Skincare brands

[mac1974]

Hi, just looking for skincare recommendations.

I was using tropic which I liked but then this year I've been given several other brands to try as pressies.
I'm currently using Estée Lauder which is nice but I don't think it hydrates my skin enough however, I find they do good deals so the price is quite reasonable.
I was thinking of going back to tropic as I did like it but the package I used to buy has gone up to £160! I really liked their moisturiser and skin greens though.
Any thoughts on decent brands. I'm 43 with decentish skin but it does has a couple of blemishes. My skin is quite fair.

I like Beauty Pie, I did subscribe but now pick up stuff on ebay. They have various ranges including Japanfusion, Plantastic etc and they explain what each is for.

I'm a fan of Elemis myself.

Aveda are good, and Ren skincare

www.renskincare.com/

Oh thanks. I've not looked at any of these brands before so I'll have a nosey

I like Facetheory, and CeraVe for basics.

I love L'Occitane but it is expensive but I tend to get it from QVC as they are always cheaper than everywhere else - I recently had a 20% off from L'Occitane itself but QVC was still cheaper for what I wanted - I really can see a massive difference since I started using it in May and wish I could afford all the bodycare and handcare range too.

Have you looked at skin and me?
You just upload a few photos of your face and they decide what serums and products you need, they then send you a daily doser that you use each day with the correct amount, to be used alongside your moisturiser and cleanser (or theirs). All for a handy price.
Use this code to get your first doser for just £2.50

www.skinandme.com/?promocode=KATEO5VRH

Clinique dramatically different - in fact the whole Clinique range - will always be my go to. I’m 36 years old and have been using it on and off since my teens. Apart from a bit of monthly acne, I have good skin.

In the past year I’ve added a tretinoin from Dermatica.

I've been using Drunk Elephant for the last couple of months. It's expensive but my dehydrated skin has never looked so good!

Clinique moisture surge moisturiser will forever be my go to. I've tried others but they just don't compare for me. I also use clinique cleansing balm.
I also have dermalogica special cleansing gel, Lancôme rose toner & jelly mask, Elemis superfood mask, papaya scrub and superfood serum.

I like to have different products depending on what my skin needs as I've had 2 pregnancies in the last 3 years and my skin has changed a lot

Hey. I think facetheory is comparable to Tropic. I am also a Tropic fan, but I think they are becoming ridiculous with their prices, so I am switching to cheaper alternatives.

@xogossipgirlxo thank you. Facetheory & ren are appealing to me at the moment I think. Also Aveda looks quite good.

@mac1974 I already borrow some of my husband's stuff from facetheory. I use glycolic acid cleanser for evening and vitamin c cleanser in the morning. Both are good. I am running low on my tropic serums (rainforest dew and pure lagoon), I think I will buy hyaluronic acid and I saw serum with glycolic and salicylid acid there (instead of ocean dive, which I was willing to try). I've heard good things about ren too, but haven't tried anything yet.

I found good replacement for creamy cleanser from tropic- superdrug hot cloth cleanser (in green bottle). I think it's even better, removes mascara in 10 seconds.

I heard aveda hair products are good, didn't know they do skincare.

@xogossipgirlxo thank you that's really helpful. It can be overwhelming with so many serums etc these days. I'm off on hols now so I'll have a proper look at these over the next couple of days.

My favourite brands are

Inky List
Beauty Pie
Medik8
La Roche Posay
Espa for the hydrating serum
The Ordinary for squalene and rosehip oil

I would say you can use a cheap Cleanser (I like balm or oil) and a basic moisturiser and save any money for a serum. I use Tret from Dermatica which is my main "active" ingredient.

I've tried so many fancy brands over the years and other than the "sensory" experience - my skin is best with a consistent, hydrating routine. It really doesn't need much.

Vanicream do the best moisturiser if you're a tretinoin user (which I suggest you should be!)

I’ve tried a lot. My go-to brands include Dermalogica, LaRoche Posay, Elemis and Paula’s Choice. I guess though it’s such a personal thing and comes down to what suits your skin. I had to kiss a lot of frogs (beauty wise!) to work out what suited my skin.

@MissDollyMix I think that's the problem I could spend a fortune trying different brands.

@BryceQuinlanTheFirst thanks there a really good tip. I've not heard of most of these brands you've listed.

Sunday riley & Kate Somerville are high end brands that actually do what they promise.
look on spaceNK website both products should be there, available on klarna too so you can spread the cost over 4 months interest free

Don't look at brands, look at ingredients. Lots of relatively high end ranges (Elemis, Estee Lauder, Clinique etc) don't have any ingredients in that cheap as chips L'Oreal and Garnier don't also have. You're paying for packaging, nice adverts and a lifestyle promise.

You need 5 ingredients/products

A cleanser
A moisturiser
An Spf 50 if possible
A vitamin C serum
A vitamin A/retinol product.

The last 2 ingredients are 2 of the only ingredients in skincare with science backing them up.

Much of the rest is smoke and mirrors.

I’m 46 and get random compliments on my skin. Probably helps I’ve never drunk alcohol and I do give it a lot of attention.

Agree completely with @PAFMO. I think a good routine is made up of a) basics, so simple cleanser, occlusive moisturiser, good SPF (I like Cerave, La Roche Posay and Eucerin) and b) proven actives tretinoin and vitamin c. None of this has to cost the earth. Oftentimes formulas are actually overcomplicated eg with fragrance which means they suit fewer people and people end up wasting money trying to find a good fit for them.

Another vote for what PAFMO is saying here...basically the last 10 years or so has kicked a hole in the skincare industry, meaning that the old expensive brands have been shown up by newer cheaper brands that contain actual ingredients that work (Vitamin C, Retinol, AHA's etc.)

It's no longer about brand name or fancy packaging, but active ingredients. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, that's fine but there is no guarantee these big brand names are going to do anymore for your skin than the cheaper ones.

SPF, Retinol and a Vitamin C serum are the basics - doesn't really matter how much you spend on them, just find ones you like that suit your skin type and that you will wear consistently.
If you want to go down the prescription skincare route, then look into tretinoin (which has actual research backing it up).

One of my favourite ridiculously overpriced snake oil brands is La Prairie, which if you look on their website looks like some incredible miracle product: the sleek marketing, the luxury packaging - but really it's just some nice overpriced moisturiser in a lovely jar with a bit of caviar extract (which has no scientifically proven benefits to the skin). It may be a very nice moisturiser, and at about 500 quid a jar it would want to be!

That reminds me- I was, about 15 years ago, in one of those little Italian pharmacies- the couple that ran it were retiring and selling everything off. Including La Prairie, Sisley, etc.
Obviously I bought the whole lot, and very beautiful it all was too. But I know now that it was the luxurious texture and scent of the products rather than anything inside them.