It shouldn’t surprise any of you that I choose to invest in my skin care routine. As I’ve shared before, I have super dry skin. Skin lacking in moisture tends to age more quickly (per the Mayo Clinic)… so I pull out all the stops to hydrate my skin and keep those wrinkles at bay. However, when I got laid off, I had to rethink my normal, luxurious skin care routine and create a more affordable skin care routine for my dry skin.
And, obviously, I felt the need to share said affordable skin care routine for dry skin with y’all. Hence this post.
Even though I’m currently jobless, I still believe in investing in certain products (like my go-to Vitamin C serum) while saving in others (like my cleanser). Or combining my luxury and my affordable products based on my skin’s needs that day. For instance, I’ll use my luxury moisturizer at night if my skin needs some TLC, while other nights I choose to use this one–two punch when my skin is in need of MAJOR hydration.
I thought it might be useful for you guys to see both skincare routines compared side by side: my luxury vs. affordable skin care routines for dry skin!
My Luxury vs. Affordable Skin Care Routines for Dry Skin
Above are all of the products I use in a given day… both when I’m on a budget (my affordable skin care routine for dry skin) and when I’m not (the luxury version). After years of using 10,000 products every single day, I finally streamlined my skincare routine to only include a handful of steps. Great for my wallet, even better for my time management!
Here is what that routine looks like in a given day:
Each morning, I…
- Wash my face with water
- Apply my serum: luxury / affordable
- Put on eye cream: luxury / affordable
- Apply my day moisturizer: luxury / affordable
- Put on my sunscreen: lately, I’ve been loving this SPF 50 tinted BB cream.
- Do my makeup and use this SPF40 makeup setting spray to set my look for the day!
In the evenings, I…
- Remove any makeup on my face using my MakeUp Eraser towel (a reusable towel that can take off any makeup when wet)
- Double cleanse using my cleanser: luxury / affordable
- Optional: do a face mask (I typically do this 3-5 times each week)
- Put on my nighttime moisturizer: luxury / affordable lotion and cream
- Apply my eye cream: luxury / affordable (same as earlier)
And then I head off to bed!
When do I use a luxury product vs. an affordable product?
Of all of the items in my luxury skin care routine for dry skin, only the C E Ferulic and the Augustinus Bader moisturizer are my absolute must-haves. Everything else… I’m okay fully replacing with their more budget-friendly counterparts.
For instance, I recently ran out of my Emollience and A.G.E Eye Complex, and I honestly didn’t think twice about switching to the Aveeno Moisturizer and Eye Repair Cream. Once I run out of my SkinCeuticals cleanser, I’ll likely start using the Cetaphil cleanser. Those three swaps alone save me nearly $200 – money I definitely need these days!
As mentioned earlier, even though I have (and love) the Augustinus Bader moisturizer, I sometimes use the CeraVe lotion and CeraVe cream duo at night if my skin is truly in need of some extra hydration. On such nights, I put the lotion on first, brush my teeth so the lotion has time to sink in, and then apply the cream. To make my Augustinus Bader and C E Ferulic last as long as possible, I use as little of each product as I can. I use 2-3 pumps of the Augustinus Bader and 4-5 drops of C E Ferulic each use.
Do you go luxury or affordable with your skin care routine? What products do you swear by? Let me know in the comments below!
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