have with their PR/bashing of other brands by measuring it against their own model. If there was a better BHA or even just as good out there at a higher price I'd be buying that purely on the back of their business m.o.

If I was going to be spending serious money on Vit C (which I find really really hard since it's so cheap to make and usually oxides before you finish it) I'd go for the Skinceuticals one (I was halfway to buying samples, 5/6 little bottles that equate to a full bottle for around $50 USD (shipped) from ebay from a reputed reliable seller with fresh batches before the Ordinary showed up) or I'd get the NuFountain one from Amazon.com that's made fresh and pretty close in formulation to SC. Obagi is another possibility but they have various ones (some sold only in Derm offices) and I'm not a huge fan of what else they're putting in there at that price point.

I saw that email too, Aurora, all the silicones and the nonsense about plant 'stem' cells really put me off as well as their allusion to cell communicating ingredients... ugh, lost a bit of respect for NIOD.

Take your points re PC. I hadn't really looked into them at all before but a brand's MO is important of course. You're right too, only on the US site. Maybe I will stick with The Ordinary for now.

Dr. Sam recommended those two you mentioned in her Vit C video bo.

Above should but not enough to justify the price discrepancy.

I'm not always 100% with her approach since she comes at it from a medical practitioner perspective that isn't always easy to replicate without the supervision and broad knowledge at home (and not everyone can afford access to see a cosmetic dermatologist) but I think in general Dr. Sam is good with product recs that will suit most. I'm very curious on her opinions on The Ordinary too but I think that series was most likely made before that launched.

botemp - thanks for that mask tip! I always have a tube lying around.

Agree with botemp re vitamin C. It's very cheap and it's self life is indeed limited, though from what I understand, because The Ordinary 23% is a water free suspension they worked around the oxidation. Someone posted this guide a while ago which is quite helpful. Like I said I have been using a sample of the Skinceuticals for a few weeks now in the AM. Don't see any effects yet, but for me Vit C is a long term "investment".

Should read.... I give up

I've realised I've been using too much product as in volume. I just applied using dots in various places and had too much left over in my hand. That'll save me some pennies :-)

Serum is only about a pea sized amount, moisturiser only a slight bit more. I think the general indication for cleanser is one pump, or coin size (though all the different currencies will trip me up here) unless the manufacturer states otherwise. Oil cleanser always needs a bit more ime since you're using it on dry skin. Facial oil only ever about 2-3 drops. SS is loads more than you think and that's just the face (1/4 teaspoon or about two stripes on two separate fingers if it's a firmer type), neck and cleavage area needs even more (three fingers).

Yes, the Ordinary one is a stable solution but also the reason I suspect that 23% is a bit of creative maths as some efficacy must be lost in the process (23% is way high, 15-20 is the ideal, I'd have to find the research again but as far as I'm aware Vit C stops having any effect over 20%, incidentally my issue with SH's piece in the Guardian).SC Vit C serum would be far too harsh at 23% in their formulation which while somewhat unstable is pretty indicative of active % on the skin (rather than in the formulation).