I F Y O U • have followed me on here for a while you will know I have a love / hate relationship with my skin.
I love it.
It hates me.
If you have no knowledge of my past …I had acne in my early 20’s. We fell out big time during that period ! Lots of patience, tears , some tender loving care combined with some fab treatments including several chemical peels, lazer & a course of micro needling and we made up.
It’s been a rocky ride, I’ve been left with a few scars but as we speak we are best friends. Well… I tell a lie , we were until a few weeks ago. Then she quite literally erupted. She was not happy .
I love nothing better than trying out new skincare but like my mum used to say to me “sometimes Tracey less is more” Both her & my Grandma Betty had AMAZING skin and they didn’t faff .
Mum swore by soap & water with a dash of Liz Earle thrown in for good measure. My Gran used nothing but Oil of Olay all her life. She refused point blank to use anything else . She could have been the Olay poster girl , at 93 she looked at least 20 years younger .
While I might like the anticipation of applying a new product, the promise of a miracle , my skin doesn’t always agree with me chopping & changing routines / brands. To applying what feels like way too much product on an already temperamental skin. I would get sent products and excitedly slap them all on.
I guess I had become an advertisers dream and fell for the ” if you aren’t applying 25 different products then you ain’t doing it right”
My skins behavior told me different.
My skin just like me is pretty basic. If I’m honest it is happiest with just a layer of moisturiser that has SPF in it OBVIOUSLY & always an eye cream. Having started using one at 14 years old it’s second nature now. My eye area feels taut and dry without.
I currently swap and change between Kate Somerville Lifting Eye Cream, L’Occitane Immortelle Divine and Wildscience Night Shift. In my opinion all brilliant eye creams . I enjoy using them and at 50 if I say so myself I don’t have many wrinkles around my eye area. Genes or cream…who knows ?

Recently I have got into the habit of & I am enjoying using a Vitamin C in the morning before my moisturiser. I use a retinol once or twice a week at night but I have to face facts that the less I use on my skin the better my skin is. Obviously we are all different; what works for me might not necessarily work for you. If you love applying 50 layers of product – go for it !
It hurts me … but I have started to turn down offers to try out ‘whoevers‘ latest offering. At the moment I need stability, to use products I know my skin approves of. I have recently discovered AlphaH and Medik8 everything they throw at me I love. My Dermatica prescription skincare isn’t luxurious but it works . Dual Skincare has a striped back approach, just 2 products that have you covered.
So that’s where my skin & I currently stand. Basically for the foreseeable its back to basics. Lots of loving care and products I know will not upset her.
Does this mean I will never try a new product again …of course not. Just not for the foreseeable. I have actually got an absolutely lovely product to share with you shortly from Beauty Bio . It was introduced to me via Zoom a couple of weeks ago. It’s a once a week treatment that gives you glass skin. I can’t lay claim it gives me that but it does leave a glow. To follow shortly.
I guess for the time being I’ll just have to start playing with my luxurious body products, buy all the gadgets and fabulous makeup to compensate 🙂
Tracey x
* Azelaic Acid 20% Cream by Dermatica
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