The Student Room Group

How important is skincare really?

I've always wondered about this and don't want to offend anyones current methods but how important is skincare?

By that I mean, why is it that women in particular seem so over the top with skincare whilst men (for the most part) are not, and in most circumstances men are the ones with naturally better skin?

I am a 20 year old female, that wears a little bit of makeup and I'm told regularly that I should be washing my face with certain makeup removers and then adding toners and moisturisers everyday and it all just seems so toxic? I tried it a few times and it just leaves my skin red or really, really dry, almost like each one is making me depend on the next step whereas if I just wash my face with warm water, or maybe a normal facial scrub with water it leaves my skin really nice and smooth?

I live with my partner and we have pretty much the same skincare routine, water or water with a normal face wash and that's it...Occasionally I'll put moisturiser on, that's if I'm not going to wear any makeup but otherwise I don't.

Do you think that the problem is more when girls wear a LOT of makeup and that's what's causing the bad skin, and they're also the ones that often talk about skincare routines and I'm just put off by that?

I've always had pretty good skin, and to be honest the only time that I've felt as though I've had 'bad skin' was when I started doing the whole 'skincare routine' thing...So my question is what's your opinion on it? and does anyone have the same opinion as me, because so far it seems to be a pretty unpopular one haha

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I share your opinion! I developed bad acne when I was around 15 or so and had it bad for a couple of years. I tried everything including loads of different face washes, scrubs, home remedies, toners, moisturisers, different medication from the doctors and nothing worked. One day, I stumbled across the caveman regime which is basically doing nothing to your face, and since doing that, my skin has completely cleared up and I'm just left with a few ice pick scars on my cheeks. I now have no skincare routine except from using a raw honey face mask twice a week and I'm finally happy with my skin :smile:


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Reply 2
I agree with you. I've never used make up but those who I do know tend to have bad skin.. and the funny thing is that they wear even more make up to hide their bad skin and in turn their skin gets even worse. All I do is wash my face with water in the morning and before bed and I have no spots and my skin is smooth. Since I made water the only thing I drink, I've had no spots since then -although I used to have spots before the water drinking
Reply 3
Everyone has different skin, so different things will work for everyone, however it is true that you shouldn't overload your face with washing products/masks/exfoliation etc.

I've acne for a grand total of 9 years so skin care is very important to me, but it's difficult to find exactly what works for your skin. Lots of skin care ads play on your insecurities (eg acne, uneven skin tone, oily skin, etc) to help them sell more products, but it's not necessarily what's right for you :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by georgiewhitez10

Do you think that the problem is more when girls wear a LOT of makeup and that's what's causing the bad skin, and they're also the ones that often talk about skincare routines and I'm just put off by that?

I've always had pretty good skin, and to be honest the only time that I've felt as though I've had 'bad skin' was when I started doing the whole 'skincare routine' thing...So my question is what's your opinion on it? and does anyone have the same opinion as me, because so far it seems to be a pretty unpopular one haha


I would think it is the make up causing skin problems, as I don't see anything else that could contribute to why the gender imbalance is there. the girls who cake their face tend to have the worst and it appears to be a vicious cycle.

I suppose it depends on what your skin care routine is. Maybe even using a lot of products could make it worse?

I mean I use a beard conditioner and oil for my skincare routine and I've never had any problems :dunno:
Reply 5
Original post by zombie-dance
I share your opinion! I developed bad acne when I was around 15 or so and had it bad for a couple of years. I tried everything including loads of different face washes, scrubs, home remedies, toners, moisturisers, different medication from the doctors and nothing worked. One day, I stumbled across the caveman regime which is basically doing nothing to your face, and since doing that, my skin has completely cleared up and I'm just left with a few ice pick scars on my cheeks. I now have no skincare routine except from using a raw honey face mask twice a week and I'm finally happy with my skin :smile:


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I'm so glad it worked for you :smile: That's pretty much what I've always done, and I've always had good skin, so I wonder where the fascination came from with all this extra stuff?
Reply 6
Original post by 20320452
I agree with you. I've never used make up but those who I do know tend to have bad skin.. and the funny thing is that they wear even more make up to hide their bad skin and in turn their skin gets even worse. All I do is wash my face with water in the morning and before bed and I have no spots and my skin is smooth. Since I made water the only thing I drink, I've had no spots since then -although I used to have spots before the water drinking


I get them occasionally, maybe once or twice a year and on the days that I do I don't put any makeup on them, it seems stupid to me to cover an area that's already breaking out with a loud of stuff, seems kinda gross actually :s-smilie:

A tip that my mum gave me actually, that works amazingly, I wonder if anyone else has ever done it haha, I only use it if I need to go out somewhere or for some occasion and I suddenly have a spot or something I sort it out and then apply a tiny bit of toothpaste to it and leave it for about 10 minutes, then I wash it off and it's pretty much gone...I don't know why or how it works but it does! She just said never to put loads on or leave it for a really really long time as it'll dry the skin area that it's on but that's one amazing trick I have haha
To be honest my skin gets really gross... Merely washing my face isn't enough for me and I need a good face exfoliator to take the makeup out of my pores. I hate the thought of applying makeup on a layer of dead old makeup cells.

Also I wear a full face of makeup everyday and my skin is pretty clear. :smile:
Reply 8
Original post by Amefish
Everyone has different skin, so different things will work for everyone, however it is true that you shouldn't overload your face with washing products/masks/exfoliation etc.

I've acne for a grand total of 9 years so skin care is very important to me, but it's difficult to find exactly what works for your skin. Lots of skin care ads play on your insecurities (eg acne, uneven skin tone, oily skin, etc) to help them sell more products, but it's not necessarily what's right for you :smile:


I agree, i just think that the media really oversell it, kinda try make you believe that you need all this suff and for me it makes it so much worse
Reply 9
Is that you in your avi OP?
Reply 10
Original post by TheBBQ
I would think it is the make up causing skin problems, as I don't see anything else that could contribute to why the gender imbalance is there. the girls who cake their face tend to have the worst and it appears to be a vicious cycle.

I suppose it depends on what your skin care routine is. Maybe even using a lot of products could make it worse?

I mean I use a beard conditioner and oil for my skincare routine and I've never had any problems :dunno:


I think it's just all too much, I watched some video thing this morning (the reasoning behind posting this actually), and just to wash her face she used two makeup removers a toner then moisturiser and then added some thing to her skin to hold the makeup down then concealer, foundation, bronzer, highlighter and all that stuff and then sprayed it all with a setting thing and I'm pretty sure your skin would be unable to breathe at all by that point...You can do what you like obviously, I just hear a lot of people saying that men have better skin than women, and to be fair when you see women without makeup most of the time their skin is worse, a lot of people put it down to hormones and gender differences but I've always thought it's down to the products that most girls buy...Like do you really need four things just to wash your face? haha
I wear make up every day and my skin is clear
It's important not to overload with any products
A cleanser removes more than water and a moisturiser should suit your skin type It helps with dryness etc
Most skincare creams also contain an spf to protect from sun damage leading to wrinkles etc later on
Of course it's entirely up to you
It's very important to me.I love having good skin. Although I don't really wear any makeup on my face so I prefer having good skin over good skin with only makeup on.
Reply 13
Original post by zKlown
Is that you in your avi OP?


yeah
Reply 14
Original post by Fermion.
To be honest my skin gets really gross... Merely washing my face isn't enough for me and I need a good face exfoliator to take the makeup out of my pores. I hate the thought of applying makeup on a layer of dead old makeup cells.

Also I wear a full face of makeup everyday and my skin is pretty clear. :smile:


Yeah I wear makeup too, I wear a BB cream to even out my skin tone, eyeliner and mascara, and use an eyeliner for my eyebrows too, so I wear it as well but I was just wondering about the whole face washing kinda thing, I've never really done it that much and sometimes feel like I should do more haha but then it always dries out my skin
Reply 15
Totally agree with this! All I use is water or a basic face wash and nivea cream when I'm trying. My skin is fine, although I do get the occasional spot and I'm not too fussed. Nice to know I'm not the only one.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by georgiewhitez10
I'm so glad it worked for you :smile: That's pretty much what I've always done, and I've always had good skin, so I wonder where the fascination came from with all this extra stuff?


Thank you :smile: and yes, I suppose society plays a big role and all the photoshopped models we see. Good skin isn't enough for people, they believe they should have 'perfect skin' which is a sad mindset :c


Posted from TSR Mobile
I hate the look and feel of foundation. It also takes ages to put on. So I invest in skincare instead. Not just lux brands but professional brands from dermatologists that actually work.

I use a fruit acid based cleanser, prescription strength hyroquinone and tretinoin twice a day.I use Bioderma micellar water toner half way through the day to refresh and spf when I leave the house. It's not about have a hundred things in your skincare routine, its about using 2 or 3 products that actually work.

I only wear eye make up, lipstick and blush/ highlighter- it saves times and feels better.

I was partly inspired to ditch foundation by these two beauty guru's on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bWhi36NCEU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7ehT4BBTZQ
(edited 6 years ago)
I'm not sure if I have some sort of weird skin condition, but I've noticed that since I started applying moisturiser to certain areas, those areas of my skin tend to get dry very often and I have to keep applying moisturiser to them #, almost like they're now dependent on it. My hands used to be really nice, now if I don't apply moisturiser day and night my knuckles look all creased. I only started applying moisturiser to them a year ago as well.

I've also noticed that since I stopped washing my face so often, my skin has become a lot clearer.
I rue the day I found the skincare addiction sub on reddit. I used to have clear skin, yet that forum convinced me that I needed a routine that consisted of more than just soap and water. My skin hated me for all these new lotions and potions and thus decided to break out, which I tried to resolve by using more and more products - needless to say, that didn't work and actually made my breakouts worse. I've reduced my routine to just micellar water, moisturizer and the occasional face mask, but I still feel it's too much. :frown:

Some people need nothing more than water for their skin, whereas others need a 13 step Korean regime - each to their own really. But I agree with other posters and say that women do tend to have worse skin than men - a lot of commercials and adverts are targeted towards women and their 'flaws' (e.g. oily skin, blackheads, etc.) and so a lot of women end up making the same mistake I did.

Anyone else facing skin issues, heed this one bit of advice: drink water. I cannot stress enough how much your skin will thank you for it. It might not cure all your problems, but it will certainly help.

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