Build A Skincare Regime Part Two– The Add-Ons

Now that you have the basics sorted, you can start to think about any problems that your skin might have that you’d quite like to lessen the impact of or shift completely. Is your skin persistently dry, even after moisturising? Is your anti-aging routine still not shifting those stubborn wrinkles? Before your skincare troubles get you down and you go out and buy an entire range of products that you may not need, take a look at what products are available for each specific problem. Add a few onto your everyday routine rather than overloading your skin, and watch as the benefits roll in….

EYE, LIP AND NECK CONCERNS

There are certain areas of the face that are incredibly sensitive, and need an extra boost to stay looking and feeling great. Additionally, as skin gets older collagen fibres slacken and the skin starts to lose its flexibility. This affects some areas more than others, and these are the places that need some extra protection.

Eye Cream

The skin around your eyes is so delicate. This thin skin needs a special level of care, and many face creams are just too heavy. Eye creams offer lightweight, intensive moisturisation that won’t drag or weigh the skin down, instead smoothing the area and improving elasticity. A great cream for all skin types is the Trilogy Eye Contour Cream, £22.15. Dry skin is far more susceptible to aging, and as such very many eye creams focus upon minimising and preventing these fine lines and wrinkles. Eye creams are an indispensible product for mature skin, as there are very many external and internal factors that can deplete the eye area of moisture. Try the Clarins Super Restorative Total Eye Concentrate, £45.50 with its stimulating, plumping and illuminating ingredients.

Eye Gel

Gels are different from an eye creams in that they focus less upon correcting fine lines and wrinkles, and more upon decongesting the eye area. Eye gels are particularly effective in the morning to make eyes look more awake and vital, minimising dark circles and reducing puffiness to contour the eye area. The L’Occitane Olive Express Eye Treatment, £19.57 is a refreshing gel treat for those who have to get up early in the morning!

Lip Treatment

After the eyes, the lip area is one of the places that suffers most from a lack of elasticity and definition with age. Think about it: you eat, laugh, eat, sing, talk and smile, pull funny faces and pout… that’s a lot of movement! If the lip area is a concern for you, you need an intensive treatment that will smooth away the fine lines and keep the skin comfortable and plumped up. Vichy Neovadiol Conteur Lips and Eyes, £22.00 is just the ticket, visibly resurfacing the area and tightening the skin so that wrinkles are smoothed and refined, and contours have improved definition.

Neck cream

The neck has very few oil-producing glands to keep it hydrated, so as skin matures and gets naturally drier, the neck is one of the places that suffers the most. To avoid the dreaded ‘neck crepe’ of sagging skin and deep wrinkles, invest in a good neck cream that will keep skin plump and more resilient such as Clarins Super Restorative Décolleté and Neck Concentrate, £52.00. Some creams have added firming agents to keep the skin tightened and lifted, whilst others even have complexes that lighten age spots for truly youthful-looking skin – Clarins Super Restorative does it all!

EXTRA DRY SKIN

Sometimes moisturising just isn’t enough for particularly dry skin. If your skin is dehydrated, soothe and smooth it with one of these intensive treatments to combat flaky, rough and inflamed skin for good.

Mask

For skin that is persistently dry, even with a rich moisturiser, sometimes a deeply-penetrating, hydrating mask such as the Avene Instant Soothing Moisture Mask, £10.95 is the answer. To let the cream really sink into the skin and give it a deeply quenching boost, masks are usually left on for around 10 minutes before being gently removed with a toner. This is an ideal product for stubborn dryness or localised areas of dehydration, such as the cheeks and the forehead.

Treatment Oil

As much as it may feel a little odd to smooth oil on your face, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better hydrator for dehydrated skin. The multi-purpose Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil, from £15.50 is a cult lightweight oil formulation that can be used on the face, body and hair. Similar to a mask but slightly more potent, oils are very deeply penetrating treatments that minimise fine lines and plump the skin. Apply a little to dampened skin, leave to sink in and then gently wipe away any excess once or twice a week.

Balm

Soothing and smoothing, balms are moisturisers with a thicker texture that comfort the skin. Balms are a more intensive alternative to creamy formulations and sometimes contain wax blends that moisturise the skin over a prolonged time. They are incredibly nourishing and super-restorative, such as the deeply replenishing Vichy Aqualia Thermal Mineral Balm, £16.50. Balms are often particularly effective to use just before applying make-up, as they tend to have a mask-like texture that settles onto the skin as a layer to provide a flawless base.

EXTRA OILY SKIN

When your skin is particularly oily, there’s nothing like finding a product that gets you through the day with your make-up still intact. Here are some brilliant products set aside from the usual cleanse-tone-moisturise regime that will get your skin cooperating in no time, mopping up excess oil and minimising imperfections fantastically.

Blemish Stick

When a spot rears its ugly head, you have two options. You can either grin and bear it, or reach for a potent blemish treatment that will reduce inflammation, purify the area, and soothe problem skin such as La Roche-Posay Effclar AI Targeted Breakout Corrector, from £9.50. Blemish sticks are specifically formulated to be used locally as a specific spot treatment, and as such contain a powerful blend of antibacterial and clarifying ingredients that will calm and soothe irritations and help to prevent scarring.

Pore Minimiser

Overly active sebum glands getting you down? Then a pore minimising serum may be for you! Large, open pores secrete more sebum, giving skin the dreaded ‘shine’ and making it increasingly difficult for make-up to stay put. To give your skin a fighting chance, smoothing on a potent, serum-based pore minimiser such as Clarins Pore Minimising Serum, £20.50 will refine the complexion and reduce large pores, whilst smoothing and tightening the skin. When applied underneath your usual moisturiser, your skin will stay matte and smooth for longer.

ANTI-AGING

As skin matures, it requires more specialist care. You can buy some spectacularly effective anti-aging moisturisers, masks, cleansers and toners, but sometimes you need an extra added boost to really smooth and illuminate your skin. Try this anti-aging wonders to increase the effectiveness of your regime and make them work a little harder.

Serum / Concentrate

With a potent blend of active ingredients, serums such as the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum, £43.50 are often the most intensive anti-aging treatments on the market. Serums work deep-down to improve elasticity, smooth fine lines, reduce stubborn wrinkles, make the complexion more even and boost radiance. The texture of a serum is such that you can wear it underneath a moisturiser to boost its effects without weighing the skin down, doubling the effects and doubling the nourishment.

Elixir

Similar to a serum in potency but with a slightly different focus, elixirs brighten the skin and boost its natural radiance. Radiance is an issue for more mature skin, as the epidermis can look dull and fatigued due to its depleted moisture levels. A boosting elixir such as Annick Goutal Elixir Splendide, £98.00 will illuminate the complexion and plump the skin, often containing reflective particles, plant extracts and proteins to make the skin seem effortlessly glowing.