The beauty products I will not use again
We have all been there: piles and piles of makeup and skincare lying in the drawers, waiting to be used. We all watch too many YouTube beauty videos and get easily influenced by someone’s perfect skin. Well, after I turned 30+, I suddenly had a huge realization. There are many beauty products I will not use again.
As simple as that.
I am watching not just a pile of stuff in my drawers, but a pile of money I wasted on products I don’t need and cannot finish.
Why you shouldn’t pile up products
There is always some hyped-up product out there that you want. It’s trending everywhere, and you need it now.
But you don’t need another product. You need a good, healthy routine.
Work on building good habits and creating routines to help you get the body and skin you want. That means building discipline to exersize daily, apply skincare morning and night, drink enough water, and eat healthily.
These routines are much more important than the products you use.
The quality of your skin is based on what you eat, how you sleep, and how you feel.
But piling up products means you are stuck with unopened products lying around. By the time you get to use them, everyone has moved on to the next big thing.
How you should choose your beauty products
It is ok to buy something new if you have finished up your serums, and you need new ones.
That is a great opportunity to test something new you need and see if they are better.
But if you still have a lot of serums, then you need to stop buying more. You simply need to finish what you have. Or at least gift it, if you cannot use it up because it breaks you out.
Only buy products when you can start using them right away. And always research before you buy, see if there are comments on Reddit.
Here is a list of products I will not use again
Parfumed moisturizes
I have sensitive skin prone to breakouts, and once I switched to moisturizers without perfume, my skin cleared up a lot. I used to use Shiseido creams, then I switched to French farmacy products. However, whenever I try to use scented creams, I start breaking out again.
what I use instead
I switched to Korean skincare, and the moisturizers are mild without any harsh ingredients that you don’t need. They usually have peptides, centella asiatica, aloa, and panthenol.
You can check out the products I use here.
Stripping cleansing gels
When I was young, I thought that I needed to use the harshest gels to clean my skin. So I would choose ingredients like Salicylic Acid. Little did I know that I was aggravating my already sensitive skin by stripping it of moisture.
Then I would break out as my skin was trying to produce oil and protect itself.
What i use instead
I use the most gentle cleanser I can find. It contains no actives, parfumes, or physical peels. If I wear sunscreen and makeup, I do my first cleanse with an oil or balm, and my second with a gentle gel cleanser.
When I wash my face in the morning, I don’t use any cleansers, just water.
This has significantly improved the quality of my skin and reduced breakouts and inflammation.
Physical face scrubs
When I was young, face scrubs were all the rage. Everyone had them and used them. I never saw any benefits from them, other than making my skin inflamed and irritated.
what i use instead
I use Korean face masks. They feel very calming on the skin, and you can choose the ingredients based on your needs.
I mostly use hydrating or calming masks before bed.
High-end creams
In the past, I used to spend a lot of money buying Shiseido or Chanel creams. And the quality of my skin was very bad.
As I switched to Korean skincare, I realized that good-quality creams can be a fraction of the price and even better than high-end ones.
You are paying for the brand name, the perfume in the cream, and the pretty bottle.
what i use instead
I focus on the ingredients and look for light hydrating creams. I add actives via serums or prescription creams.
My favorites are Klairs Blue Calming Cream, Cosrx Hydrium cream, and Hedeblue Salmon Cream. If you want to check out my skin routine, read this post.
Heavy sun protection
I used to hate putting on sun protection. These creams always caused breakouts on my skin. And I would spend my summer holidays with acne on my face.
what i use instead
I use light Korean sun creams or French farmacy creams, they are formulated in a way that does not feel too heavy on the skin. They often add a nice glow to the skin, and I find I can reapply them throughout the day without any issues.
My favorite sun creams are SKIN1004 Hyalu-Cica Sun Serum, Beauty of Joseon Rice+Probiotics SPF 50+, and tinted RoC Anthelios for beach days.
Hair loss shampoos
I tried numerous hair loss shampoos over the years, and none helped me resolve my hair loss issue.
I wasted a lot of money. Instead, I should have focused on any shampoo that cleans my scalp well and gives my hair volume.
what i use instead
I use a volume shampoo, either by Redken or Kerastase, along with Ketokenazale shampoo, which helps with my hair loss issues.
Hair loss serums
There are different hair loss serums on the market, but they all have something in common. They are not efficient or worth the money. From Ordinary, to Kerastase, L’Oréal, Vichy, you name it, all these serums smell nice and look nice in the bottle, but cannot in any way help your genetic hair loss issue.
I tested them all in desperation, thinking that if I pay 80 euros for a bottle, it must be worth something.
But I was wrong.
When the hair loss issue comes from within, whatever you put on top of your head will not work.
what i use instead
I only use approved medicine for hair loss. This includes minoxidil, spiranolactone, ketoconazole shampoo, and red light. I no longer waste my time on oils or cosmetic products that smell nice but have no effect.
If you want to check out my hair loss routine, see this post.
Final Thoughts
I wish I knew all of this when I was younger, but I guess you need to learn some things through experience.
I wasted a lot of money on useless products, or worse, on products that made my skin and hair worse. The price of a product does not mean that it has good quality ingredients. Often, we just pay for brands and pretty bottles.
Today, I choose to spend my money on experiences, not on products. I’d rather use simple and effective beauty products and use the extra money on travel and friends.
