I’m going to The Ordinary store tomorrow

[bonzo77]

What shall I buy? I’m 41, skin is rather uneven (sun damage, just back from holiday so looking particularly bad) and a little dry. Starting to get some fine lines round eyes and forehead. I’m going to Covent Garden so anywhere else worth going to round there for skin care? Bear in mind I’ll have my 3 year old with me who I shall bribe with a trip to the London Transport Museum.

I love The O, but my skin is different to yours - very oily - so not sure i can really recommend much. Buffet is a good all rounder anti-ageing serum. The staff will advise you and its so reasonable, you could buy quite a few things.

They are great on routines for specific problems on their website - that way you'll know some of the names before hand.

Start with the basics - vitamin c, retinol (love theirs in squaline), one of their acids for exfoliation and a serum or oil for moisturising.

A vit c, granactive retinol emulsion and rosehip oil are a good start.

I have just discovered this brand! I'm using the AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution a few times a week, and my skin has never looked better!

Also, Hyaluronic Acid 2% +B5 as a moisturiser.

Love it, wish I'd used it sooner!

Oh wow, lots of detailed responses. Thank you.

@NottonightJosepheen which factor 50 do you use? My current moisturiser has spf30 but I don’t think it cuts it really.

@NottonightJosepheen do you put makeup over everything in the morning? I wasn’t sure if the rosehip oil would get in the way of that. Also what sunscreen do you use?

@

I use rosehip at night. It’s lovely but wouldn’t play well with makeup over the top

I always have lovely skin in the morning when I’ve used rosehip

Op be prepared to queue to get in!

@IndieTara really? I walked past a few weeks ago and it was empty.

Definitely the AHA/BHA peeling solution (it’s red)! It really smooths and evens my skin out like nothing else. It’s quite strong so maybe don’t leave it on too long at first.

I went 4 weeks ago to Covent Garden had to queue for 15 minutes

Oh no.

Definitely the buffet serum as a good all rounder antiaging option, hyaluronic acid will hydrate your skin further. Vitamin C helps with sun damage I think?

Report back from my trip. There was no queue at the shop (I did get there at 10am on a weekday though, that may have helped). About an hour or so later I walked past their other store at seven Dials which also looked empty. I got the products in the picture to start with and will go from there once my existing oil / moisturiser/ toner run out. Thank you for the recommendations! Most excited to get started...

Forgot to add pic

I have the 23% vit c and the 8% vit c with alpha arbutin. Both are very sticky/oily and I couldn’t layer anything over the top of them. Neither are particularly pleasant to apply but I find they do the trick and make my skin look really good so I use them at night

@NottonightJosepheen no real words of wisdom. The woman listened to what I wanted and what I didn’t and didn’t do a hard sell on me for extras. Which I found refreshing. I too like the layers thing, being able to choose what you want. To get the same ingredients at the beauty counters would have involved spending much more and ending up with some stuff I didn’t want. I also like that the stuff is fragrance and colour free (my skin is not sensitive, it’s just personal preference). Oh and silicone free and packaging at least partly non-plastic. Let’s hope it works.

@cloud1183 yes, the texture will take some getting used to, but at least it’s not slimey like some things I’ve tried, and seems not to make my face feel tight, yet. I’m just posting waiting for the second layer to dry so will see how my usual moisturiser goes on later.

Once my current oil is finished I might try their rosehip one. And once my
Moisturiser is finished an SPF of some sort.

I’ve been following the same skin care routine with only minor changes for about 10 years, so needed a change!