Do You Really Need all of Those Face Creams?

I’m somewhere in the middle of the mix, I like to make sure my face is moisturised, but I have very combination skin so too much of a good thing can just make my skin worse overnight. I’ve seen many influencers and celebrity advice videos on Instagram showing us how to use the right creams at the right times and of course, they always look flawless! But at this point I have to start questioning whether it is just a mix of good lighting, filters and a pre-applied skin care routine that we didn’t see off camera, just to make sure they look even more gorgeous.

So, do we really need all of those face creams that promise to do wonderous things and make our skin look just as beautiful as the celebrities and influencers of Instagram? Or is most of it just a big marketing myth? Let’s delve into the world of face creams and see what each one does and if it could work for us.

Let’s start by looking at our typical cleansing habits – good and bad – and see if we are starting off on the right foot to begin with. Like cleansing, there is absolutely no point in parting with well-earned cash to buy extra-smoothing, anti-ageing, skin-boosting creams if you aren’t going to follow a proper cleansing routine in the first place.

Our skin sort of relies on its own biology to stay healthy and everything is about balance. Tip the scales and we start to see things like breakouts, excess dryness, oiliness and things like that. When this happens, it makes it harder to level it all out again, so we do what we can to hide it with makeup and face creams and probably in the end just make it worse.

The key to good skin is keeping it clean and recognising your own skin type so you can control and breakouts before they even happen. Washing your face every day is so important when you think about it. Faces are the one part of the body that can be mostly or partly exposed every day, whether it’s indoors or out in the great wide world. Even for those who’s faces remain covered, there will still be a collection or dirt and debris, pollution and vapour sitting on the surface. On top of all this, makeup, oil, sweat and dead skin cells just love to coat your skin and create a surface that makes it harder to work with for the next round of makeup.

By washing this away each day it helps the skin to retain its fresh look and feel and prevents unwanted and unnecessary problems in the long run. A hydrating cleanser should be used twice a day as well as a makeup remover, stick to a solid make up removal process – as it says on the tin, a makeup remover takes away all makeup residue, a cleanser removes all the dirt from deep down.

When it comes to cleansing, yes you really need to invest in both, especially if you are a big makeup fan, a cleanser is just not enough, and a standard soap can cause dryness. Look after your skin when it comes to cleansing and you might not need to go hard on the spending when it comes to the moisturisers.

How many of you can honestly say you wear sunscreen as much as you should? I’m guessing because of all the warnings out there, not many of us are committing to a proper skin care protection routine. The reason? Well, it’s all just a little complicated and knowing what you should buy and how and when to apply it is not really given out in strict instruction. I mean, think about it, the point of moisturiser is that it sinks deep into the skin on your face to hydrate the outer layers and provide moisture all day long. The purpose of sun cream is to sit on your face like a protective barrier that stops the sun in its tracks before it can even think about burning you.

So how can an SPF moisturiser do its job properly? The experts agree that you should use two separate products in the interests of sun safety, but is it advice you’d be happy to follow? It might mean changing up your makeup routine entirely to make way for a thick, oily layer of sun cream, but that should be a small price to pay for undamaged skin.

On the other hand, if you choose an SPF moisturiser then you are at least doing something right, even if it only gives you partial coverage, it is better than none at all. The jury says to buy two separate creams but will settle for one as long as you incorporate it into a proper moisturising routine and wear it every day.

Most people swear by one product they can’t live without, for others, there aren’t enough face creams to help them get what they want out of their beauty. But unless you know what all these products do – and that would be an expensive way to try and test what’s out there – you have to rely on the knowledge of other people trying and testing things to know what will work best for you.

Take BB cream for example, it exploded onto the beauty scene a few years back and everyone was rushing to buy their preferred brand, but not many people know what it was for or why it was so good. Then CC cream entered the scene and instead of giving people options, it started to become a little confusing. Tinted moisturiser had always been reliable, hadn’t it? Should we be wearing one, or both, or all of these?

BB Cream or Beauty Balm/Blemish Balm is a great multitasking product tht is more lightweight than a normal foundation, has moisturising properties and does a great job at evening out the skin and hiding blemishes. It can be used on its own or with a concealer and foundation and it contains SPF. Not enough to do the whole job, but enough to offer a small amount of cover from the sun. BB Creams took the world by storm and it really is easy to see why.

CC Cream or Colour Correcting Cream has a similar function to BB, but it is designed to correct colour blemishes and uneven skin tones. Some people are prone to redness in certain areas of the face, or dark patches of skin, CC cream helps to balance it out and feels light on the skin at the same time. The coverage isn’t going to mimic the results of foundation though, so maybe combining BB Cream and CC Cream is a winning formula.

Tinted moisturiser has been around for years and is suddenly growing in popularity again. Lighter than foundation but thick enough to give you some good coverage, tinted moisturiser helps your skin glow without the heaviness of other creams and foundations. It isn’t always great at hiding blemishes though so it can be best to combine tinted moisturiser with a concealer or BB/CC cream to get the best of all worlds.

Three outstanding products, three quite different results. When it comes to you wanting to know whether you need all of those face creams, on this one I would say yes, but only because they are all worth trying out to see that foundation isn’t the be all and end all of face coverage.

For every woman, the thought of ageing skin is enough to make us sink into a panic. We’ve all been fighting our way through the beauty world to find creams that prevent this from happening. And when that doesn’t work, there’s always Botox!

But let’s be honest, do many of us believe that anti-ageing creams work? Surely if they did there would be a whole lot more youthful looking 80-year olds wandering around. Ok fine, the best formulated creams haven’t been around that long, so the results still remain to be seen, but if turning back the clock on ageing skin was as easy as buying a little pot of moisturiser, wouldn’t we all be doing it?

The thing with anti-ageing cream is it is supposed to prevent ageing, not reverse it. So, skin with a few wrinkles on it already may not see the benefit of using it. But then you have anti—wrinkle cream, another miracle cure for ageing skin, surely? But this does something entirely different. Usually a moisturiser with the added benefit of being able to reduce find lines and wrinkles, this cream usually contains hydroxy acids, peptides, Vitamin C amongst other ingredients. Its design is to plump up the skin which gives it a smoother appearance and reduce the severity of wrinkles.

Unfortunately, it is no permanent, miracle cure that turns back the clock and allows us to relive our youthful days of smooth and elasticated skin, but that being said, it can help. When it comes down to anti-ageing and anti-wrinkle creams, I think the best way to achieve this yourself is to always look after your skin AS you age. Avoid smoking and sugary drinks and food. Keep up with a good cleansing routine and don’t forget to apply sunscreen every day.

For many people using just one of these products is enough, but could we really feel the benefit if we combined the two? Well, let’s look into the benefits of each product. A face serum tends to be more lightweight than a moisturiser and has smaller molecules so it can penetrate the skin further. This is great for skin problems and imperfections that are deep-rooted and easily targeted. Serums are great for targeting things like dry skin or dark patches while creating an even skin tone at the same time. They dry into the skin quite quickly, leaving your skin clear and fresh and ready for the next step in your beauty regimen.

Some people stop here, but it might be better to add moisturiser to the mix and ensure full coverage of your face and to see that every job is done. A serum isn’t designed to provide long-lasting hydration, whereas a moisturiser is, so if you want to go about your day knowing your skin will feel great, there is no reason that both of these products can’t serve you well.

There are of course so many different views on face creams, even straight from the dermatologists themselves, but there are also endless choices and new trends all the time. When it comes to your face and whether you need all of those different creams, you have to consider what is right for your skin type, how much time you have to spend on your new routine and whether the costs are worth it for you?

For some, it is a small price to pay for everlasting beauty, but for others, it is a cost they could do without. There are also people who have never really worn moisturisers or BB creams, but they tend to not wear makeup either so are doing less damage to their faces daily meaning they don’t need to worry about different creams to fix different things. Lucky!

At the end of the day, the best thing you can do is to get the information regarding the product you want, ensure it doesn’t have any irritants or anything that is going to react badly to your skin and if you are that curious about it, the worst you can do is try it out and not like it.

I like a small bag of products like eye cream, face serum and a BB cream to make my makeup routine practically non-existent, but the main thing is I do what is best for my skin. Don’t follow the trends, just do what is right for yours.