Should I expect results from a more complicated skincare routine by now?

[Mauvish1]

Until a few months ago, my facial skin care regime was very simple. Soap and water to clean, Simple moisturiser to, well, moisturise, and that was it.

But the years are catching up with my face so I decided to upgrade. I actually sought advice here because I really had no idea at all about fancier skincare regimes. Since then, and for the last few months, it's looked like this:
Mornings: Simple (soap free) facial wash; hyaluronic acid serum; Simple moisturiser
Evenings: Simple wash; vitC serum; retinol cream every 2nd night; moisturiser.
Add sunscreen to that every day of course.
(Yes, I like Simple moisturiser!)

I'm not sure what I expected but I honestly can't see any change at all in my skin. Should I start to see something by now? If so, what? Should I increase the retinol to every day - will that actually make a difference though? Or have I been taken in by the hype? I'm very tempted when the current bottles/jars are finished just to go back to the original - it was a lot cheaper and less faff!

Retinol is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to give it six months at least.

I honestly think that if you moisturise and wear suncream then that's enough. So much is due to other factors such as genetics, sleep, diet, stress, hydration. My mum and gran have/had gorgeous skin into old age and didn't do anything special. I hope I age as well!

Mostly hype.
you do need prescription grade retinol, though, unless you are still 20's, early 30's and without sun damage yet. And botox.

Book an appt with a derm focusing on cosmetics.

Definitely that. What I’ve noticed 6 years into Tretinoin is my skin looks the same as 6 years ago. Which is a good thing!

Switch your Vitamin C to the morning, use after you cleanse and before moisturizer and sunscreen. It can help protect your skin from sun damage (but not instead of sunscreen). For brightening, you should be seeing that fairly quickly, like within a week or two.

OTC retinoids, you have to give it about 6 months. Adapalene works the fastest for me. Prescription tret, you should see some results faster, but that can come with more side effects.

It’s all bollocks and a waste of money.

A good diet and regular decent nights sleep will do more for your skin than anything you can slather over the surface.

And the truth of it is that we age. It’s just a fact of life.

This is what I notice too. It doesn’t wind back the clock, it sort of freezes you where you are. But the prescription retinoids are what made the difference for me. Prior to that I wasn’t getting any dramatic results from skincare. It’s the one thing I wouldn’t give up.

Tretinoin isn’t. And SPF

Well ok, I’ll give you SPF.

Are you using tret? Its much better than retinol (i get mine from skin&me). Its completely changed my skin texture & reduced pigmentation & i cant recommend it enough. First noticed results about 3 months in & nearly 2 years later my skin looks noticeably better.

You need to move your vit c to the morning & always use an spf after moisturiser every morning 365 days a year.