you know, i can definitely see you being a scorpio. i'm a pisces.

cool, we have similar goals then! my main focus is anti-aging too and i also have oily skin. although i do focus on acne and tone/texture improvement as well. your skin did look fine in pictures, what do you feel is so terrible about it in particular?

so a good basic starting routine would be... cleanse -> spf -> moisture (am) cleanse -> treat -> moisture (pm)

otc affordable options: cleansers: cerave foaming, cetaphil gentle cleanser moisture: cerave lotion with ha + ceramides spf: can be any sunscreen as long as the spf rating is at least 30. cerave, neutrogena, any of these will work. a lot of brands carry spf/moisturiser combos in one for the daytime. i think cerave does.

cerave is one of the best drug store brands you can get.

as far as anti-aging goes, yes, sunscreen is one of the best things you can do. just wear it everyday you go outside and reapply every two hours you're outdoors. second, retinols (otc vitamin a derivatives) and retinoids (prescription vitamin a derivatives, much stronger than retinols) are gold standard anti-aging aids. an affordable option would be the ordinary granactive retinoid. this would be used in the pm under the "treat" option. you'd apply it after cleansing, let it sit for 30 minutes, then apply your moisturiser.

if you can't access/find those brands i can recommend others. but i think this is good starting point. as you get more into it, there are other products that you can incorporate for anti-aging purposes like vitamin c, ahas, peptides, etc. but get comfortable with the basics first. also be sure to spot test to make sure your skin reacts well to the products. retinols can cause breakouts at first, but that's normal!

yeah it was fun! i was able to get away from the house for a bit. my friends ended up wanting to go to a club at the end of the night, and since that's not my thing i returned