Skincare is one of those things I always feel like I should be better at (and that I’m failing as a girl because of it somehow). I’m lucky as my skin is fine really (I drink a lot of water) so I’ve never really done anything. Selfcare is something I struggle with generally so never found it worth the effort.

I’m thinking as I enter my thirties though I should. Just had a sheetmask and enjoyed it but I have no idea where to start generally in terms of it.

What’s your skincare routine? Is it worth the effort/cost?

  • If you’re happy with your skin, I don’t see the point in changing anything. Screw gendered expectations, they’re all made up.

    I’ve struggled with acne for most of my post-pubescent life (currently in my mid-30s), and I’ve been on a journey these last few years of having a good job and affordable healthcare access to get it under control. I finally have a skincare routine that keeps my skin largely clear, and will probably not deviate from it for a while. Might do some treatments at my dermatologist’s office to deal with some acne scarring/rosacea.

    My routine is: wash face with homemade face soap (lye soap made with non-comeodogenic oils, superfatted at 8%, plus tea tree oil added at trace), then Cosrx Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, then Aveeno Calm + Restore Redness Relief Moisturizer mixed with two drops each of The Ordinary’s squalene oil and rose hip oil. This is both my morning and evening routine, except every other night I skip the snail mucin and use my prescription tretinoin after the moisturizers, then put a thin layer of petroleum jelly on top. I would use the tretinoin every night, but I find it makes my eyes dry. The rose hip oil is supposed to help with redness, but I’ve seen far better results improving my (admittedly mild) rosacea with the Aveeno moisturizer.