suncream, zits and wrinkles: rolling skincare thread?

xpost jed, I was using the retinoids because I turned 40 and they are so well priced at the Ordinary. I can't even remember what they are even supposed to do but... I have had neck creases forever. I figured it was genetic or just a kimora lee simmons thing to get used to. So Alpha Lipoic Acid and B oil worked? I think I have some bio oil my mom gave me. The neck creases and my eyes showing some wear ( I really need to stop rubbing them so hard but it feels so good) are the things that I would pay more attention to. My skincare before was just washing with face soap and then one face moisturizer, eye cream if I had it. I only started using serums last year. they seem fine.

xpost LL, I have always been very sporadic and lazy about shaving any body part well into adulthood. It was always hilarious why strangers/peers even bother to comment on it. They just can't resist.

I kind of also thought I had neck creases from lying down and reading a lot.

lol i never thought of that but maybe? i spent much of my childhood reading. it never occurred to me that it was also making me hard on the eyes. like sun damage -- who knew?!

sometimes it can seem like the advice people give about zapping self-consciousness like stop caring what other people think because they aren't thinking about you anyway goes out the window when you realize that people still think it's ok to comment on someone's body hair. that happens to me too! i wish i could think it was hilarious -- maybe i will try to train myself to think of it that way. this other way isn't really working for me :)

you have a good attitude, yerac!

I still did get stuff lasered though because I hate even dealing with thinking about shaving and groupon was super interesting then. Oddly enough I kept the hair on parts people would comment on when I was younger, like forearms or thighs.

My entire process when I hear someone comment on a physical attribute of someone in a derogatory is always "why the fuck do you care?" I remember saying this to my brother once when he was going off about tattoos on women at the beach. WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE? OMG!!! His wife was startled.

La Lechera, sorry to make you think about that!

fwiw, no they didn't completely disappear, just diminished notably. Yerac the alpha lipoic can be used only twice a week. I would recommend that but I' also using the EUK.

you didn't do anything wrong -- apparently i am very sensitive about necks! coincidentally, i also like the band the necks.

Me too, mate!

I have that alpha lipoic (the hot one!) and usually when i do any serum from The Ordinary I smooth it on my neck too.

:)
¡necks!

re: all of this- sometimes you look at your face (or neck!) and think you look pretty good on that day and sometimes you look at your face and go ugh and have to look away. you most probably always look the same to everyone else. we all know this.

I bought maNara cleansing gel when I was in Japan a few months back and it’s so great. It’s a gel that becomes hot with rubbing and leaves no tightness or dryness etc. If anyone has the opportunity to get it (I think it can be imported, might be easier to get in the US?) I strongly recommend it.

I never tried any L’Occitane stuff until my mother gave me some samples and now I have a jar of precious cream and WOW. My skin feels incredibly soft and smooth.

I stayed at a Waldorf which had a la prairie spa and housekeeping left me samples of their caviar water skin prep liquid - we looked up the price and it’s so insanely expensive that the tiny wee sample I got is worth $50. I’ve used it for a few days and afaict it doesn’t do shit.

I also got the caudalie grape water in a beauty box and was excited to try it since I’ve read ppl raving about / again, it didn’t seem to do anything.

The one new product I’ve recently tried that I would recommend is

Australian Gold Botanical tinted mineral sunscreen spf 50. It goes on really nicely, has a dewy, non greasy finish, and the tint blends in really well. Good base for someone like me who doesn’t fuck with foundation. Also doesn’t irritate my eyes, taste gross or have a strong smell. And it’s cheap! Available on Amazon.

It's funny that I have never tried L'Occitane stuff. When I was younger it was too expensive to splurge on, even Bath and Body Works seemed like an unnecessary expense. And now due to circumstances. I am in the Provence and Occitanie region for a month each year and I buy similar stuff because it is so much cheaper and just everywhere. But I still haven't tried L'Occitane.

I added that AU Gold Botanical sunscreen to my cart. thx!

The most recent thing I’ve tried which I would 100% recommend if you can get hold if it is Superdrug Simply Pure serum, which costs all of GBP 2.99! I’d been reading good reviews of it for years but never got around to trying it. Honestly, it’s better than serums which cost ten times as much. When your other half tells you your skin is looking nice and you’ve only used it once, you’re onto a winner I reckon.

YES!!!

I bought both the day and night versions based on Sali Hughes recommendation and they're amazing!

TBF you prob don't need both but they're 3 pounds so why not?!

Buy one, get one half price at the moment too!

Apparently it sells out a lot so maybe we should both buy backups!

Those Superdrug serums are incredible, I think I have a hot cleanser from them as well which is good. I also have the moisturiser which doesn’t do a lot for me but the serum bangs.

Also I will definitely check out that sunscreen!

ha I just got that Superdrug serum!

it's quite different from my normal serum which is more siliconey (the Eucerin hyaluron filler in the ridiculous test tube type packaging) but I like it.

I got into this skin care convo at work and someone was praising the Ordinary products and I was like, "That rings a bell, hang on a sec..." lol! Just ordered the No Brainer set and the alpha lipoic 5%. Will report back if it burns my face off.

Surprised no one has mentioned Aesop in this thread.

SO my Deciem stuff came yesterday and I started using it last night! It's The No Brainer set, and on only one usage I can report that the Buffet seems adequately moisturizing but the Natural Moisturizing Factors made my skin burn immediately and I was red-cheeked all evening. I'm going to put a hold on that and apply the retinoid instead and try to isolate the reaction.

For anyone else who has used retinoids, what was your experience?

I posted above i think about the ordinary retinoids making the skin around my mouth very dry. But I also am allergic to most lipsticks but I figured I am just sensitive there.

Ugh that sucks about the natural moisturizing factors. We haven't had any problems with that.

I’ve got a persistent dry patch near the corner of mouth, it appeared about 3-4 weeks ago and isn’t going anywhere. It’s pretty small and innocuous but it still bugs me.

On my way back from nz last week my eyelids got super irritated, then red and flaky. Then the same thing happened on the area where my chest meets my neck a few days later. Not sure if it was reaction to a skin product? I’d only used two new products and I’d been using both for a week by the time this happened.

Theory confirmed, I didn't use the MFactor last night and I didn't have burning or redness. So I guess that's out. The Buffet and the Granactive 2% retinoid seem to be working great, though so of course I bought 3 more things from Deciem! Squalene cleanser, SPF 15 mineral block, and the Ascorbic Acid 15% sln. Jed, you said that was the biggest game-changer for you, so I cross my fingers!

I have a dry patch betw my eyebrows. Cld it be bec I have done my eyebrows w henna? Anyway finally started using Nivea and it seems better. Yes, I'm cheap. But apparently Nivea is pretty good quality. It's for dry ageing skin types. Lol i r old

EYECREAM. I seriously hate looking for one. Anyone have any recent loves? Maybe I should just get the Khiels avocado one and call it a day. I think I have only ever used it in a sample before.

Shiseido benefiance. Have used it for years and it’s the best.

I was thinking of that ^^^ because of your past rec! The price is holding me back a little because I never feel good about any eyecream. I was just reading something about eyecream not really being necessary unless your regular face moisturizer irritates your eyes or you think you need a targeted approach. I've been doing some crazy eyeshadows because of KJH and that is when i noticed some crepeyness for the first time.

Omg omg Yerac I was just coming to post that I’m going to meet her tomorrow night!

She’s here and doing some work with Elemis so it’s a meet and greet and skincare demo with a free goody bag worth £50 pounds and I’m very excited!!

The eye cream lasts about 6 months which is what makes me feel better about the price. Maybe there’s somewhere you can get a sample to see if you like it?

ask her what eye cream she uses! She's basically the only makeup person I look at (or can remember).

I am sure they will have the shiseido at duty free. so maybe I can apply some before my flight.

Ooh yea try that!!

Lol since it’s sponsored by Elemis she’d prob have to say something by them but I remember her really liking ole Hendrickson’s banana bright. And yeah I don’t follow any others either.

a friend was recommending one of the snail mucus eyecreams, but I dunno. I was looking it up on amazon but I am kind of leery about all the product reviews about possible counterfeit items and then all the paid reviews.

Oh yeah. I’ve read about that. :/

KJH????

Katie Jane Hughes. enbb turned me on to her. I am really into her makeup slant although I showed her to l4ur3n and she was like "tooooo shiny!" But I don't wear foundation, hate the look of contouring, and her eyeshadow is magnificent so she's a win for me.

Just tried my first Korean face mask, from a Facetory selection box (Carat Plane Crew Diamond Mask). Not sure quite what to expect, if anything, but my face does feel pleasantly cooled.

lmao ctrl+f says I have asked twice already and never followed through BUT I am 32 and feel like I should definitely positively start a nice skincare regimen?? My goal is basically to keep my skin looking the way it does now, like I'm fine w my skin aging naturally but I want to preserve it and keep it healthy and happy for as long as I can. I do not currently have skin that feels, idk, inadequate, or like I need to fix it. This is basically just for long-term maintenance.

1. The (unfortunately named) r/SkincareAddiction subreddit says a basic regimen is a cleanser, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen. This is a solid starting foundation, yes?

2. I really don't want to spend a lot (like more than $10-15 for any one of these products, unless it's going to last me months and months) and with so many options even at the drugstore, I should be able to pull all of this together for under $40-50, yes?

3. I have normal skin that does not get particularly greasy or particularly dry even if I don't wash my face for like 2 days, I don't wear any sort of makeup, and I am only in the sun for maybe a total of an hour a day (broken into morning/evening commute and maybe going out to get lunch or coffee), so I don't need anything particularly intense. I really want products that are going to feel as minimal and invisible as possible, bcz going from putting 0 things on my face a day to 3 is going to be an adjustment.

4. Should I explore a retinol? Is that a silly thing to jump to this early?

CLEANSER:
Since I'm only just cleaning a day's worth of dirt and oil from my face (also maybe sunscreen soon) and not makeup, I assume I don't need anything crazy (also I've just been using glycerin bar soap for several years and that's been just fine but ppl keep telling me I should stop), I've heard Cetaphil and CeraVe make good stuff?

MOISTURIZER:
My understanding is that these really don't penetrate v much and are thus better for short-term stuff or trying to make your current face look nicer, and not so much good for long term prevention, but maybe I should do it anyway? Like something I put on at night and let soak in? I really have no idea. But probably something lightweight since my face doesn't seem particularly thirsty.

SUNSCREEN:
My understanding is that this is the most important thing for preventing signs of aging. Would I apply it throughout the day every time I go outside? Or just once in the morning? I really don't get it bcz sunscreen only lasts for like 2 hours or so. I'm maybe willing to spend a little more here bcz I HATE sunscreen and really want it to feel as invisible as humanly possible. I've heard good things abt EltaMD, La Roche Posay, and Neutrogena.

I'm not really *into* skincare like as a lifestyle so none of this particularly excites me and I really don't want to buy a million things before I find the right thing, but I do understand that some tinkering and experimenting may be necessary. What is the best way to, like, try things?? Can I get samples from Sephora or Ulta? Will brands mail you samples if you ask? like what do I DO

imo - cleanser, just find whatever works for you. I have oily skin but I love oil cleansers (not balms although loads of people love them). Foaming or soapy cleansers make my skin feel tight.

moisturiser - personally I use a light one like Avene Hydrance Optimale Light (these are usually on special offer where I am so last a while) and this has spf20 in. Mainly as a base for makeup. I don't like heavier or greasier moisturisers but ymmv. Because of the spf I don't use an additional sunscreen except in summer (and have yet to find a really good one, but Ultrasun has been pretty ok! I agree this is where you should spend your money if you're gonna) although apparently you should every day because you won't get enough moisturiser on your face to give you the spf coverage. I don't know. Maybe a serum??

You can get things like leave-in creams for night which may or may not do anything - I'm happier to have something a bit heavier on my skin at night. Some have retinol iirc; I have not tried any retinols yet.

I am not a skincare expert though. You may find you actually don't really need anything - my husband doesn't. (Except sunscreen, always be safe in the sun, kids)

If you have insurance, I'd recommend visiting a dermatologist even just once. They will be able to tell you what is best for you and you can save time/energy/money trying to figure it out yourself.

Alternately, curology.com provides a service like that where you get a custom product based on your own needs and priorities. The first month is free so you can see if you like it. You gotta upload selfies and everything.

I know I'm a shill for The Ordinary but their squalane balm cleanser is seriously good.