6 Affordable Skincare Products Worth the Hype and the One Thing to Skip

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(Image credit: @seangarrette
)

If there’s one thing I’m always after, it’s super-glowy skin, and I’ll try just about any treatment or product to achieve it. Oftentimes, though, I’ll drop money on expensive formulas that don’t live up to their bold promises. Just as frequently, I’ll discover affordable products that blow me away. The trick to uncovering the affordable finds that are worth it? Chatting with industry veterans who know their stuff and can recommend what really works. That’s why I was excited to talk all things skincare with Sean Garrette—an NYC–based aesthetician and global ambassador for Fenty Skin who has the glowiest skin in the game.

His approach to skincare is all about finding what works. While he has the opportunity to test and try just about every product on the market, he believes in a tight edit of products that are effective. "When it comes to my clients, I always push that less is more. You don’t need five cleansers, six serums, and four moisturizers,” he explained. Instead, he suggests you "create a concise routine with products that target the issues you’re dealing with.” Here, he's spilling exactly which essential skincare basics are worthy of your medicine cabinet.

With access to the best of the best in skincare, I wanted to know which affordable products are just as good as the expensive ones. Ahead, Garrette is sharing the six he personally uses as well as the ingredient to always avoid.

The Ingredient You Should Skip

Since uncovering great skincare products involves a close study of their ingredient lists, I was curious to know if there were any red flags for Garrette when he looks at a bottle. "The only ingredient I would recommend avoiding in drugstore skincare is denatured alcohol," he explained. "That ingredient is prevalent in a lot of drugstore skincare products. It can be very drying, dehydrating, and sensitizing to the skin and cause irritation and increased breakouts."

So what should you add to your shopping cart instead? Garrette weighs in on that here.

Garrette's 6 favorite affordable skincare products:

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(Image credit: @seangarrette)

1. A chemical exfoliant

2. A brightening solution

3. A resurfacing retinol

4. A hydrating serum

5. A chemical sunscreen

6. A cleanser for all skin types

Shop more of Garrette's favorite skincare products:

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(Image credit: @seangarrette)

Next: Read about the top beauty products I can personally vouch for.

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Associate Director, Special Projects

Kristen Nichols is the Associate Director, Special Projects at Who What Wear with over a decade of experience in fashion, editorial, and publishing. She oversees luxury content and wedding features, and covers fashion within the luxury market, runway reporting, shopping features, trends, and interviews with leading industry experts. She also contributes to podcast recordings, social media, and branded content initiatives. Kristen has worked with brands including Prada, Chanel, MyTheresa, and Luisa Via Roma, and rising designers such as Refine and Tove, and her style has been featured in publications including Vogue.com, Vogue France, WWD, and the CFDA. Before Who What Wear, Kristen began her career at Rodarte, where she worked on assistant styling, photo shoots, and runway shows, and at Allure, where she moved into print and digital editorial. She graduated from the University of Southern California, where she studied art history and business, and currently lives in New York.