facial care for a tired face.

[PavlovtheCat]

MNers i need your help.

I used to take for granted the youthful face i have -had- been blessed with and did not really bother that much, apart from ensuring i never get sunburnt, and would use whatever moisturiser i happened to get free with my clinique makeup on bonus time or No.7 freebies, but not daily.

Now, after DS has been born, i need to start looking after my skin better. The effects of continuous vomiting throughout my pregnancy, lack of sleep then, and now, and my skin is tired, dry but not dry, red and patchy and i feel old. my hands are wrinkly, my face is wrinkly and i have grey hair.

I have bought some body moisturiser, some hand and nail cream, and i have just dyed my hair a simple brown colour (close to natural) to cover the grey. I normally use a daily face wash such as oil of olay, but also will use clinique if i am feeling extravegant.

What facial cream? I cannot choose! I want one that works, not one that is used just because it is a brand name. I want to spend no more than say £20 on it, but will go up to £30 if it is one that is highly recommended by lots of people. I went into Boots and the woman i spoke to recommended the Oil of Olay Regenerist daily cream, but i know nothing about it and I don't want to spend £25 on face cream only to find it is just the same as wacking a bit of body lotion on it!

DO i buy day cream or night cream? I probably won't do both as I wont remember to use both, so if i only get one, which one?

Thanks x

Pavlov, I use moisturiser day and night and put protect and perfect on as well, but I have just looked it up online, and the boots science man says protect and perfect should be used at night, because you should have SPF on during the day instead.

If you use a primer as well as moisturiser then you should leave as long as possible between the moisturiser and the primer application, as the moisturiser can stop the primer working properly. Primers are there to help keep makeup on. I use one because I have enormous pores, which is probably not a problem you if you have dry skin.

The oil nourishes skin. It is part of the Decleor skincare range. If you are going to get a facial, you could go to a beautician that does Decleor as they will sell the products as well. Ask for a tester bottle of the oil - you will only need to use 2 drops a day and my tester bottle has lasted me six months! I use Neroli but they will probably recommend a different bottle for dry skin.

A decent beautician should advise you what products to use when she looks at your skin for the facial. Mine sells all the Decleor products but advised me to go out and buy a toner from a different brand, so they can be impartial.

shop.decleor.co.uk/about/aromessence

This is the Decleor website - the link should open to the page about skincare routines.

(all of this not to do with oil skincleaning method, which I intend to try at some point).

what is a primer?
My skin is not so much dry. It is dry and greasy at the same time, does that make sense?

ther is not a decleor beautician near but there is a kalmora spa one ? anyone ever been?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcRIxuNyrmw

This is a makeup artist talking about primers.

Sorry - the No 7 protect and perfect one is the one I was talking about . Pop a bit on underneath your moisturiser

So i have just been to boots. Was browsing and this gorgeous looking assistant asked if i needed some help, so i told her what i had, which was the perfect and protect serum and that i wanted a light foundation to go with it.

She said that as my skin was still settling after hormone changes relating to pg she would recommend Avene moisturiser only and gave some samples of the Avene range cleanser and a skin rescue cream to use occasionally. She uses this stuff herself apparantly (she was a boots ass. not an Avene ass.) and as her skin was lovely and flawless and she was about my age i decided that was an ok recommendation!

She recommended not buying the No.7 serum just yet as it is quite heavy and intense and it might be, as my skin is dehydrated but prone to oiliness, that i might not need it. She said use the Avene for a month and then try the serum as well if i need to as the serum is an addition to, not instead of. I asked her if there was anything else i should be buying and she said no! So i bought a lipstick and lip pencil with the money i saved, and a post shave balm as a treat for DH!

Give up alcohol and coffee-I have done this since Jan 1st and my skin has really improved.

I hardly drink alcohol due to bf'ing, and have not drunk any will pg so, probably a good 11 months of cleanliness. The caffeine on the other hand is more of a problem as I am a coffee addict, and i cannot see how i could survive on the someties 3-4 hours of broken sleep with caffeine . But i should cut it down significantly and see what it does.