Good skincare advice?

littlemiss123

I am looking for some advice regarding a good skincare regime.

I am lucky enough to have very good clear skin, and have never had acne problems, but my skin can be a bit on the dry side. I am in my early 20s so no need to start worrying about anti-ageing just yet(!!) but I do want to start taking better care of my skin.

At the moment, I have a very simple regime, face wash every second day in the shower, cleanse and moisturise every morning. Last week I went into a large department store and was given samples of a few products (not sure can I mention brand names but I will anyway?!!). I was told Lancôme have excellent skincare products and was given samples of a skin rejuvenator (Genefique), a corrector (Visionnaire) and a moisturiser. I have been using all 3 for a few days now and can definitely see an improvement in my skin......but if I was to buy all of these products they would set me back over €200 :-O

My question is, are these products really worth it and do I need all of them, or more even?! I do like to stick to products that are as natural as possible, so I am wondering if these manufactured products would only end up damaging my skin in the long run, or if my skin would become 'dependent' on them so to speak?! For example, the Lancôme woman told me that the Genefique product in particular was 12 years in development which makes me wonder how chemically altered or synthetic all the ingredients are?! Are there natural remedies or brands out there that do just as good a job, or are these high end skin products truely what they are cracked up to be and worth the money?

Any advice on good brands, products, natural remedies or routines would be much appreciated :-)

Methven

Google Oil Cleansing Method - I'll post up link later but on the phone now so can't. Anyway its great. All natural, cheap and only takes a few mins each night. All you need is a good supply of face cloths, hot water and oils of your choice (I use castor oil and sunflower). You'll get all the details in the link about quantities etc. It has really improved my skin. My mother in law and her sister now swear by it too! Have a look anyway - I'll post the link when I get to work.

Methven

Here you go:

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

Best of luck!

jive

Bio oil worked really well for my dry skin. It would be pricey if you were to use it over your body though as its ~€13 for 200ml. Definitely worth considering though, I found it to be far more effective than any other moisturisers.

CollardGreens

I was told Lancôme have excellent skincare products and was given samples of a skin rejuvenator (Genefique), a corrector (Visionnaire) and a moisturiser. I have been using all 3 for a few days now and can definitely see an improvement in my skin......but if I was to buy all of these products they would set me back over €200 :-O

@ Littlemiss, since you asked, I wouldn't use any of these products and here is why..ALL the chemicals in them. After reading Susan Sommers book (she is the lady that cured herself of breast cancer naturally) what she said is not to put anything on your skin that you wouldn't eat! Your skin is the largest organ and it soaks up everything. I use organic virgin coconut oil after the shower and love it! You will smell good and it is only one ingredient. On my face I use Avalon Organics, it is a face cream that is wonderful and being organic I feel safe with it being it is organic and coconut oil in the day will not work under make-up.

hope this has helped?

Daisy

littlemiss123

Methven wrote: »

Here you go:

http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

Best of luck!

Thanks for all the advice guys, apologies for the lack of response....hectic days work!

The oil cleansing method sounds really good, especially since it gets your pores open. I assume I can buy pure organic castor oil and sunflower seed oil in any good health food shop? Definitely worth giving it a go!

CollardGreens wrote: »

@ Littlemiss, since you asked, I wouldn't use any of these products and here is why..ALL the chemicals in them. After reading Susan Sommers book (she is the lady that cured herself of breast cancer naturally) what she said is not to put anything on your skin that you wouldn't eat! Your skin is the largest organ and it soaks up everything. I use organic virgin coconut oil after the shower and love it! You will smell good and it is only one ingredient. On my face I use Avalon Organics, it is a face cream that is wonderful and being organic I feel safe with it being it is organic and coconut oil in the day will not work under make-up.

hope this has helped?

Daisy

@ Daisy, I definitely agree with you, all these manufactured products cannot be good for us, especially when, like you say, we are coating the largest organ in our body in them! I am going to give everything a shot over the next few months to see what works best for me. Again, I assume I can buy the coconut oil in any good health shop?

CollardGreens

Yes, you can buy virgin coconut oil in a health shop. Some of the food stores in the states have them too but I am not in Ireland so don't know about your food shops.

I purchase all my health products (vitamins & health food) at an on-line shop and save so much money. Here it's a company called Vitacost.com

(you can check them out and see what kinds of products they carry but the shipping to Ireland would probably be way too expensive).

why don't you do a search and see if there is a company in Ireland, I would think that someone would have one there because it is such a lucrative business!

Unrefined oil is raw but I'm not sure if you have to refrigerate it or not? If the refined oil can be kept out then that is what I would get so you can keep it in the bath to use there and not have to use it cold. Sometimes I put my jar (get glass, no plastic - makes a difference) in front of a small heater when I shower and it's melted a bit when I use it but it does melt in your hands too.

ash2008

I use Lush products, they have one in Dublin or they did last time I was there anyway. They use natural ingredients. My routine is Angels on Bareskin (for cleaning my face), followed by Breath of Fresh Air toner and Vanishing Cream moisturiser. I used to use Clinique before, but my skin was awful - dry in parts, but id get breakouts in other parts. Since switching it is so much clearer.

During winter when it got really cold and dry, the Vanishing Cream was too light, so I used Mario Badescu's Rose Hip Oil which was great. I had a free sample, but I think its probably expensive to buy. Actually, Lush is not exactly cheap either, esp the Vanishing Cream (which might be too light for you if you have very dry skin anyway) but it lasts for ages cos a little goes a long way.

As for body, I use Grapeseed oil as soon as I step out of the shower. I did have coconut oil, but its solid at certain temperatures which is a bit inconvenient if im in a rush, so now I just use it for cooking

horsemaster

OP, coconut oil is great for the warmer months. Try getting the coconut oil from India. They remain liquid unless it gets really cold. The ones from South East Asia however tend to be solid. There is no harm in using it that way though. Many actually prefer it that way. When the weather gets cooler, try Ghee/clarified butter.

Methven

littlemiss123 wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice guys, apologies for the lack of response....hectic days work!

The oil cleansing method sounds really good, especially since it gets your pores open. I assume I can buy pure organic castor oil and sunflower seed oil in any good health food shop? Definitely worth giving it a go!

Hi yes you can buy the oils in a health shop but your local chemist will have the castor oil. (If you're in there ask them for a little plastic bottle that you can put the blend in to - they use them for prescriptions etc).