| Skincare on a budget |

Dear Noteblair,

Skincare is the hottest topic over here! & I know how expensive it can be! Trust me been there! also the market is so saturated right now, every day new products are being release that confuses us even more! Skincare shouldn’t be expensive, it should be efficient & effective. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to see the best result & we are going to break it down here & I will give you my favorite affordable products, also we will cover the products that can have multiply usage.  Before we start I just want to mentioned that Yes I do use a lot of high end skincare ,just keep in mind that this is my job & part of my job is to try out everything in the market from drugstore to high end products. Trust me there are products that until this day I didn’t find a dupe for them in high end market. 

General Tips

• Coconut oil or olive oil:  you use in the kitchen are amazing products for skin. you can sue olive oil to remove your eye makeup. coconut oil can be used for deep body moisturizer or even as a shaving cream, hair mask, love using it on my cuticle. Mix in a little sugar, with olive oil and coconut oil, few drops of your favorite essential oil & you have the best scrub out there! it is natural, fresh & so efficient. 
• Baby powder: It is an amazing alternative for deodorant, dry shampoo.
• Treat skin inside out: Foods are so effective on our skin, to the extend that even the most expensive skincare might not heal what a good nutrition can. read this post on what foods are good for skin. 
• Give your skin a rest: this is the cheapest way to let your skin breath. I wear make up only 2-3 times a week and the rest I let my skin breath. 
• Facial message with your hands: Facials can be expensive, same as massaging tools. But doing it with your hands is free & effective. After applying serum massage your face. increase circulation, natural face lift, products absorb better. 
• Buy travel size beauty products. Sephora & Ulta have some amazing travel size products for such a good price. You can try the product before committing to a big size, if you use it with amount recommended it will cover you for months & you used a high end product without spending tons of money. 
• Invest in a facial steamer. They are not expensive but they are the best for at home facial. Give yourself a steam & then apply a pore cleansing mask. You will see 5X better result. 
• Face rollers are my #1 skincare tip! You have no idea how effective they are. You can get one from sephora for $20 and it will give you the sharpest cheekbone and jaw line when you use it everyday! Who does’t want to have defined cheekbones & jaw line?! 

List of Affordable skincare

Cleanser: Starting with removing makeup I have been obsessed with Garnier micellar water for years. There is no dupe for this product even in a high end market. It does not irritate skin and cleanses skin completely. Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser is one of the most basic yet loved facial cleansers. i have used it for years and one of the main things I love about it is that cleanses skin without drying it out. 

Exfoliate: One of the most difficult products for me personal to find in drugstore. Most of the exfoliating products break me out or the trigger my rosacea which I would love to avoid at all costs. the only product that I’m obssed with and I purchase it over and over again is the Derma E Microdermabrasion Scrub. It does not irriate my skin, it takes away all dead skin and it is gentle because the bids are so small & I have been loving the Deep Pore Acne Scrub from Derma E as well. 

Toner: Moving on to toner, this has been a new discovery for me but the result has been amazing Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner is such a good toner for brightening the skin. It is one of my favorites & I use it in my morning skincare. Pixi skintreats Glow Tonic has been a favorite of many many people for years. 

Serums & treatments: Hands down there is no other brand that does treatments & serum fore effective & affordable than The ordinary. I have many many favrites from them which i will list it for you guys & mentioned What i use it for. Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5: Best for dryness. Lactic Acid 10% + HA: for exfoliation and glow. reduces inflammation. Salicylic Acid 2% Solution: exfoliate the pores to fight the appearance of blemishes. i use it as a spot treatment as well. 
OleHernriksen Truth Serum is one of my favorite serums. Even tho it is not a drugstore product but they have a sample size for $22 and it will cover you for few months. My favorite use of this product is to spot treatment . I put it on all dark spots scaring from before. 

Moisturizer : Coconut oil is an amazing moisturizer which is effective and natural. make sure you buy the organic cold press for the best result. However if you want an drugstore moisturizer  I couldn’t recommend L’Oreal Paris Revitalift line more. My sister and my mom has been using it for years and they only and only use this product. For eyes and face my mom is obsessed with this line. One other recommendation I can give which is not a drug store product but it is a multi use product is the Summer Friday jet lag mask. It can be used as a moisturizer because you don’t need to rinse off after using it. It can be used as a primer before your makeup  & a thicker layer of it can be used as a overnight intensive hydrating mask & it works wonders for the skin. Keep it in the fridge for extra cooling effect. 

Lip balm: For years I have been raving about my $1.32 lip balm that solves all your lip issues. it is hydrating, tastes amazing, not oily & looks pretty on the lips.Vaseline Lip Therapy Lip Balm will solve all your lip issues. Love using it underneath a drying liquid lipstick. another prodcut that i,m obsessed with and always have on my desk is Soap & glory melty talented. It is dry skin balm, can be used on hair for split ends, as a lip balm, on dried elbow and heels, on cuticles. it is rich with coconut oil and almond oil & vitamin E. 

Masks: In the past couple of years drugstore changed up their whole game for masks & most of my favorites are so affordable. I’m sure you have heard about Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Facial Treatment. it is the best fore pore cleansing, evening out skin and overall a better texture on skin. I add in with apple cider vinegar and apply. Juts keep in mind that it is harder to remove compared to other drying masks but the result is amazing. for sheet mask Neutrogena & Que Bella have the best sheet masks in the drugstore. My favorite sheet masks are from Patchology which are a bit more expensive however they come in multi pack usually 4 or 6. they work amazing. they eye gel comes in pack of 60 which is AMAZING!

Love,
Blair