What's your skincare like in your 40s?

[OldMaaa]

After years of being a total beauty magpie, and wasting so much money on endless beauty products, I finally feel like I have a solid routine that doesn't cost the earth and is a relatively well put together routine. That being said I'm by no means an expert and always love to read about what skincare others use.

I'm 41 and I have normal/dry skin, very fair and quite freckled (some genuine freckles that developed when I was a toddler and some sun damage from being careless when I was younger).

This is my routine.

AM Routine

• Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser or Dermatica Squalane Cleanser
• CeraVe Vitamin C (every other day)
• Byoma Balancing Mist followed by their Milky Toner.
• CeraVe Lotion.
• CeraVe AM SPF 50.

PM Routine (Evening)

• Double Cleanse with Dermatica Squalane Cleanser followed by Byoma Jelly Cleanser
• Tretinoin Night (every other night) - Dermatica Tretinoin/Azelaic Acid/Tranexamic acid
• CeraVe Moisturising Cream.
• On non-Dermatica nights I use the Milky Toner followed by Cerave Cream.

For lips I used Aquaphor Lip repair religiously and also Bepanthen.
Beef tallow (got for Christmas and probably won't repurchase) and Bepanthen on my hands (or sometimes foot cream!!) and I sleep in a cheap pair of silk gloves.

Things I'm considering adding at some point: squalene oil, facial massage (I already do a bit of this but not really consistently).
Possibly something with peptides and/or niacinamide (I have the Ordinary Niacinamide but I find since starting tretinoin it makes my skin feel sensitive - I've tried it once or twice - so I'm avoiding it for the time being).
Oral collagen (I'm on the fence about this!)
Equally I don't want to overdo it and stress my skin, and undo my efforts thus far, so I'm happy where I am at the moment, and the fact I'm not spending a fortune on skincare. But the beauty magpie in me will always wonder what else I could add, but I'm working on ignoring it.
I am also tentatively starting to use red light therapy a couple of times a week (when I remember) but very cautiously due to using tret. I have a Current Body mask I brought during covid.

I think my skin is in pretty good shape and I'm definitely seeing improvements since using tret but I'm probably not at the stage of seeing max results (I started just before Christmas on 0.05%). I have had minimal unpleasant side effects, although a fair bit of peeling initially.

Future goals are to have some treatment for a couple of small patches of broken capillaries I have on my face, but I've read mixed things about the effectiveness of the treatments available so I'm a bit on the fence about it.

I must admit I don’t use it on work days but I work in a place with no windows at all!

Morning:
Wash face in shower: Haeckels Spiraglow cleanser
Moisturise + SPF: No 7 Renew & Restore (has Factor 40 SPF in)
SPF: Supergoop Unseen, Factor 50 from spring to late autumn.

Evening:
Cleanse - Lush Ultrabalm
Tone - Lush Eau Roma Water (sometimes switch it up with an AHA toner)
Treatment - Skin + Me (tret + niaciamide + azeliac acid)
Moisturise: Haeckels Marine Night Cream

Also have some hyaluronic acid + apricot oil + various Haeckels serums kicking around that I sometimes add on but the above list is the basics. I have a long history with eczema and too many things really messes with my skin barrier.

And the usual of sleep / lots of water / keep stress low / semi-regular saunas to keep things looking good.

Ok. But you are giving those vibes here but just change salad to skin care.

Surely the expectation that a tub of moisturiser would last more than 2000 years is somewhat more of an obviously comedic take than the po-faced "I could never eat an entire burger in a pub, those things are huge and I would feel bloated for a week" crew.

It remains true that I use no other skincare in my 40s and am happy with that which is a genuine answer to OP's question.

@DappledThings I’m the same, I only wash with water; I’m in my 40’s & only have the 11 lines.

You should use the Yuka app. That will trim your beauty routine! You scan the bar code and it tells you what ‘nasties’ are in in and if it’s particularly nasty there are alternatives given with less or no nasties! My skin has never been better! And it stops the cheap random buys that are shite and sit in bottom of bathroom drawer!

Early 40s so starting to see fine lines set in. I’m still breastfeeding my youngest (age 2) so can’t get any Botox until I stop (poor sleep probably isn’t helping my skin either!).

AM
-Wash with tepid water
-Weleda pore refining Vitamin C serum
-The ordinary multi peptide copper serum
-Caudalie Premier Cru anti aging cream
-Byoma de puff eye gel
-Eucerin anti aging sun cream SPF 50

PM
-wash with cetaphil gentle skin cleanser for normal to dry skin
-The ordinary multi peptide copper serum
-Caudalie Premier Cru anti aging cream
-Haruharu wonder black rice eye Bakuchiol cream

I also use a Nuface micro current facia toning device which I try to I use every other day with their conductor gel (usually in the evening)

I should add that I really love the ritual of doing my skin care, it’s important to have a little calming time to myself!

OP may I ask where do you buy tret??
I use gentle cleanser on a morning (Cerave or Cetaphil), some sort of hydrating serum, some antioxidant or peptide serum, SPF 50 (currently Vichy).
On a night I add first cleanse with either oil/balm cleanser, hydrating serum, retinal (inkey list atm), cerave moisturiser and some sort of facial oil (currently Byoma purple one). Every now and again acid treatment (the Ordinary red one) and on those nights I dont use retinols. My non negotiables are double cleanse at night, spf every day all year, no fragrance, no foaming cleansers. Sounds like a lot of products but some of them we share as a family (cerave mosituriser for example) and whole routine takes 3 mins.
Dont waste your time on oral collagen, our bodies dont work like that. Once ingested every protein is broken down into aminoacids and used by your body where needed. It won't just travel as a collagen to plump your skin (sadly!).

I wash my face with plain water in the shower.

About three times a week at night I

1. rub on Nivea Blue and wipe off with a hot cloth
2. then prescription tret with niacinamide
3. then Cerave on top

I occasionally do microneedling to promote collagen.

I wear sunscreen in the summer or in less northerly countries. I use a factor 50 sun stick like Supergoop or the Shimmer. All sunscreen gives me spots, so I have to do what I can. I have tried all the sunscreens people recommend for breakout-prone skin.

When I get spots I use The Ordinary glycolic acid in the morning along with some more niacinamide.

I don't wear any makeup.

This thread has been very inspiring/intimidating! I’d like to get into a proper skincare routine, especially now I’m early 40s. My issue(s) is that I don’t really know what my skin type is (dry, that gets greasy from over oil production, or just greasy??) plus I worry I’m getting conned by fake reviews and a lack of ‘bothered’ at the start/end of the day.

I’ve got lots of items in my Amazon basket, more than my bank balance allows, so fingers crossed I’ll be glowing in March!

I currently use….

Morning: Tesco kind & pure face wash, then whichever face cream with SPF is on offer. Currently Nivea Q10. I wear make up most days

Evening: remove make up with micellar cleansing water then use a milk/toner. Every other day I use a face scrub, usually St Ives Blemish Control. Not sure if that’s doing more harm than good though.

Any suggestions/guidance is much appreciated from those in the know!

If I need something (moisturiser, serum, nightcream etc ) I wait to see if there's anything interesting on Boots £10 Tuesday offer. Got some good quality skincare that I wouldn't dream of paying the usual £30+ for.

Thank you! I was looking at Thermocoagulation. But I haven't done a great deal of research into it yet. I was hoping for a permanent solution but I don't think that is possible.

I get tret from Dermatica.

I think there are some online pharmacies that will ship to the UK (based on what I read on Reddit ) but I have never tried this myself.

Thank you. Some odd replies on this thread.

I haven't always been the best at consistency in skincare but now I have a simple routine that takes me about 5-10 mins I am much better at doing it morning and night. Also Dermatica helps as it is so straightforward and the results are worthwhile.

Clinique face wash, clarifying lotion, eye cream and moisturiser.
retinol at night

Takes about 5 minutes, but thanks for your input.

Don't feel guilty. Do whatever works for you!

Skin + Me with tret didn’t work for me at all. It made things much worse.

In what ways did you find Dermatica different? I’m wondering if I should give it a try?

PM: Simple foaming cleanser, skin&me serum, nivea night cream moisturiser.

AM: rinse with plain water, Nivea day cream moisturiser, La Roche Posay Antihelios SPF50.

I have a shower and water and shampoo runs down my face. Or I wipe my face with a wet flannel. I don’t wear make up, or use any creams at all. I only use sunscreen the couple of days a year I’m at a beach, I don’t stay in the sun long the rest of the time.

I’m 46. No wrinkles yet.

Also 41, my routine is lazy at best! I have drawers of skincare and do use it but not religiously as mostly switch it up depending on how my skin’s feeling when I can bothered to do it.
I’m very fortunate to have naturally ‘good’ skin, I am careful with my spf and cleansing but beyond that it’s a bit hit and miss - in fact I’m taking this as a sign to give myself a bit of a pamper tonight.

In what way did it make things worse?

I prefer the Dermatica formula. It is more gel-like than Skin+Me. It's a bit cheaper than Skin+Me too. They also started me on a much higher dose of Tret straight away. But given you said Tret possibly didn't agree with you, that might not be in their favour in your case.

I used to have drawers and drawers of stuff (I was a Beauty Pie premium member and made the most of it!) and was hit and miss with skincare. Sticking to specific products and reducing to only 4 active ingredients (across two products) has definitely helped me to be consistent.

I hope you enjoy pampering yourself!

I'm 42 and its always been Dove soap and a flannel once a day(ish), with the cheapest moisturiser they sell in boots every few days! My skin is fine. I would never be able to keep up with a "routine" so I've never bothered starting one