The magic fountain of youth

Ever since I was twenty I have been obsessed with skincare and have spent $$$ on heaps and heaps of products over the year.  I think its been worth it, I am pretty happy with my skin and the ageing of it (arrgh I said ageing).  The one thing I regret is not wearing sunglasses when I was younger (I know wear them all the time!), I think that contributed to not only my eyesight problems but to those good old frown lines.  If I wasn't squinting at the sun all those years I might have escaped them so far, but no they are appearing. I went a few years ago to get a consult for botox, but the consultant basically said no (who knew that they said no!) and recommended Retin-A.  I had never heard of Retin-A before, which was amazing as I religiously read beauty magazines and books - so I forked out my $170 for a jar and away I went.  You can read about Retin-A herehttp://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/food-and-health/beauty-and-personal-care/cosmetics/anti-aging-creams.aspx. And if you google it you can find heaps of information.

Once I ran out of that jar, I really didn't want to pay $170 for another one, it was quite a small jar!  So I did some research and found that you could get a script for it through your doctor.  $30 for a HUGE tube!!  Sometimes I just love being so frugal :-), it offsets my shopping obsession.   I was lucky in the early years that I wore tinted moisturiser all the time, and I was very lucky that it had sunscreen in it.  Sunscreen and Retin-A I highly recommend them!!  Not the quite a fountain of youth but a glass from it anyway.  I had to take a break from it for over a year while I was pregnant and breast feeding and definitely saw a difference - though maybe thats just because I got a year and half older ;-).

I am resigned to the fact that I may have to consider something stronger pretty soon, I think I want to try a laser treatment on my face, but to be honest though the results look great - the treatment still looks quite scary!  Maybe I might just start wearing my hair pulled back tight....

Tretinoin (retinoic acid)

• Not so much a new best friend as a long-time friend, these vitamin A products are recommended by dermatologists. They work by stimulating collagen production, increasing blood flow and helping your skin shed old, dead skin cells (which makes it look smoother and fresher).
• The prescription-only tretinoin products (RETIN-A or RETRIEVE) offer the best performance of all treatments you put directly onto your skin (‘topical’ treatments) at a much more reasonable price (around $40 or even less for a tube that will last four to six months). So if you’re considering some sort of anti-aging treatment, talk to your doctor about whether it would be suitable.
• Over-the-counter products containing retinol (another form of vitamin A) are less irritating to skin, though don’t work as well. As always, concentration and formulation are the key to how effective a given product is. Compare the results, for instance, of ROC’s Retin-Ox+ and Retinol Correxion Deep Wrinkle treatments in How well do they really work?. Neither works as well as tretinoin.