Skincare products you rate

Gratefully 'deceived'*BV*?!!

Right - newly rediscovered skin cream is good old fashioned cheap as chips Nivea (in the blue tin). It has replaced all the ridiculously expensive serums/night creams in my skin care repertoire. Its too heavy for daytime but Nivea also do a nice light moisturiser to go under makeup. My facial skin looks and feels so much better..even a slight rash that I used to have where my specs rub has gone.
A Gal Pal told me that she watched an interview the 7O YR OLD Joanna Lumley who says that all she ever uses is Astral cream. What an advert!

What really works is a good mix of active ingredients that make changes to the skin, and a good amount of hydration. One product does not do all these things so a good skincare routine should be multi layered and products applied in the correct order according to their ph level and the thickness of the product, layer thinnest first through to thickest, low ph to high.

I really rate a decent C serum, I use this one

I also rate acid exfoliation, I use BHA and AHA, Cosrx are great as is Alpha Liquid Gold and some of the Nip and Fab pads, they all do the same thing used correctly.

For hydration I layer and use serums which contain Hyaluronic acid, Aloe, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Vitamin E, Licorice, Snail Slime.

Top it all off with factor 50 suncream every day and use a good oil, Rosehip etc at night. Also sheet masks are great, luffs my skincare!

and Retinol, you'll need retinol!

A good place to start is double cleansing, oil cleanse followed by a good, low ph cleanser. I am currently using this cleanser followed by this cleanser which I use with a bubble net or a konjac sponge, evenings only. Mornings I just use a low ph cleanser, sometimes just a konjac sponge and water.

I use Crowe's Cremine (cold cream) bought online to clean make up off my face and Pure Nuff Stuff moisteriser, toner and night cream. All bought online.

I have sensitive skin (skin allergies), that reacts negatively to most OTC products. Crowes Cremine I have been using for over 40 years without a problem and Pure Nuff Stuff is an organic product which I have been using for about 10 years without any adverse effects. In the morning I just wipe my face with a wet flannel.

None of the products I use contain any of the products advertised to bring youth and beauty to an aging skin and I have never used sun screen because of my allergies.

My routine is easy. Clean, tone, moisturise, night and morning.

Thank you for your replies. I'm going to write all these products down and have a look at them online.

LumpySpacedPrincess thanks for your reply and recommendations. I've tried Alpha Liquid Gold (got some in the bathroom) but I found it made my t zone too greasy, should I just use it on my cheeks? Could I ask what serums you use, please?

Specki4eyes ... Whoops that'll teach me to read my post first before I hit enter ?

If I listed the serums I use we would be here all night!

I follow an Asian Beauty routine and buy most of my products from Korea and Japan.

It really is worth researching a bit so you understand what skin is, the things that you can change and the things that you can't. Chemical exfoliation is the way to go, if you have oily skin use BHA, I use this one, they also do a very gentle AHA, much more gentle than liquid gold but still effective. I use a decent C serum which I linked to earlier, wait 20 minutes then use the Cosrx BHA, wait a while then the Cosrx AHA, though I have other products in my skincare wardrobe that do the job.

A really nice hydrator to use is thi one It sinks in easily and you apply it under your serums or moisturisers, it gives a healthy whack of hyuluronic acid and really plumps the skin.

I'm also really into snail gel, it's amazing stuff!

Tonights routine!

How do you find time to spend on all these routines? and do they work?

The DM often runs articles with rows of very ordinary middle aged women describing complicated and expensive make-up and skin care routines, but looking at the pictures of them none of them look any different to any other women of their age to be found in any supermarket queue.

I'm a full time working mum and it doesn't take much time, just a basket of stuff which I pat in. Does it work, yes. I'm not trying to look younger but I did have some skincare problems which were a pain in the bum, literally! Middle aged acne, rosacea, dryness, clogged pores and fine lines and wrinkles, all of which are, largely, dealt with and have contributed to a happier me. The products I buy are relatively inexpensive, I'm an ingredients girl, not a name junkie and some ingredients do work and have a stack of research to back that up.

I've invested time into reading the research, sourcing great products and using them correctly, and it's paid off. For me it's a hobby and my motivation was to improve my skin, which I have drastically.

Good old Olay works for me!

I use asda own make up face wipes,usually nivea light moisturising day cream and nivea night cream all cheap as chips.

This works for me.

It probably helps that I have never smoked,very rarely drink and don't sit in the sun.

Not smoking, not drinking and using sunscreen is 50% of good skin, good genes make up 40%, so that leaves us with 10% wiggle room, and there is a lot you can do with 10% wiggle room...

As someone with many and unpredictable skin allergies. I find simple is best. I have found a few products that I know will not provoke a skin re-action and I stick with them.

My biggest problem is product reformulations that take them from being safe and reliable to containing irritants that must be avoided.

I'm nearly 67 and proud of clear, soft skin! I suspect genes play a part but I've never exposed my facial skin to harsh sun. I no longer smoke (gave up about 15 years ago, and had a 17 year gap before that, too!) and I haven't touched alcohol for about 20 years, either.

I used to use Astral Cream to remove makeup and it was great but a long time ago switched to Johnson's Baby Lotion which does the job and the lotions lasts a long time.

As a day cream, I've recently discovered L'Oreal's Extraordinary Oil Nourishing Cream. I've tried Nivea but it's too thick and even the light stuff is too greasy as a base for makeup - and I have a dry skin. I rarely do anything at night as I'm too tired to be faffed because I still work full-time!

If I remember, I use one of those battery-operated brush things with a dab of liquid facial cleanser just to exfoliate gently and remove dry skin patches. Bought mine from Amazon a few years ago for about a tenner. Still going strong.

The best thing anyone can do is to educate themselves about the ingredients used in the skincare they use. If you read the ingredients the first one listed is usually present in the greatest quantity. This is why I became disappointed with a lot of western products, they would make a big splash about a key ingredient, say Vitamin C or Retinol, but the key ingredient would not be present in a significant amount rendering the product next to useless, or full of fillers that are available for a lot less money.

I prefer to buy the ingredients my skin needs in the purest form and apply them that way.

LumpySpacedPrincess, I've been s bit naughty on Amazon and ordered the 2 cleansers, sponge and hydrator!! A bit nervous of the serum, so I will work my way up to that ?

Cool!!! Right, the oil cleanser you use at night. Rub the oil over your face, eyes last to remove make up, then splash off, it emulsifies beautifully and will remove makeup, sunscreen etc. Then use the foaming wash, with a sponge, this removes any residue and leaves your skin clean, without disrupting the ph level! This is called double cleansing.

In the morning just use the foaming wash if you want, or just a rub with a konjac sponge, I use a low ph toner as I use oils at night so the residue needs cleaning off.

If you fancy grab yourself a bubble net of ebay, they are only a quid or two. You use this with the foaming cleanser and it turns a small amount of cleanser into a pile of billowing foam, it's fun and it makes the cleanser last for ages. I bounce between my sponge and my bubble net.

Now the serum is just hyaluronic acid, which is a super moisturiser and sinks into the skin and attracts moisture to it, over a thousand times it's size which provides a plumping effect. There is also some research coming out that Hyaluronic acid may have some longer term benefits but it's early days yet, for now use it as a good humectant moisturiser.

The serum is slightly sticky but that disappears as soon as you put your heavier moisturiser on top, or sinks in by itself after a minute or two. the stickiness is the sign of a good hyaluronic acid. Some vegetables, like okra, are sticky because they are high in Hyaluronic acid.

Would the serum be the same as Alpha liquid gold? I've got some of that, but tend not to use it on my t zone as it seems to make it a bit too greasy.

Thanks for your advice Lumpy.... Would you like to be my new best friend? ?

Alpha Liquid Gold is a chemical exfoliant, an alpha hydroxy acid. That encourages skin to regenerate and cleans skin, I use both AHA and BHA in my routine and consider it an active ingredient. The serum is a moisturiser, a humectant moisturiser, so it attracts and binds moisture to it thus plumping the skin.

There are other types of moisturisers that do different jobs, this explains it really well.

Liz Earle products are the ones for me! Clarins serum and foundation. Colour Me Beautiful for blushers, eye make up and lippy. Expensive but they work and suit my skin.

I use Tropic ... www.tropicskincare.com

I used E.L. for many years until I discovered this beautiful natural range - it's amazing and not over the top price-wise .... ???

Lummyspacedprincess you seem to know what you are talking about ! any advice for a 65 year old with pores which get blocked , mainly dry skin and now I am getting broken veins on my cheeks . I use Body shop face wash then in the evening a cleanser , micellar water and Clinique moisturiser but it is just hit and miss as to whether these are the right products , I have no idea! I cannot spend a fortune either , any suggestions ? xx

Oh and I don`t smoke or drink so it is not that causing the veins !