Affordable Natural Skincare Products That Actually Work

My love affair with skincare has been around for as long as I can remember.  If you ask my college roommates, they would tell you how serious my moisturizing routine was even back then: sunscreen on my face every day; body lotion after every shower.  

Of course, I’ve learned a lot about the importance of ingredients in skincare since then.  While my dedication to moisturizing hasn’t changed, the quality of products I use has.  For reference, my body lotion used to contain shimmer 😬.

I’ve shared my morning and evening skincare routines in the past, and some of the feedback I received was about how expensive my routines are.  As with eating, I want healthy skincare products to be available to everyone.  While I’m able to spend more money on my beauty regimen now, this wasn’t always the case. And it definitely wouldn’t have been the case in college!

Without further ado, here are more affordable natural skincare products that are just as effective, or close enough, to what I use now. 

Toner

Instead of: Biologique Recherche P50 PIGM 400

Try this: Organic green tea bags

It wasn’t until after my second baby (and a bout of melasma) that I switched from using green tea bags as my toner.  What’s great about green tea is it works double duty.  Steep the tea, remove the bag, drink the tea and store the bag in a glass jar in your fridge to use on your face the next morning.  If this sounds like too much of a hassle, run a fresh tea bag under hot water followed by cold water before applying over your face.

Facial Mist Spray

Instead of: Biologique Recherche L’Eauxygenante

Try this: Avene Thermal Spring Water

I use both of these, but the Avene is much more cost effective.  Avene is my favorite French pharmacy brand because their products are so gentle and natural, or nearly so.  The facial mist they make lasts for ages, especially if you buy the biggest size.  Maybe a water mist seems silly, but I find it helps my moisturizer go on more smoothly.  At home, we filter all the water in our house, but who knows what’s in the water (and subsequently, on my skin) wherever I’m traveling?  For this reason, I like using a facial mist to ensure my skin is soaking in some high quality water during my skincare routine. It’s a great skin refresher on flights too. 

Face Lotion

Instead of: Tracie Martyn

Try this: Use your face oil (see below)

Face Oil

Instead of: Vintner’s Daughter

Try this: Organic argan oil

I use a lotion in the morning and an oil in the evening, but an oil would do just as well for the mornings too.  In fact, when I want to pack light, I only pack my facial oil.  Before Vintner’s Daughter was in my budget, I used organic argan oil and loved it.  The nice thing about oils is how a little goes a long way.

The Incomparables

When evaluating my beauty cabinet, there were a few I couldn’t substitute.  My lip balm, for example, is already very affordable and the best one I’ve ever used.  My beloved Magic Mitt, which is what I use instead of a face wash, lasts me months and costs only $15. 

My eye cream, sunscreen and vitamin C products are on the expensive side, but I’ve never found anything close to them in quality or effectiveness.  If someone asked me my desert island product, it would be the sunscreen.  I’d probably spend my last dollar on it over food.  Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating.  (But maybe I’m not.)

I hope you find this guide to affordable natural skincare products helpful.  Since I began the natural skincare journey, there are so many incredible and high quality brands out on the market now.  While there are many I haven’t tried yet, there are many I have…and wasted an unfortunate amount of money on.  Sometimes simple really is best.  And if it happens to cost less, even better!