Not a clue what to do about my skin

[Canttakemuchmoreofthis1]

I'm 33, almost 34. Constant redness, lots of little pimples on my chin/jawline and a couple on my forehead. Broken capillary veins.
Dark circles under my eyes and lines around my eyes. Also have lots of pores and little specks of sun damage.
I use the ordinary 2% retinoid and an anti ageing cream most days, I wear SPF 50 every day, drink water, don't drink or smoke, usually get enough sleep.
My diet isn't the best admittedly.
Just no idea where to start, what products to use etc. And I'm on a relatively low budget.
Any advice?

Can you afford a really good facial? I thought I was looking after my skin well until I saw a decent facialist. I’d always thought my skin was oily - turns out it had been producing oil in reaction to all the products I was using.

She recommended a few things but it was more like “you need a vit c serum” rather than “buy our vit c serum”.

my skin is glowy and lovely now :)

Probably finding a really flattering foundation is the best thing, especially on a low budget. As far as I’m aware there is little that can be done about dark circles. Same goes for the open pores. A good primer or foundation is the best approach for these things.

Wrinkles will probably only respond to Botox/filler/fat transfer or lasers etc that will be very expensive.

The redness and pimples might be rosacea. It’s probably worth talking to your GP about those, as there could be a prescription medication, oral or topical, that can help.

@cocoloco23 whoch facial do you get? Do you go regularly? I need to change something!

Definitely vit c serum. There’s a certain ingredient that can cause broken capillary veins. I’m not too sure but I was told about it by a skin specialist the other day. I don’t have the ingredient in my products so didn’t remember the name. Vit C will help thicken your skin.

A consultation with a skin specialist usually cost around £35. I think it’s really worth it, it will atleast give you some information about your skin and perhaps the best products for it.

The one I saw was in north London - is that handy for you? I don’t live in the area anymore but I’m on the lookout for a good one near my new place. I’d pay up to £120 each time and try and go twice a year.

Agree with @cocoloco23, a good beautician will work wonders. I also thought my skin was oily but discovered it was over producing oil as I wasn’t moisturising enough (I wasn’t moisturising enough because I thought I had oily skin!).

I’d say drink Loads of water, screens off two hours before bed, cerave eye cream. My dark circles have eased so much since doing this! Cetaphil face wash and or effacler from Roche posay. I’d say ditch the retinol. Vichy dermablend is fab for coverage but check for the skin type it’s best for and I’d say let your skin breathe a bit too (sorry!) Best of luck op (Ps be sure if you’re going for a facial, there’s a lot of people out there that don’t know what they’re doing and will try and upsell ridiculous products)

@cocoloco23 I'm in Ireland unfortunately but I never know what to ask for and like you say it’s knowing who is actually good, I’ve still not found the right hairdresser and we live been here two years!

I've been having terribly red skin and small spots recently, rosacea I am guessing.

I've done 2 things so not sure which one has worked:

Stopped medik8 retinal
Started Skin and Me

Skin is really clearing up.

Unfortunately the ☀️ does not seem to help anymore but makes my skin flare up.

I would strip back on the retinoids etc and get some of the La Roche Posay Effaclar range. Face wash, the Duo cream, and the iso biome moisturiser. Just use these for a couple of weeks. Up your veg intake and drink lots of water.

Loads of stuff, including stuff that says it won't, makes my skin angry and irritated or just break out in scary under the skin spots. But never the Effaclar range. It's brilliant. Simple and not going to make you remarkably glowy but think of that as Stage Two, once your skin has relaxed.

I agree with @mizu that skin+me is surprisingly effective. You send them your skin concerns and a dermatologist creates a skin treatment for you. First orders are discounted.

I’ve recently been using Boots Botanics clay face mask and it’s improved open pores.