Help me with a skin routine?

[ImInStealthMode]

Hello wise MNers.

I'm looking for advice on a simple skin care routine ahead of my wedding in 6 months time.

I'm 38 and to my shame have never much bothered with my skin, it's all been ok and 'if it's not broke don't fix it' but I'd like it be better than ok for the wedding.

I don't wear much make-up day to day, less since I stated having my lashes and brows tinted regularly. I'm a 'wash my face in the shower with shower gel' type generally.

I already have a lovey Murad exfoliator I was gifted with advice to use once a week, but otherwise aside from a few bits (Ren tonic, The Ordinary retinol, neither of which I use often) I don't know where to start with what I need for an easy routine that I'll stick to!

Would prefer not to spend fortunes but don't mind paying for good quality.

TIA!

I look at some posters routines and think "I'd have to get up at 3am to do all that"

Mine is a : wash in the shower with a Konjac sponge and a liquid face wash or a solid cleansing bar
Moisturise ( I have some Aldi and Superdrug used up the dregs )
I bought an Aldi serum, it gave me massive spots (I;m 55 !)
I don;t wear make up but if I do , I use a balm+cloth
Otherwise night cleanse and cream

Some people pick from different ranges to get their ideal product .
Obviously a skincare range will recommend you to use theirs and they're designed to work together .

I spent two weeks in hospital a couple of years ago , on a drip, got washed maybe 3 times (I know ) I thought my skin would look hellish , it looked fine !

Into the New Year I've bought an Alpha H set - cleanser , the Alpha H Holy Grail lotion, serum and moisturiser .
So far , so good
Very simple to use , good results .

I really rate Paula's Choice. There's a routine finder on the website, you answer a few questions and it gives you recommendations for a completely basic routine or an enhanced routine. I noticed such a difference in my skin when I started sticking to it (especially my eye area which started to look less dry and wrinkled).

If you wash your face in the shower, I'd choose a cleanser that you can use in the shower too as it's less of a faff. Depending on how much you want to spend, The Ordinary squalane cleanser or Kate Somerville goat milk cleanser are both good. (You may want to use micellar water and cotton wool first if you wear make up.)

Then a couple of times a week I'd go for a gentle acid toner post-cleansing. Pixi Glow is good, or the Superdrug own brand version. This will exfoliate and make your skin look fresher. You can build up to doing this every day.

Serum next. The Ordinary "buffet" serum is a good all rounder. If you have more to spend, a vitamin C serum in the morning and Estée Lauder night repair serum at night would be pretty transformative.

Then a moisturiser with hyaluronic acid purely for comfort. Sky's the limit budget-wise, but I like The Ordinary "HA moisturising factors" or if I'm feeling flush I use Drunk Elephant La La Retro whipped cream.

You could also have a look at the Drunk Elephant starter kits, there might be some in the sales at the moment.

Just seen you already have the Ren acid toner. That's a good one!

You only "need" to do five things

Morning:

Cleanser- anything you like. Goes down the plughole. Can be cheap as chips.

Vit C- will brighten

Hydrate- again, anything you like. Its job is to add hydration and keep it there, not make you look 20 years younger

Spf50

Evening:

Cleanse

Retinol

Hydrate.

Any other serums/toners will only do something if they contain actives, so if you want a toner, use an acid one as above poster suggests. Alternate it with the retinol.
Hyaluronic acid is the one of the main ingredients in almost every moisturizer and serum out there. (Estée Lauder ANR, Clarins Double, Buffet, etc all HA based) Jury is out as to its effectiveness topically. You can buy it on it's own. I have Hada Labo gold and while I'm a bit meh about it, I then do admit to noticing tighter skin if I don't use it. It's a good cheap hydrator-. Some people just use a HA instead of a moisturizer.

The routines above are all good.
If you are looking for a holy grail product, for me it has to be a quality vitamin c serum. Retinol is fab but can take time to work, most moisterisers and serums are ok, but not earth shattering, bar some of the prices!
A good vitamin c would be Paulas choice or the beauty pie capsules, timeless, if you can source it, or skinceuticals if you have £££ to spend!

If you are on SM follow Caroline Hirons or invest in her book. Also on FB follow the Caroline Hirons freaks page. The market is huge and without guidance its a massive stab in the dark. Theres also a trading/buy/sell page if you make any errors. Definitely worth a look

Nadine Baggott is also worth a watch. That's where I learned everything I said upthread and she always gives wide price ranges from £2 Superdrug Pure serum to £££££ Skinceuticals.

Thank you all! In the interests of being a bit skint after Christmas and this New Year resolution having the potential to last about 3 days I just hit the Boots sale and now have Vitamin C day cream, Vit C & HA night cream, exfoliating tonic and cleanser, a rose quartz facial tool, and Protect & Perfect serum, eye cream and cleansing water

On inspection of my bag of things I have but never use I also have

The Ordinary Retinol
The Ordinary Buffet serum
Aforementioned Ren tonic
Clinique custom repair serum
Vitamin E overnight serum
Alpha-H liquid gold rose (unopened )

So I'm thinking cleanse, tone, moisturise and then by night retinol, eye cream, serum, moisturise again??

I'll do some trial and error to see what I like and use, and then come January payday look again. Will also look at all the brand suggestions above

Alpha H Liquid Gold Rose - yes that' what I have .
I used it on a cotton pad on cleansed skin and nothing on after it ( I use at night twice a week) I thought I;d wake up like a prune but so far ( fingers crossed) I haven't

I did try The Ordinary
Only a couple , Squalene cleanser and a moisturiser .
They're fairly cheap and small so you don;t end up with a huge bottle you feel obliged to finish
They stained my pillowcases yellow ( fine once I stopped using)

The Inky List are good , I bought the Salacylic cleanser for my DS and sometime borrow it

Also just ordered 40 washable cotton pads, to remove the lazy excuse that 'it's wasteful' that I give myself using disposable ones

I second The Ordinary serum The Buffet. It has lots of high quality ingredients in it and saves the faff of using multiple products. It always leaves my skin feeling hydrated and glowing, I use a moisturiser afterwards.