Is expensive skincare worth the hefty price tag?

Serum is much lighter and absorbs very quickly and I use it under my moisturiser - the No 7 protect and perfect is great but over £20. I use a facial oil after a bath at night - a bit greasy for day wear for me

paddyrg wrote: »

It's a racket. Pretty much everything boils down to oil, water, or an emulsion of the two.

I've never really been able to afford expensive skin creams, I once had a consultation at the Clinique counter and felt so guilty at the £90+I spent on skincare, after the 3 months my skin didn't look any different to how it had done beforehand so I went back to buying whatever I could afford at the time.
I've always tried to buy a moisturiser with an spf, and always use eye cream and serum. My mam always had good skin so maybe I've inherited it from her, but I think I've done ok with my low cost skincare :rotfl:

I used to use expensive skincare (Decleor, ISClinical, Liz Earle, Clarins) etc but because of economic reasons I downgraded to Garnier Micellar Water for cleansing (always on offer somewhere), a Boots Time Delay eye cream (I was spending gulp £80 on an eye cream), Nivea Soft in a tube for face, with a bigger pot of Nivea Soft for body lotion. For a scrub I use A Sanctuary one which is a rip off of the expensive Origins one I used to use. As a standby by against emergency sore skin, I have Avene skin rescue cream. I don't bother with a serum or oil. The result for my skin - no change from the expensive regimes. I think you are what you eat, so apart from keeping your skin moisturised with a basic moisturiser, I take either 1000mg of flaxseed oil, starflower oil or Vitamin E. Flaxseed is very cheap as a supplement.

Even serums do not need to expensive. There is a lot of love for a really cheap one from Superdrug - see the 13 Feb beauty column in the Guardian by Sali Hughes for the link. This one is under 3 quid, current on offer for under 2 quid. It is a hydrating one for sensitive skin. I have not tried it as it is just another layer I don't feel I particularly need.

Justme111- a serum is the concentrated shot of active ingredients to perform some function for the skin i.e. calming, anti-aging or firming. It is light and water like and easily absorbed. The oil next, should be jammed packed with all the good stuff. Skin likes good oils as it helps provide the fatty acids- it helps improve dryness. The oils are concentrated goodness- if you choose the right one.
Moisturizer, Paddyrg, is correct is an emulsion of fat and water- like mayonnaise. It acts as a barrier to trap the moisture in the skin. It is a physical barrier to the elements and is absorbed- but really layering works. It allows absorbing in order of effectiveness and allows you get more bang for your buck. I have skin that is dry and needs lots of moisture. I found that using oil (rosehip or trilogy antioxidant plus) has allowed me to use less moisturizer and that is money saving.
Two or three md priced decent products like moo goo, avene and vichy are better than a thick layer of an expensive cream.
Poppy99, I agree 100% that you need to eat good foods rich in fatty acids and antioxidants. I eat a lot of oily fish and linseeds. I also have recognized over the years a real truism that people who drink, smoke and eat tonnes of sugar look more haggard.