5 Surprisingly Ineffective Skincare Products You've Been Wasting Your Money On

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(Image credit: @emilydidonato)

With practically millions of skincare products on the market, it's easy to get confused about what our complexions actually need and want versus what the industry is trying to make us think we need and want. Trust us, we've seen our fair share of gimmicks and ridiculous product ideas during our time as beauty editors.)

Of course, you're perfectly welcome to use and try whatever you darn well please, and whatever you feel works for your skin (we all have different goals, after all), but considering the influx of popular product types, ingredients, tools, and devices in the recent years, I decided to reach out to two celebrity estheticians, Renée Rouleau and Kerry Benjamin, who also happen to be badass founders of their own amazing skincare lines. The question I posed to them: What types of skincare products, treatments, or trends do you simply feel aren't really worth it? Curious to find out their answers and what they recommend you do instead? Keep scrolling! 

Skip: Jade Rollers

Try: Ice Rollers or Microneedling Tools

Skip: Toner

Try: A pH-Balanced Cleanser

Skip: Vibrating Dermaplaning Tools

Try: Non-Vibrating Dermaplaning Tools

Skip: Sheet Masks

Try: Leave-On Hydrating Masks and Self-Neutralizing Peels

Skip: Baking Soda

Try: A pH-Balanced Cleanser or Peel

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.