Like @UserError012345 I could likely wax lyrical, so I’ll try to keep focused to things that stand out to me as key! Ultimately different people have different priorities.
So, you want to cleanse, moisturise, and SPF. Those are your core basics. Everything else is to add other potentially beneficial stuff into your routine, according to your wants.
Now you say you have skin that is sensitive/prone to redness and dry. You might want to consider avoiding fragrance (including essential oils) and drying alcohols in your skincare. These are sensitisers, they can make your skin feel sensitive but can also make your skin become more sensitive over time.
An easy way to identify what is in a product, if you’re not familiar with names of ingredients, is to search for it on Inci Decoder (inci is the ingredients list).
For example your the Soap & Glory facial wash contains a number of fragrances. This might be sensitising your skin, as in, generally contributing to its sensitivity, it isn’t always necessarily an immediate and obvious reaction.
Common fragrances and alcohols are generically noted parfum, also limonene, geraniol, citronellol, also alcohol denat (ie denatured alcohol).
Popular ingredients in skincare that a lot of people like to include:
- Vitamin C: great for the morning as can give a glow boost to the skin and also protects against oxidants. There are a lot of different types! Too much to go into here, but they are often serums. But, my fave is Geek & Gorgeous - practically like water, absorbs so easily, good concentration without causing sensitivity.
- Hyaluronic acid: so many things contain this anyway, but it’s a good humectant, so helps to bring moisture into the skin.
- Urea: can be excellent for dry skin.
(There’s loads more but trying to keep it focused!)
You don’t need the jazziest or most expensive products, but rather a consistent effective routine.
Eg, cleanse with a gentle cleanser (you’re just using it to wash, it doesn’t need to contain lots of active ingredients) like CeraVe hydrating cleanser.
Moisturise with something fairly gentle, could be also CeraVe, I also really rate Facetheory moisturisers.
Wear SPF over moisturiser during the day, at least SPF30 (you’d be surprised how often the UV rating is at least moderate in the UK, if that’s where you are).
If you’re wearing SPF then you should ideally double cleanse in the evening to break it down. I use the Inkey List oat cleansing balm followed by my regular gentle cleanser (I use Geek & Gorgeous jelly joker as I like gel cleansers, works better for my oily skin).
Moisturise again before bed.
Once you’re in a consistent routine of morning and evening skincare, albeit simple, then it’s a good time to start thinking about serums, toners etc. First, you don’t want to overwhelm your skin with loads of new products. Plus you wouldn’t be able to tell which changes are beneficial (or potentially irritating!). Secondly, you need to establish a sort of baseline for your skin before determining which other ingredients you might want or need.
The temptation is to jump all in like when someone starts a crash diet, but what you want is to build a sustainable routine providing longer term benefits.
Aaaaand I’ll stop there 