Amazing skincare for mature skin, on a budget

[CrimsonElevenDelightPetrichor]

And the moon on a stick please!

I've been mostly using the ordinary products but my skin is getting drier & drier. I recently used a sample I had of Eborian yuza serum, and my skin was amazing. Unfortunately, I can't afford £40+ for my face. Can anyone recommend anything equally amazing, but around 1/4 of the price?

Current routine
a.m.
Cerave hydrating cleanser
Ordinary marine hyaluronic or Vit C
Ordinary moisturizer
SPF, primer, makeup

p.m.
Cerave hydrating cleanser or Aldi hot cloth cleanser
Ponds cold cream
Alpha H liquid gold or ordinary niacinamide
Ordinary moisturizer

The only skincare that is really proven to work for aging skin is Tretinoin. I get it from overseas but you can get it from Skin and Me or Dermatica. I don't have a skincare regime myself. I just use Tret and an ordinary Simple or Olay moisturiser. Happy with that.

Thanks @BansheeofInisherin I tried dermatica tret but found it drying so stopped after ~6 months.

Did you buffer and use it only twice a week? I am such a Tret evangelist that people on here probably think I work for them. I don't! It;s just been so great for my ( admittedly oily) skin.

My skin is pretty dry.

I use oil balm cleansers - I have a crazy expensive one currently because I love the smell but for effectiveness, plain almond oil works and I used it for years. The Body Shop also does a nice camomile one.

I find they really help to protect my skin while cleansing and have probably been the most useful thing to stop my skin being so dry.

I also like the Ordinary and use the hyaluronic acid serum and also a lighter one with amino acids and b5. I usually alternate those at night.

Neotrogena does a range of hyaluronic acid products, and I have been using the night cream (I think it's called something naff like "sleeping gel") for years. It's very effective.

My one expensive product (although, it lasts soooo long I suspect its per use cost is actually not that far off my cheaper products) is Clarins Double Serum which I use under The Ordinary vitamin c (with silicone) in the morning. It's not so much hydrating as brightening and it has a cumulative rather than instant effect.

Push through with the Tret. There are a lot of ways around the initial irritation.

The Inkey list may suit the rest of your needs. A day serum, a gentle cleanser, and a high spf moisturiser.

My skin care costs have more than halved since I started Tret.

I didn't really get irritation @Lookingoutside , more dryness. I'll try again and make sure I only use it 2x a week. Maybe I'll cut out the cerave cleanser and try the serums suggested above. Thanks all.

I don't really understand the point of going back to a product that you used for 6 months with zero effect.

I forgot to say that I also find exfoliators important. I use an acid one a few times a week (currently a Farmacy one but I've used CLarins and also Sali Hughes in the past). In the shower I exfoliate with a vitamin C (I like the Clarins one with orange extract of the one from the Body Shop range) or sometimes I use a hylaronic acid one from the neutrogena range. The neutrogena one is very very gentle so could work as an every day.

@SavBlancTonight I did see positive effects from the tret, I just thought they were outweighed by the dryness. I think I need to find the right serum to moisturise, then try the tret again. My skin looks pretty bad atm.

@CrimsonElevenDelightPetrichor

A moisturiser containing ceramides will help. Same with your day serum. A basic ceramide cream will do for day and night and you’ll need to layer an SPF 30 or 50 over the top for daytime.

Hope all goes well!

Are you using your Hyaluronic on damp skin? In order for to work properly, it needs to be given moisture or it takes it from the skin, making your skin more dry. Also you can use hyaluronic and vit c together. Just use the more liquid product first.

My routine is not too different to yours.

AM
Cerave Hydrating Cleanser
Curel Deep Moisture Spray
Hada Labo Super Lotion
Curel Deep Moisture Spray again!
Geek & Gorgeous Vitamin C
Byoma Gel Moisturiser

PM I use either Inkey List Oat Balm cleanser (more so in the winter) or The Ordinary Squalane cleanser, followed by The Ordinary NMF.

Aaah, okay then.

I'd re-emphasise exploring oil based cleansers then. I really found that transformed my very dry skin. I think because even with the loveliest regular cleansers, they have a drying effect. I found that was the thing that seemed to help my dryness the most. And all of my products seem to work better on skin that has been washed using an oil cleanser.

I also think you have to experiment with serums to find one that works for you. On paper, The ordinary hylaronic should be fine and great for me. But, while I do use it, the amino acid +b5 one makes my skin feel better. It's absorbed quicker and it's almost greasy and it just really seems to take away that over-dried feeling. Similarly, I use the vitamin C with silicon and love it, but a friend can't stand it and uses the regular vitamin C from The Ordinary. So there's an irritating element of needing to experiment a bit to get it right.

I will say that if you saw me now, you'd be surprised to know that I have very dry skin. It doesn't look or feel dry at all. But if I stop with this process, it's back to being awful very very quickly.

I use The Ordinary too and recently changed my PM routine due to dryness and swopped their moisturiser to Rosehip seed oil and it's brilliant - I give myself a mini massage face & neck and it feels really quenched. Highly recommend an oil & it hasn't made my come up with spots as I feared!

Menopausal 50 something skin here.... my skin has become drier over the last couple of years. The only thing which made a difference was adding two or three drops of rose oil to my moisturiser. I use thjs oil and add a couple of drops to my face cream:

www.boots.com/boots-rose-facial-oil-30ml-10287225

I don't cleanse/wash my face in the morning only at the end of the day so it doesnt dry out. Then I use a balm or oil cleanser, I use vitamin C (over 20%) and an oil at night. All this stops my skin being dry, I change brands as I usually go to TKMaxx and find what's best for a reduced price.

Liquid Gold is glycolic iirc? I haven't used it for a long time, but it could be that that's drying your skin out.

I'd just add a heavier moisturizer if you don't want to go back to a vitamin A. (I stepped back from Tret after working my way through the retinol at various strengths and am now using Elf Retinal which I can use every night and won't go back "up" to Tret. ) I do use a heavier moisturizer every couple of days though. Weleda Skin Food, or Astral. (I'm 57 and have always had dry skin)

OP, here are the things in my routine that might help you:
Q+A warming face mask (avoid sensitive areas)
SKIN1004 - Madagascar Centella Ampoule

The centella serum is also on sale at Sephora but costs more.

Friend swears by Glysolid, £7 on Amazon and recommended by her dermatologist. Her chest wrinkles are gone, so it's gone straight in my basket!

I’d add an oil at night - prickly pear is what I am using at the moment and my skin is the best it’s been for a while.

I tried Tret in January and no matter how I used it I had to give up after 4 months, my eyes were very irritated and my skin was terrible - keep reading on here how it is the holy grail but I certainly would never revisit it.

SPF in the daytime, especially on the neck is a must for me too.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I used a moringa balm cleanser last night instead of a face wash, didn't use the Alpha Gold, then used both HA & Vit C this morning. Definitely an improvement. I'll look through all your suggestions over the weekend to see what other changes I can make.

Have a look at Facetheory too.
I find their range affordable and from what I've used extremely good.

I use Dr Organic Rose Otto facial serum, it leaves my skin feeling really soft. I suspect there is something in rose oil that is really really good for skin.

I use a , how do I describe it, a cloth that cleanses both am and pm. In the morning I use this works morning serum and either Nivea or L'Oréal in a red tub depending on which one I pick up. If my skin feels very dry sometimes I layer it with a banana moisturiser from Aldi or facial oil.

In the evening I use my tret with axealic acid and they've jus added niacinamide. Then Nivea night cream and a lip.oil.

I use to think I had sensitive skin but you could throw a brick at it and it probably wouldn't matter.

i think it depends on what you want though-so I’m more aiming for hydrated than tight/youthful as I have sensitive skin so I prefer the feel of prefer that!

So I go Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser, cerave eye, avene skin soothing cream, and then I use skingrediants good fats at night. I use clarins bb cream during the day too and mac spray fx