Wading through a sea of skincare...

Even though this skincare stuff is sort of Beauty Wonkette's gig, sometimes Beauty Wonkette just don’t know where to start. With products, that is; specifically, with the tidal wave of skin care that seems to arrive on the scene each month!

Each cream, serum and corrector is a little different from the next, yet they all promise something equally wonderful. But if you don’t take those promises at face value – and Beauty Wonkette absolutely does NOT – you need at least a few weeks to see if they actually work. So, how in the name of plump skin do you know what’s what?
I hooked up with two of my favorite dermatologists - one in D.C. and one in the Big Apple - to see what they had to say:

Beauty Wonkette: What advice would you give someone who is overwhelmed by the choice of moisturisers out there?
The Docs: Feel good about your choices and choose a product that’s right for right now. If your skin’s very dry at the moment, choose a thicker cream. When the weather warms up, you might go for a lighter gel-based moisturiser. But whatever you choose, stick with it and use it up. With so many products out there, it’s easy to feel the grass is always greener, but you need to give your chosen moisturiser a chance.

BW: But every cream promises something different – wrinkle-fighting, radiance-boosting, tone-correcting…. I want all those things but can’t go layering every product on the market. How do I whittle it down?
The Docs: Focus on three things in the morning and three things at night. For example, in the morning you could cleanse, apply a vitamin C-rich serum (vitamin C is a brilliant ingredient that helps lots of problems, including wrinkles and photo-aging], then layer over a moisturiser containing SPF. Skip the toner.

BW: What if I want to target a specific problem, for example uneven skin tone?
The Docs: Incorporate a targeted product in to your regimen, but choose one that’s multi-faceted and does more than its main function. For you, Use it at night instead of a serum, and follow with your favorite non-SPF moisturiser or night cream. Pick the right products and you can expect a lot.

BW: If you use a serum and a moisturiser at the same time, how do you know which one is working?
The Docs: Try the de-challenge, re-challenge technique: remove one product for a couple of weeks and see if you continue to get good results. If not, reintroduce it and see what happens. If so, you can consider substituting the ‘de-challenged’ product for something else.

God, they make it sound easy!