AskBeehaw

If you have good skin already, do the least possible. Wear sun screen and hats to prevent sun damage, and gently cleanse/ moisturize at night. You don’t need a whole ass routine unless you have problem skin (acne, dark spots, etc). The less you mess with your natural biome, the happier your skin will be.

If your skin is happy, you don't need to change what you are doing with it.

Sheetmasks and similar can be relaxing and make one feel more engaged with general self-care, so if you enjoyed that it could be good to do more often.

In my 40s with good skin, and just wash it with a good bar soap when in the shower, then a splash of rosewater whilst it is still damp, followed by moisturiser with SPF50.

My mother is in her 70s and has perfect skin - she just washes it with whatever kind of soap, including dish soap if that is what is to hand. In recent years she sometimes complains that it is getting dry - she sort of knows that moisturiser should help and even has some which would be suitable for her, but the whole idea is just too alien to her to actually get it on her face more than once every few weeks.

It's worth it IMO, not even necessarily for the benefits listed on a given container but how it makes me feel better when I do it. I can relate to your situation in the sense that I don't really have any skin concerns and self care wasn't a priority in that regard. Up until about a year or so ago (I'm in my mid 30s), I did nothing for my skin outside of washing it while I was in the shower and putting on body lotion.

As for my routine, I got into Asian skincare products like...two years ago and have settled on the following:

Banila Co Clean It Zero Revitalizing Balm

Pyunkang Yul Essence Toner

Pyunkang Yul Moisture Ampoule

Tony Moly WONDER Ceramide Mocchi Water Cream

Pyunkang Yul Balancing Gel

At night, I do the first four and replace the last one with Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack. FYI I have combo oily/dry skim and it's like a tank in the sense that of all the products I've tried to get to this routine, nothing bothers it.

Altogether, my routine costs around $100 and I buy it once, maybe twice a year.

I'm in my 50s and was told my whole life that I needed a skin care routine or I'd regret it. My skin was always oily until I hit menopause so I didn't see a point beyond washing my face every day.

So, I didn't bother until I was like 49 and started getting a flaky forehead. Seriously, it was like dandruff of the face. It was that, and not wrinkles or fear of them (I have a few, nothing excessive yet) which drove me to using a cleanser and a moisturizer.

I just use Neutrogena Hydro Boost products, no fancy department store stuff. And it works really well, I no longer have facial dandruff. I'm told I look young for my age but I plan to age gracefully- no Botox or fillers or anything like that for me, ever.

Not sure my contribution is of any value to you, but I am a gay male in my 50's. Never did much in terms of skincare. Only washed my face with water and was a heavy smoker up till about 15 years ago. Up until I started tuning bald people estimated my age to be 10-15 years younger. So I personally think genetics is the biggest determining factor. That said. I started using hyaluronic acid about a year ago because of dry skin, and it does SEEM to make the few wrinkles I had appear less and make my skin more firmer. All in all, I think some skincare helps a little bit, but never expect big changes or improvements. Most of it is just (bad) luck. I would at the very least never buy products that are ridiculously expensive. The cheap ones work just as well, just make sure you read the ingredients. This is just my personal, anecdotal experience and opinion ymmv

I think people over complicate skin care, but then again my skin isn’t fussy so I don’t know the struggle. I think SPF is the most important thing because UV is basically the biggest cause for wrinkles. So if you want to start simple, just a morning face moisturizer with SPF is great.

I do the bare minimum for my skin because a long routine is boring: gentle cleanser, moisturizer, and sunscreen every day. Once or twice a week use an exfoliator cream. I definitely notice a difference on days when I skip my routine, though I generally have pretty good skin, like you.

Start with the basics and then add more if needed!

Just routine use of AHA and that's it. I'm in my mid-40s, spent a lot of my 20s & 30s drinking heavily with tons of sun exposure, and currently people think I'm a decade younger than I am. That's allllll glycolic acid, baby. (I admit I used to need benzoyl peroxide when I was younger for acne, but not anymore finally.)

I think more complicated skin care routines are fine, IF you enjoy the ritual and routine of the whole process. But if it feels like work or if you feel like there are better things you'd like to be doing with your time, then it's not worth it.

I literally wash my face with Dawn dish soap (if it's good enough to wash birds, it's good enough for me!) and slap on a glycolic acid gel and call it a day. Works just fine.

I do the bare minimum. Avoid touching my face (and fail while bored at work so I always get pimples where I use my hand to prop my head on the desk), wash it once or twice a day and **make sure to use sunscreen of SPF30 or more, 50+ preferably when going outside. ** Really if you hydrate well and your skin has no issues, best you can do is protect the status quo. UV radiation is what speeds up skin aging, not to mention the other issues it can cause. Moisturizers are also a good idea, especially during winter (assuming you live in a temperate area). I personally don't bother with them mainly because I forget.

Just had a sheetmask and enjoyed it but I have no idea where to start generally in terms of it.

They're always a treat. I dislike them for personal reasons but I see them as a treat, they can get really pricey if you use them daily 😅. Start small and don't look at the popular influencers using a ton of products on their face. Listen to your skin and recognise when you actually need to use certain products.

For my skin it makes a big difference, but everyone is different! If your skin isn't dry, or oily, or acne prone, you keep doing what works. I have combination skin, and I do a morning cleanser, then moisturizer with spf, which also helps a little bit of under eye concealer blend better. At night it's a cleanser then retinol. A cheaper moisturizer all over after a bath. For me, if I skip any of these things, I feel it.

You don’t have to get complicated, there’s a few key things in my experience:

Most importantly, sunscreen. One you will actually use every day. Formulas have gotten so much better in recent years, so there’s lots of great ones out there. When picking a sunscreen, the first choice is chemical or mineral. Personally, I live in the south and tend to run warm and sweat easily, and I have found that chemical formulas are fine on my body, but they get into & sting my eyes as soon as my face gets dewy in the heat. So I use a Supergoop! mineral formula called matte screen. It has a texture like those powder gel primers and a mild beige tint (minerals can leave a white cast.)

Cleanser: does your cleanser leave your skin feeling dry, greasy, taut, soft? Try different formulas-watery/micellar water, gels, cream based, oil cleansers, experiment until you find a good everyday cleanser, and one that’s good for washing off stubborn makeup.

Moisturizer: having a relatively light one for everyday use and a thicker or richer product for the occasions when skin needs extra moisture may not be necessary, but it feels that way for my skin. Which ones to use is a personal thing you can only learn from trial & error, but understanding your skin type and common issues will help guide you.

The only anti-aging item (other than sunscreen) that is evidence backed: Rx retinols. Don’t waste your $ on OTC retinol/retinoid products. If you want to try retinol, getting a prescription for tretinoin (or something similar) is pretty easy. (I used the Nurx app and dodged the annoyance of an in person visit.)

That’s pretty much it, unless you feel you need a toner. Masks, serums/actives, peels, these things have all gotten trendy, but they’re optional, and are best worked in after establishing the foundations above and learning what your skin isn’t going to react poorly to.

Like others have said, if your skin is fine and happy keep things simple. Don't worry about getting a routine going, if doing nothing worked for my skin I would totally do that!

That said, if you liked the sheet mask, it was probably having a little more hydration that made things feel good. In that case you could add a simple moisturiser, maybe for night time so you can wake up extra moist, which does feel nice.

I put on a lot of moisturiser, because I am the desert without it. I use AHAs etc, but when self-care is a struggle for me I will just put some German Nivea cream or Illiyoon Ceramide Cream on and call it a day.

I use a a drug store cleanser that’s gentle and nondrying every couple of days when I shower, and AHA every several days. My mother doesn’t use anything at all but water, which I’m hoping to eventually move toward. That AHA i use is from Krave, and it costs $25 and lasts about a year. I would say that’s worth it (for me) but a daily or weekly product routine would not be. I imagine it depends on your budget and your skin, and whether you wear makeup that you need to take off, but I have noticed my skin is in much better shape when i keep things simple, so i do. For me, I found that washing off my skin’s oil, then replacing it with lotion, every day, just created a necessity to constantly buy stuff to keep my face from either drying out or becoming oily, so i just stopped and within a few weeks my skin adjusted and looked a lot healthier. Definitely now feel like most products you’re ”supposed” to use every day are not worth it.

I used to be super interested in skincare, and I still am to some extent, but I have also gotten much lazier about it. I think there is a lot of 'your mileage my vary' when it come to certain products or if you even need certain steps. The only things I think are absolutely important (unless you have other skin issues) are (1) a sunscreen you remember to wear and (2) something to wash off the sunscreen. Beyond that, it's just whatever makes you (and your skin) feel good, and it's not a failing if you aren't interested in this stuff.

My current daily routine is Garnier Rose Water Toner Spray, and then either Hada Labo Hyaluronic Lotion/Premium Lotion (these are actually just liquid toners and not literally lotions), Klairs Supple Preparation All Over Lotion, COSRX Snail 96 serum, Etude Sunprise Mild Watery Light Sunscreen, and then just whatever cleansing oil I feel like trying. For context, I have fairly normal skin, maybe on the dry side if I forget to moisturize.

I've tried using various vitamin C serums and retinols and other fancy bits, but my problem is that I just forget about them so easily. So I think the key to a good skincare routine is products that you will actually use.

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