Low end vs high end skin care

[DtPeabodysLoosePants]

What do you class as low end, mid range and high end?

Do you get what you pay for with higher end brands? I have friends who rate Aldi face products and know people who view higher end as cheap crap. I don't consider £30 for moisturiser as cheap crap but each to their own I guess.

Also to note sometimes it’s worth it long term. I use a lot of active ingredients which are good both for acne and anti ageing. I’m now at an age were many of my school friends/friends of the same age are making the rather sudden transition from first bloom of youth to younger but not exactly young looking women. While I have managed to control the worst of the acne my skin isn’t great quality yet I’m decidedly still young looking (look about 20 apparently, have since I was fifteen - tall and serious). It may be genetics but given that my skin is awful I doubt it. I think the products the double as anti acne and anti ageing are responsible. Fingers crossed it will last.

I used to use L'Oréal revitalift at £20 a 50ml tub. I now use dead sea minerals retinol night cream at £1.99 from home bargains. Its more expensive in other places. I use face wipes to take most of my makeup off, i wash with pears face wash then use a toner and moisturise. I also buy retimax retinol cream from ebay and that's really good. At 44 my wrinkles are virtually non exisitant but I have always looked after my skin since I was a teen.

I usually end up regretting it when I buy the expensive stuff, its never been worth the money at all. I get really dry skin on my forehead/nose and the only moisturisers that stop it flaking are Nivea Soft and Astral. I use a St Ives facial scrub and Palmers cocoa butter body lotion and that's about it!

I'm still a bit stunned by £30 moisturiser being classed as cheap crap

I used to use mid-high end skincare ranges - La Roche Posay etc.
Wasn’t really doing much for me, wasn’t seeing the results I was expecting.
So then I switched to using a single Lush product (Ultrabland cleanser) which costs about £15 and lasts me 6 months. My skin looks better than it ever has!
I will not be defecting to another product ever again! And if Lush ever discontinue it I will be heartbroken

I’ve tried a ton from Simple, Garnier, Nivea to YSL, Bobbi Brown, BareMinerals, Kiehls and I’ve found favourites in Bobbi Brown and Kiehls. I’ve recently bought stuff from Beauty Pie so I’m excited to try that and if it works as good I’m a convert to them.

I used to buy high end makeup but recently have bought more and more from the likes of Boots and find that if my skincare is good I use far less makeup and the cheaper alternatives are just as good. I’m a bit obsessed with Trinny London makeup just now though so while it was expensive initially I use so little a day that it’s working out to be worth it.

Oh and price range wise, I’d say it depends on the product.

I’d say £20 and less is cheap but if it’s £15 for a 3ml pot of something that’s shite value.

Mid range up to £40, £40-£80 id class high end and anything over £80 I’d class as luxury and ridiculous

I only use Paula's choice & skin medica (both a bit £££££). No one has retinols like paula's choice!

I wasn't overly impressed by the Aldi products - neighbour gave me some night cream that everyone was apparently raving about as it gave her spots, I found it a bit stingy on my skin and very smelly.

However I do use Simple skin care as there's very little added to it and it's not tested on animals. I used to use Clarins skin care and I wouldn't say there is any noticeable difference in my skin as a result of not using the more expensive brand any more, but the creams did feel thicker and more luxurious.

Superdrug's vitamin E hot cloth cleanser is a very cost-effective alternative to Liz Earle's cleanse and polish. I also like their spf 15 moisturiser which is about £3.99.

You don't get what you pay for. You do get a feeling of luxury and nicer packaging.

The things that actually work are Nivea Soft (the white tub) as excellent moisturiser, using SPF year round to prevent wrinkles, and using potions containing retinol once you decide you have signs of aging you want to combat - look carefully at the label for %age retinol as it's not the case that the higher the price the higher the %age.

You're bound to get on it's sone brands better than others, texture, how it feels on your skin, whether it makes you shiny, the small, the packaging, the dream....

For make up, it's worth getting the more expensive brands for eyeshadow and lipstick, as there is more pigment so it performs better. But lip glosses and blusher (and anything else more sheer) is just as good in the cheap ranges. Mascara can be a bit variable.

I really like Superdrug's own brands (couple of quid an item for loads of stuff), also Bourjois and No7 (mid price). I've never gone high end, except a red Chanel lipstick as a treat, and an amazing pinkish one from Dior I wore on my wedding day

Just to note the other problem with supermarket stuff is that most of it lacks active ingredients

I don't get it - wat does 'active ingredients' actually mean?

Oh I looked it up. In skincare it seems to just mean 'the ingredients that deliver the benefit of the product'. So oils in moisturisers, detergents in shampoos and body washes etc.

So that basically means that all moisturisers have 'active ingredients', but I guess you're talking about specific active ingredients for specific issues, like acne or rosacea. But surely budget brands aimed at those issues have the relevant active ingredients too? Sorry - just trying to get my head around the marketing-speak!

I've experimented with lots of skincare products over tha last decade (and since my teens, TBH). Most of the expensive stuff wasn't worth it - I actually binned a load of Liz Earle stuff as it brought me out in dreadful cystic acne that took several months to completely heal & for the marks to fade. Lancôme - meh. My routine is mostly mid-range to cheap, although a lot of it is imported Japanese or French, so the price has rocketed over the last year. I have 1 expensive item - a chemical exfoliant (Biologique Recherche) at approximately £65 per bottle, but it goes a long way, about 5-6 drops per evening. It's made a massive difference to my skin tone. OTOH, I use a £1 facial soap which gives me results just as good as any of the more expensive washes & cleansers I've tried.

What is considered "high end" though? I use dermalogica cleanser and moisturiser, Clinique serum and facial sun care( I consider these high end) and Superdrug facial scrub (cheap ) I don't wear make up so don't mind spending money on my skin.

The most important thing is to understand your skin and what it needs. For example, I have hormonal acne, congestion and am oily but also dehydrated!!!! So I avoid oils and fragrance of all kinds. And look for serums and creams with hyaluronic acid, Niacinamide and use a salicylic acid and a tretinoin gel. I can get all of those things from Boots and The Ordinary! The only thing I splash out on is my daily SPF, from Ultrasun and Colorscience. And my Paula's Choice salicylic acid. I highly recommend checking YouTube videos from Dr Dray. She is a dermatologist and recommend great products, both high and low end, and she pretty much days your better off going for lower end ones - but she does splash out on sunscreen!

I used to work for a company that own many of our face care/make up ranges

Most (majority) products are repacked and sold across the different ranges so they cover the whole market from high to low end

There isn’t a miracle anti wrinkle cream that is allowed to be sold as a skin cream (it’s a prescription acne cream)

It’s what is suited to your skin

The skin care industry vastly sold on lies

I like Nivea, Aldi and No.7. None of them high end, but all great, and it's not necessary for me to give away triple the money to Liz Earle or whoever when what I have is nice and works.

Expensive skin care is an absolute con. Apart from retinoids in certain forms, nothing else actually makes a physical difference to your skin, because if it did it would be classed as medical grade.

You are paying for the name and probably nice packaging. It's basically the same stuff as the cheaper stuff. I once, back in the day, was stupid enough to buy Creme de la Mer, it was absolutely no better than the cheap stuff.

Skincare is more about consistency and finding what works for your skin, than forking out loads of money.

I use garnier micellar water, the ordinary glycolic acid, the ordinary buffet and Weleda skin food. My skin is the best I have ever been because I am consistent with my use of these products and ensure that my face is clean, exfoliated and moisturised enough. I don't believe that my skin would be any better if I used much more expensive versions of each of these products.