Are we all ruining our skin with our so called skin care ?

[Elasticatedwaist]

I’ve had time on my hands today and ended up idly reading up on skincare ingredients. I always use a cleanser , moisturiser sometimes a serum but without really knowing what’s in them . So I looked into the ingredients ( I know I’m late to the party !)
At first I read about how vitamin c , hyaluronic acid , vitamin A etc etc are good for your skin. Then I got a bit bored and googled ‘ is vitamin c actually bad for your skin ?’ And did it For all the things that were supposedly good . By the end of it I didn’t want to put much of it on my face and it got me thinking that we might all be doing more harm than good with all these products .
I know uv protection is important but still , I mean , I’ve seen many men ( and some women ) who wash and go with fine looking skin .
What do you think ?

I very nearly did just that. I developed sensitive skin some time ago and, while I can never prove it, I'm convinced it was largely down to overloading my skin and ignoring all the warning tingling signs.

I now use as few products with as few ingredients as I can, although I always include a sunscreen.

Coconut oil. And sunscreen. Keep it simple.

My Mum has never used skincare but washes her face every day with soap and a flannel. She is 74 and has great skin!

She has not travelled much so has not been exposed to really strong sunlight either.

Me on the other hand

I have a simple routine, cleanse with a cream cleanser or Bioderma micellar water. Sometimes I tone. I use a lancome eye cream and either Origins moisturiser or a special one for sensitive skin. No acids, no chemical loaded anti aging stuff, nothing strong or that promises to make me look 20 again. I have lines around my eyes from dyhydrated skin, I've had very dry skin around them since I was about 20, apart from that I think my skin is pretty good. It's exceptionally soft with the odd wrinkle. I'm 41. Everytime I've tried anti aging stuff I break out in exzema.

So yeah, I think people do ruin their skin with all the chemicals they use. Apparently Emma Stone uses olive oil for everything!

I wonder this; my forehead is constantly dry and no amount of moisturiser will hydrate it, but I'm going to not moisturise for a few days and see what happens. Apparently all the chemicals and stuff we use strips our skin of its natural oils, which makes sense when you think about it.

Not surprised - when I get a really bad flare up, olive oil is one of the few products I can tolerate. I'd use it all the time if it wasn't for the salad bowl smell (tried the light stuff but even that was a bit much). So normally I switch between almond oil, avocado oil and wheat germ oil for cleansing and moisturising then a sunscreen on top.

Up until Christmas I was using lush 9 to 5 cleanser and rosehip oil . At Christmas i was gifted a few skincare products , Estée Lauder etc and I started to feel like my skin was looking worse and felt a bit stingy . So , I bought a range of Avene products thinking that they would be good as they are for sensitive skin which mine seemed to have become . I got the ones for hydration figuring that was also my problem but every morning I’ve woke up with tight dry feeling face . What I now realise Is that putting these hydrating humectants on ( glycerin in avene) in a dry climate ( winter , heating on etc ) can actually have the opposite effect .

This is timely. Usually fairly basic with my skincare but I branched out and got some vitamin C.
Skin looks 'good' just after applying but felt very nippy. And now it's fine a bit bumpy and spots worse.
I feel sucked in by the hype ☹️

I used some coconut oil once when my eyes flared up after using a face powder that my skin didn't agree with, my god, the next day I looked bloody awful, like I had been punched in the face. What saved me was Bephantham nappy rash cream. I use it all the time now when I'm hideously dry or have a reaction to something. It's great on and around my lips too.

*feeling a bit bumpy

Salad bowl smell 😁

Following with interest - I had fantastic skin my whole life up until recently (even as a teenager!), hit my mid 20s and it all went downhill. I’ve been trying various skincare products but worried I’m over doing it now!

I bought some Pixi glow after seeing the hype but it's really sting-y and harsh feeling, am not convinced it will do my skin and good at all.

My skin is definitely better for using skincare products, but it's been trial and error to find things that work for me. I do well with sensitive and hydrating products. Korean and AB stuff - and in particular Tony Moly and Benton - suit me well.

Every time I get sucked in to having a skin care routine and using products my skin gets worse. I tend to find that just using water is best and if I'm tired I don'teven bother doing that

You never know what to believe , this could be rubbish but it put me right off Vitamin c . www.oumere.com/blogs/news/the-3-reasons-why-vitamin-c-serums-are-bad-for-your-skin

I recently swopped from a full range of products to only warm water and a clean face cloth and my skin looks so much better for it. Much less breakouts, less dry.

Tret and sunscreen .
Can’t go wrong.
You can add niacinamide/ Vit C if needed too!
Most of the crap people shovel on is a waste of time.

I make my own cleansing oil and moisturiser. The only skin product I buy is lip balm.

For sunscreen I use oil as well unless I know I am going to be out all day in the sun then I will use a regular one.

My skin is so much better now. All those product are unnecessary. I wish I had realised sooner.

I must admit to looking at the concentrations of some of the stuff for sale and back the fuck out fairly quickly.

I have severe allergic reactions to actives in skincare. My skin is now permanently sensitised and I used everything carefully. They all started by making my skin look fabulous though!

I particularly can't use glycolic acid, retinol and vitamin C. Don't attack your skin barrier, treat it nicely with ceramides, glycerin, hyaluronic acid and the like.

The harshest products for me (all gave me wonderful results to begin with):
Alpha H Liquid Gold
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair face and eye version
Indeed Labs vitamin C cream
Oskia Renaissance Mask
Paula's Choice retinol
PIXI glow (or any glycolic)

I read an article from a dermatologist who said all you need is unscented dove soap, a clean flannel for exfoliation and SPF30.

I have finally settled on superdrugs own vitamin e cream, it's fabulous for me and my skin is finally feeling settled. Nothing fancy but it works for me.

I wash my face daily with soap and have a facial every couple of months. And use SPF50 on hols. I don't think my skin has suffered from the lack of daily pampering.