Clueless and need anti-aging help pls!

[Thane]

Hi ladies, I’m looking for some help re. ani-aging products. I walked into Superdrug the other day and was totally overwhelmed by all the lotions and potions with serious sounding ingredients… retinol, retinoid, collagen, salicylic acid, … and those are just the words I remember.

If I tell you a bit about myself, please could I have some recommendations for suitable products? I have tried to research this before, but always end up paralysed with i decision and doing nothing!

I am 39. My skin care is minimal, I usually wear a light foundation and mascara, use Simple facewash at night, and Simple hydrating moisturiser morning and night.

I have a bit of pigmentation on my face due to not taking care of my skin in the sun when younger. I have quite a few wrinkles - crows feet and 11 lines around my eyes, and starting to see some lines around my mouth.
Skin is looking rather dull. It’s combination - oily nose and chin, dry cheeks and forehead.

I don’t want to spend lots of time on my face with a complicated routine, but I would like to do something to slow these lines down, and if I could brighten my skin up a bit that would be amazing.

I have resolved to buy myself a moisturiser with SPF, buy a sill pillowcase and drink more water.

What other thing / product would you recommend for me?

Super grateful for any guidance!

Hi OP, I'm 40 and have combination skin. Here are the products I use and would recommend:

AM
Cerave hydrating cleanser
Byoma gel moisturiser (I use a heavier moisturiser in winter)
Hero sunscreen (mineral) or Beauty of Joseon rice spf (chemical)

PM
Bioderma micellar water
Cerave hydrating cleanser
Medik8 C-tetra luxe (I'm on the hunt for a cheaper vitamin c serum though)
Beauty of joseon retinal eye cream

Once a week at night I use The Ordinary lactic acid 5% (I skip the other actives)
If my skin is congested, I use Cos de Baha BHA liquid

I love this to put on spots overnight

https://www.savers.co.uk/All-Skincare/Derma-V10-Spot-Zapper-Patches-24s/p/813266

I'm often wearing sunglasses to stave off an further wrinkles around my eyes.

Good luck!

If you're concerned about fine lines and pigmentation then a retinoid/tretinoin product is probably what you need.

Skin & me or dermatica subscription is the easiest to begin with as they will look at photos of your skin and prescribe accordingly.

The great thing is that you that you won't need much else other than a decent SPF50, and a ceramide based cleanser and moisturiser.

Hi OP, I'm 51 and if I could go back to 39 these are the things I'd do knowing what I know now, even if it's a bit of faff and cost:

A mild retinol cream in the evening, on 100% dry skin + neck, avoiding eye and mouth area. It's strong stuff that makes the skin more sensitive, but it works, you build up your tolerance (ie start with twice a week maybe) and strengths. Major downside is an early "purge"; "the retinol uglies" before it gets good, and the increased sensitivity to sun damage. Use a good ceramide based moisturizer as PP said (CeraVe seems popular and is cheap), I do on the nights I don't use retinol, and crucially you need to use a high SPF in daytime, even cloudy days.
More and more people on here use tretinoin which I understand is a more powerful and better form of retinol, I'm no expert and sticking with retinol for now. People say the Olay retinol products are too low in percentage to have any effect but I like them, I have mega sensitive fair skin so maybe that's why.

Trust me on the sunscreen. Spf 50 is your friend. I like Nivea cellular luminous on my face, La Roce-Posay Anthelios invisible fluid also OK but runnier, causes breakouts on me and doesn't work so well under makeup.
You need to use more of the product than you think (someone said a teaspoon) and do not forget your neck.

For me the wrong type of cleansing it ruins my skin, breaking down the skin barrier, but I saw the need for exfoliation. Aveeno calm + restore exfoliating cleanser was a game changer.

Diet: I would have upped the water intake, omega 3 and started taking oral collagen earlier. Cut down on alcohol earlier.

Thanks for taking the time to list all these and including the links, really appreciate it!

Thanks so much, I hadn’t heard of these companies before. Do you use one / recommend one in particular?

This is so helpful, thank you. So you use Olay retinol and have noticed a difference? My skin is quite sensitive too.

On oral collagen, do you have any recommendations? I just get so overwhelmed once I start looking at these products!

Many thanks again

I think you can use a budget Cleanser, as long as you do a good massage to make sure you've broken down the product.

You can also use a relatively cheap moisturiser, I like La Roche Posay or Illiyoon Ceramide one.

When I started Retinols I used Medik8 you can start on a low number and work up. It's a little more expensive but it's a great product.

I then moved on to Dermatica Tretinoin subscription. I started at 0.025, then 0.05 then 0.1 but this happened over a year.

So cleanse, moisture and Retinol. And then make sure you have an Spf, beauty of Joesson is great or the beauty pie one or altruist face fluid or La Roche Posay - all good in my opinion.

The other thing that might make a difference is vitamin c serum in the morning. Geek and gorgeous do a good one.

Hope that helps.

Hi again OP, yes I use the purple jar Olay, just finished one and moved onto the serum which I think is a bit stronger.

I was on The Ordinary retinol serum (?) for a few years in my 40s when the data on its effectiveness first came out but 'fell off the wagon' since I couldn't find an spf 50 I liked, and you do need that.
I also lost a lot of hair then and heard there might be a link, so another reason I stopped. In hindsight it was probably menopausal hair loss.
Upon that note: HRT is great I think. Again wish I'd started around 44-45.
The retinol serum definitely had effect though and weirdly I think I still benefit from it today.
Maybe try Olay a few nights a week and see how you get on?

Oral collagen: After recommendation on here I take Willpowders Bovine Collagen Peptides powder, one 10g scoop a day in my black coffee (around 50 kcal and 10 g protein if you look at stuff like that). Did my research and at least it doesn't cause harm, I can't say if it's had a massive effect, been taking it for 1 year +. Very subtle/no flavor, a bit like a mild creamer. No lumps really. You can add it to anything.