Have tried to be a bit better being good to my skin, especially as 40 looms this year. On holiday got some kind of crazy deal + exchange rate benefit which meant i got some mad skincare stuff for very little money. Used it and looked a lot more kind of… alive? after about a week. Loved it.
Ran out and I thought oh, I’ll just top up on that. no. infinity pounds. fuck-you prices.
Does anyone have any solid, inexpensive go-to’s that they rate for:
Cleanser
Moisturiser for face that’s good for dry skin
Hand cream
Anything to stop your eyes looking like they’ve seen lovecraftian horrors.
I need something to make my hands better, the skin often feels very… dry I guess? And I find it difficult to touch certain materials without going all goosebumpy.
I was using Aveeno which helped but I think they’ve changed something and it doesn’t so much now.
And that’s handy because Superdrug is reasonably priced and vegan and has shops in ever town in the land. I’ve tried more upmarket shit but Her Indoors is allergic to everything so I end up having to keep away from her when I try it and then go back to the Superdrug and have a pot of £40 moisturiser gathering dust. Superdrug will do.
Cleanser - I alternate between the No. 7 energising face wash and the Body Shop tea tree scrub (2 days of wash, 1 of scrub). The scrub is mild enough that you could do it daily but my current situation works pretty well for me.
Moisturiser - the Nivea one that you can buy literally anywhere that has a pink lid. Cheap, not too claggy and also SPF 15.
I use Simple face wash and then the boots basics of:
Retinol
Retinol moisturiser
UV moisturiser when I remember
All cheap cause I don’t want to spend much but my skin’s better for using them. I don’t use anything scrubby cause it hurts. I’ve been recommended Paula’s choice
Right!? Pretty much all my makeup is Superdrug own brand with a little bit of Fenty, I’ve tried expensive shit and it’s rarely any better and often way worse.
I use Cerave stuff. Fragrance free which reduces the chance of any reactions and usually on offer in Boots or the like.
I use the hydrating cleanser morning and night with the AM and PM moisturisers. The stuff lasts ages - using less is more. The AM moisturiser has SPF protection which is important.
(Roughly) every second day I’ll do a double cleanse using Simple hydrating cleansing oil.
On the days inbetween I use Paula’s Choice liquid exfoliant. Been using this a few years now but seems to have gone viral recently. Again, lasts ages.
Once a week I’ll use this too - lasts ages.
I also use the Body Shop Himalayan charcoal facemask once a week too.
All of this is me though. Everyone’s skin is different. I’d start with the Cerave moisturisers and facewash and PC liquid exfoliant as a minimum and see how your skin reacts. From there what you might need will be entirely personal, but the two of these seem to generally be compatible with the majority of people.
Bit of an outlay at the beginning but worth it if you can, and I only need to replenish two, three times a year at a push. Maybe not even that.
Can’t use hardly anything on my face because it just results in acne. I mean I have acne anyway but using pretty much anything on it will cause it to be worse. The best thing I have found is drinking a fuck tonne of water means I don’t need to moisturise. I’ve not found a moisturiser which doesn’t give me spots almost immediately, y’see.
That said, I have found some cheap products which work for me: The Solution salicylic acid which I pop on immediately after the shower, and in the shower I use Boots cucumber face scrub.
My doctor who was treating me for acne said to use nothing apart from aqueous cream on my face, which I did for years and it worked a treat, but since giving birth it does fuck all. Actually, while I was pregnant, my skin looked amazing and I did nothing to/for it. Not a single spot, only washed with aqueous cream. Absolutely outrageous.
The upcirclestuff is lush. The cleanser and the night cream.
A moisturiser i discovered revently is the asda collagen one. Its £4 and its the only one that soothes my dry skin (caused by importing pure retinol from Portugal, which i put on every other day but does make your skin peel a bit until you get used to it). Anyway its really lush and thick but also sinks in easy and isnt greasy
The ordinary is very affordable too. The chemical peel mask is really good.
Also factor 50 EVERY DAY. This face one is pretty good. Ignore any claims moisturisers or make up etc make about spf, that only applies if you were to wear it like half an inch thick.
There’s an Aldi caviar face cream that’s supposed to be good (I’ve just started using it) that’s £7/ tub but supposedly their version of a £450(!!!) product. I’ve heard their stuff is supposed to be just as good as the expensive versions
