Anti wrinkle creams that are proven to work?

[Ariel45]

Are there any anti wrinkle creams that actually work? I'm not talking about getting rid of wrinkles completely, only botox will do that and I'm not going to go there. I'd just like my skin to look a little healthier. I love La Mer, it's the only thing that makes my skin significantly healthier looking but I can't afford it. Can anyone recommend anything?

Yes that would be retinoids (Vitamin A), the strongest of which is tretinoin which is generally only available via prescription in the UK. See Dermatica, Skin&Me, Uncouth and And Begin.

Tretinoin is proven to reduce wrinkles but many people find their skin too sensitive to use it plus you have to be committed to wearing a high spf and a moisturiser will be needed too. There’s a really informative group on Facebook which will take you down a rabbit hole of skincare techniques but it can be a bit overwhelming: Tretinoin and Retinoids Users. For many people there is a period of purging and/or skin flaming to start with, although I didn’t have this issue. Nivea in the blue tub is often suggested as close in texture to La Mer but I’ve not used either.

I started using the Ordinary Retinol in Squalane before starting with Dermatica. Now I buy my Tretinoin (Retrides) on holiday and use a cheap moisturiser with the Ordinary Squalane on top at night and Altruist SPF50 in the morning and my skin (which was never bad) looks much clearer. I also use The Ordinary Airgireline and Matrixyl on my 11’s has softened them considerably.

I've been using tret for 6 months and seen a difference already.

You need to start on a lower concentration and build it up. I started on 0.025% for 4 months then started on 0.05%. My skin was quite dry and flakey the first few weeks and could be quite sensitive when putting moisturiser. If it was particularly sensitive I'd just skip a night of tret and slather on the moisturiser. I can now use the higher concentration every night no problems.

I wear SPF everyday but I think we should all be doing that anyway to slow down aging.

I buy mine from tretinoin world.