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I’m going to be honest with you. I have four kids. I work. I am not doing a 12-step skincare routine at 10pm when all I want is to get horizontal and watch something brainless on Netflix.
For years I bought into the idea that good skin required effort. Serums layered on serums, waiting 30 seconds between each one, patting not rubbing, never pulling, drinking two litres of water, getting eight hours sleep — you know the drill. And sure, that stuff works if you’re the kind of person who has the time and the will to do it every single night without fail.
I am not that person. And it turns out, I don’t need to be.
My skin right now, at this age, with this chaos around me, is genuinely the best it’s ever looked. And I’m doing five products. Badly. At odd hours. While half asleep. So here’s what’s actually in rotation.
1. Rose Water. Just Rose Water.
Yes, this is my cleanser. A spritz of rose water on a cotton pad and that’s it. No foaming, no double cleansing, no micellar water followed by a cream cleanser followed by a toner. Rose water.
I know. I know what you’re thinking. But hear me out — I wear minimal makeup most days, I don’t live in a city with heavy pollution, and my skin is not oily. For me, rose water is enough. It removes what needs removing, leaves my skin feeling calm rather than stripped, and costs about £3 from the supermarket.
If you wear heavy makeup or have oily skin, you probably need something more. But if you’re like me and half the time you’re just removing SPF and a bit of mascara, give it a go before you spend £40 on a cleansing balm you’ll use twice.
2. Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
This is the one product I will always spend money on. Always. The Paula’s Choice BHA is genuinely the reason my skin looks like it does. Salicylic acid gets into your pores and sorts them out from the inside, which sounds disgusting and is also correct.
I use it every morning, just a few drops on a cotton pad after my rose water cleanse. It keeps my pores looking smaller, stops the random spots that used to appear around my chin, and makes everything just look a bit more… awake. It’s not cheap but a bottle lasts ages because you only need a small amount.
If you’ve never used a BHA before, start every other day. Your skin needs to adjust and going in daily from the off can cause some irritation. I learned this the hard way.
3. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5
This is my moisturiser, my lip balm, my everything. La Roche-Posay Cicaplast is one of those products that every dermatologist, every skincare person, and every person who has ever had sensitive skin seems to recommend — and for once the hype is real.
It’s thick, it’s balmy, it doesn’t sting or irritate, and it creates a proper barrier. I use it at night as my main moisturiser and in the morning I dab a tiny bit anywhere that feels dry. It’s particularly good if your skin barrier is a bit battered from using actives like the Paula’s Choice BHA. They work really well together.
You can get it in Boots. It’s not the cheapest thing on the shelf but it’s not Drunk Elephant prices either, and I find a tube lasts a good few months.
4. Pixi Vitamin C Eye Patches
Right so I’m being completely transparent here — I use these maybe three times a week, not every day. I stick them on while I’m doing something else entirely and forget they’re there until they fall off. That is the correct way to use them, apparently.
The Pixi Vitamin C eye patches are one of those things I was sceptical about but kept buying because they were on offer and now I actually notice when I haven’t used them. The dark circles situation around my eyes is, let’s say, chronic — four kids will do that to you — and these don’t fix it but they do take the edge off.
They’re reusable which makes them feel less wasteful, they go in the fridge which is very satisfying first thing in the morning, and they’re not eye-wateringly expensive. Solid buy.
5. Biodance Bio-Collagen Real Deep Mask
Okay, this one is slightly unhinged and I fully stand by it.
The Biodance Bio-Collagen masks are K-beauty sheet masks that you put on and leave for four hours minimum. Most people use them overnight, which is what I do. You look absolutely feral wearing it — it’s this sort of translucent jelly situation that clings to your face — but you wake up with the kind of skin that makes you want to call your mum and tell her.
They’re not cheap per mask, but I use them maybe twice a week rather than every night, so a box lasts a while. The collagen and hyaluronic acid absorb overnight and the difference in the morning is noticeable enough that my teenagers have started stealing them, which is a reliable quality indicator in this house.
You can get them on Amazon or from various K-beauty sites. They sell out constantly which is both annoying and also telling.
The Full Non-Routine
Morning: rose water cleanse, Paula’s Choice BHA, tiny bit of Cicaplast, Pixi eye patches while I’m making school lunches.
Night: rose water cleanse again, Cicaplast, Biodance mask two or three nights a week.
That’s it. There’s no seventh step I’m forgetting to mention. I genuinely stopped faffing about and my skin stopped faffing back at me. Sometimes the lazy option turns out to be the right one.
If you try any of these, let me know in the comments. Especially the Biodance — I want to know if anyone else has accidentally scared their partner half to death with it at 2am.
Oh and P.S really love Caudalie Beauty Elixir. Smells mint, very refreshing, and makes me look less dead.
If you want to go deeper on budget skincare, my full W7 skincare range review is worth a read — a whole routine for under £30. And for makeup, my picks for best MAC lipsticks for darker skin tones are still my go-to recommendations.
