@ginger123 I wasn’t restricted from wearing makeup (and sunblock especially where I live), aside from eye makeup which I had to give up years ago because I have those eyelids that are “hooded” à la Charlotte Rampling. When wearing mascara started turning my eyelids black because the ends of my eyelashes kept hitting them, I gave up eye makeup.
I use several serums and moisturizers, a layer of EltaMD UV AOX Elements Broad-Spectrum SPF 50 sunscreen on my face (plain old Coppertone Sport 50 on my neck, ears and arms), and then lightly pat one of three makeups that I like, from low cost Selena Gomez, to Estée Lauder Futurist to expensive (buy it when it goes on sale 25% off) but the lightest, most forgiving of wrinkles Koh Gen Doh on top.
I would love to go makeup free but I spent my youth sunbathing on the beaches of Southern California and was outdoors all the time and my fair skin now has discolorations and lots of little broken blood vessels and I just look better and feel better, with a little something to even out my complexion. I will say, that many times, the tinted sunblock is just fine. It’s pricy but worth it and I reserve it for my face. I’ve had a lot of those actinic keratosis things removed from my face and even now, I’ve just had my ears blasted a second time with that frozen nitrogen to take off pre-cancerous spots. I now put sunblock on my ears as well. I live in the Southwest, high altitude and our sun here is intense. I wish that I had taken better care of my skin when I was young, but I started early enough I guess that my dermatologist is happy with how much damage I’ve managed to avoid. I like The Ordinary products for low cost serums and stock up when they have their annual 23% off sale. I also like CeraVe products which are low cost, found in my supermarket and seem to work just as well as more expensive brands. I also like La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer which is moderately priced and Trader Joe’s moisturizer. I often mix all three in my palm and apply to my face and neck, as they range from thin to thick and have different ingredients in them. I wait to buy the Estée Lauder makeup that I like, until they offer their free gifts with purchase and then I get their lovely moisturizers for free.
I understand that Trader Joe’s has a really good vitamin C and a good Retin A product as well, but I haven’t found them in our Trader Joe’s yet, but I don’t get there very often. They are highly rated and inexpensive.