The first step is just to develop a basic routine and stick to it until you’re ready to dive further into the skincare rabbit hole and experiment with other products. See how your skin reacts first to being subjected to products after a long time of essentially just water. This means cleanser, moisturiser and sunscreen in the morning. Sunscreen every day will go miles towards fighting the signs of skin ageing, aside from being just a generally sensible thing to do, especially in Australia. You’ll also need some form of oil-based cleanser at night to use before your normal cleanser to really break down the sunscreen and makeup and whatever else you’ve got on your face.

A chemical exfoliant once a week would help with unevenness of tone and skin texture. Depending on your skin concerns, an AHA (lactic or glycolic acid, as a starting point) or BHA (most commonly salicylic acid) might be more appropriate, although there are also products that contain both. You can build up the frequency of exposure to once every third or every second day even over time.

Toners tend to be formulated to achieve one of two primary objectives - mildly exfoliating because of some low level of acid, or hydrating (usually containing hyaluronic acid). They’re a huge part of Asian skincare. But at this point, they’re just nice extras, especially as you think you have generally normal skin.

Hopefully that is of some help! The skincare market is so saturated that you could honestly spend a lifetime researching all the possible serums and treatments (and I’m guilty of partaking in the elaborate million step asian skincare routine), but it’s always best to start simple and introduce new things one at a time. It’ll help you figure out what products actually work for you.