Skincare: Where to Save and Where to Splurge?

Skincare is a powerful tool, that can keep skin healthy, make you look younger and make you feel great (of course, I am biased, since I am obsessed with cosmetics chemistry, and think skincare is that important). But it can be really confusing for a lot of people. You hope that spending 200$ on a moisturizer will do overnight miracle. But there is only so much that skincare can do. You can not completely erase wrinkles or fade severe hyper-pigmentation. You have to be realistic. Also there is not one miracle secret ingredient, there are multiple great ones that do work to some extent (and most of them are not that expensive). That's why, in my opinion, no skincare product is worth over 50-70$. And even that I would spend only on extremely "loaded" well formulated serum or prescription treatment. These days a lot of affordable brands produce amazing products, and anyone can afford at least the bare minimum. So where to put your money in? I am evaluating categories of products based on what realistically they can do for the skin and what kind of ingredients can be there.

Cleansers/Face Washes

Definitely do not spend too much money here. As much as I love watching UK skin guru Caroline Hirons, I have to disagree that 70$ cleanser can do wonders for the skin. Realistically, all cleansers are mostly different kind of detergents in water or oil base. Doesn't matter in what form they come (gel, cream, foam), their goal is to remove make-up, dirt and excess oils. Even if they do have antioxidants and such, there is just not enough time for them to work. And moreover, it will be damaging to leave any cleanser on the skin for more than few minutes. Save your money, and buy a really good serum. Also a lot of high-end companies charge for "designer" fragrance in their products (you basically pay for the scent, not quality of the product). There is no secret technology, that can make expensive cleanser better than a drugstore one. I would say 5-20$ is a good price range for a cleanser.

Make-up Removers/Cleansing Oils

Everything I've said about cleanser applies to make-up removers. Plenty of excellent inexpensive choices on the market foe 5-10$ (Neutrogena, L'Oreal, and even CVS and Walgreens generic brands), just pick one that doesn't irritate your eyes (I have been using Sonia Kashuk one for years).

Cleansing oils are a bit different though. I do not consider them a must have in a skin care routine, but personally love to use them. Unfortunately, at this point there isn't enough of great affordable choices. So for me, it is a bit of a splurge (still I wouldn't spend over 35$), but I feel it removes make-up and waterproof SPF like nothing else.

Lastly, make-up removing wipes. I do not like them, and think they are a waste of money. The rubbing motion can irritate the skin (and pulling skin can add to wrinkles), plus you actually shouldn't leave residue from them on the face, you should wash it off (since most of these wipes have some kind of a detergent agent). And if I am going to wash my face anyways, why even bother with wipes.

Toners

This is a tricky one. There are almost no good toners at the low end of the price range (less than 20$). Toner is not a cleansing step in my opinion. New generation toners should deliver a range of antioxidants, skin repairing ingredients and such. Unfortunately, most of them are loaded with alcohol, witch hazel and essential oils, which are not good for the skin. I love using milky, antioxidant rich, hydrating toner right after cleanser. You can completely skip this step if you are already using a good serum or if you have oilier type of skin and hate layering moisturizers (again, save your money for a really good serum).

Moisturizers with SPF/Sunscreen

This is a single most important step in the skincare routine. If you can afford or want to use only one skin care item, it definitely should be a sunscreen. UV damage ages skin dramatically, causing wrinkles and hyper-pigmentation, the only way to keep skin looking good is to use sun protection. Even the strongest treatments will be useless if you do not apply sunscreen daily. Good sunscreen should also contain plenty of beneficial ingredients. Fortunately, there are a lot of good affordable options on the market (a lot of products in 10-30$ range). However, moisturizers are not really treatments, they do not have very high concentration of antioxidants and cell-communicating ingredients. That is why in my opinion they shouldn't be as expensive as serums, they are not really worth more than 50$ (and that if you really do want to splurge).

Moisturizers

This is a very broad range of products, from pure plant oils to creams to lotions to gel moisturizers. Here I do not like to spend a lot (I usually layer several serums and get enough moisture that way). I think this is the category most people like to spend more money on, although I feel a good serum is more important. Here you can save or splurge. As usual, look for the range of beneficial ingredients, absence of irritants and absolutely no jar packaging. There a lot of good affordable options on the market (10-30$). But there are some good more expensive ones.

Eye moisturizers. Have to mention this, but you can use any well formulated face product around your eyes as well (except exfoliants). Eye moisturizers usually have the same ingredient list as face moisturizers, they just labeled differently. Save your money here.

Serums/Treatments

Ok, so here is where you can splurge (you don't have to though). There are definitely budget friendly options (within 15-30$ range). However, if you need to treat some stubborn concerns (advanced signs of aging, deeper wrinkles, stronger hyper-pigmentation) you definitely should be looking for products with higher concentration of retinol, vitamin C, niacinamide and such, which are usually not cheap (40-60$, if we are not talking about prescription ones). But again, it is not worth investing in a good serum, if you are not using your sunscreen diligently. Also, expensive does not automatically mean good.  Do not believe that just because serum costs 100$ (Perricone MD Peptide Complex, for example), it works better than 30$ serum (Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Serum, which is really great). But of course, there are really good very expensive products out there, if you feel like you can and want to spend that amount of money, do that. Just be careful, beware of the ingredient list.

Exfoliation

I am a big fan of chemical exfoliants. Scrub just does not deliver the same results as a good AHA or BHA product does, and usually manual exfoliants are way too abrasive. If you can not find a good affordable option (and actually there very few good inexpensive products, Alfa Hydrox being the only one I can think of), it is totally worth spending a bit more on a good glycolic or salicylic acid treatment (30-50$). Hydroxy acid treatments not only dissolve dead cell build up, leaving skin smooth and glowing, they promote cell turnover (acting as an amazing anti-aging ingredients).

Verdict

Save on cleansers, make-up removers and toners. Spend reasonable amount on sunscreen, chemical exfoliants and moisturizers. You can splurge on well formulated serums and treatments, though there are number of great reasonably priced options.