What 3 things (not surgery) that have noticeably improved you skin?

[Totallybannanas]

I have so many cream and potions and I am a sucker for any new beauty product on the market. Half the time I'm not sure if any of it actually works but keep using it anyway. What 3 things would you say have actually improved your ageing skin? I religiously take collagen, but not sure if this is working and have started tret but forever have dry patches. I also wear sunscreen.

Sleeping a full night, cutting down or eliminating alcohol and plenty of exercise. If I have a few rough nights, drink alcohol or don’t exercise I look a good 5 years older!

Castor oil has brought back my eyebrow hair.. am in my seventies, but amazingly my eyebrows are now noticeable… and I feel not quite so old now I have that feature back.
Its also made my eyelashes thicker.
I’d Say the skin on my face and neck has improved with castor oil.
Make sure the one you use is hexane free, and organic, and in a dark glass bottle.

So all committed sunscreen wearers: recommend me a facial sunscreen that is truly non-comedogenic and doesn't cause open pores or breakouts. This is like some kind of elusive holy grail for me -I'm either dotted with waxy blackheads or leaking oil through wide open pores or suffering blotchy breakouts within three days of using a moisturiser with SPF. Every time. And I've naturally got fairly dry perimenopausal skin, with no recurrence of acne, spots or blackheads when my skin is left to its own devices.

Aside from the obvious thorough cleanse morning and night, most leading skin clinics/derms would recommend topical vitamin C (AM) and retinol/tret (PM), plus SPF 50 every single day, as baseline treatments for decent skin. If you're suffering from dry patches with tret, it's probable you've introduced it or escalated its use too quickly. Start with the lowest %, slow right down (start with just once a week for at least a month), and put a moisturiser first, followed by the tret, if you're still suffering.

HRT also very useful in minimising age-related changes in the skin (it doesn't prevent them from happening, but it does slow them down).

Something I wish I'd taken seriously when I was younger was to apply SPF daily not just to my face but to neck and décolletage, too. It's been shocking how quickly those areas have shown the signs of aging in mid-life, whereas it's affected my face much less – I think this is down to the lack of sun protection.

what changes did you notice with this?

1. Getting myself into a proper skin care routine - cleanse, hyaluronic acid serum, eye cream and then day/night cream. Religiously done, daily.
2. Water, lots of water
3. Focusing on a solid 20 minute block of quiet time to just unwind. I do it just after putting the children to bed and before I start any housework/study/planning i need to do. Just 20 minutes, me and whatever I need: this week its been lots of silence

• sat on the sofa with my eyes shut
• colouring in and doodling
• closed eyes laying flat on the floor, like at the end of yoga
• stretching

Its really helped relax me and I think that has aided the improvement if my skin, its genuinely stress free chill time.

It's not the cheapest but it's so much better than the Nivea shelf type spfs.
ISDN Fusion Water

I tried it as got some samples when they were promoting it in the pharmacy. Maybe keep an eye out and see if you can pick some up too.

Heliocare is another one I like.

Microneedling at home. Cheap and easy.
Tret.
Collagen in my coffee.

Runners up are cheap hyaluronic acid added to my skin care and moisturising lip balm under eyes, around nose, on and around lips and smile lines before makeup. After 40 moisturising isn't enough for my skin.

Yup. Took a wee while to work but pretty sure it’s helped a lot. My neck seems to be a lost cause but face and bit below neck have improved a lot.

Tret
Trinny London anti redness serum
No alcohol
Cleansing.

This is the only product that has ever made a visible improvement to my skin. Sadly I’ve been too tight to buy more (got the first one in an edit).

I honestly think most of it is genetics. Maybe mixed with sleep and diet and stress.

I drink loads of water, barely drink alcohol, eat a healthy mostly upf free diet, always wear spf but have had insomnia for years and a few years of high stress and my skin looks like shit. My skin is at least 5 years older looking than my age. I don’t know anyone else my age who has as many wrinkles as I do. It does get me down tbh.

Which HRT please

Buying kilo bags of vitamin C powder, and adding a handful as a face/ body scrub a couple of times per week.
My skin is ridiculously soft.

Cosrx snail serum is great too.

The non negotiables for me are the lifestyle habits.

Drink water (or herbal tea), prioritise getting a good night's sleep and eat more fruit, veg, nuts and olive oil. It is noticeable to me how much better I look and feel when I have those three things under control. A few nights of bad sleep or eating crap and I look significantly older.

In terms of products or habits I'd say:

Cleansing my face properly every day and using a flannel to do it for gentle exfoliation.

Vitamin C serum in the mornings. I've noticed a big difference in the brightness of my skin since adding this.

Moisturising with something in the evenings.

I think consistency with a simple routine day in and day out for years is more important than which products you use. I know people that have used Nivea Soft for years as their moisturiser and have amazing skin so it obviously suits them. It would make me look like an oil slick so find what suits you.

I do wear SPF 50 every day, including on my neck, decolletage and back of my hands but I haven't noticed any difference day to day..... I do it to hopefully notice the difference in 20 years!

On another note, I have been taking collagen supplements of various types for 18 months and have noticed absolutely no difference so will be stopping them once my current supply is used up. I'll be sticking with my multivitamin and omega 3 supplement but that's it.

I also struggled with dryness when using tret and nothing helped (I tried it from both Dermatica and Skin+Me and even with their dermatologists input it never made a difference to the dry skin and this is from someone with combination/oily skin)
I did some research and now use Retinal (stronger than retinol but not as harsh as Tretinoin) and it’s much better. Deffo the sweet spot for me of seeing a difference without the side effects. I just slather on Clinique moisture surge after it’s soaked in and so far so good.
Following morning I use hyaluronic acid to add moisture back into my skin followed with vitamin C serum then Clinique moisturising gel and lastly sunscreen 🧴

Oestrogel Pump (transdermal oestrogen gel)
Gepretix progesterone capsules

I am limited with what HRT I can use but this combo seems to be working for me.

Apples, mandarins, snack cucumber and drinking more water. Now that I’ve eased off fizzy drinks skin is getting better

Prescription tretinoin (skin and me), glycolic acid and spf.

@CookingFatCat However - 👀 I’ve just recently added in hydraulic acid taken as a tablet at night,
500 mgs and three months later, my skin is visibly smoother and plumped up and hip pain vastly reduced.

I know you meant hyaluronic acid, but that is one funny autocorrect.😂

Tret for me was the only thing that worked I'm gutted that you can no longer buy it over the counter in Spain, I have tried lots of brands from boots but none of them do a thing, the only way I know is I could never use tret on my chest it just wouldn't tolerate it at all, all the ones I have tried since, I can slather it on my chest with no reaction, I thought just a little tingle would prove it works.

Same + a bit of hyaluronic acid. But mostly those 3.

Age 54
Stopped drinking at 40 (I have a glass on my birthday and NYE... never more than a glass though).
My go to products/tweakments are:
-Face yoga
-Botox once or twice a year.
-Ole Henrikesen Dewtopia AHA mask once a week
-Peptide serum every morning and every night (I use Biossance).
-I always keep a facial oil as a top up if my skin is feeling like it needs more love: I use it over peptide serum, under moisturiser.
But this is my holy grail that has made ALL the difference in my skin:
-The Tonic CBD cream (face and body but I slather it on my face every night and most days. I've been using it for about two years and it's AMAZING).

I wear a hat/sunscreen once those sunny days hit.
I don't wear sunscreen at all in winter unless the sun is out.
I drink about a litre of water/coconut water per day. My kidneys can't handle too much fluid (genetic kidney issues).
I have one or two coffees or black teas per day.
I walk two hours every day/cycle and walk everywhere.
Lots of olive oil, really good quality butter, lots of veg. I love cooking and I love enjoying eating with my family. My years living in Italy when I was young taught me a lot about how much enjoying cooking and eating benefits our overall health.
Breathe. Give yourself time to really breathe.

I have Irish/Eastern European skin- fair, delicate, leaning towards the Irish side. I can't tolerate tret or retin-A or even topical vitamin C. None of that. I have to really love and look after my skin barrier by feeding and nourishing my skin.

Yeah, I just have to add, I'm single. No man. I live with my children (they are my favourite people ever so, that helps!). Honestly, I won't even date because my peace is invaluable. I do think being single the past 5 years has given me back my bloom and my health in my 50s. I look better now at 54 than I did at 44. I look a bit older, but I look so much more vibrant and healthier and that's what I want. I don't want youth. I want glow... and a good jawline. 😆

I’ve used SPF 50 every day since my teens, along with Liz Earle cleanse and polish and I purposely don’t frown. I’m 47 and have a few fine lines around my eyes and that’s it.

I get mine from AllDayChemist online with no problems.

Where are people getting the oestrogen cream from? Can you get it OTC?