being frightened off the cost of skincare

[MrsKravitz]

Even when standing in front of regular brands in the supermarket? The cost of the "whole set" freaks me out. Is it false economy to buy any old cheap crap and will my face pay for it at the end?

Meryl I'm a product addict too

I'm in France now and it's truly humbling what amazing skin all the women seem to have here. From what I can tell, they tend to use only a few products but they are religious about suncream and use very good moisturisers. And drink loads of water! That's also really good for your skin.

I am quite interested in this - I love beauty products but I do get really put off by the price of some brands. If I could I would use Dermalogica products but I can't justify the cost. Similarly I like natural, organic products BUT WHY ARE THEY SO EXPENSIVE!!??? On The Apprentice when they had that week where they were doing beauty treatments, Lord Sugar said that if he hadn't got into electronics he would have gone into beauty because the profits are huge. That's what it's about, really the basic ingredients are cheap to put together and then it's the rest of it,; marketing, advertsing, profit. How can companies justify the products and the claims they make??
Mmmm....turned into a bit of a rant!

On another note it does seem that Simple seems a popular choice, are they good products really. Lots of chemicals though, I should think. What about No 7 'protect and perfect'. People love that, is it really that amazing? It's expensive though

It's not a load of bollocks if you have problem skin -- believe me, I'd love to be able to just use soap and water! But that truly doesn't work for everyone.

Vanilla I've used the Protect and Perfect, I thought it smoothed out my skin quite nicely so was a good base for makeup, and I felt my skin looked a bit clearer. But it wasn't so amazing that I could justify spending so much for it, although I can see why people love it.

I find it bizzare that you would want to scrimp on your face.

A basic cleanse, tone, moisturise routine doesn't cost the earth. I use Darphin products and spend less than £40 per month on them. Simple is very effective and you can get a set for £15!

I cant use soap on my face. I see simple as an el cheapo and wouldnt have considered it tbh. Never heard of darphin

oh yeah, sleep and water
deffo
but thing to invest in - if invest you must - is the moisturiser. Btw as I get older (41 now though mercifully unwrinkled) I find that anything to scented - and that includes lots of the posher stuff - clinique, clarins, bobbi brown (product addict, see) makes my skin sensitive. Can't go wrong with

I think it's about what people choose to spend their money on. If you can afford £40 per month on skin care then that's great for you. But to me that seems like a lot. I think I would stick with Simple

Merylstrop - you've go tme on the edge of the seat...(such is my life), 'can't go wrong with...' what ??

I think you need to experiment don't you. I tried protect and perfect and didn't get on with it at all.

If you've had problems with cheaper products then maybe you should head for the mid-priced ranges?

Despite my dermatologist-led epiphany I still use a good cleanser, moisturiser and and eye cream. All Liz Earle, I love her stuff, and so many people I've met rate her cleanser above all others.

It doesn't cost the earth either, and I find the cleanser lasts me a few months as I only use it in the evenings.

Agree Liz Earle is great. Although recently converted to Elemis & Guerlain Midnight Secret for night and adore them. Skin looks fresher and plumper. Not cheap however.....

MrsKravitz I can't use soap either and have used Cetaphil for years (recommended by my dermatologist), it's lovely and costs about £6 a bottle. It's kept behind the counter at the chemist for some reason or they may have to order it for you but it's great stuff.

I found the Simple cleansers way too harsh for my face.

Describing something as 'a good base for make-up' makes me wonder - surely putting foundation on your face must be bad for your skin, causing spots etc., then people buy more foundation to cover it up, special products to cope with 'problem skin'...

I'm not saying all skin problems are caused by using foundation - I went through a phase when I was younger when my skin was so dry it was practically falling off my face even with lots of moisturiser - but it can't help, surely.

Porpoise that is really true, makeup can cause skin problems, even a lot of skin treatments can cause skin problems (eg anti-acne treatments can just dry out the skin and make it more likely to break out). So yes, for some people, giving up makeup may solve their problem.

But some of us have, yes, problem skin no matter what we do, I've had rosacea and skin allergies and no, I can't just use soap and water, soap turns my whole face bright red and puffy.

I don't actually use foundation anymore, I think it helps but my skin is still difficult.

Makeup does not cause spots. The skin producing too much sebum and the pore getting blocked then infected causes spots, though obviously the more you touch your face the more likely they are going to get infected.

Hmm...Joan Collins believes that using foundation has kept her skin looking good. Can't be all bad, can it?!

If you have problem skin then foundation doesn't help but that's where a good cleanse and toner come in - nothing harsh. And a light moisturiser. I would recommend anyone with bad skin to see a dermatoogist. Often it's not what you're putting on it but over production by sebaceous glands or a bacterial infection.

Has anyone tried the Oil Cleansing Method?? There's a great thread MSE about it, and I'm truly converted! Before that I was using Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, but this is so much better for my skin.

I'm now a bit of an oil convert and generally use Bio Oil, or Clarins do some nice facial oils, as a moisturiser.

I use Tesco/Superdrug vitamin E face wash & astral cream (thanks Nan for the tip)!
I don't wear makeup often as I don't like the idea of covering my face up (and not letting the skin breathe)...plus I'm dead sexy & don't need it.

What scares me about skincare is that people who spend a load of money on it usually have worse skin than people who don't.

Do you think the cause and effect might be the other way around?

People with naturally less-nice skin spend lots of money to try to make it nice.
People with naturally nice skin don't see the need to bother.

So what it looks like is that people using expensive stuff have bad skin and people using cheap stuff have good skin. But you don't know what their skin would look like otherwise.

I found I could make my own skin cream for a fraction of the price for bought stuff. All the ingredients are available online.

My face cream:
put 4 tablespons of oil in a double pan (any oil, I use jojoba and calendula but you can choose the one you like) then warm it up. Add 1 tablespoon of an emulsifier, this must be a cosmetic wax, you can use beeswax but I use olive oil wax, heat gently till the hard wax is melted. Warm up 3 tablespoons of rose water (or actually can be plain water!) Take the oils off the heat and whisk in the water, you can add any essential oil at this point if you want it to smell nice, then whisk until it goes pale and starts to thicken. Pour into a small jar and seal. I use those tiny plastic lock and lock tubs from Lakeland.
It's very cheap!

I also discovered you do not need cleanser as I became allergic to just about everything (hence making my own creams) so stopped using creams and cleansers and it made no difference to my face, I was gutted when I thought how much moeny I'd spent on them over the years. I now use plain water and occasionally rub caster oil all over my face, this lifts off all the grease.
Also, use oatmeal stirred into plain yoghurt as a face scrub, that's cheap too. You can add cinnamon and things if you like.

I use a mixture of Liz Earle and Boots protect and perfect.

I don't think there is any need to buy a whole set of something, just find individual products that you like.

For toner and eye-makeup remover I use the Waitrose Pure ones which are about £1.50 a bottle and last for ages.

I buy Waitrose baby bottom butter for my face. The ingredients are olive oil, hydrogenated olive oil, vanillin and chamomile oil. No parabens, artificial colours/fragrances or sodium lauryl/laureth sulphate.

It is very cheap (about £2.50) and I think, being a Waitrose own brand, it isn't tested on animals

I have very sensitive skin and Rosacea.

I use Ponds cold cream as a cleanser, and a Johnson moisturiser (something naturals, can't remember what it's called) that has few chems in it. And Bio Oil at night instead of Johnson's.

Face is at the best it's been in a long time.

I should add that I use an extra product on sunny days - Factor 30 sunblock (not factor 50, because you end up with loads more chemiclas on your face for very little extra sun protection)