I have to come clean. Although there are plenty of under-£10 skincare products and affordable French pharmacy brands that I personally shop for and can wholeheartedly vouch for when it comes to their efficacy, I have a deep-seated love of luxury skincare that I just can’t shake. Of course, I’m lucky enough to be sent a huge amount of product to try as part of my job—at this point, my bathroom cupboard is basically an extension of my work desk—so I’m under no illusion about the fact that celebrity-approved moisturisers and high-tech skin gadgets likely wouldn’t form the basis of my regular skincare stash if I didn’t work as a beauty editor. But that doesn’t mean that my penchant for the high-end is any less real.
However, extravagant packaging and A-list fans aside, is there actually any benefit to splurging on skincare products, or can switching to cheaper buys reap the same results? I decided to find out by sidelining all of my fancy favourites to try out affordable alternatives.
