I remember the days when going to sleep meant washing your face and brushing your teeth, that was it. Now it seems I need a check list to remember all the steps getting ready for bed. First wash my face, then toner, then serum, then moisturizer, eye cream, Latisse for the lashes. Teeth take just as long. Brush, floss, water pick. Don’t forget estrogen cream and hand lotion. If I wasn’t exhausted before all this I am now!
Heck, I remember not even washing my face or brushing my teeth when I was young. Yuck, what was wrong with me?
Then for decades, all I did was use ponds to take off mascara, then dial soap. No moisturizer, or anything.
I really didn’t start taking care of my skin properly until about 10 years ago. Now I have a morning and night routine.
Morning: cleaner, Vitamin C with Ferulic acid, full on sunscreen.
Night: makeup wipe, cleanser, toner, 8” hydrolic acid serum, Matrixl 3000 Serum. Sometimes I get so tired of doing this, but it really doesn’t take much time.
The elaborate facial routines are being pushed on you by the beauty industrial complex. Just sayin’. 
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I’m actually doing less as I’m getting older. My skin has gotten way better. I tend not to wear make up much anymore (although I just bought a tinted moisturizer with SPF for the summer). I use Kiss My Face soap and that’s about it, aside from brushing my teeth. I’m 49. Maybe that will change in the next decade.
My Daily routine is: drinking lots of water throughout the day; eat healthy, real/organic food; plenty of sleep(!!!); exercise; cold-water face washing, organic coconut oil, and no makeup.
I do look younger than my age, but I have to thank that to my genetic makeup.
I have to disagree, @BunsenBurner . I’ve seen a change in my skin since starting the routine. The lines above my top lip that were starting have virtually disappeared. My skin looks more glowing with the hydrolic acid. I wish I could use Retin A, that stuffs great.
I’ve had a pretty simple routine since the age of 27. IMO the most important parts were to ALWAYS wash off the face at night and to use sun precautions. Stay away from scented products - no need to rub perfume on your face. Wear as little makeup as possible and switch products if your skin starts letting you know it’s no longer in love with the old stuff.
- Wash with mild cleanser (using Cetaphil for the last 20+ years).
- Remove mascara and brow powder (the only makeup I wear)
- Let skin dry well
- Apply RentinA mixed with CeraVe two to three times a week
- Use some other form of moisturizer on other days - currently using the Oil Of Olay stuff in red tub.
- Using some of The Ordinary products - inexpensive so the worst that can happen is I use them on my hands or body if I don't like it on the face.
In the morning. Just rinse in the shower.
- Apply serum (The Ordinary or Oil of Olay regenerist serum)
- Apply SPF moisturizer - been using the Oil of Olay Micro Sculpting cream
- Occasionally when traveling in high sun or very dry environments I’ll add a top layer of Clinique’s Super City Block.
I still have random people comment on my skin.
I also do limited Botox and some filler. No need for any skin resurfacing or re-texturing. I will forever be grateful to my dad - who 60 years ago was way ahead of his time by insisting we take great care in the sun.
Here is the deal. Other than retinoids, the GRAS stuff in the creams etc. does little to rebuild the collagen in the skin. Wash with cold water and moisturize and don’t put too much makeup too often. So use whatever moisturizer feels good for your skin. Serums etc. are not worth the $$ for the effect they are touted to provide (which they mostly don’t).
I love hearing about what other people use and their skin care routines. I also see a difference in my skin when I’m actively taking more care with it. I’ve got one daughter who is a fanatic about skin care and staying out of the sun, and one who still bakes in the sun in spite of her sister’s warnings.
@BunsenBurner, what is GRAS? Thanks. I’ve been thinking my face “needs some attention” and I’m trying to figure out what’s worth it and what’s not, whether it me cosmetics, lotions, procedures, etc. I’m pretty “natural” and I’m not planning to do anything drastic, but I do feel like my skin is looking pretty bad, even though I’ve moisturized for years, and I’ve never worn much make-up.
I think Retin A is the best thing you can do. I use it every other night. I also use serums and good moisturizers and sun protection. I like the ways it all feels and I enjoy it. Oh- and good eye cream. I like different face soaps and cleansers, too.
It is “Generally Regarded As Safe” - meaning this chemical has been used on humans for a long time without adverse effects.
So… if it has been around the block for so long, and our faces still get wrinkly… the logical conclusion: that stuff is not effective. 
Retinoic acid is pretty much the only thing that actually stimulates collagen build up in the skin, but definitely not GRAS. Retinol (Vit A) and Vit A acetate (aslso referred to as Vit A) get degraded so fast that they are not very effective unless the cream has stabilizers.
https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/content/dam/sigma-aldrich/docs/Sigma/Datasheet/6/95144dat.pdf
Too late to add to my post above. Here is how RetinA and its cousins reduce wrinkles:
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/do-retinoids-really-reduce-wrinkles
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I am 60 and my face is not perfect and I spent a lot of time in the sun in the summer but I think I am grateful for my Mediterranean skin - I do none of this at night except brush my teeth. Aveeno in the morning and a light eye cream. That’s it.
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My skin is OK, and could be a lot worse due to frying as a teen. But gravity has been unkind. No creams for that unfortunately.
Good grief- why are you wasting your time and money on that regime??? I’m a few years older than abasket and it’s my north European heritage I can thank. I brush my teeth but usually don’t need to wash my face as it is no longer oily. Quit the makeup many yerars ago except for fancy occasions.
I agree with Bunsenburner about the so called beauty products. Waste of money. There is a recent TV ad with an old woman who talks about age- she uses the products and I think she looks older than she probably is. Wrinkles.
Guess what- you are no longer young and in the market for a mate who wants you to bear his children. You also likely don’t need to worry about acne or monthly hormonal changes. Allow yourself to gracefully be your age.
I am also never in favor of routines that must be kept up. Expensive eyelash and skin junk won’t make you attractive- your personality- that becomes your “inner beauty” is what people will appreciate.
If this were all that great men would do it. Likewise the obnoxious high heels.
Sorry, @wis75 …believe me, makeup makes me wayyyyyyy more attractive! LOL! As does hair products. And my H loves it when I rock heels.
I respectfully disagree with your entire post.
Growing old gracefully does not have to exclude looking as pretty as one likes. Why would it have to be? Because we are no longer looking for a mate? So then all women as soon as they marry should stop taking care of their appearance?
Nah…don’t buy into that line of thinking.
I am almost 70 and on a cancer med that removes all estrogen and therefore ages the skin.
I brush my teeth before bed, period. If I have been in a restaurant or other place with smells, I wash my face with plain unscented Neutrogena soap.
I don’t wear make up and never have, and I don’t dye my hair either. Lots of white in the front. Sunscreen plugs up the pores so I try to avoid it and wear hats, go to the beach only in the late afternoon and so on.
Many of us oldsters don’t still have mates (divorce, widowhood, single) so the assumption that we are all set in that department is not true.
I would add that everyone should think twice about estrogen use. My cancer was fueled by it (I didn’t use any products, but 80% of breast cancers are responsive to estrogen, and 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer.)
I turned 60 this year. I look younger than my age and the fact that I was older when I had children contributes to people thinking that I am younger. My mother had beautiful skin at least up until the last time I saw her, when she was 70. Virtually no wrinkles. She wore makeup every day. I used to but since having kids, I just can’t be bothered. My D gets upset because I won’t even wear mascara and she barely wears any makeup, either, because I never had any around for her to play with as a child!
My makeup routine at night consists of shaving my upper lip moustache every 3 - 4 days (saving money to pay for electrolysis before D’s wedding), brushing my teeth, occasionally flossing, washing my face with Cetaphil and applying a night lotion that I paid way too much for and will replace with Cetaphil when I run out. I might try Oil of Olay because my MIL, who’s 95 and still has great skin, swears by it.
I tell D that she is blessed on both sides with skin that ages well.
I used to bake in the sun with baby oil and a reflector back in the 70’s. Then, at my first real job, I worked with a woman who I thought was 40. It turned out that she was 25, the same age as I was at the time, but she tanned and sunned every day. Her skin was awful. I never went to the beach to tan ever again… and I taught my children not to, either.
I only wear sunscreen when I am deliberately going out in the sun for longer than 20 minutes. I tend to Vitamin D deficiency so I try to get 15 - 20 minutes of being in the sun exposed each day year round.
Well, no one really needs luxury cars or expensive sheets, either! If someone enjoys nice textured and pleasant smelling skin care and it adds moisture and glow, go for it! I enjoy my skincare and makeup and do believe it enhances my appearance, about which I do care. For that matter, we could all just wear burlap sacks. Geez. I don’t consider myself high maintenance and I’m a casual athletic person, but I love skincare, makeup and I do color my hair. I live in a part of the country where we do perhaps focus too much on appearance, but it really isn’t that big of a problem. We make it fun.