Skin creams

After reading an article about the two things that dermatologists suggest you use on a daily basis (sunscreen and a product with retinoid), I decided to get real about my skin care. I'm 35 and I looked in the mirror about a week ago and saw crows feet. Not just one line, but a number of lines. Yikes. And here I thought I had been good about putting eye cream on for the last couple of years.

Earlier this year the Environmental Working Group sent an email out that if you gave $55 to the group you would receive a sample pack of low-chemical sunscreens/moisturizers with sunscreen. I jumped on the chance to try out some new products as I was looking for a moisturizer with sunscreen for daily use anyway. I HATE buying tubes of products- whether they are shampoos, moisturizers, etc. and then not liking the product because it is a waste of money. I have pretty sensitive skin so I have to be careful what I put on it. But the sampler pack was great- I could try out a number of products and it wouldn't be too much of a waste if I didn't like them. Plus, I can give a donation to a group that I look to all the time- whether it is information on the Dirty Dozen (fruits/veggies with the highest pesticide use) or the Skin Deep database (to look up the chemical makeup of products).

The first product I tried was Badger sunscreen for Izzy. It's a little hard to rub on her but I have kept it in the stroller and use it every time we go for a walk so I would say that it's a keeper. Meanwhile I tried out a moisturizer plus sunscreen product which my sensitive skin didn't love (Juice Beauty), so I picked another one out of the box. Maybe I needed to use a pure sunscreen product after my moisturizer? Luckily I already use MyChelle moisturizer so applying the sunscreen right afterwards was simple.

All summer long I used my new sunscreen and was happy that I was protecting my face. But now I figured I should use a retinoid cream as well. I wasn't sure where to start. I googled different creams that I had heard of and every website has a article on how such-and-such cream doesn't work but X cream (which they happen to sell) does work! Waste of time. Instead I went into Walgreens and picked up one of the first tubes that I saw- Neutrogena. Sure I could look up the serum in the Skin Deep database, but frankly, I want something that is going to work and I could imagine that retinoid creams are not highly rated on the EWG website (holding hands over eyes- la la la la la).

I have been using the serum for about a week now and it has been easy to incorporate into my daily routine. I do think that I should start using it at night but I tend to not wash my face at night (I generally don't wear any makeup) so we'll see. Also, it looks like if I get pregnant again, I will have to discontinue use of the product (according to the article). For now, we will see if it works!

Do you use a retinoid cream? If so, which one do you use?