Hi Suz.
Well, you certainly got some "interesting" responses and I'm sure if there was a Lord of some time, he/she wouldn't be that interested in our desire to maintain anti-aging beauty for the human population.
In any event, the deterioration of your skin is a culmination of lower hormone levels combined with genetics and environmental damage. So, you can't really resolve them with topicals, since by definition, they don't impact the skins lower levels, usually just the top layer that sloughs off over a short period of time. That is key to maintaining healthy looking skin over 50. As we age, the skin doesn't turn over as quickly, making us look more washed out. The pliability of the skin is also poorer due to a breakdown in the links that support the skin (fibroblast network). Production of the collagen that fills the net is also much lower than when were were in our 20's and 30's. It all sounds kind of grim, but doesn't have to be. Although, it takes a little more work to resolve than putting Erno Laslo's latest lotion on our skin.
Keep in mind that what actually works on skins feel, look and pliability, quickly, is the surfactants and humectants that help retain moisture and attract moisture to the skin. While there is some effect by the latest peptides, anti-oxidants (coffee bean, tea, resveratrol, you name it) the basics are to rebuild the soft tissue of your skin and that takes some time.
Yes, all of the brands that you mentioned provide the basics to help moisturize the skin, but they don't change the physiology of the skin unless you focus on improving your hormone secretion for estrogen, progesterone, human growth hormone and testosterone. That would be more than the simplest hormone replacement therapy which got a very bad rap from the Women's Health Intiative of 2002, but really mean't very little for increased cancer risk.
You see how broad this topic really is and while I'd like to give you that hope in a jar, I'd also like to note that to help increase your own hormone creation without taking supplements, you need to do resistance training that will help increase the production of collagen, support the skin and tighten those areas that are sagging. Don't worry about jogging, that's certainly good for the cardiovascular system, but does nothing for the soft tissue issues you are concerned about.
Let's look specifically at your "gaggle" in training. The only way to deal with that effectively and you can, is through low light laser therapy (LLLT) as well as ablative lasers that tighten the skin and increase the production of collagen. Short of going under the surgeons knife, which you don't have to do now because of the developments in facial lasers, the topicals will help with the moisture and skin tone.
Blood circulation is also key to bring nutrients to the face, neck and decolletage. Let's look at these products outside of the latest ingredients that are touted to get rid of wrinkles, tighten skin, even tone and a myriad of other solutions. All of the ones that you mentioned do not do anything to help build the blood in the fine capillaries of these areas. Certain ingrdients including menthol, wheat germ extract and others actually help with a flushed look (famous from niacin) and sometimes a slight burning sensation, which is actually good for the skin, although limited in nature. If you do apply these lotions with these ingredients over time (that would be a 3-6 month period, not the typical 2 week effort given by most people. Yes, compliance is one of the biggest problems with buyers of skincare products. This is all to say that spending $20 on Olay will give you the same effect, for much less dollars, as the products you mentioned.
Other product lines like Skinceuticals B5 do truly help build the hyaluronic acid on the surface and help some, albeit it a very little, enter the subdermal layers, depending on the specific skin condition of the user (everyone is different, there really is no standard for a product line given the wide variety of skin conditions of it's users.
Overall, your efforts should be on building your hormone excretion levels, eating solid, clean proteins and exercising (with weights). You must exfoliate twice a week with gentle products, not those with crushed apricot seeds that cause micro scaring and inflammation that is a major issue for deteriorating skin conditions. You can certainly use products like Olay or any of the ones you mentioned, but keep your expectations realistic and give them time to "work" bringing moisture back to your face. Of course there is much more to discuss for this topic (menopause, where you live, did you smoke-sounds like you did-your diet, etc...) and I welcome your questions which can all be answered with some things as simple as keeping salt to a minimum, using tea bags and cucumbers (chilled) to resolve your puffy eyes (see, there are treatments that work!).
