Skincare for dry, dehydrated skin (what I actually use at 32)
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items For most of my life, my skincare routine was: cleanse, moisturise, pray. But now I’m 32, and I’ve entered my hydrate and protect the face I’m taking into the future era. Mostly because I started seeing a dermatologist in 2025 and realised my skin act...
So this is my real, unromantic, bathroom-shelf list for dry / dehydrated / slightly sun-damaged skin. What I use, what earns its spot, what I’ll repurchase, and what’s just…fine.
No “miracle” claims. No twelve-step rituals. Just products that make my skin feel like it’s being looked after, not punished. And yes, sometimes my skin still gives stressed croissant. But we’re improving the situation.
Cleansers
Cleansing with dry skin is a negotiation. You need your face clean, but if you strip it even slightly, your skin retaliates like you’ve embarrassed it in public. Tight. Hot. Flaky. Suddenly you’re “sensitive” like it’s a personality trait. So I clean...
I want everything off! SPF, makeup, sweat, Brisbane humidity, whatever emotional baggage I collected that day…but I refuse to walk away feeling squeaky. Squeaky isn’t clean. Squeaky is overstepped.
It cleans properly but still leaves that hydrated, calm, slightly bouncy snail feeling, like your face got taken care of instead of dealt with.
It’s the cleanser version of “we’re not spiralling today!”
It’s technically a balm, but it doesn’t do the heavy, greasy, stuck-on thing. It melts instantly, spreads like it has manners, and rinses clean enough that you don’t feel like you’ve left a layer of “product” behind to haunt you.
I use it when I’ve worn makeup or proper SPF, and it’s the one that makes me feel like the kind of woman who double cleanses and has secrets. I do double cleanse. The secrets are optional.
Dermatologist-recommended, still in the lineup, quietly excellent.
It foams up like crazy so you need basically nothing, and it gives that satisfying “my face is actually clean” feeling without crossing into cruelty.
It’s the cleanser I use when I’ve been sweaty or I want to feel like I’ve pulled myself together.
Very clean girl energy. No clean girl admin.
Exfoliators
Exfoliation is one of those skincare words that sounds chic until you remember your past. The scrubbing. The redness. The “why does my face feel hot?” aftermath. If you, too, have been personally victimised by the idea that exfoliating means sanding ...
For dry, dehydrated skin, exfoliation has to be…civilised. I want smoothness and glow, yes. But I refuse to earn it through suffering. If it stings, burns, or leaves me looking vaguely sunburnt for no reason, it’s not “working”, it’s just rude.
I was not about to become another St Ives cautionary tale. I am not scrubbing my face like it owes me money.
This one is honestly soothing. I rub it in gently (no aggressive behaviour), and you can literally tell it’s doing something. I’ll get those tiny little flakes lifting up and I’m like… okay, goodbye dead skin / dirt / emotional baggage.
The best part is it doesn’t do that “burning = working” nonsense. It just quietly smooths everything out and leaves my skin feeling soft, even, and not irritated.
Because exfoliating doesn’t have to mean skincare violence. We’ve grown.
Serums & actives
This is the part of my routine where I stop being whimsical and start being…deliberate. Not chaotic. Not experimental. Intentional. Like I’m signing a contract with my future face.
For dry, dehydrated skin, the order matters. If I don’t hydrate first, actives don’t “work”, they punish. So I keep two lanes: the hydrating serums that make me look quietly well-rested, and the actives that help with texture/firmness without turning...
This one? Finally an HA that feels properly concentrated and doesn’t vanish in a fortnight. You put it on and your skin immediately goes oh thank God, finally, smooth, hydrated, plump in that expensive way.
I use it morning and night because I like my face to look like I’m calm, even when I’m not. And yes, it makes you look a bit plumper, which is hilarious, because that’s the one place we’re all chasing “plump”. 🤣
This is why I love this. The levels. It’s the only retinoid situation that feels like it was designed for adults, not daredevils.
My dermatologists advice was simple, start low, work up.
I started at level 1, I’m now on level 5, and it’s been genuinely gentle the whole way.
I began at three nights a week, then slowly built up as my skin got used to it. Now I use level 5 nightly.
Do I feel firmer? Yes. Do I also suspect I’m emotionally attached to the idea of being “a retinoid person” now? Also yes. But the real win is my skin hasn’t freaked out. No sting, no meltdown, no peeling-off-my-face storyline.
If you’re retinoid-curious but terrified, this is the least scary way to do it. Start low. Go slow. And don’t copy TikTok like it’s medical advice. 😂
At the time my routine was literally: Medik8 Gentle Cleanser, this, Medik8 Total Moisture Daily Cream. No drama, no ten-step lifestyle. My skin loved the simplicity.
It’s genuinely excellent, easy hydration, skin looks smoother, feels calmer, nothing fussy.
But I don’t use it now for one very boring reason, it didn’t last long enough for me. And because I use HA every day, the maths started to feel personal.
So I'd give it 10/10 for the serum, and 2/10 for the longevity (in my house).
I use this at night with Medik8 Crystal Retinal and it’s been exactly what I want. Hydrating, comfortable, no irritation, no drama.
It feels like it’s actually doing something without making my under-eyes feel tight, which is honestly all I’m asking.
Moisturisers
Moisturiser is where I stop my dry skin from embarrassing me. Because with dry skin, you can do your cute little cleanse, your hydrating serum, your “I’m being intentional” moment…and if your moisturiser doesn’t hold the line? Your face will be tight...
I want comfort. I want soft. I want that calm, quietly expensive finish where I look like I drink water and sleep, even if I’m running on caffeine, delusion, and the memory of a good night’s rest.
It starts green (alarming, at first!) and then you rub it in, and it turns into your skin tone like it’s doing a magic trick. Every time. Witchcraft. No notes.
It evens out redness and tone so well, and it gives this light-to-medium coverage that makes you look…composed. Not “full face”. Just balanced. Like you’ve had eight hours and a fruit plate.
This is what I put on when I want to look well-rested and subtly hydrated without committing to an entire routine. It’s not a toner, obviously. But I have absolutely used it in place of extra steps when I couldn’t be bothered, because it gives an ins...
It’s not quite skincare, not quite makeup, it’s just the one I reach for when I need my skin to look like it has manners.
It’s properly hydrating, not greasy, not sticky, not that weird thing where your skin somehow feels drier after moisturiser (a crime). It just makes my face feel calm and comfortable, like it’s been dealt with gently.
I use it morning and night as the “seal it all in” step after serum, and it gave me that soft, bouncy finish that us dry skin people are always chasing.
Also, it was so good after my first microneedling session. Soothing, gentle, and still hydrating when my skin was at its most sensitive. It feels like a moisturiser designed by someone who understands recovery and boundaries.
SPF
You can be disciplined about serums, you can have a little moment with moisturiser, you can even flirt with actives, but if you’re skipping sunscreen in Queensland? You’re basically letting the sun draft your skin’s future without supervision. And it...
I’m also very picky about how sunscreen feels. I want proper protection, obviously, but I’m not wearing anything that stings my eyes, sits weirdly, pills, or makes me look like I’ve been glazed.
It’s very liquidy, which sounds like a warning but is actually the magic, it blends so seamlessly it becomes a second skin. And because it’s tinted, it gives that runny-BB-cream effect. Very light coverage, but enough to tone down your whole face so ...
It’s also one of the only SPFs that doesn’t sting my eyes when I inevitably get it too close. That alone makes it elite.
I’ve repurchased this so many times and I’ll keep doing it.
It’s SPF 50+, it’s made for the harsh Queensland sun, and I trust it in a very “quietly loyal” way.
Also, I had a skin cancer check recently and passed with flying colours. I’m not saying it was this…but if this product asked me for alimony, I’d understand.
It’s not effortless. It’s thick. Like you put it on and you know it’s there. A proper film over your face. Some people love that “I am protected, I am sealed, nothing can touch me” feeling. If that’s you, you’ll be very happy here.
For me, this isn’t my daily “cute tinted moment” sunscreen. This is my beach-day sunscreen. Because when I’m in the sun for hours (and especially when I’m in the water) I like that I can still feel it holding on.
It’s not “Banana Boat zinc” energy. It’s more like…dermatologist-approved armour.
Non-essentials that complete me
These are the extras I technically don’t need…but I’m also not here to live a life of deprivation. Think of them as the “because I can” products. The ones that make me feel like a functioning adult with a cute little routine.
Not because my skin will fall apart without them, but because sometimes you want your bathroom to feel like a softly lit hotel and your face to feel like it’s being looked after. They’re small, unnecessary luxuries. Which is, honestly, the point.
And yes. Snail mucin sounds a bit…unsettling. I get it. I also had the moment of why is this on my face. But trust me. It’s weirdly amazing.
You get a ridiculous amount in the tub (it lasts ages), it comes with a tiny tweezer so you’re not digging around like a gremlin, and the patches are super cooling and soothing, especially at night when your face is tired, and you’re feeling slightly...
I leave them on for about 30 minutes before bed. Then I take whatever gel is left and spread it over my face because I’m not wasting much-needed hydration. After that, I rinse it off and my skin feels…reset.
Clean, soft, calm. Like I’ve been good!
It’s the “absolutely not” of skincare.
I dab it on, go to sleep, and wake up like the pimple got the message and left. Thank God it’s 2026 and we have options. 😭
I only use it as a spot treatment at night, right before bed. Little dot on the offender, no overthinking, no fuss.
Because we all get those last-minute “why are you here” pimples right before something important, and I refuse to let one tiny bump ruin my entire personality.
Put it on. Go to bed. Wake up like it never happened. That’s the kind of reliability I respect.