The budget beauty boom

When a serum costing little more than £5 garners a waiting list of more than 400,000, it’s official: we can’t get enough of low-cost skincare. By Sonia Haria

Two years ago, budget beauty brand the Ordinary’s bestselling product, a £5.10 Salicylic Acid serum, was taken off the shelves to have a little makeover. This happens from time to time with products, especially active formulas that might need an update, but less expected was the 400,000 person waiting list, intense forum chats and social media pleas from fans to bring it back. An achingly long 24 months later, the exfoliating serum is back on sale this week. And while it showed how a great product can garner cult appeal, the Ordinary has also paved the way for a new wave of budget skincare that proves you really can achieve complexionimproving results for less. Many of these budget skincare products have all the efficacy of more expensive alternatives, but without the price tag.

Low prices mean we have less of an investment risk, so we can experiment with new products and move on if they don’t work for us. Traditional upmarket brands are taking note: Estée Lauder Companies took majority ownership in Deciem, the parent company of the Ordinary, in a $1 billion deal last year.

There’s also been an increase in transparency around skincare ingredients. Budget creams and serums now often spell out exactly what is included in their formulas. According to the 2021 Skincare Trend Report from L’Oréal Active Cosmetics Division, we have been busy searching for the right ingredients for our skin concerns – everything from wrinkles to pigmentation. Google searches in 2021 were particularly telling: searches for vitamin C were up by 59 per cent, retinol by 67 per cent and salicylic acid by 23 per cent. It’s no surprise, then, that the Ordinary’s £5.10 serum commanded such a long waiting list. Here’s hoping it’s never taken off the shelves again.

Despite Weleda’s richly moisturising Skin Food having had the same formula since 1926, it’s now more popular than ever: one tube sells every 16 seconds somewhere in the UK, with an approachable £8.25 price tag. It’s also the cream Victoria Beckham insists on using on models backstage at her fashion shows. Another classic, and a French pharmacy favourite, is Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentré, a tube of which is sold every 13 seconds somewhere in the world. There are modern products in the mix, too: MIJ Hydrogel Eye Patches work out at £7 a pop, and are the perfect pick-me-up for tired eyes. For an effective brightening serum for the whole face, we rate the £9 Vitamin C by Q&A. A personal favourite on the Telegraph beauty desk is the American brand CeraVe, whose dermatologistformulated cleansers and creams give excellent bang for your buck. Its hero Hydrating Cleanser is £9.50. You won’t be disappointed. Best skincare between £10-£15 Buying skincare in a cost-effective, thoughtful way is a shift that the leading aesthetician Dija Ayodele has noticed in her clinic. “My clients often have a high-low attitude to their skincare, spending more on one or two products, while using creams and cleansers at a lower price point. There are some amazing products under the £15 mark that do a great job.” PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH BROWN BEAUTY DIRECTION BY SONIA HARIA MAKE-UP BY ADAM DE CRUZ AT ONE REPRESENTS HAIR BY ZATEESHA BARBOUR AT LMC WORLDWIDE NAILS BY MICHELLE CLASS AT LMC WORLDWIDE MODELLED BY SHALKE AT MODELS 1

An excellent brand to look into is the Inkey List. Developed to strip away the mystery around skincare, many of its products are under £10. The antioxidant Q10 serum is a bargainous £4.99. The Ingredients range by Boots is a great starting point for trying new products, too – its £5 Hyaluronic Acid Serum suits all skin types looking for an extra shot of hydration. We also love the SPF50 Sun Cream by Alturist, a product you can usually find in high street pharmacies for under £5. This mix-andmatch approach of different budget brands is a big trend in skincare. Now that we have access to a broader range of brands and products than ever before, we are using a variety of different makes in our routines, depending on our own specific skin concerns. The Australian tanning brand Bondi Sands launched into skincare last month, and such is its cult status that the products had a waiting list of 50,000 pre-launch. Its £11.99 Bondi Babe Purifying Clay Mask is the star of the show. Containing blue spirulina extract, it cleanses deeply while hydrating the skin. Typology focuses on concentrations of active ingredients in undeniably chic apothecary-style packaging. Many of its products cost in the region of £12. And its no-frills approach – no bricks-and-mortar shops, no external retailers – means, ultimately, that we pay less for very good quality products. Win-win. Trend forecasters are predicting the budget beauty market is only just getting started, and we can expect even better skincare at a lower cost. Good news for everyone.

Best skincare under £5 Five years ago, we’d have been hardpressed to find effective skincare for under £5. Instead, there were “It” creams that would have mysterious ingredients in a one-size-fits-all formula, which were often more about bathroom cabinet appeal rather than efficacy. Now, there are plenty of products that do the job for less.

Best skincare between £5-£10 Budget skincare has always been around in some form or another, with many standout heritage brands having a proven track record of delivering good skincare results.