Overwhelmed with skincare options - please give me your list of essentials for someone in their mid 30s

[Soggybiscuits17]

Hi there!

After years of neglecting my skin, I''m trying to put together a fantastic, solid skincare regime but feeling a bit totally overwhelmed when looking online. I'm mid 30s, skin is normally oily/ combination but starting to show signs of aging (some melasma, dullness, lines, loss of volume in cheeks).

I'm looking for good quality, relatively clean products. I've heard good things about Skinceuticals & have had good experiences with Kiehl's / REN in the past..

Which active ingredients should I be looking to include? Vitamin c or some kind of acid? Which products would you absolutely recommend? Any amazing serums? I would rather just a simple routine with a few high-end ingredients, but I'm clueless! Please help!

I am a similar age and have similar skin to yours, although I don’t have melasma (rosacea instead). The best thing for me is keeping things very simple but being religious about cleansing and moisturising twice a day, plus SPF. I use Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser (I have a massive stack of cheap white flannels I use instead of the muslin cloths) and Olay Beauty Fluid. I like to moisturise face, neck and chest so splash this about with abandon. St Ives apricot scrub once a week or so but mainly because I like the squeaky-clean feeling when I’m up early!

Garnier Over-Makeup SPF is a recent purchase I really like, although I definitely wouldn’t put it on over makeup, and I’m very tempted by Lancome’s Genifique serum after getting some free samples (I’m really really fussy about serums and hadn’t previously found one I liked enough to add in).

Oh and I’ve tried the Aldi dupe for Liz Earle - it’s fine, and certainly worth a go if you’re not sure about hot cloth cleansing, but I don’t find it anywhere near as nice to use.

Day
Simple cleanser, eg Cerave hydrating
SPF 50, loads around at different price points
Basic daytime moisturiser if you need it as well eg Cerave AM

Night
Dermatica or Skin and Me monthly subscription with tretinoin, niacinamide and potentially hydroquinone
Thick basic occlusive night moisturiser when needed, eg Avene Tolerance

Superdrug also do good basic moisturisers

Once a week Vitamin C mask, eg Lumene brightening gel mask
Potentially a hyaluronic acid serum if skin is dry
An eye cream potentially but just something very simple eg Body Shop Vit E

The only reason to spend more than £20 on any one product is if you really like it, eg fragrance or how it makes you feel, it’s unlikely to do any more for your skin.

Tret , a sunscreen and a basic moisturiser like Nivea or Neutrogena. Everything else is a scam and part of the beauty industrial complex.

You don't need loads of stuff. A decent SPF everyday to protect from sun damage and a prescription tretinoin product (which you can get from Skin & me or Dermatica if you are in the UK, or other online pharmacies if you are not).

There are other 'nice to have' ingredients, however none of them have the clinical research behind them that tretinoin has. It will make your skin dry, flaky and irritated for a few months while you acclimatise to it, but if you can get past that phase your skin should look great.

Don't bother with expensive skincare brands, you are really paying for the fancy packaging and the celeb in the ad.

the three most important skincare products are

cleanser - I like a balm cleanser that zaps all grime but does it gently and doesn't strip my skin. I remove it with a flannel. I use Clinique's Take the Day Off but Emma Hardie/Elemis/Sarah Chapman are other popular brands.

retinol - I use prescription strength tretinoin, the only proven product to actually work on wrinkle/wrinkle prevention. Tretinoin can't be bought otc in the UK but subscription services like Skin & Me and Dermatica are popular.

spf - most skin ageing comes from sun damage. find a daily spf that you like the texture of and slap it on every day. if you're happy to spend £££ Murad's is very nice.

You will find a load of good info on Caroline Hirons' website and in her book.

I’m a bit older than you (41) but also have oily/combination skin. I’ve found the La Roche Posay products the best for my skin. I use their cleanser, a Vit C serum, retinol, moisturiser and SPF fluid. I also use their sun cream as it’s the only brand that doesn’t cause me to break out in horrendous spots. I buy it from Look Fantastic, or Boots when it is on offer.

www.lookfantastic.com/brands/la-roche-posay.list

For toner I use the Garnier Thyme Purifying Toner with Salicylic Acid.

Hi @Soggybiscuits17 , it seems you need a staple routine and having a good routine with fewer hard working products is better than constantly trying new ones. I have discovered a brand Environ about 12 years ago and never looked back - cheaper than Skinceuticals and works really well, relatively clean.

You asked about core ingredients: retinol + SPF. Retinol can initially irritate the skin (it is not 'purging' it is our skin producing receptors for vitamin A). So mix it with a gel moisturiser first until your skin gets used to it then you can use it alone.

Retinol is treatment not an occluding moisturiser so you need to use moisturiser on top. if your skin is combination you can use the same gel moisturiser you mix retinol with or use a thicker cream at night (our skin produces oil when there is not enough oil on it, so I would recommend a cream with ceramides at night and something lighter AM, so that makeup sits better.

Double cleanse at night - one cleanse will remove makeup and cosmetics, second cleanser cleanses the skin. It is best to use oil based 1st cleanser (it dissolves makeup and cosmetics) and foaming cleanser as 2nd cleanse to remove the 1st cleanser and impurities.

Face scrub once a week.

I am going to summarise the routine then I'll list products that work for me.

To summarise:
AM:

1. gently wash - either foaming cleanser or micellar water (rinse, micellar water can clog pores too).
2. eye cream
3. light moisturiser
4. SPF PM:
5. oil-based cleanser - remove with face towel
6. foaming cleanser
7. retinol serum
8. eye cream
9. moisturiser with ceramides

My care:
Coconut oil
CeraVe foaming cleanser
Bioderma micellar water
Environ retinol serum
Environ eye cream
Environ moisturiser
Drunk Elephant ceramide moisturiser
Environ SPF

Hope this helps :) good luck!

I don't want to be snide but OP asked for a simple routine. Once you go down that Caroline Hirons path you lose the will to live and it's all nonsense anyway IMO

There was actually a dermatologist on Lorraine Kelly this week talking about how the beauty industry is a bit of a scam. She says the only three products you really need to use, are:

Oil based cleanser
SPF
Moisturiser

She said vaseline is a great night time moisturiser.

She was also there promoting her book (which I haven't read) but if you're interested, it's, "Skintelligent, What You Really Need To Know About Great Skin," by Natalie Spierings.

There is a lot of research to this effect. Course Vaseline may not work for body but it is just as effective as Creme De La Mer.

Vitamin C and Niacinamide for radiance and brightness. Vit c with consistent use over time really helps brown patches.

Good spf and gentle cleanser.

A gentle retinol or other active exfoliant for improving texture long term. Bakuchiol serum if retinol is too strong for you - it does exactly the same but much much easier on sensitive skin.

You don't need a strong retinol, they don't give any greater benefits than a lower strength one just increase skin reactivity.

Rosehip oil is a great gentle moisturiser.

Facial massage will improve fine lines and puffiness.

Oh thank you, I used to do this hotcloth cleansing and loved it! I need to get back into this habit. I think not washing my face properly before bed is probably the thing doing the most harm to my skin, as well as high sugar consumption and lack of sleep.. It´s amazing how I´ve managed to let things slip!

Great, thanks so much! Avene and CeraVe moistorisers keep popping up. Effective but affordable!

With retinol - is the tretinoin easy to get a hold of, or prescription only? Would you start it over the summer months or wait until the autumn?

Yes, this has helped enormously, thank you so much. I´m making notes ! Officially back on the oil cleansing wagon - it was so great for my skin before. Will be adding CeraVe foaming cleanser and Bioderma micellar water to my list, as well as the Pai rosehip cleansing oil

Oh brilliant, I had never heard of this Bakuchiol.. sounds like a perfect first option. I´m very curious to try the REN version before going down the tretinoin route this autumn....

This is fascinating and makes me feel less guilty for not keeping up with trendy skincare to date. I´ve found her on instagram and she covers a lot of interesting topics. Seems just the absolute essentials and vitamin A are key! Makes sense!

Tret and spf are essential. Any moisturiser and cleanser that agrees with you. I think some people go a bit OTT and use too much but as long as your skin doesn’t react it’s whatever makes you happy. Caroline Hirons has a new app to help with specific products, Skin Rocks.

Cleanser - any will do, I use whatever we have laying around
Tretinion - Dermatica
Hyaluronic Acid Serum - Decleor Antidote
Moisturiser - CeraVe
SPF - La Roche Posay Anthelios

I also use Vita Liberata tan once a week after the moisturiser. I don't bother with a seperate night time routine, just the same without the tret and SPF. I'm very happy with my skin.

Strange that she didn't list tretinoin or a retinol product in that list, as dermatologists would know the benefits they bring to the skin.

Hope you have fun finding your routine @Soggybiscuits17! 😊

Thanks so much Jadoube! I think I´ve got it together and hopefully all in the right order

Double cleanse:
Pai rosehip cleansing oil
Cerave foaming cleanser
Flannels

Tone
Either Bioderma water or la Roche Posay mist

Moistorise
Avene Hydrance Aqua gel in pm
Cerave moistoriser in am with ceramides and hyaluronic acid and 50spf

Retinol
La Roche Posay retinol B3, using at night with Avene gel

Vitamin C
Skinceuticals CE ferulic, using in AM

And Weleda skinfood for body moistoriser!

The only things I´m still not sure about is the moistoriser.. I assume it doesn´t alter the efficiency of the skincare if the moistoriser and spf are the same product, rather than layering on 2 different products...

Also, I never exfoliate and feel like I should. Would adding some kind of glycolic acid be too harsh with all these other products? I´m hoping the cleansing with a flannel will be enough exfoliation...

You could add in an occasional exfoliating mask such as Ordinary AHAperling mask, and something like Drunk Elephant Babyfacial for a good jooj every so often.