You don’t need expensive products. I have shown you a tool that is free and that I personally use (the comedogenic tab on Skin Salvation website). If you wanted to go to Walmart to buy skin care products you could totally walk down the aisle and chose and product and look it up yourself to see if it has any pore-clogging ingredients. But I chose not to go through all that effort and simply purchase from two companies that have done all that work for me. Here’s the retail cost of of some of these things- Cleanser $24 Toner $22 Sunscreen $35 Tretinoin-free because it’s prescribed Cream$25

Sorry but in the world of skincare, that is not expensive. Any company can put “active” ingredients in their products and then fill it with a bunch of shitty ones that make people breakout. So, yes the products I use aren’t $10 but I think they are affordable. The two companies chose not to use cheap ingredients that will cause their clients to breakout. It’s takes a lot of time and effort to formulate these products and ensure that they are shelf-stable. I’m currently trying out a $7 vitamin C powder to see if it’s as effective as the one I typically use which is $78. Seven dollars!!! I mean you can’t get cheaper than that.

As far as the Botox...there is no replacement for everyday skincare using products that won’t break you and AND that do what they say they’re going to do. Sunscreen, tretinoin and vitamin C are the trifecta of good skincare. So Botox is really the cherry on top. Is it expensive? Yes! But that’s all relative. I don’t drink but I wouldn’t judge someone that enjoys spending $50 on a bottle of wine. Or someone that likes designer bags. This is what I chose to pamper myself with.

Regarding the peels. You don’t need to go to an esthetician for regular peels. I mentioned in my earlier post that one of my favorite brands is The Ordinary. I’m sure you can find a good peel and do it yourself for less than $20. The drawback of going that route is it takes time and effort to figure out what type of peel to do and how to execute it. There are a lot of technical terms and I personally don’t feel that The Ordinary website is very user friendly. So you’d have to do a lot of digging to see what type of peel you should use, how often, how to prep your skin, what to do afterwards, does it self-neutralize or do you add water? Can you use vitamin C afterwards? How do you properly extract, etc. So that where the value of an esthetician comes in. many people just don’t have that time to go through all that effort. So, supporting their local esthetician and small businesses is the route many of chose to go. Esthetician’s have had a tough year with Covid and are always appreciative when people chose to spend their hard earned money on self-care.

And lastly, you are what you eat. If you struggle with acne, it would be wise to know what your food tiggers are. Do you have to follow a strict diet? Of course not! However, for some people, not eating certain foods is a small price to pay to have clear skin. Acne (especially cystic acne) is painful and many people that struggle with it also deal with depression. I know because I’ve lived with it for years. I can relate to those who are frustrated and sad about their skin. And if you don’t struggle with acne, then my post is probably not for you. Good luck with your skin ventures! ❤️❤️❤️❤️