Beauty and the Budget

There are som any beauty products on the market that promise so much, smell divine and come in beautiful packaging that it is hard to resist them. Fortunately for me the hefty price tag that many of them have means the thrifty part of my brain won't allow me to purchase them as I can't justify the expense. This doesn't mean I haven't fallen for this in the past - I can remember when I first started working, after being a cash strapped student for many years, deciding I was now going to buy things that were of good quality and suited to a working woman. I went to the Clarins counter (a friend had told me their products were great) and I spent money on fancy creams and lipsticks and felt like I was making good choices. Fortunately I didn't persist with this expensive mistake!

Over the years I have had a very simple beauty regime - involving washing my face with Dove soap, using a moisturiser with sun screen, using the occasional exfoliating scrub and periodically remembering to put on an eye cream. I round this off with good sun protection when needed.

Now that I am in that dreaded middle age I have found my skin has been changing and does need some additional treatment to counteract the effects of hormonal changes menopause brings. I have done some research about what my skin needs and found the Ordinary skin are range meets all of my requirements for a fraction of the cost of some of the skincare lines out there.

I love the way the products are able to mixed and matched according to what your skin type is and what it is needing - almost like a prescription. I like the plain packaging and the fact it is mostly recyclable coming in cardboard boxes with no plastic packaging and glass bottles not un-recyclable plastic bottles or tubes. The packaging design is no thrills but I really like the simplicity of it and best of all the prices are great. They are nice to use and my skin seems to be going well with these. I think these will be my go to for a long time yet!