Help with skin care from Boots please

[Workyticket]

I'm 42 and have no skin regime to speak of.

Currently washing with Dove soap and moisturising with some stuff from Superdrug.

I'm (hopefully / maybe) getting married in July and would like nicer skin.

I'm going to start drinking LOTS more water as my skin is always better when I do.

I've got £40 in Boots points so makes sense to order from there

I have small dry patches down under my chin, down the side of my ears, on one eyebrow and one on my hairline.

T zone is fine.

I'd love recommendations rather than buying random bits please.

Did you buy those things in your basket @Workyticket?

@Apileofballyhoo

Did you buy those things in your basket *@Workyticket*?

Not yet, I'm still adding to it

So morning:

• Cleanse (CeraVe)
• Wipe with Pixie glow on a pad
• dab hyaluronic on damp skin with fingers
• weleda skin food warmed up then smoothed on

Maybe build up one at a time. Have I missed anything?

Weleda’s too rich for daily use on your face. A daytime moisturiser like Olay Total Effects would be better.
Tbh I’d use Eucerin Urea Night cream instead of Weleda on my face.
Sali Hughes in The Guardian is good for advice.

Pixi glow is trash sorry

Use La Roche Posay / Avene

Get skin and me for prescription tret

Wear sunscreen. All you need

You need SPF if you're going to try acids but you should be wearing it anyway. I wouldn't buy the pixie glow, it's very overpriced for what it is.

The CeraVe is a good shout. I'd try their hydrating cleanser first as it's gentle. Their moisturising lotion in the big bottle is great.

La Roche Posay, Eucerin or Avene for SPF, or possibly Inkey List mineral though I think boots are overpricing it.

Vichy Vitamin C serum in the tiny bottle should give you a bit of a glow coming up to the wedding but it's quite expensive so watch out for offers. You might like to try it out a couple of months before so you know it doesn't cause spots or something.

The hyaluronic acid serums - superdrug do one that's called pure or something and it's very good value indeed. It's mentioned on the fact sheets on the Fantastic skincare threads here. I'm not on the UK so I can't get it.

Boots have retinol on the no 7 brand, also la Roche Posay, called Redermic, Avene do a serum called physiolift I think (watch out because I think the range is called physiolift but not all the stuff has the retinal (slightly different form of vitamin a) in it. Indeed Labs do a thing called retinol resurface which I got on well with. You absolutely must wear SPF daily if your using exfoliating acids and or retinol.

For now I would just buy the CeraVe cleanser and moisturizer and the skin food for the dry patches and save your points till you decide what you'd like to try next. The CeraVe moisturising lotion has hyaluronic acid in it anyway.

Weleda do a light version of the the skin food, if you find it too heavy. Personally, I'd buy from the No7 skincare range - they often have some good offers which would maximise your points.

La Roche Posay and Eucerin are on offer on Irish Boots at the moment. The LRP shaka fluid is a popular option for SPF. The Eucerin 5% urea is a good shout above. That is very lightly exfoliating but also very moisturising.

Keeping it simple OP:

Morning
Cleanser: Cerave cleanser is good - theres a gentle one that would do you
A chemical exfoliant: you've gone pixi atm, which is fine, maybe not the 100% best but fine. Best is Paula's choice BHA but more pennies. You could skip this step if you wanted or do it at night.

Serum: HLA (confusingly although also an acid, it's not an exfoliant) - The Ordinary have a great reputation.
Moisturiser with SPF (missing atm)

Night
Cleanse again
The retinols people are suggesting go in here - they have a very good evidence base for anti aging
Weleda skin food (thicker night moisturiser)

Welda skin food is fragrances and full of essential oils that over the longer term can sensitize the skin . Also not great to use when combined with retinoids .

Paula's choice skin perfecting liquid is the BHA mentioned and you can pick up a small bottle for about a tenner on look fantastic or beauty Expert or feel unique. But using a gentle cleanser and better moisturiser might sort out the dry patches for the moment.

Don't start a lot of new things at once, you won't know what's doing good and what's causing problems. Also your skin needs to get used to things like acids before you add on something else. Don't buy expensive stuff till you're sure that's what you need/want. So much overpriced crap out there, with actually irritating ingredients. Good point above re the weleda too.

@stevalnamechanger

Welda skin food is fragrances and full of essential oils that over the longer term can sensitize the skin . Also not great to use when combined with retinoids .

Have you got a link or anything about this? I have been using Skin Food on my face for a long time now with no issues and absolutely love it, but am thinking about starting retinoids soon and I don't want to cause any issues by using them with skin food? Have had a look and Caroline Hirons seems to really rate skin food but then I'm never sure if she is totally impartial!

Don't know if OP has bought now, it was me who recommended the Pixi Glow but if it's in stock at boots (it's always out of stock everywhere I feel like!) then the ordinary glycolic toner is really good as well and much cheaper!

Re skin food, I remembered earlier I had some 6 or 7 years ago and felt it was drying my skin more. Didn't repurchase for that reason.

Aldi do a dupe of the pixi glow. It's a bit weaker iirc but might be better as an introduction.

I know the prescription suggestions are well meaning but I wouldn't be trying out prescription anything with a wedding potentially a few months away. Most of what I've read about the hardcore skincare suggests there might be some adjustment time and a fair few months before seeing any results. I wouldn't want to risk a bad reaction that takes time to correct.

Last time I was in Aldi they still had some of their glycolic toner (pixi dupe) from the beauty special buy event. I grabbed a couple of bottles for £3.99 each - might be worth a try to see if it suits your skin before forking out for the pixi one?

Thanks everyone. I've not chexked out yet.

Now wondering if a whole kit from the ordinary might be better?

Cleanser
Toner
Hyaluronic
Moisturiser

Plus maybe the weleda skin food for my fry patches?

I think that sounds like a great place to start.

@Workyticket

Thanks everyone. I've not chexked out yet.

Now wondering if a whole kit from the ordinary might be better?

Cleanser
Toner
Hyaluronic
Moisturiser

Plus maybe the weleda skin food for my fry patches?

Yes, that is a good idea I think. Although have just looked and the ordinary glycolic toner is out of stock in Boots, it's always out of stock, which is such a shame! I also used a moisturiser from the Ordinary and didn't like it at all, but the thing is everyone is so different and other people will really like it! It's a bit of a nightmare as you say, I have only settled upon my stuff now after years of trying different stuff!

The other thing you want is an SPF which is another minefield! I would get shunned by style and beauty, because I just use bog standard Boots Soltan factor 30, not even the face one just the normal one (and I use it on top of skin food! ) but there are lots of SPFs you could look at.

I feel like I am just confusing you more now, it is a minefield!

Agree the Cerave cleanser is great.

I use that and Pixi Glow tonic.

Also use a vitamin C serum in the morning and retinol in the evening.

I use Altruist facial SPF50 it's £8 on Amazon so not a massive outlay if you don't get on with it.

I tried La Roche Posay althelios after seeing it recommended on here but it stung my eyes a LOT so I've gone back to Altruist.

Eucerin SPF50 is good too and I got mine from Boots:

www.boots.com/eucerin-sun-oil-control-face-protection-spf-50-10242719

CeraVe is much better than the ordinary, and much better value too, per millilitre. And I can't emphasize enough, you cannot use an acid toner without using SPF. Your skin might burn short-term, but you'll do long term damage too. Acids are not a day time thing for that reason, though BHA/salicylic acid does not have the same sensitizing effect afaik. The Altruist SPF is another good shout.

It's really better to get your skin used to the cleanser, moisturiser and SPF before you add anything else in. You may find the dry patches clear up when you're not washing your face with soap.

Just my personal opinion and I know others that get on great with it but I found the ordinary squalene cleanser a bit rubbish and didn't rate their moisturiser either. Much prefer the CeraVe ones

OP, it's always a good idea to start with the most gentle products no matter what the aim is. If your skin is dry because of washing with soap, that might change by using an actual cleanser, provided it's suitable for dry skin. A light moisturiser might be enough with a gentle cleanser. If your skin is still dry then try a heavier moisturiser. If it feels moisturised but looks like it's not plumped up or the moisturiser is just sitting there, try adding in a hydrating serum (lots of these have hyaluronic acid which basically just attracts water, glycerin and urea are similar). If it still looks dull, or you have uneven pigmentation, vitamin C, also if you want more glow. The only one I'd bother with is Vichy tiny bottle. Dullness and texture can also be helped by an exfoliating acid. These loosen the bonds between dead skin cells sitting on the surface of your face. Finally if you're concerned about fine lines and texture, a retinoid - forms of vitamin A. Retinol has the most studies, I listed the products available in Boots above. Avène has retinal as I said, which may be less irritating but still effective. If you go outside Boots Medik8 crystal retinal is likely to be better than any of them. The Medik8 retinoate has been highly praised by the op of the fantastic skincare threads, but it's much more expensive. The prescription Vitamin A is called tretinoin.

Vitamin C, exfoliating acids and retinoids can all irritate and damage your skin so you have to proceed with caution. Your skin barrier is not in tip top condition starting off, so I'd work on those dry patches first.

Hey! Thought I'd pop back and update!

LOVE the Cerave cleanser

Pixiglow tonic - it's a bit 'stingy' which I'm not sure is normal? Only used it a couple if times

A friend bought me a hyaluronic from amazon which is OK but I've noticed Cerave are doing one now which I might go for.

Dry patches are much better. Going to buy a better moisturiser as the Olay Total effects one I'm using isn't great.

Thanks again for all your help!

oh - planning on getting a vitamin c thing too. Is that for before hyaluronic?