This guide will help you develop a routine for healthy, glowing skin without breaking the bank!
Welcome to my new series, ‘skincare routines on a budget’. Today we are going to look at how to create a regular routine on the budget, using the same products time after time to get nice, radiant skin. To put it simply, it won’t be difficult and will keep you saving money as you stop buying expensive goods and constantly up selling.
Skin Essentials
This is going to make up a large part of your routine. Your skin needs a certain amount of vitamins and hydration to look its best and it needs regular nourishment to keep it in good shape. A simple vitamin enriched skincare product is the best to start with. It should be ideally purchased through the supermarket as opposed to on the high street. This is partly because the value has been set by the factory and the high street value is determined by a different set of factories, ie. They are very different in quality, and partly because of the cheaper packaging so they tend to be a little bit less hygienic in my opinion.
Cleanser
The routine starts with a cleansing product. When I get a cleanse, I use a mild cleanser. It’s either a baby cleanser or it’s a sponge. It’s quite expensive to buy these on the high street. I tend to choose baby products when it comes to cleansing and simply get refills. I’ve been quite successful with using sansevier (milk or coconut) to cleanse my face, it’s quite low in price, and has hardly any smell. If you prefer a cleanser with a foam to a solution, and you don’t have a face brush, I would recommend taking up your friends company to do some make-up shopping, as they often have quite bargain but sometimes you will come out with something you really like.
Toner
When you don’t follow cleansing, your next step is toner. Toners are not as expensive as they seem, however, they come in a variety of forms which can be a bit tricky to choose.
The 100% vegetable toner from asos is very cheap and a really good start. Not everyone will need a toner, but it will depend on your skin type. If you have oily skin, you don’t really need a toner and you may be better off buying a cleanser which does some work cleansing as well, but for everything else, using a toner works well. I also find that when toning is done well, your make up won’t seem patchy.
Serum
Now that we’ve got the basics of cleansing and toning done, we move onto serums. A serum is going to help repair and correct any skintiffic issues and also any problem skin areas. This could be dry spots, discolouration, blackheads and much more.
My favourite serum is this organic double nourishing serum from eden but sadly, this doesn’t work with some of my current beauty regime so I have to try to balance that out somehow. I also purchased the Radiance package from glow for the body, to which I have added: Serum Mist, Bio Oxygenator, Nu skin vitality drink and an exfoliation for the eyes.
Moisturizer
The first step to getting lovely skin is moisturizing. Again, a lot of people think that they don’t need a moisturizer.
I’ve spoken about the myth of ‘SPF’ creams and that you’ll actually need to reapply. Even though they advertise in the salon that their SPF is up to 50, they only last about five or six hours. Apply once at the start of the day before using your moisturizer and wear sun protection to prevent damage.
I prefer to buy an organic body moisturiser because it lasts a long time and is organic and non sticky. I have been using this one from The Ordinary which I quite liked for some reason and maybe it’s because it seems to moisturise without irritating my sensitive skin. If this were to go on a visit to the high street, it will most likely be a lot more expensive.
Sun protection
As we age, our bodies change and it is important to protect our skin properly. We should look to our skin as our hair is the next layer, because if that is looking bad, it is only a matter of time before the layers beneath follow suit. We need to look out for skin damage, an area of dark spots on the skin that can spread easily. Sunscreen is our best weapon in preventing the ageing process.
This was the basic budget-friendly skincare routine I came up with and I hope it will help you too! Let me know if you are interested in reading more in this series!
