Daily sunscreen, a gentle cleanser and a moisturiser that suits you. Everything else is optional, and sunscreen is the one with by far the strongest evidence behind it.
- Sunscreen, every day, all year. It is the single most effective anti-ageing product available and it also prevents skin cancer. SPF30 or above, applied generously, is the whole of it.
- A gentle cleanser. Anything that leaves skin feeling tight has stripped it. Cost has no relationship to how good a cleanser is.
- A moisturiser you will actually use. The cheap tubs sold in pharmacies perform comparably to expensive creams in most comparisons.
- Optional, with real evidence: retinoids, vitamin C, niacinamide. Introduce one at a time.
Be very sceptical of products whose evidence is a manufacturer's own consumer satisfaction survey, quoted as a percentage of a small panel. That is the standard format and it is not clinical evidence.
Ultraviolet exposure drives the large majority of visible skin ageing. That is why the cheapest product in the routine is also the one that makes the most difference, and why nothing applied afterwards compensates for skipping it.
This is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a GP, a pharmacist or NHS 111. Call 999 in an emergency. Full disclaimer.