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Tue May 11, 2010 7:17 am  |
| I've been doing so much reading since I discovered these forums and I'm still feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all of the information. Since having children I've become a lot more aware of what I put on their skin, but for some reason it didn't translate into concern over what I put on my skin until recently. I am 39yo and my face is starting to show it's age so I want to start putting a bit more effort into my skin care in hopes of reversing the minimal damage (a few sun spots and the start of genetic crow's feet) that's already showing up and preventing any new issues from arising before their time. Because I don't want to throw out the products I'm currently using, I'm just starting to think of what to replace them with as they run out. I'm nearing the end of my eye cream, so that's what got me thinking about this... I know that the ingredients can make a difference in price, but is a $250 eye cream that much better than a $150, $50, or $20 eye cream? Unfortunately I don't have a ton of money to spend on skin care products, but I still want quality products that will make a difference. So, do you think you get what you pay for when buying skin care products? |
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Tue May 11, 2010 7:29 am |
| laellis wrote: |
| So, do you think you get what you pay for when buying skin care products? |
Definitely not!
Probably the single best thing you can do for antiaging is buying Retin-A (isotretinoin). It costs around $20 and it goes a long way.
Expensive creams usually have exotic ingredients with little research behind claiming to do XYZ.
If you just stick with the active ingredients that have been proven to do something (e.g. Vitamin C, Retin-A, AHA) you can have a great skin routine for little money. |
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37, light brown hair, green eyes, very fair skin. Oily T zone, broken capillaries... Current regime: Tretinoin 0.05% every night, hydroquinone 4% twice per day, lachydran every other day, random moisturizers and sunscreen |
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Tue May 11, 2010 7:44 am |
Absolutely not! You are also paying for pricey packaging and marketing on those expensive brands, not the ingredients!  |
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I'LL SEE YOU ON THE DARKSIDE OF THE MOON.... |
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Tue May 11, 2010 9:11 am |
| Josee wrote: |
| Probably the single best thing you can do for antiaging is buying Retin-A (isotretinoin). It costs around $20 and it goes a long way. |
Are you saying that I can buy straight Retin-A and use it however I want, or I should look for products that contain Retin-A? Sorry if that sounds like a silly question... |
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Tue May 11, 2010 9:31 am |
| laellis wrote: |
| Josee wrote: |
| Probably the single best thing you can do for antiaging is buying Retin-A (isotretinoin). It costs around $20 and it goes a long way. |
Are you saying that I can buy straight Retin-A and use it however I want, or I should look for products that contain Retin-A? Sorry if that sounds like a silly question... |
Retin-A is a brand name for a cream that contains "tretinoin" (the active principle). Any cream that contains tretinoin should work.
If you choose to use tretinoin, you should start slowly since at the beginning it can be very irritating.
You use a pearl-sized amount only at night. You need to use a good sunscreen during the day because tretinoin makes skin more sensitive to sun.
You can either buy a low concentration of isotretinoin (let's say 0.025) and start putting it every 3 days for a couple of weeks, then every other day for a month, then every day for a month. Then you start with the 0.05 the same way until you build up to using 0.05 every day.
People have had different results using tretinoin around the eye area. I think I would not use 0.05 around the eye area, at most 0.025. Still for some people even 0.025 results in too much of a drying effect in that area and they don't get good results and the drying makes wrinkles more visible in that area. For others it has worked. You can ask around in the forum and see what are people's experiences. |
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37, light brown hair, green eyes, very fair skin. Oily T zone, broken capillaries... Current regime: Tretinoin 0.05% every night, hydroquinone 4% twice per day, lachydran every other day, random moisturizers and sunscreen |
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Tue May 11, 2010 9:45 am |
laellis -
You can order retin A from off shore like Alldaychemist.com No RX needed. The shipping is high ($25.00) but the product is soooo cheap - around $3.00 for a tube of retin-a. Stock up when you DO order and make it worth the shipping cost. I've ordered the .25, .05 and 1.0. Start with a lower amount and work up. I recommend use at night.
Also vitamin C serums can be MADE for pennies. Kassy is the queen of the DIY C serums. Check out the DIY C serum thread - page 28 or so has a great recipe for a 20% serum. The ingredients will be an initial investment but you will have enough to make a years worth And some to share with friends.
Use this in AM.
And physical sunscreen is a MUST - a cheap but good choice can be found on Vitacost.com aubrey organics natural SPF - they have a 20 and a 25.
Good luck - You have to be a smart shopper these days to get what you want and still squeeze a dime, right!
Sis |
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Enjoying dermalogica with my ASG and Pico toner ** Disclosure: I was a participant without remuneration in promotional videos for Ageless Secret Gold and the Neurotris Pico Emmy event. |
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Sun May 23, 2010 9:56 am |
| Josee wrote: |
| laellis wrote: |
| Josee wrote: |
| Probably the single best thing you can do for antiaging is buying Retin-A (isotretinoin). It costs around $20 and it goes a long way. |
Are you saying that I can buy straight Retin-A and use it however I want, or I should look for products that contain Retin-A? Sorry if that sounds like a silly question... |
Retin-A is a brand name for a cream that contains "tretinoin" (the active principle). Any cream that contains tretinoin should work.
If you choose to use tretinoin, you should start slowly since at the beginning it can be very irritating.
You use a pearl-sized amount only at night. You need to use a good sunscreen during the day because tretinoin makes skin more sensitive to sun.
You can either buy a low concentration of isotretinoin (let's say 0.025) and start putting it every 3 days for a couple of weeks, then every other day for a month, then every day for a month. Then you start with the 0.05 the same way until you build up to using 0.05 every day.
People have had different results using tretinoin around the eye area. I think I would not use 0.05 around the eye area, at most 0.025. Still for some people even 0.025 results in too much of a drying effect in that area and they don't get good results and the drying makes wrinkles more visible in that area. For others it has worked. You can ask around in the forum and see what are people's experiences. |
Thank you for your details, I've always wanted to use retinoic acid, but I do not understand it, even uncertain if the purchase, pharmacies? Are there different levels of choice |
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Tue May 25, 2010 5:14 pm |
| I think you pay for the advertising,and product name. Crazy to use a cream for hundreds of dollars.Probably retin-a is the most effective, but I can't use it (I've tried). |
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sunflower75
New Member
 
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 7
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Wed May 26, 2010 9:10 am |
| I agree with the other posters. Expensive does not equal effective. I think sticking with actives that have been proven effective like retinoic acid are the best way to go. |
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Flicker
New Member
Joined: 18 May 2010
Posts: 5
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Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:13 pm |
You definitely end up paying for packaging! it's the ingredients and amount of ingredients that count. There are so many that have rediculous prices just because they contain a certain ingredient, which you can actually find in much cheaper brands, ie the new buzz ingredient Swiss Apple Stem Cells. I found 4 brands that use it and cost over £150!!! and another for only £60 that actually also contains masses and masses of other brilliant anti-ageing ingredients. The same goes for Niacin.  |
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Flicker |
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Wed Jun 02, 2010 12:42 pm |
| sunflower75 wrote: |
| Expensive does not equal effective. |
2nd this! There are great low and high end products and there are crappy low and high end. You really need to know your ingredients and be a savvy shopper. |
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Fri Jun 04, 2010 9:59 pm |
[quote="laellis"]I know that the ingredients can make a difference in price, but is a $250 eye cream that much better than a $150, $50, or $20 eye cream? [quote]
I don't think so.
And the best one is the one which fit your skin best~ |
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Fri Jun 04, 2010 10:06 pm |
| My best items happen to be my cheapest and as others have mentioned, it's the Retin A from ADC and the DIY C serum. Nothing comes close to what these can do. I am fairly new on the Retin A but am now used to it on my skin. I use the .05% and use it around my eyes but I had to start slowly with it. I did have a bad reaction to it on my neck. |
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 10:04 am |
About 3 years ago I spent $2.5K+ on skincare in a year. Last year I spent about $400 and to be honest, my skin is the same or better even though I'm older.
Have to agree, DIY and pure active ingredients are most effective. (With some exceptions, of course.)
No matter your budget, look into DIY and actives. |
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Sun Jun 06, 2010 3:16 pm |
| laellis wrote: |
| I've been doing so much reading since I discovered these forums and I'm still feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all of the information. Since having children I've become a lot more aware of what I put on their skin, but for some reason it didn't translate into concern over what I put on my skin until recently. I am 39yo and my face is starting to show it's age so I want to start putting a bit more effort into my skin care in hopes of reversing the minimal damage (a few sun spots and the start of genetic crow's feet) that's already showing up and preventing any new issues from arising before their time. Because I don't want to throw out the products I'm currently using, I'm just starting to think of what to replace them with as they run out. I'm nearing the end of my eye cream, so that's what got me thinking about this... I know that the ingredients can make a difference in price, but is a $250 eye cream that much better than a $150, $50, or $20 eye cream? Unfortunately I don't have a ton of money to spend on skin care products, but I still want quality products that will make a difference. So, do you think you get what you pay for when buying skin care products? |
This is a great place to learn, so happy reading.
When I was your age, I had just started my 'antiaging' regime with the beginning of some lines and such. At the time, the products I used did not agree w/ my skin and things looked worse. Be careful and watch for reactions to your skin - it can age you even more if it irritates your skin.
For the price (and since it is no longer held on a patent), Retin A is great for fine lines and texture to the skin. It can be bought without a prescription (no Dr's visit - so big savings there) on line at places like All Day Chemist. Use a different email addy and different (temp) credit card so you don't get hit w/ spam afterwards. Otherwise, besides the S&H cost - it's a great value. Find out how to use it - it can be irritating, esp in the beginning. But the long term use is very advantageous.
Also - make sure you use a sunscreen. Esp w/ the Retin A (since it will cause sun sensitation in the beginning). Best anti-aging product out there. And get one that has PHYSICAL ingredients, not chemical ones. Physical ones are either Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) &/or Zinc Oxide (ZnO). Chemical ones are not good for your skin (some of them) or the environment. Lots to read on this subject - esp here on EDS.
Additionally - get an anti-oxident for your skin. It will help turn around free radicals that cause sun damage as well as turn the damage around on your skin. Some forms of anti-oxidants are Vitamin C (L-AA varieties) and Copper Peptides. There are a few others out there, but not much substantial research backing them up.
When you mentioned eye cream - at your age I tried Kinerase. It was a really nice eye cream and helped smooth out some fine lines on my eyes, but did not last nor get rid of them entirely. Kinetin (the product in Kinerase) does have some backing in it's claims as how good it works.
A product I did try that helped even more than that was Skin Biology's Copper Peptides. It helped firm up sagging skin and improve the texture of my aged skin immensely. This is not a product everyone can use successfully, but it works for a lot of people. It's a small company that produces it with a bio-chemist developing the product that discovered it's ingredient for healing wounds. It seems it also works on aging issues (like mine )
Take your time to research some products. There are a lot to choose from. And new ones come out all the time. Good luck in your quest. |
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early 60's, fair skin, combo skin, very few fine lines, vertical lip lines, crows feet & 11's, fighting aging! Using Palancia HF, dermarollers, CPs, Retin A Micro, Safetox, AALS, Clairsonic |
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Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:38 am |
Thanks for your help everyone! 
I've been doing a lot of reading and am still trying to sort everything out before I take action, but I have definitely learned to read up more on a product and its ingredients before purchasing it. |
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Tue Jun 08, 2010 9:44 am |
| Like most other profitable fields... the skincare industry is built on hype and good marketing/branding. I used to think the good products were the more expensive ones but as I learned more about ingredients and such, you really discover whats just hype and whats really good. The last step is to go DIY and do your own products (Vit C serums are a good example of that).... |
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