How to exfoliate tired 55 year old sensitive skin

[Baldieheid]

I'm 55 and winter is doing an absolute number on my face. I'm dry, tight and very ruddy cheeked and am feeling rather papery. Cardboard, actually.

I wash with cerave gel and a cotton flannel, moisturise with cerave atm, but usually its super drug vitamin e cream. In all other seasons this does me fine, but I need more help in winter.

I'm looking at different exfoliants including good old scrubs (my only experience) and liquids, and I'm bamboozled.

I have eczema and dry, sensitive skin. Budget is pretty tight.

Would anyone please be kind enough to recommend products?

I like REN glow tonic. But if you're very sensitive what about just using cream cleanser and muslin cloth or Eve Lom cream cleanser. These Korean kobi sponges are gently exfoliating too.

The other thing I used to do (I don't really need to now as I've settled on a routine) is introduce new products one at a time and then wait at least a couple of weeks before trying anything else. It meant that, if I had a bad reaction, I could be fairly confident what was causing it.

Op, I’ll start with the caveat that I know nothing about skincare, but there have been times when my face has felt a bit dry and I’ve put a hand cream or body lotion on it because that was what I had in the cupboard. It might be worthwhile using up something you already have.

Hand creams and body lotions are usually full of harsh chemicals and artificial fragrance, @stealthninjamum - they would surely be a poor choice for sensitive, eczema prone facial skin?

I don't use face wash. Use a quality night cream and then just shower it off in the morning. Dry brush your body before the shower. (I don't shower every day). Use emollient wash on your body, there's no need for soap, unless you work down a mine.

It does sound like your skin is very dry. And as another poster said it could well be Rosacea so it would be worth looking into that. You can Google it and you will get some images and info that may help you figure out if it is rosacea.

Otherwise a gentle exfoliant may help but not yet. Concentrate on rehydrating.

A gentle cleanser followed by your serum and then your moisturiser in the morning.

At night again gentle cleanser and serum followed by the oil and let that sink in a bit and then you can moisturise on top.

I really like Nivea Soft as a moisturiser. I have lots of more expensive ones but use this a lot.

Which CeraVe cleansing gel is it? Is it the SA one by any chance?
I use that one but 1/2 times a week. As otherwise it makes my skin quite dry/tight and causes redness because of the salicylic acid. But good otherwise.

I have quite sensitive skin too and have been through a lot of products, and various things did not suit me either, or caused reactions etc.

Even though I use fragrance free etc, there are often other ingredients which still cause
me issues.

Have you tried any masks or more so natural products as I find a lot of masks make me react. And full of ingredients. But something which will add moisture.

I wouldn't overly worry about exfoliating.

The flannel could be making things worse, I can't use that on my face. Whatever I use I find my face is dry afterwards.

I mainly use day to day Garnier Miceller water the pink one, original not all these fancy ones brought out since then.
Eye cream day and night, the Australian SPF, forget the name now but sold in quite a few shops.
And at night I wear either a sleep mask moisturiser or at the moment a gel-cream moisturiser.

Almond oil and a very warm flannel
or whatever oil suits your skin

can’t get easier or cheaper

It's the hydrating cleanser, in the green and white bottle. I've used it for a few years but maybe I need something richer. I don't wear make up but do like to wash my face rather than use wipes.

I'm not a mask user, as my skin isn't happy with most I've tried. The almond oil sounds like it would feel nice though, and no scrubbing.

Weleda skin food is great

I have similar skin. My regimen has saved it, and my skin is great now. I use:

Morning:

Ordinary cleanser
Ordinary Marine Hydroponics
Ordinary B Oil
Weleda Skin Food

Evening:

Rinse off cleanser (anything gentle)
Ordinary Glycolic Acid Toner with HA
Ordinary Multi-Peptide
Ordinary Organic Rosehip Seed Oil

The glycolic toner is my absolute must-have as an exfoliator. It's very refining, gentle, and preps the skin beautifully for moisturising/oils. When I ran out of it last year, I feel as though products just sat on my face and didn't actually do any good! I haven't needed a separate exfoliator for the two years I've been doing this - it's amazing stuff.

I find the worst bit on my face is the joining line between my hair and my forehead. I use a Konica sponge often no cleanser it works ok.
make sure your shampoo /conditioner doesn’t wash onto your face that might irritate

Konjac sponge

I find the ingredients in most skin products are tough on my skin now I'm older and I've really cut back on what I use. I would agree with previous posters that you check to see if it could be rosacea.

I would suggest that you try a homemade mask rather than scrubs. Mix natural yoghurt and honey and leave it for 10 mins. It should lightly exfoliate but adds moisture.

I second the recommendation for the Elemis papaya enzymatic peel. It's much more gentle than it sounds and has been really good for my dry, rosacea-prone skin. It's not cheap but it does last for ages.

If it's rosacea, Soolantra works (apparently).