How do you find a good skin care range

[Londonlassy]

All my life I’ve used bits and pieces from different skin care ranges and never been consistent with my application. I feel my skin is not the best it can be because of this I want to find a brand that’s I can commit to and I use their products for all of my skincare. I just feel that every beautician and staff at a department store skin counter only spruiks there brand ( understandably )
I want to know how did everyone find the skin care range they swear by I just don’t know where to find honest impartial advice on skin care products. I

Trial and error.

Also, I read SkincareAddiction on reddit for tips and reviews. I have found that way more useful than anything else in the last couple of years.

Now I use a mixture of La Roche-Posay and The Ordinary with a few other random products thrown in.

I'm still trying to find the perfect sunscreen for my face though.

It's not important to use an entire brand. You just need to find the products that suit your skin. Look at your skin concerns, then go from there.

The Ordinary is a good choice for some products if you are looking to tackle anti aging and problem skin.

Lot of trial and error and reading up on ingredients. Doing things like googling every ingredient on the package, then working and remembering what works for me and what doesn’t.

Agree with Stumped that’s it’s unlikely you’ll find one range you’ll buy from exclusively. It is possible though to find ranges you get a few things from, and who might be your first port of call for something new.

For example:
Evolue- I buy their hydrating serum and gentle cleanser as staples. Also quite like their eye cream when I can get it (from the US as it’s stocked here). They are cruelty free, fragrance free, keep everything very simple and it really works for me.
Garden of Wisdom- really like their salicylic and azelaic acids, so I’ve got a bottle of their glycolic acid to try as well as some of their retinoids.
BloomTown- they do really nice clay masks, made with glycerine so they don’t dry out and crack. Really liked the charcoal one, so I got some of the blue clay one to try and it’s fab too.
Chantecaille- love their mascara, gel blush and illuminator, so I keep an eye on their seasonal highlighters/eye shadows and buy one every now and again. Great colours and formulations mean you only ever need a tiny bit
Ere Perez- love the eye pencils so tried their highlighters and lip tints. Again, great colours and ethos, Quite sophisticated colours and finishes, always glide on.

I got sucked into the trap of finding a hero product and thinking I needed to try everything in the range though. Now, I will try something else from the same line on the basis of something great, but if I don’t like the additional thing I’m unlikely to go much further.

Alpha-H and Glossier are good examples of this. I love Liquid Gold and couldn’t live without Boy Brow. But they really are pretty the only things from those brands that I really rate. Glossier Lipgloss is kinda ok but a bit sticky, the Alpha-H Liquid Gold wipes, body cube, scrub and mask are also good, but not as good as the original.

I second what a few have said in that not many people have a 'brand' but do have holy grail products from a few brands. Personally I've wasted money on all sorts looking for my holy grail products, beauty boxes and beauty advents were something I used to trail a few hundred products but it wasn't until I realised what I wanted for my skin that I found what works.

For example I wanted to tackle a few fine lines I've recently noticed and rehydrate my skin. So first step I googled other peoples routines, Caroline Hirons cheat sheets, watched YouTube videos and joined beauty groups, looked at reviews of every product I considered, it gave me a good idea of the ingredients that should work on my skin, and I had a list of my hg's I wanted to keep. Of everything I watched and read the ordinary cropped up a lot so I emailed them with my skin concerns and got some core products so I had the basics covered, I'm now looking at more products to add in as what I've used so far has been great for my skin. But I still use another 6 brands for cleansers, toners, acid toners, spf and hydrating mist spray so whilst I love the ordinary right now, I'm also loving Emma Hardie moringa balm, alpha h Liquid gold, bodyshop balm cleanser and queen of Hungary mist (can't think of the brand).

Sorry for the ramble, hope some of that at least was helpful and good luck. Sounds like a lot of work but it's really not if you're interested in getting a skincare routine that works. Another thing, Caroline Hirons says to do the evening routine when you get home, that's been a game changer for me as night times are exhausting. 5.30pm is bra off, make up off, skincare on time!

Thanks everyone pinkypurple I really like doing the night routine in the early evening definitely going to try that. Now to start doing some research

I would definitely agree with trial and error! I have gone across the ranges, mixed, matched, tried all one brand, and have settled on this routine:

AM :

Nivea Daily cleansing gel wash (in the shower)
L'Oreal Age Perfect eye cream (the only one I have found that you can also use on eyelids)
Aldi Rose oil
Estee Lauder Daywear moisturiser for preference, but also like L'Oreal Laser Renew or Olay Total Effects, so happy with those if £ are limited

PM :

Eye make up remover - either Clinique Take the Day off or L'Oreal one for waterproof make up
Micellar water - Garnier or Superdrug B
Cleanser - Nivea 2 in 1 cleanser/toner
Aldi Rose oil
Night cream - using up Body Shop Aloe at the moment, but like Estee Lauder, Olay Total Effects or L'Oreal Laser Renew as well depending on funds

I've never settled on one range, trial and error, reading blogs and on here does help. I don't do my evening routine at 5.30 as I go out again after that but mid evening say about 9.30 is still better than at bedtime.

A friend raved and raved about Paula's Choice. I bought the 2% BHA. It was amazing. I spent a long time reading the skincare advice on the American site and learned more than I ever wanted to know about skincare.

TBH I could just use Paula's Choice and be happy but now I use that, some Cerave and bits and pieces of other stuff but in a much more informed way without feeling I'm being ripped off, having been lulled in by the packaging or the marketing or ooh I have to have a serum! or whatever the in thing of the moment is.

Go by the ingredients rather than the brand. I have oily/spotty skin so did a bit of research and found that using an acid toner a few times a week, non comedogenic make up and moisturiser and vitamin c and Alpha Arbutin would help clear my skin and improve pigmentation. I also started using niacinamide from the ordinary and so far so good.

You need to do some research into the ingredients you need for your skin concern and go from there rather than be loyal to one brand

I'd feel like using a range would be such a waste of all the lovely products out there. I also very much doubt that every product in one range would be the best possible match for me, even if it was really expensive.