We’ve all seen it. The department store make up section has evolved into a complete skin care emporium where beautiful woman try to sell you the fountain of youth in a bottle. In the olden days, they simply sold makeup, but today, it is all about looking young and beautiful for as long as humanly possible.

And while some of these creams and sprays might actually live up to expectations, the price tag associated with these treatments is enough to make your hair go prematurely gray. So, are there skin care products on the market that are both affordable and effective? Let’s take a closer look at some winners.

Perhaps the leading name in skin care products that keep you looking young is Oil of Olay. Simply, if their products didn’t work, they wouldn’t still be in business after all these years. Now, that’s not to say that Oil of Olay hasn’t dipped their feet into the premium skin care product line. They seem to introduce a new product every few months with a slightly higher price tag than the last miracle formula.

But the original Oil of Olay firming cream is still available in the same shaped bottle that your grandmother bought it in. Does it work? Within reason, yes. The firming ingredients in Oil of Olay help to tighten the skin and help reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Consider each bottle of Oil of Olay like low-grade botox, minus the poison. As for the rest of the Oil of Olay line, we’ll have to take a wait and see attitude. If another 50 years go by and those products are still around, then they have earned a thumbs up.

Another affordable skin care product that has stood the test of time is Dove moisturizing soap. This product has been so successful that Oil of Olay, the kings of the skin care market, now have bath soap that is suspiciously similar to the Dove brand. The secret behind the Dove soap brand is two fold. One, they were one of the first soaps to moisturize as they cleansed, and Dove is also pH neutral, which helps to keep skin from getting irritated, even if you shower multiple times per day.

Perhaps the best thing about Dove is that it is truly affordable. While there are more traditional, non-moisturizing soaps that are less, Dove is reasonably priced and it is safe to say that a majority of women use this product over their competitors. Does Dove really make your skin softer and younger looking over time? It would be hard to argue against that point since sales of Dove are still going strong since it was first introduced many years ago.

If you’re looking to save even more money, you can actually grow your own skin care products right from home! While it may be easier to head to the corner store and buy the creams and moisturizers you need, there are many recipes available that show you how easy it is to create your own skin care products right from home. The main ingredient in many of these products is aloe.

An aloe plant is one of the easiest plants to take care of.
They don’t need an exceptional amount of watering or care, and when you need some fresh aloe for your skin, say, after an accidental burn, nothing in the world feels better, and nothing is more money-conscious, either. While it may be time consuming to buy the plants you need to put together all of your favorite skin care products, it can be done and it can be quite fun! If you want to save even more on your skin care budget and you want the freshest product possible, you can make it yourself with aloe and many other ingredients!

No one will deny that taking care of your skin is an extremely important thing to do. But so many woman feel tempted to spend money they don’t have on the latest designer creams that it can become a compulsion. Take time to research what you use and see if you can buy similar products that cost less. Your skin and your pocket book will thank you.