Why Affordable Skincare Can Be Just As Effective As The Expensive Stuff

Let’s get real, expensive skincare does not always equal better skincare. In fact, affordable brands are often the true heroes in your routine.

Ever asked yourself, is your $200 moisturizer truly worth it, or is it all glossy packaging and clever marketing? The truth can be a bit of a gray area, but at the end of the day, skin doesn’t give a hoot about hefty price tags. What it cares about is ingredients that actually ‘do’ something. For example, a great moisturizer should boost hydration and seal moisture into your skin. Sunscreen needs to protect your skin from both UVA and UVB radiation. And a good cleanser should gently but effectively clean the skin without causing irritation or stripping away its important barrier function. And honestly, products are perfectly capable of doing this without breaking the bank.

So, why are some products 10x the price of others? And, the most important question of all, do so-called ‘premium’ products honestly work any better?

What Makes Expensive Skincare So Expensive?

There are many reasons why luxury skincare products come with eye-watering price points. Some are valid, but not all of them are for the good of your skin. Here are the most common reasons you might have to shell out a little bit extra...

1. Fancy Packaging

Packaging is extremely important in the luxury skincare market. Shiny metallic boxes, beautiful glass bottles, gold embossing, they’re all used to create the illusion that what’s inside is of the highest quality and therefore worth paying more for. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. 

2. Clever Marketing

Double page ads in Vogue or huge TV commercials cost money – especially when a brand has bagged a big celebrity name to flaunt its wares. Well, this money needs to comes from somewhere. Guess where? Yes, your pocket.

3. Proprietary Ingredients 

Proprietary ingredients are what set certain skincare products apart. But just because a product contains a unique ingredient this doesn’t necessarily make it more beneficial to your skin. More often than not, it’s the clinically proven ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, glycerin and niacinamide that do all the heavy lifting. 

4. Potency Of Active Ingredients

While affordable skincare products are often formulated with the same ingredients as their pricier cousins, it’s true that sometimes they don’t contain as much. And this can be reflected in the price. Strong retinols, however, can irritate certain skin types, which doesn’t always make higher price points the best option. Working with your skin and using products that are beneficial, but don't sensitize or irritate, is important here.

What REALLY Matters When Buying Skincare

Don’t get us wrong, we’re not here to totally bash luxury skincare. If you can afford an expensive, bells and whistles moisturizer and it makes you feel good while, crucially, benefiting your skin, then no harm done. Oftentimes, even just the ritual of smothering your body in a beautifully expensive body butter makes it worth every cent.

However, if you’re really stretching yourself to buy something just because the latest A-lister told you to do so, but you’re not really seeing visible results, why bother when there are so many results-driven products out there that come at a fraction of the cost?

Instead of focusing on premium price tags, here are some smarter shopping tips for building an effective, affordable skincare routine…

Focus on Science-Backed Ingredients

Ingredients that have been clinically tested to benefit the skin are the single most important factor in any skincare product. Superheroes created scientifically in a lab include retinol, vitamin C, peptides, niacinamide, vitamin E, glycerin, hyaluronic acid and ceramides. Then you have all the natural botanicals that also work wonders on your skin. Think jojoba oil, green tea, aloe vera and tea tree oil to name just a few. Do your research and look out for these big hitters and you’ll know that a product is going to truly get things done. 

Check The Running Order Of The Ingredients List

Skincare products don’t generally offer up the exact concentrations of their ingredients, but the label will give some of the game away. How so? Well, skincare brands are required by the FDA to print their ingredients in order, starting from the highest in concentration, working down to the lowest. When it gets down to 1 percent or less, however, they can be listed in any order. 

All this is good to know because if a vitamin C serum lists its vitamin C way down the ingredients list, hovering around the bottom, this shows that it contains very little and potentially won't be as effective as one that lists vitamin C nearer the top. Make sure the good stuff is in the top half of a product’s ingredients label. It doesn't need to be at the absolute top (some active ingredients are way too powerful for that!), but top half is a good rule to follow.

The vitamin C in our Vitamin C Facial Serum, for example, is third on the list after water and aloe. That’s good stuff, right there – and it won't make your wallet burst into tears, either.

Understand Your Skin Type & Needs

Way more important than buying into fancy beauty brands with eye-watering price tags, is to be aware of your skin type and find products that work for you. Do a bit of homework getting to know your skin, then you can focus on the things you’d like to improve. Research ingredients that are proven to help certain concerns ­– eg. hyaluronic acid is fantastic for hydrating thirsty skin whereas tea tree oil can work wonders on breakouts –  then do even more homework by looking into formulations that include those ingredients (in decent concentrations). This helps target your routine to suit your needs without buying into fluff your skin can seriously do without.

Don’t Be Duped By False Promises

Creams that promise to be ‘better than Botox’ are never to be believed – no matter their price. The truth is that skincare can only do so much. A 24k gold-infused moisturizer that costs you hundreds of bucks, for example, is unlikely to moisturize your skin any better than one that was $20. Because yes, gold is super indulgent but at the end of the day, it doesn’t moisturize your skin. It’s all the other stuff inside (which didn’t cost the manufacturer $$$s) that does all the talking, not the fancy fillers and inflated price.

Our advice? Stick to science-backed ingredients that are proven to benefit your skin. 

Remember, The Right Product For You Is The One You Regularly Use

Doing your research and making informed decisions are extremely important because, while we’re big advocates of effective skincare that doesn’t cost the earth, there are some fantastic, pricey products out there… as well as some not-so-great inexpensive options.

Research, research, research. Trust us, you’ll know when you find ‘the one’ because you’ll look forward to using it. And that means you'll use it consistently and regularly and therefore be rewarded with the best, most visible results.