Table of Contents

1 Get to know your skin 11

PART ONE: YOUR ROUTINE 17

2 A skincare regime 19
3 Skin type 25
4 Gold Standard: cleansing 28
5 Double-cleansing 31
6 Avoid sulphates 36
7 And skip bar soap as well 40
8 Cleansing oils 43
9 Oiliness 48
10 Cleansing brushes 51
11 The function of toners 54
12 Gold Standard: moisturising 58
13 Choosing a moisturiser 60
14 The skin's lipid barrier / acid mantle / microbiome 65
15 Stop press: probiotics 68
16 Gold Standard: sunscreen 71
17 Choosing your sunscreen 75
18 Antioxidants 80
19 Skincare is like brushing your teeth 84

PART TWO: PROBLEM-SOLVING ACTIVES 87

20 Cell regeneration 91
21 'Collagen-banking' 94
22 Niacinamide /vitamin B3 97
23 Peptides 99
24 Retinoids / vitamin A 102
25 Picking a retinoid 106
26 Ascorbic acid / vitamin C 115
27 The ascorbic acid conundrum 120
28 Exfoliating acids 125
29 How to use acids 131
30 Acid percentages are misleading 138

PART THREE: SKIN ISSUES 143

31 Uneven pigmentation 145
32 Redness is a trend 150
33 How to beat said trend 155
34 Types of redness 158
35 Acne 168
36 You can subdue acne 174
37 Don't hesitate to call in an acne pro 183
38 Serums 187
39 Face oils 194
40 Eye cream... 200
41 Night cream... 204
42 Masks 206
43 Skincare has a running order 210
44 Packaging matters 215
45 'All natural' is best-not 218
46 Skincare 'nasties' 225
47 How to spy a great product 234
48 Great products can be expensive 241
49 Lifestyle 244
50 Injectables 248

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 252
INDEX

About the Author

Ingeborg van Lotringen was Cosmopolitan's award-winning beauty director for over a decade and is a leading independent beauty expert with over 25 years of experience. She writes beauty features for magazines and newspapers, and tests the latest treatments and facials for the Daily Mail. She appears regularly on TV, radio and podcast media for beauty comment.

Reviews

'Cuts through all the beauty fluff.' FARRAH STORR, ELLE; INSTYLE BEST BEAUTY BOOK; COSMOPOLITAN BEST BOOK; 'Your new beauty bible.' COSMOPOLITAN; 'Expert advice.' THE SUN; 'Must Read' BEST MAGAZINE; 'Get the book club on to... Great Skin.' EVENING STANDARD; '[For] any budget.' DAILY MAIL