What do I need for my face?!

[0nwardsAndUpwards]

I'm 30 years old, slightly dry skin, don't tend to get many spots.

I'm beginning to think my Simple light moisturiser won't cut it forever and I may need to up my skincare game so I can look 30 forever. Ahem.

What would you all recommend?

I'm 30 too... I really enjoy skincare products so my routine is probably a bit OTT for you but I would say I really like a cleansing balm to take make up and clean my skin, if I've been wearing make-up I do a double cleanse if I have just been in the house I just cleanse once.

In my opinion the absolute best one is eve lom but that's quite expensive so you might not want to pay that - A good cheaper one is the ritual cleansing balm(it's not cheap though haha).

Then I would add a nice moisturiser there are honestly so many out there it depends what your budget is.

I like to use a facial oil on top of that.

And I exfoliate twice a week.

If you let me know roughly how much do you want to spend I can advice on products

Something with a good spf even in the winter, if you wear foundation maybe switch to a bb cream.

Oh and drink lots of water

High SPF every day is the single best thing you can do for your skin long-term – that and never using a physical 'scrub' to exfoliate. They rip tiny scratches in your skin, trap dirt, and exfoliate unevenly.

Acid toners with AHAs like glycolic acid are great gentle exfoliants that help with dryness or signs of aging, and if you're noticing dryness then a hyaluronic acid serum will be helpful.

At 30 you could start thinking about a retinol in the evenings, but if your skincare regime up until now has consisted only of Simple moisturiser, I'd leave a retinol for a bit later on.

There is no need to go overboard with numbers of products or spend vast amounts of money; there are fabulous low-priced brands that have exactly the same ingredients in them as the 'luxury' labels.

The Ordinary is a great starting point for affordable step into proper skincare - and they have example regimens for different skin complaints to help you navigate through their products.

Wash your face properly, use a good AHA acid, a serum, and plenty of SPF.

A hot cloth cleanser- anything will do. I love Liz Earle but I also love Superdrug Vit E.

An acid toner- don't be put off by the word, they are what has replaced those Brillo pad scrubby things of yesteryear. If you're dry then glycolic is a good one. Nip &Fab pads often on offer. One I love costs about a fiver- Olay anti wrinkle toner.

Serum. Vit C will brighten
Hyaluronic acid (on damp skin) will plump.

Moisturiser- anything suitable for your skin. I'd ditch the Simple- their products wrre, like Clinique originally, marketed at, and formulated for, "problem" skin and so were/are quite harsh despite the name.

I love posho spendy moisturisers....but you know, again, anything suitable for your skin type will be fine.

You don't need to spend either on the cleansing or the moisturising (I use Nivea or Astral, though love l'Occitane, Neal's Yard, Kiehl's and Liz Earle) the serums and treatments are what makes the difference.

And as pp has said, SPF 50. Separate to moisturiser and make up. Frezyderm is great as it's also a primer. As is Biore watery essence.

Oh wow! There's some great advice here, think I need to get onto Google and have a look at some of these products

Thank you all.

I found the Caroline Hirons SKincare Freaks Facebook group really helpful.

They're skincare-mad, so there's a lot of jargon and very detailed discussion of things, AND they're also a genuinely lovely bunch who are very open to explaining things to newbies.

I don't try any new skincare products these days without doing a quick search in there to see what they all say.

Caroline Hirons' website is also a goldmine - she has cheat sheets for different skin situations and while she's also an expert, so goes into a LOT of detail for people who want it, it's a helpful starting point for figuring out a routine.