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 ?

True, A mere mortal might say buying. Or using.

Chardonnay, I’ll make sure I edit my next post according to your style guide, then!

Oh no, please! You can tell us where you sourced it as well.

Chardonnay; have I annoyed you?

No, you made me laugh.

Oh ok, that’s good

I have been reading this with interest, I stopped my routine when feeling ill and my skin looks miles better!

Hepburn I love the use of curated, it implies a boutique collection of personalized high end bespoke items! Better than my collection which is more 'slung in the basket at B & M'

Are there any oil cleansing experts who can give me a simple user guide? I have ordered some nice almond oil to start oil cleansing but don't want to mess it up!

Jojoba oil is the best for oil cleansing. I use that first- then use this one mixed in. From Beauty pie. This is an emulsified version / so turns to a milky consistency.
Both those products remove my eye make up too!
I finish with Hada Labo cleansing wash.
Then the rest of my routine.
Which contains Tretinoin. ( vit A)

I love the “curating” thing

I always come back to REN, their products work for my skin. And Dr Haushka

I tried liquid gold and it gave me a few red blotches on my face that never disappeared again . I tried retinol, and my face went bright red and felt like it was burning.

I tried creams for dry skin that clogged up my pores and caused spots.

But I have dry sensitive skin and it needs something!

I now avoid anything with mineral oils/petroleum jelly, and anything harsh

So ReN it is. My dad who is 83 nicked my eye cream he gets eczema around his eyes and that eye cream is the only thing that helps.

DD gets eczema round her eyes. I will get her some Ren eye cream.

Does anyone recommend a good sunscreen? I find them quite greasy. Thanks

Idolovechocolategimmygimmy
I use Invisible Zinc Tinted Daywear Spf30 for everyday and Sun Bum Spf50 stick on the beach (doesn't sting like buggery if it gets in your eyes).
I'm in Australia but I'm sure both available in UK.

I use that beauty pie cleanser too! It's very nice but I also like La Roche Posay Toleriane. It's great for my rosacea skin. LRP is as high end (lol) as I've ever gone and then I joined beauty pie. They do a retinol which encapsulated (think that's right) so it's not as strong. I couldn't use Vit C but this retinol has made the biggest difference to my skin.

Also rate LRP for spf. I pat it on over makeup.

My mum says this. She reckons the skincare industry is the biggest con of all time. Her skin is beautiful and she doesn't put anything on it - not even sunscreen and she lived much of her life in a hot country (but avoided sitting out in the sun). She also says it's more important to monitor what you put in your body rather than on it. I have a sneaking suspicion she's right although I do wear moisturizer mainly because I love the smell and feel!

I also think its a nice con. My teenager thinks she needs loads of products or her skin will be bad....

Big*

Her skin is beautiful and she doesn't put anything on it

Everyone is different though. It's possible lots of people really do need multiple products to have clear, young looking skin.

The bigger con is the idea that there's something wrong with not having perfectly clear/young looking skin. The beauty myth, basically. It's a real money spinner.

Exactly -- we're all different. For years, I could get away with a minimal routine but not so anymore. After even a few days of taking care of my skin, I can see the difference.

Interesting thread, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I actually thought that all these skincare products may be more of a harm than help because the fewer ingredients the cosmetics consists of- the better and lately the lists of ingredients are HUGE.

I am a massive hoarder of beauty products and am also addicted to things like M&S beauty boxes and have had a beauty advent calendar for a couple of years. I also used to buy any magazine with a freebie. So I have a lot of stuff.

I started using it all a few months ago. And my (dry, not at all sensitive) skin has never been better.

At the moment, I use:

Garnier micellar water to take off make up - only in the evenings
Clinique take the day off cleansing balm
Pixi tonic (usually glow) - only in the mornings
Pixi vitamin C serum - substitute this for Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair serum in the evenings
Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair eye cream
Estee Lauder day wear moisturiser in the day or Murad vitamin C night cream at night

Also wearing a primer (Ren perfect canvas at the moment) under my make up

I've never used so many products so regularly! What will I do when I run out?!

Well I am pretty lucky with my skin and don't have too many wrinkles yet. I went through a phase of using retinol and at the time thought about how healthy this was for my skin and if it had cancer inducing properties. Anway, I stopped using it and now all I use is aldi caviar cream during the day and at night if I remember. I wash my skin with tee tree foaming facial wash and the odd face mask from time to time and that is it. Its rains wear i love a lot so we have very little sun so in the winter i stick with the spf in the aldi moisturiser. When the sun heats up, I will apply a sun loting to may face factor 50 and above.I have had people ask me what I use on my skin but its very little. I don't even wear foundation.

oh and im 52

Like you say, you’re lucky @neveradullmoment99 . Some people can get away with minimal routine, others can’t.

I too wonder whether we’re all “overworking” our skin in terms of products and treatments/routines.

I cringe when I think of my youth and overdoing Appri Scrub 😞