Do we really need all the skincare products professionals claim we need?

[ChampagneWorries]

I hate my skin. I have dark circles, lines round the eyes when i smile, spot issues etc…

So i have had numerous facials by a beautician who looked at my face and told me what my skin needs.

So the conclusion is I’m to …

• Pre Cleanse
• Cleanse
• Use a daily exfoliant
• Apply anti aging eye cream
• Toner
• Serum
• Moisturiser

All of the above twice a day. These are what a Dermalogica skin trained beautician as advised. All the products above are around £60 each.

I still get spots, redness, blemishes etc.

So i decided i would try an even more premium brand La Mer…

So i bought their cleanser - too harsh
Used their lifting contour serum (it was fine but i still got spots) its also really expensive
Used their eye cream that claimed to reduce dark circles - i didn't notice a difference.
Bought the creme la mer and soft moisturising cream ( they take a while to sink in)

I still have spots, blemishes, marks on my face etc..

So now i have bought La. Prairie Skin Cavier White eye and face cream.

This claims to reduce redness, dark circles, blemishes the lot…

Now i ve been using this a week and now i have sore areas on my face and my skin feels tight. Its extremely heavily fragranced.

Im 33, yet people often think im around 37. Dark circles run in the family.

My mum is very obsessed with not looking old and is always comparing herself to people her own age who she feels look alot older than they are. This obsession with not looking your age has really rubbed off on me over the years.

So do you all use toners, serums etc every day?

Im thinking of just using a cleaner and then moisturiser and thats it, will i regret it in years to come?

It's lovely on my skin, feels nice ,it's cheap and a great base for make up. But makes my forehead itch on day two of using it. Such a shame as it's fab stuff.

Could you work with some of the products u already have but simply the routine so you are not overloading your skin? I have always used Dr Hauska for skin. I tried Sisley once and was very effective but very expensive . I buy beauty products from TK Maxx and I look at the ingredients what I aim for is without all the nasties in . So alchol and perfume are high up I avoid. As well as parabans etc. Aloe Vera is exceptional for skin that needs calming or is damaged u can buy the pure gel in healthfood shops again avoid with added nasties

MakeMathsFun
This is so true! I remember I had been hill walking getting lots of fresh air and woman on beauty counter is suggesting something to tone down my rosy cheeks and then next selling me blusher to put on top of that. Plenty of hydration in food / drink, activity that makes your skin perspire therefore cleanse and sleep as best u can if really ideally swimming in the salty sea these things are going to help the skin . Wear a hat on a sunny day , sunglasses whenever u can. SPF its about balancing your skin so it can perform well I think its overloaded from too many products and applications. Woman with the best skin just used water but I live in a city and am not brave enough for that. Apparently your skin creates oils overnight that are good for your skin so Salma hayek doesn’t wash with anything but water. She can afford the best of the best uses just water.

One of the most obvious job creation issues in skincare is cleansing - in my view you only need specialist cleansers if you're wearing make-up. I do reach for my pot of cleanser on the odd day when I wear mascara, because I don't like the panda eyes I get if I leave it.

Most/?all of the research and development in skincare and makeup is marketing to work out what we could be made to want (I have a friend who does this and I think it's fascinating and complex), and making it feel and smell nice to use. When we actually want something that works, e.g. a really hefty sunblock, they don't feel half as nice on your skin as the posh skin care does, because it does a serious job.

None of this is to say we're being fools if we try this stuff. Occasionally something helpful comes along and there are things I wouldn't be without - eyebrow grooming is about 300 years ahead of where it was when I grew up and people look a ton better as a result (though I've never understood why people use pencil on eyebrows rather than mascara, does anyone else put mascara on their eyebrows like I occasionally do??) and make up is fun to play with. I also have a secret belief that one day I will genuinely find a foundation I like the look of in actual daylight as opposed to electric light.

I wash my face with water, and occasionally dove soap. If I've worn make up I used liz earle cleanser. I use L'Oréal moisturiser in the morning. That's it really. Mid 50s, skin is clear but beginning to show signs of age which I don't mind really. I don't drink or smoke, which probably helps.

If I only use water on my face my skin gets really itchy, then oily, then spotty. If I use anything like dove soap on my face it reacts or goes horrendously tight and dry. I had to stop using Nivea hand cream at night (my hands get dry and the skin cracks open in winter) because if I touched my face with my hands while I slept I got a blotchy face.

Just water or soap and Nivea doesn’t work for everyone.

I developed sensitive skin in my late 50s and I'm as certain as I can be that it was a result of 'upping' my skin care game and trying out too many random products. It's left me with a deep and lasting suspicion of the whole beauty business. Lord knows, the fashion industry is flawed too, but at least with clothes you know pretty quickly if something's shit. With skincare, you often can't tell until it's to late.

I now use as few products and ingredients as I can get away with: moisturise with avocado or wheatgerm oil, SPF, then cleanse (evening only) with almond oil and a flannel. Where possible, I buy the oils from a grocery counter so that there's no perfume or surprise ingredients. I don't wear foundation any more.

I realise some people enjoy the whole whole process of choosing and applying products (just as I enjoy thinking about and trying on clothes). But having learnt the hard way, I would still advise going carefully, introducing new products one at a time and then waiting a couple of weeks before trying anything else.

Totally agree with you OP. I've spent so much money on products in the past... I've just been away for a month or so, and due to travel etc, wasn't paying so much attention to my skin, and it was looking really good! I'm in my 40s but still prone to spots when I don't eat healthily, and also have rosacea, but that's mostly under control.

Anyway, to my point! I now cleanse only in the evening, with Lush Ultrabland or Inky List Oat Cleanser, and maybe put a touch of medication on my rosacea bumps. In the morning, I just do a quick wipe with a damp flannel, moisturise using CeraVe and then put a touch more rosacea cream on, if required. No point in double cleansing (etc) as I don't wear foundation or work in a dusty place!

@aiwblam

I don’t have any products or makeup at all. I wash my face with soap when I’m in the shower and that is it. My skin is a a bit oily and I have a couple of marks - one tiny scar from an accident. But I just look like a person. If more people just looked ordinary, people would not feel this pressure to spend time and money on unnecessary stuff to look like some supposed ideal.

I’m in my mid forties and I look it. Not pretty, not terribly ugly. Just very ordinary. I don’t do anything to my hair either. Wash it, brush it. It is again completely ordinary.

Millions of men do nothing to their skin, they look fine. I don’t understand how the skin care/cosmetics industry has grown into such a giant.

hooray!! this x100 we need to be clean and comfortable, that's all! I find soap more than adequate for cleaning (and no plastic) I use a cheap moisturiser with SPF or my skin feels dry in winter that's all- no one has commented on my skin positively or negatively, which is absolutely fine

I wash my face with water and clean flannel. Olay night moisturizer. In the morning Olay spf moisturizer.

50 now. No spots, normal lines.

@ChampagneWorries I think having a robust skincare routine does help - alongside other factors such as genetics, hormones, etc. I don't think that you need to spend a lot to get good results. What is key is that you use the right products for your skin.

It's not as simple as saying all products are a rip off or not, many factors at play.

Yes you can get amazing quality cheap products
Yes some people only need soap and water and have nice skin
Yes many people only need a basic routine

But
People's interpretation of good skin varies, my mum doesn't mind having small patches of hyperpigmentation but for me I would be unhappy.
I focus on my skin so I feel confident without makeup.

Many people have complex skin types and they need to be aware of different ingredients that can really help them.

Some of us like nice routines, I have a stressful life and it's a key part of my unwind routine which I enjoy, it's self care for me.

I’m constrained by only buying cruelty free but I do think a lot of pricey skin stuff is bollocks. When you look at these beauty editors plugging products on tv I always look at the and think well if that’s as good as it gets with professional lighting & a make up artist I’ll pass thank you.

The only things we can say for certain will actually make a difference is retinol/tret and sunblock for ageing & if you break out go to the Dr for antibiotics.

I would scale back OP. I had huge problems in my 30s with my skin and it turned out to be the expensive products I used. I suddenly started reacting to stuff. Cheap emollient via the GP sorted out my skin wonderfully and since then I've cut back on what I use.

So I cleanse (not every day), use a good moisturiser (but without SPF because I am sensitive to many of the ingredients in SPF - the GP warned me about this and she was right), occasional night cream and exfoliation at least once a week. This works for me. I do buy high end products that work for for me (Murad) alongside cheaper stuff. I now introduce one thing at a time for a period of months and decide if it is worth continuing after this. It is liberating

I don't regularly wear make up.
Never sunbath.
Drink 2L of water a day
Only get my face wet in the shower.

It's genetics, it really is.

Well i thought i would update….

So about 2 days before originally posting i had stopped all skincare apart from the dermalogica ultra calming cleanser and the la mer moisturiser.

So twice a day i use the cleanser and moisturiser.

No pre cleanser
I have exfoliated once
No eye cream
No serum
No toner

No nothing!

My skin has really calmed down. The tightness, soreness has gone. Hardly any spots (i do still have the spot scaring though)

We don't need any of it. Not a single thing. Sun protection is a good idea although a hat is just as good. Most men use nothing other than soap and water. Their skin doesn't fall off. A 60 year old woman's skin looks no better than a 60 year old man's skin. My skin looks no worse than yours even tho I use bugger all on it. Any one who has luminous skin has good genes or surgery. Any treatment that made a difference would be classified as a medicine. So no they make no difference and we don't need them

I had a really nasty allergic reaction to something a couple of years ago which left my skin red, thick, scaly and blistered. My GP is also a dermatologist and she told me that once my face had calmed down to use as little as possible on it. Now I use a moisturiser with an SPF in the morning (usually the Aldi one with SPF 30) under my makeup, Nivea Soft at night and I cleanse with a L'oreal face wash (Fine Flowers or something!) and a flannel. Before my allergic reaction my skin was spotty, dry, full of clogged pores and just pretty knackered looking. Since I stopped using serums/acids/exfoliation/masks etc my skin looks a million times better. I can't remember the last time I had a spot and it never feels tight or uncomfortable.

I think that when it comes to skincare less is more.