I need a new skin care routine

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Please tell me your go to skin care products / routine. I’m mid 30’s and this last few months my skins looking dry and so tired so looking for ideas of what to try thank you ! :)

Go for a skin consultation with a professional. I do the online consultations with the Skin Nerd and my skin is doing very well. What works for one may not work for you and then it's a waste of time and money. Find out what your skin needs and use the right products and be consistent!

I am also in my mid 30s and changed my skincare nearly a year ago. I got a compliment on my skin a few weeks ago! I really like Nip + Fab, you can do the little survey to find the products that work well for you. Personally I love the ceramide serum and the peptide oil. My skin is clear, no breakouts or eczema and starting to get a “glow”. I have stopped wearing foundation day to day. This is a big change for me.

Try these for dry and tired skin-

1. Cleanser: Allies of skin glycerin cleanser gel
2. Moisturiser: Tatcha dewy hyaluronic cream
3. Sunscreen: Heliocare spf50 oil-free gel
4. Anti-ageing night cream: Monderma tretinoin 0.025% cream

~50% visible boost within a month of consistent use.

Byoma is fab and affordable. I remove makeup with the Elemis balm, then use the jelly byoma cleanser, milky toner, the brightening serum and moisturiser. Really please so far

My daughter (late 20s) has glowing skin after some years of trial and error (and spending a fortune on products!) We both use Squalane Cleanser from The Ordinary in the morning, which is very gentle, and again in the evening (or Elemis Collagen Cleansing Balm which is great for mature or drier skin types). Hyaluronic Acid serum will help your dry skin and add glow (apply when face is damp), followed by a few drops of face oil (Clarins oils are great). Additionally, consider looking at a professional online skincare service such as Monderma (which we both use) or Skin & Me. You’ll have a custom blend made to perk up your skin, which is delivered monthly. Hard to go back to over the counter products when you move to high performance active ingredients (but they do need a prescription in the UK).

…also Heliocare SPF every day without fail (or similar). A must for everyone, but particularly when you use retinoids/retinols.

Morning
Eye cream
Barrier serum
Moisturiser
Suncream

Evening
Oil-based cleanser
Water-based cleanser
Acid
Barrier serum
Moisturiser

I would strongly recommend tretinoin and a good moisturiser.

You could spend hundreds of pounds on 5-10 ineffective products with conflicting ingredients.

Tretinoin costs £24 from Monderma. Request 0.025%. This is the most effective and strongest anti-ageing ingredient for removing undereye shadows and age spots and minimising wrinkles. Google it.

Cerave offers a good moisturiser with glycerin and hyaluronic acid for £15. It will plump your skin and increase its volume.

People switch from one fad ingredient to another every few years!

Try not to change all your products at once and give new ones a fair chance before giving up on them! Also mid 30s and dry combo skin since kids; but also glowing so my go to's and recs are as follows..

AM
Cleanse (gentle cleanser)
Tone (pixi's glow tonic is a bestseller for a reason!)
Treat (a decent vitamin C serum like dr Dennis gross's; or skinceuticals is the gold standard if you can afford it!)
Moisturise (daily moisturiser like Glow Recipe watermelon glow pink juice)
SPF

PM
Cleanse (oil based cleanser or micellar water to remove any makeup and spf)
Cleanse again (gentle cleanser to remove any remaining spf and dirt/grime etc)
Tone (toner)
Treat (retinol)
Moisturise (thicker night moisturiser like Drunk Elephant lala retro whipped cream)

Finding a decent SPF that you are happy to wear daily is THE most important bit.
A recommendation for an SPF that: dries down nicely and doesn't feel sticky or tacky, doesn't sit in my pores, doesn't look shiny or leave a white cast, sits nicely under makeup, and doesn't break me out. 100% recommend Ultra Violette's queen screen or supreme screen!!!!

I would say only use Tret if your skin is really needing it, otherwise a decent retinol is fine. Naturium's Retinaldehyde cream serum 0.05%. I won't say more, the reviews speak for themselves☺️

Good luck and sorry for the mammoth post!x

Applying SPF50 daily is everything. Without it the sun can undo the hard work of your retinol or retinoid routine.

I'm keen to start using tret but don't know where to start, a couple of good suggestions above. I have previously used retinol (the Ordinary) I did get a couple of red patches around my eye area, almost scaly but I took that to as it working the way it should. I've had the skin & me personalised cyclinder tube a couple of times before and again, experienced some dryness / scaliness so not entirely sure whether to try another subscription, not sure if you can specify tret order via skin & me or is it worth a shop around and perhaps try Moderna which I haven't heard of before. Any other recommendations on where to start with tret? I take it you can't buy it in the shops?

What strength was that retinol? I would start low on tret and increase over time if you see the need. Usually lower than 0.025% doesn't cause peeling and red patches. It's still effective. Either should do it - I'm not sure if there's any difference. Tret is tret surely? To my knowledge it's not available anywhere in store yet and still requires a questionnaire.

I’ve been using retinol for a while, various types including tret, I have dry skin plus moderate acne. The retinol helps a bit with the acne but also dries my skin which then encourages overproduction of oil which leads to new acne and so the cycle continues.

Recently (approx 3 months) started using C E Ferulic, I use a knock off of the skinCeuticals one, same recipe but it’s only about £20 a bottle. Still on the first bottle. No miracles but I feel like it helps brighten my skin without the drying effect of retinol and it’s supposed to give some sun protection. Also using hyaluronic acid serum (the ordinary) for the last few weeks. I’ve had moisturisers with hyaluronic acid before but the serum is much stronger. I can see a difference already. Reduced the tret to a tiny amount every few days. Acne currently more under control than it has been for years. Dryness is moderate rather than painful.

Overall my morning routine is
cleanse with any mild cleanser (I like cetaphil)
CEFerulic serum
hyaluronic acid serum
normal moisturiser with minimal ingredients (I use aveeno)
sunscreen (a 30spf neutrogena face one) if I’ll be outside for more than a few minutes

evening is cleanse, sometimes tret, hyaluronic acid serum, moisturiser

Once my skin was slightly recovered I splashed out on a moisturising facial, which was lovely.

@Jillfi I can't remember the exact strength but it was definitely starting on the lowest and then after 3 months I jumped up a level or 2 then got the red patchiness. Think will give your suggestion a go

Cleanser (gentle as possible but must be able to remove sunscreen, possibly use balm or oil for this and use a second milk/cream/wash afterwards)
Moisturiser

Exfoliating acids (Paula's Choice, travel sizes are affordable)
Vitamin C (Skinceuticals is the best one but £££)
Retinol/Tretinoin (I use medik8 crystal retinal as no online dermatology subscription services in Ireland)

SPF 50

The sunscreen must be a stand alone, not one in moisturiser or make up, and it must be economical enough to use a sufficient amount daily including a top up if outside. I use Avene and buy it when it's on offer for about €15.

Only change one thing at a time.

A gentle moisturising cleanser/ make up remover. I use Ere Perez Fig Jelly and Round Lab Birch Juice cleansing gel.
A hydrating toner: Isntree hyalauronic acid toner.
A hydrating serum. I use an Australian one from Mecca Max with birch juice and panthenol.
I use glycolic acid two or three times a week instead of the hydrating serum. Retinol and vitamin c are too harsh for my skin.
In summer I use Isntree hyalauronic gel cream in the morning and Round Lab Birch Juice moisturiser in the evening.
Winter my day cream is Kiehl’s Skin Rescuer. The American website says it’s being discontinued but I can still buy it here.
Isntree Water sleeping mask is a great night time occlusive as a last step if your skin is really dry.

Hyaluronic acid and vitamin c are the best two over the counter skincare ingredients IMO.

Some HA can be tacky. I find the Isntree products to be excellent, hydrating and quickly absorbed.
I use lactic acid or glycolic because my skin is sensitive. They do the job very well for me.

I haven't tried lactic acid but I've heard it's effective for smoothing.