What was the best advice you’ve received on skincare?
Expensive isn’t always better–you don’t always get what you pay for, and exaggerated claims abound in the industry. The first bit resonates me as I’ve tried a plethora of products from affordable to jaw-dropping in price, and aside from efficacy for the price, I’ve also come to appreciate that I have to feel OK to use what I bought… I don’t want to ration my moisturizer because it was sooo expensive–I want to use what I need comfortably.
— Christine
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
That sometimes non-acne fighting products can be better for acne prone skin. I tend to break out if my skin is irritated, and I feel like a lot of my acne fighting products just exacerbated the irritation. My skin cleared up a lot (albeit, not totally), once I started replacing the very aggressive cleansers/masks with more soothing and calming ones.
Fave skincare products are fresh soy face, purity by philosophy, fresh rose face mask, giovanni detox moisturizer, and estee lauder advanced night repair serum.
I still use spot treatments on breakouts, but I try to focus acne fighting products only on active areas and not my whole face.
Learn about acids. Use acids twice daily. All year long. Wish I would have known this when I was 30, but never too late. It strengths the skin. Exfoliates. Moisturizes. Makes everything you put atop work better. The #1 best advice I’ve ever gotten about skin care.
Types of acids cheat sheet
https://www.carolinehirons.com/2017/03/cheat-sheet-types-acids.html
Five Myths About Acids
https://www.carolinehirons.com/2016/11/five-mythsfacts-about-acids.html
P50 (what I use and always will)
https://www.carolinehirons.com/2015/04/biologique-recherche-lotion-p50.html
https://www.carolinehirons.com/2010/04/biologique-recherche.html
One more thing — applying acids properly. You really should use a cotton and first press into the face and neck. THEN, swipe with upwards motions. That’s how you get the most bang out of the product.
I’ve heard of people just patting it on with fingers. Not the best way to go. Change the application, and it works even better.
Alcohol denat and fragrance even plant fragrance shouldn’t be in skincare. My skin turned around completely when I rid my life of all of that.
Also natural doesn’t guarantee better and everything is a chemical. A lot of bs being passed around in the blogosphere that isn’t based in fact or with any real research. Just there to scare you and so you buy their crap not their’s
Also keep it simple stupid. No 18 step rituals for me. Just use a few gentle products and that’s it. The more I put on my skin the better it is. Plus, if I’m not seeing lasting results what’s the point and I don’t have money for that anyway!
One of the tips I’ve found through a lot of research is this: AVOID anything “infused” with gold. Gold has absolutely no benefits for your skin or overall well-being, other than a possible psychosomatic reaction from knowing you’re putting gold on your face. Most products containing gold are labeled as hypoallergenic, but a large population is sensitive or full-blown allergic to precious metals like gold and silver; meaning the product is misleading from the get-go. Gold has no real use in skincare other than a way for brands to justify higher prices or exploit trends.
That’s not to say products containing gold are bad (Guerlain and YSL primers, for example) but don’t be too alarmed when the brand’s claims fall flat. They can do this because of general lack of government oversight and technicalities in labeling legislation which allow controversial ingredients as long as they aren’t claimed as being medically beneficial or active ingredients.
Another example is black light reactive or glow-in-the-dark makeup. The large majority of ingredients which allow for these effects are strictly prohibited from being used in cosmetics under US regulations, but brands have been finding ways to side-skirt these issues (usually by manufacturing in The EU or China). It’s not ethically proper but it’s technically legal so brands exploit the hell out of it.
Wear sunscreen every day and be especially lavish with it from April through September. The best, most expensive face creams won’t undo the damage the sun will do to your skin.
That a sunscreen should make a noticeable positive difference in your skin! Since I started using my every day sunscreen, my face has become a lot less red and reactive during the day. I also realized that when I would get lots of small zits on my cheeks, it was because of sun exposure.
I think it was to be consistent with skin care. I feel like I am always referencing the same things but when I was really young my best friend’s mother started me using “good skincare” but the thing I remember most was her edict to never sleep in my makeup. Regardless of how tired I was she told me to always remove my makeup before bed and use a good toner and moisturizer. I am not sure there were many more products than that as far as nightly skincare went but I just always remembered that advice. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I haven’t taken off my makeup before sleep. I wish that more had been known about the effects of the sun and that she had told me to use sunscreen every day but alas she didn’t.
I can relate so much !
I live in France, my dermatologist’s name is in all the magazines. First time I went to see her was for my severe atopic eczema.
My day cream was hydra beauty gel cream from Chanel. I will always remember one of the first thing she said to me : “Stop using this. Take Hydrabio from Bioderma. Same results but cheaper.”
She was right, I think it performs as well if not better than some more expensive creams.
Thank you for your input! I have been lusting over the Chanel hydra beauty line, but I just looked up Bioderma and they seem to have very similar products for 1/4 the price.
Actually, I think the best advice I’ve heard is right there in Christine’s answer:
“I’ve also come to appreciate that I have to feel OK to use what I bought… I don’t want to ration my moisturizer because it was sooo expensive…”
I am so guilty of rationing expensive products. I do it with makeup, too.
That for BHA to work, the pH has to be 3-4. That explained the decades of ineffective, expensive skincare for me. Until Differin went OTC, BHA was the only game in town, if you were allergic to benzoyl peroxide. Thanks, Paula, Cat Cactus, etc.
Double cleanse.
Use sunscreen everyday!
Use sunscreen & don’t be afraid of oils.
There are legitimate ways of testing the effectiveness of skincare products (depth and length of wrinkles before and after, differences in pigmentation before and after, etc.) and if companies had any meaningful results to share, they’d use those methods. “Test results” that show things like “98% saw improved skin texture” are meaningless if they are self-reported because participants are prone to placebo-effect bias.
The game changer: Don’t sleep with your makeup on! Because I actually used to do that every night after I moved out on my own. I was so damn insecure about how I looked without at least eye makeup on, that I didn’t want my fiance who became my husband to see me bare-faced! As a result, my acne issues became worse. And then, a month before my 33rd birthday, I came down with conjunctivitis so severe that it developed into iritis. I could not wear ANY makeup, much less eye makeup, for over 2 months. Had to toss almost all my eye makeup, foundation and anything else that was in contact with my eye area. Lesson LEARNED.
Stay out of the sun and use sunscreen. I think this has helped me to look much younger than I actually am.
As far as products, I’d also say that more expensive does not usually equate better.
When I learned how bad all those chemicals are in skincare , don’t want to put that on my face.
In short: ingredients, ingredients, ingredients. I don’t want my skincare to be 15% active ingredients and 85% fillers, PEGs, preservatives, silicones, SLS, alcohol, perfume etc.
Use skincare products from companies that only do (or mainly do) skincare, as they will invest mostly on this side. I would not buy skincare from Chanel, YSL, Guerlain, Dior etc. I prefer to buy skincare made by a company that actually invests a lot in sourcing the active ingredients, in processing them and in the manufacturing process. It’s not true that any squalane, maracuja, rose hip oil etc. is the same, because is not. It depends if it’s organically/bio sourced, which parts of the plant are used, if it’s cold-pressed, unrefined, percentage of active ingredient etc.
And yes, natural-derived is not the same as organic or bio. The latter are regulated in North America and EU (strict standards for the soil where the plants grow, type of plants used etc.), whereas the former means it comes from something that exists in nature and is produced either using minimal processing methods or using synthetic chemicals.
Great points! I fell into that trap when I first started taking care of my skin. I felt bad shelling oht so much for some products, and used so little at a time that they probably didn’t do any good! I do still use some higher end products, but it’s because I read ingredients lists and patch test and decided that it works for me.
Best skincare advice I’ve gotten would be to keep things simple. I’ve also tried the multi step Asian Beauty routine and found it’s not for me! Going back to a simpler routine really worked well for my skin.
From a pharmacist after an awful allergic reaction to Dr Hauska lotions (my body had run out of space to put spots on my face so I was getting them on my hands and arms,). She said that just because ingredients are natural, they can still be powerful and nasty. She then directed me to Aqueous Cream (1/2 a kg for $9.00NZ) which cleared the reaction up and is still the best skil care product I have ever used.
By far and away the most entertaining and educational advice on skincare is in Ben Goldacre’s book ‘Bad Medicine’. I laughed out loud reading that.
Exactly as you have said Christine – expensive does not mean effective. You can get a lot of great skincare prodcts at our equivalent of your DS’s – Priceline and Chemist Warehouse. And they have massive sales every now and again that makes a lot of brands really affordable.
Check for overly perfumed prroducts as these are known irritants for the skin too.
Burt’s Bees Cleanser for sensitive skin, that I have just started using, is fantastic – no perfumes, creamy texture that even gets off mascara and doesn’t sting my eyes is a winner for me.
Argon and Chia Seed Oils – these have been gamechangers for me.
A gentile scrub once a week – Aamie – an English brand, all natural, no microbeads is fabulous too.
Manuka Honey moiisturizer and serum – really works.
All inexpensive and easily available.
A great comment by Rachel above – use sunscreen too and one that is designed to be used on the face as well.
I am a skincare junkie & I can afford to try out new skincare so I do!
And most often I am disappointed with these luxury lines I have to say.
Never before has great skincare been so affordable & therefore easy to experiment with.
Never before has there been so much information available about skincare – so educate yourself!
your SPF is your best anti-aging cream in life. And always avoid alcohols and perfumes in your skin care, silicones too preferably. Make sure your hands are clean before you go in your products (i use an alcohol gel to disinfect). Products with active ingredients sold in a jar are a big scam.
Avoid sun from 10-4 if possible. Spf Daily! (Huh! I been a runner for years and love gardening good luck to me!). Never go to sleep without washing your beautiful face. I been really enjoying listening to The Beauty Brains podcast real scientist debunk all the hype in beauty out here (one is a marathoner btw. they are witty and funny at times). They mention natural doesn’t mean better., makeup doesn’t really have an expiration day (good to hear it!) unless you notice something off then throw away, that there’s barely aloe in drugstores, dollar stores and many unless it contains juice and how much of it also and so many other things. To be aware of makeup artist who claim many other products are trash and then push theirs! I find it excellent podcast straight honest information and not pushing any thing they only mention a book they wrote and I’d like to get it titled ‘Is Ok to have lead on your lipsticks’ (or makeup? can’t recall).
They discuss makeup, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, etc. ??
1. Sunscreen, don’t smoke, clean living.
2. Do not pick at your pimples. Don’t use hot compresses to alleviate pain— use ICE.
3. Sulfur really works for pimples couldn’t be prevented. Benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and BHA/AHA are really good for prevention, but when you have a zit— sulfur!
4. When anything has been bothering you for longer than 8 weeks, go to the dermatologist. I have spots of eczema that come and go. It just needs prescription strength medication. I used to feel like it was vain. But I tried everything OTC, and finally went to the doctor. I felt dumb like why did I wait this long???