Five skincare products you’ve been wasting your money on

Skincare has been all the rage in recent years. Thanks to innumerable YouTube skincare routines, thousands of Pinterest DIYs and constant influencer promotions on Instagram, most of us have accumulated a ridiculous amount of skincare products for the quest for “perfect” skin.

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It is certainly true that most of the products that we have been influenced to buy have worked for us, and helped us build a skincare regimen that works for our specific skincare needs. However, you don’t need most of the products that are sitting on your sink or crowding your shelves. Below are five skincare products that are nice to have, though not necessarily important.

1. Toner

Skin toners are very popular, but the whole purpose of them is to balance your skin’s pH level. The perfect pH level for your skin is 5.5, which is slightly acidic. If it ranges between 4.8 and 6, your skin is still doing perfectly fine.

As long as you cleanse your skin well with a good cleanser that has a pH level that falls in this range (check the back of the packaging), you’ll still be able to have a balanced pH level on your face. In addition to all this, most toners contain alcohol in them which do more harm than good for your skin.

2. Eye cream

You probably know the pinkie finger trick when it comes to eye cream, but did you know that you don’t even need one? Eye cream is simply a nicely repackaged version of a good face moisturiser. You can use a basic moisturiser that absorbs into your skin the same way an eye cream would.

The only time you would really need eye cream is if you are trying to treat discolouration or any other issue you may have in that area. If you don’t need eye cream for any other reason other than to moisturise the skin around your eyes, simply use the pinkie finger trick with your regular moisturiser.

3. Miscellar water

This will probably shock many makeup lovers, but the only reason you would really need micellar water is to get rid of the last traces of makeup off your face, i.e. mascara.

You can simply get all your makeup off by double cleansing your skin. Do this by starting off with an oil cleanser, or simply coconut oil, followed by a gel cleanser.

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4. Essence

Essence is a big deal in Asian skincare, especially in the super-popular 10-step Korean skincare routine. Essence essentially preps your skin for your next skincare product. What many may not know is that as long as your skin is damp, it will still be ready for the next skincare product.

When your skin is damp, it’s like a sponge that will soak up whatever product would follow the essence. Therefore, an essence is simply a hydrator. What you should do next time is apply your next skincare product before the previous product (or water) completely absorbs into your skin.

5. Cellulite and stretchmark creams

Believe it or not but you cannot get rid of cellulite with a cream. To completely get rid of the appearance of cellulite, you would need to see a skin specialist that will conduct the correct procedure.

When it comes to stretch marks, laser and micro-needling are what actually help get rid of them. This is because a cream will simply help alleviate the look of stretch marks.