Anyone turning their back on ‘anti - aging’?

[omBreROSE]

I’d always used organic/simple products... my skin is fine ( l’m in my mid 40’s)
Anyway, l got sucked into watching blogs/ YouTube tutorials etc... l wanted to try everything to delay the inevitable. I’d previously been sensible and realised there was nothing, bar botox/fillers that might make a difference.
Yes, there are the retinols etc... but *they need careful monitoring and can just set your skin off - whenever!
I’ve been trying one Ordinary product after the next, on ( what l think now) is a journey on to nothing!
Seeing as only the retinols can penetrate the skin - maybe everything else is just not worth it?
Emotionally or financially?
Has anyone thought they’d try to ‘fix it’ and then thought “bugger it!”
If you did, what is your skincare routine now, and what did you do previously?
I’m leaning toward a nice simple moisturiser and a good SPF.

I'm standing by my theory it's all a money making con. I actually think some stuff makes skin worse so you have to keep is it it. I use soap and water and a moisturiser occasionally. There is no way I would use BOTOX...I'm really into long term effects of things.

To the poster above me. YES

I've just ordered some Ordinary stuff as DS gets married this year and I want my late-50s skin to look its best but have been shocked at the Facebook groups where young women (20s and 30s) are spending a fortune, using really complicated regimes and agonising over minor imperfections. I have always used facial wipes and whichever moisturiser was cheapest at Boots or Superdrug and don't think I'm doing too badly

Matt it sounds like you actually did a fair bit...
Good on you for stopping and finding peace.
Had your skin changed much after dropping those harsher treatments?
I know you said it was happier.

Ivor although the Ordinary is great - l made the ‘mistake’ of joining a FB Ordinary support group.
It cluttered my newsfeed and l became way to interested in my skin!

*too

I dont really bother, I am 48, I dont expect to look 20 again. I have very sensitive skin and eyes and just use a cream cleanser and Simple cream. I dont bother with SPF, its not needed in the UK. (I have problems with vitamin D deficiency) I do use it abroad however. I have never smoked and am on HRT, I am a size 14 so my face is nicely padded out, I dont really have any wrinkles at all. Cannot understand these folk having fillers and botox, they seem to get carried away and just end up looking strange and who are they doing it for? themselves? to attract men?

I'm looking forward to embracing my lines. I have terrible genetics and I already look middle aged at 30 so I don't have much choice! But the rhetoric around ageing has always struck me as being really weird. Just the whole idea of 'anti-aging'. We treat it as some kind of disease to be fought rather than a natural part of life.

People can do what they want to themselves, but the idea of looking more and more like some frozen doll as I grow older just because society idolizes youth...nah.

Personally I'm looking forward to growing out my pure white hair, and I'm going to make sure that when I'm in my 80s I dress as battily as possible (lots of neon colours, jewelled cat-eye specs etc).

i must admit after watching some blogs and facebook, about The ordinary over a year ago now, i did buy few products too many really, but i will carry on with the retinol as it the only thing that has been proven to make a diffence over time.

That's interesting about The Ordinary. I've never used it but I'd seen some of the threads and wondered why on earth they'd made all it so complicated. But the penny's just dropped - if you have to ask questions and talk about it then they can bombard you with more stuff and suck you in even deeper. Clever.

Same here really...a good moisturiser and spf. I think all this talk around anti ageing can be quite depressing so I tend not to pay much attention to it (or money)
!)

A couple of months ago I stopped using (expensive)moisturisers & serums and starting using soap & water to cleanse with a sun cream (La roche posay) as a moisturiser/sun cream in the morning and a capsule of evening primrose oil rubbed into my face before bed. My work colleagues noticed my skin was looking great & asked what I was using. They simply wouldn't believe I had ditched the whole cleanse/tone/serum/moisturise etc routine! My skin definitely looks better a bit 'neglected'.

I'm 36 with salt and pepper hair and a mallen streak*

I think Mallen streaks are so cool. SiL has long dark wavy hair with a mallen streak and she looks so sophisticated and confident.

My grandmother had one and my sis ( who dyes her hair) says she has one so I'm really hoping I get one. It is the only thing that will make me grow my hair long again.

I have no choice but to opt out because there is no spare cash for Botox fillers etc. Poor person beauty budget here, I use Aldi wrinkle cream, I don't know if it's any good, it seems to suit my skin, but I don't know if it's stopping anything.

It must be amazing to have the budget to indulge in different beauty treatments, but I honestly believe and I say this on every age related thread, most people just look their age, some people may look well for their age, but they will look their biological age.

It always makes me laff when women in their 20s and 30s say they are looking forward to ageing gracefully.
I think " yeah? Wait til your face starts to melt down your neck"
Sign me up for a face lift!
I don't really do creams and whatnot though. I have really sensitive skin so.just use natural oils and very basic simple day cream.

I have used all sorts of products and at nearly 60 I don't have any real wrinkles. However this could be more to do with the fact my skin is literally sliding off my face.

NHS are keeping an eye on my brows as I am getting to the point of having to lift them to open my eyes

Think washing a woolen jumper in the sink.

Lift it up and it's all stretched out without a wrinkle

omBreROSE

I didn't actually do that much compared to a lot of women. I used various acid and enzyme treatments which either lead to a shiny waxy layer on my face as my skin produced extra sebum to compensate, or rosacea and contact dermatitis because they were too harsh. I developed brown sun spots on my forehead as I work outside, and I was very photosensitive after all those treatments. I used retinol once (very low dose) and my skin reacted very badly. My scalp was always sore and itchy because of dying my hair, even with the gentlest brands. Now I use cetaphil cream cleanser in the evening, twice if I have worn makeup which is a rare occurance now, followed by La Roche Posay toleriane moisturiser. In the morning I splash with water and use La Roche Posay spf 50. My skin is dewy and calm with no more oil slicks or flake red patches.

I have to admit to feeling a bit sad for a while once maintaining my 'looks' became more time consuming, expensive and problematic, but I eventually just shifted my expectations. A woman who looks her age is not a failure or displeasing on the eye. It doesn't have to mean that she looks tired or washed out. I'll probably sound like a dick saying this, but I used to be very pretty by society's standards, which was a nice experience most of the time. Now I'm not because of my very grey hair and giving up on the makeup, but I don't really care as I have decided to find beauty in those things for myself and sod what society expects of me.

For me, there’s a line a won’t cross and that’s Botox, fillers, cosmetic surgery etc...

I’m early 40s. I just focus on looking well presented rather than looking young:
Haircut and colour
Clean teeth and nails
Eyebrows threaded

I follow a skin care routine and use The Ordinary retinoids

I dress well but am not super fashionable.

I eat well and try to maintain a sensible weight.

I run 3x a week and do cycle classes and yoga classes.

Thank you for all the detailed responses- very interesting!

I took care of my skin, don't smoke, drink and always used factor 50 in the summer and a lower factor in the winter.

Up to 10 years ago I didn't think I needed to worry.

Now I am seriously thinking of a full face lift.

Either that or one day I will be having to hold my brows up to see. Menopause is a bitch

I, too, have come round to thinking that it is all a massive con. Every woman that I know looks more or less their actual age, regardless of what they do. Obviously, some are 'better presented' than others...but I don't know anyone who actually looks younger than they are. I agree with PPs that a decent haircut, flattering clothes, regular exercise, healthy diet etc...make the most difference.
In fact, since the soap instead of shower gel thread (and being a total convert), I have been toying with the idea of also washing my face with soap and seeing whether there is any real difference...

I also think it’s all a hoax. I only put cream on my face so it doesn’t feel dry. I don’t think it makes me look younger or older. But I need a higher fat content cream because my skin is getting ever drier.

I have also never used any cleansers, toners or soap on my face. I am 48.

My dm and ddad said that of course I looked my age because what else does look like? So in that regard we all look our age from babies to centenarians.

That's not to say you can't look good or bad at any age. I've never been a looker but I still want to look the best I can (within budget lifestyle constraints that is.)

I wish I didn’t care. My face gets treated to expensive stuff (under £20) occasionally but most of the time I use pretty basic £6-10 creams. I’ve just bought Indeed Labs Retinol Reface because it gets good reviews and was on offer in Boots.

It’s my body that’s aged badly, I think. Menopause put the lbs on and it’s so, so hard to get off. I’m on HRT at 55 so, maybe that helps. I walk bloody miles with my dog, at least one and a half hours a day. And yet, I see women my age who don’t bother and they’re perfectly happy instead of the constant worry that they don’t. quite. measure. up 😐