Skincare 'Routine' - Am I doing ok? What else should I be doing?

[KStockHERO]

I've only recently started to really pay attention to my skincare routine.

It's not much of a routine. I wash with a facial wash every morning, and just water in the evening. I moisturise in the mornings with SPF 50+ sunscreen. In the evenings, I use Nivea (the one in the white bottle).

Once or twice a week I'll exfoliate using a silicone exfoliating brush and my normal face wash.

I wear make-up once or twice a week. On the days I wear make-up, I exfoliate in the evenings and use a face mask because I always feel icky after wearing make-up all day.

I have combination skin. I am prone to small hormonal break-outs around my period and my skin can be quite reactive to too much intervention (just gets greasy!).

I'm after feedback on my skincare routine from you S&B experts! What else/different should/could I be doing? Because my skin's quite reactive, I don't want to start lashing on too much product. I'm also very skeptical about the 'Boots Ingredients' range and putting chemicals on to my skin - I went to a talk by a collagen scientist once who said it made logical sense but just didn't work

Thank you everyone!!

Basically the old routine of cleanse, tone and moisturise still applies.

@GettingStuffed That's my kind of inclination. I don't tone ATM. I'm not really sure what toner is or how/when to use it

If you are wearing sunscreen (and well done for that - it’s one of the most important things you can do) and make up then you need to remove with a cleanser rather than water.

But you don’t need to do much. I love skin care so have lots of steps but the basic cleanse, tone and moisturise is perfectly fine. Nothing too harsh. If you skin is reactive try the Curel range which you can get in Boots. Hydrating and soothing.

Too much exfoliating isn’t good and you shouldn’t need to exfoliate after wearing makeup if you remove it properly with cleanser. Some people recommend double cleansing to remove spf and makeup so that might help but be less harsh than exfoliating too much.

You need to remove make up then cleanse.
Don't exfoliate with anything other than an acid toner which are much gentler than they sound.
Everything is chemicals- water is chemicals.

A simple routine:
AM
Cleanse - your facial wash is ok in the morning, though as you say your skin is sensitive maybe something like Cerave would be good.
Hydrate- moisturizer/serum with hyaluronic acid maybe
SPF 50

Evening:
Cleanser- remove make up, hot cloth cleansers are best for this
Hydrate

That's the basics. Nobody needs a toner- at least not the old style toners, but acid toners have replaced the dreadful gritty exfoliation scrubs we all used to use. If you're prone to breakouts one containing a BHA (salicylic acid) would be good.
A vit C in the morning adds glow and protects from pollution as well as offering some UVA protection.
A vit A/retinol in the evening.

These are optionals, but what decent skincare experts will advise. There's no proof that anything with the word "collagen" in it does anything at all.

Watch some Nadine Baggott videos - she has a very good one about the only 5 products we really need, and advised on all price points.

Add things slowly.

I’d use a cleanser that you wipe off with a warm flannel (get lots to wash daily) as that gently exfoliates every day. I like the ordinary squalene cleanser which is really gentle. You can use twice in the evenings to fully remove spf and/or make up.

You can get mildly acidic toners that help gently exfoliate too, I’m not sure which would be best for sensitive skin though. Maybe lactic acid?

This is all so helpful, thank you!

I should say that I do remove make-up with micellar water on the days that I wear it. Then I tend to exfoliate because my skin still feels icky after having it on.

I don't exfoliate every day so if I were to get an acid toner which does the job of exfoliating, would I use this every day? Or every few days? And only at night, right?

Thanks so much for all your advice. I will definitely have a look at Nadine Baggott

I never find micellar water great but if you want to keep using it maybe add in a cream or oil cleanser with a warm wet flannel afterwards rather than exfoliating too often.

I’d use an acid toner two or three times a week max. A lot of people use acid toners in the morning but they are usually using a retinol at night. It doesn’t really matter.

Yes, micellar water is fine as the makeup remover but it leaves a sort of film behind.

Following as all useful, although think op is probably younger than me.

I use plain witch hazel as a toner after face wipes for cleansing.
The Ordinary Lactic Acid once a week and Nip and Fab Glycolic Scrub once a week.

Have also used baby lotion as a cheap cleanser in the past too, works well.

Thank you so much for all this advice.

I'm 35.

I have a pretty even skin tone (apart from dark under-eye circles), but I'm starting to notice fine lines that I'd like to stave off as long as possible

This is exactly what I came here looking for - thank you OP! 😊

I am 40 and have never been too bothered but as I am losing weight I am becoming more interested in skin care too.