Top 5 Budget Friendly Skincare Products of 2023 – Dr Dray
Hey guys! A very HAPPY NEW YEAR to you! I cannot believe it but we are at the end of another year. It feels so strange but 2023 is here! What! Post covid the years have been just flying by, and I literally have no clue what I did in 2021.
Enough rambling, because our favorite dermatologist, Dr Dray has come out with her top picks for the year 2022. We love our budget friendly finds from the delicious drugstore so lets get into some board certified dermatologist approved, affordable and efficient skincare from the year that was.
Note: The inserted images from amazon are for your benefit and mine. They give you a better idea of the products I talk about; and if you use my link to make any purchase, I make a small commission from Amazon as part of their Amazon Affiliates Program. A very small unfortunately 🙁
1. Bondi Sands SPF 50 Body/Face Sunscreen
The Bondi Sands SPF 50 sunscreen is a chemical sunscreen, essentially targeted as a body sunscreen but can without a doubt be used on the face as well. This sunscreen is water resistant, it leaves no white cast and makes your skin look better.
It is moisturizing, fragrance free and does not leave a sticky residue. Isn’t that something we skincare enthusiasts love?
This particular sunscreen has a variant for the face as well, but Dr Dray recommends just buying the body version and using it on the face too. It is a more budget friendly option and they’re both exactly the same product.
The sunscreen brightens the skin, especially good to use on your legs on a daily basis when you are wearing skirts or shorts over the summer. Don’t forget to protect those legs people!
Here are some of the top sunscreen picks from dermatologist Dr Dray.
2. Goldbond Pure Moisturizer
This Goldbond Pure moisturizer is marketed for the face and the body. This budget friendly moisturizer has ceramides in it. Levels of ceramides decline with age, which is why applying skincare products with ceramides in them is a great practice.
This moisturizer also has niacinamide, that is an ingredient that I swear by for my personal skincare as well. It leaves the skin feeling fresh and looking radiant.
The Goldbond Pure moisturizer helps the body produce and repair the moisture barrier. It helps with oiliness and acne prone skin. It is a simple product that can be used on the face and body and Dr. Dray loves this for its effectiveness.
3. Aquation Collagen Cream
This has ceramides, jojoba seed oil and Shae butter. Collagen in moisturizing products is a humectant and helps improve the water content of the top layer of the skin, thus helping with skin turnover. The enzymes in your skin work better when the skin received some collagen. Shae butter is an occlusive that helps with water retention. The jojoba seed oil softens things down and helps rejuvenate dehydrated, dry skin.
Like all other products mentioned here, this one is also fragrance free.
This link is not the exact product, but it is another one that is available on Amazon. Dr Dray mentioned that Aquation moisturizers are underrated. So, this one is worth a shot!
Here are some of the best moisturizers recommended by Dr Dray!
4. Beauty of Joseon Revive Gingseng and Retinal Serum
This brand is one of dermatologist Dr Dray’s favorite Korean brands!
Moving on to the anti-aging products, this Beauty of Joseon Revive Gingseng and Retinal serum is a retinaldehyde serum. As opposed to retinols, retinaldehyde is a form of topical vitamin A, where the skin only has to do one step to convert it to the active form, retinols, however have to do two things to your skin in order to convert it to the active form.
Retinaldehyde products are in general more expensive than retinols, but Beauty of Joseon curated this product in a way where it remains budget friendly, while still working like a charm!
Dr Dray recommends this product because it can not only be used around the eyes, but also the face. The formula can go on the face and also be well tolerated around the eyes, which is fantastic because it minimizes the number of products to be used to get the same effect.
Retinaldehyde is quite well tolerated, it contains ceramides, peptides and yields a nice wrinkle smoothing effect that is quite immediate. If used consistently overtime, the wrinkle smoothing effect will be long lasting.
This doesn’t make you more sensitive to the Sun, on the contrary, if used in conjunction with sun protection, topical Vitamin A – retinols and retinaldehyde’s can help prevent damage caused to the skin by the Sun, while also reducing existing sun damage.
Click here for some more retinol recommendations by Dr Dray!
5. Albolene Hydrating Micellar Milk
Albolene’s cleansing balm makeup remover is one of Dr Dray’s favorites and it has become my favorite as well! However, there are people with oily skin who find it mega greasy. I have oily skin and the Albolene cleansing balm is quite greasy, which is what helps remove all the makeup – mascara included – quite easily.
I just go ahead and wash it out with a good cleanser. Speaking of a good cleanser, Albolene came out with this Hydrating Micellar Milk cleanser in 2022. It is very similar to the Avene Tolerance Extremely Gentle Cleansing Lotion but it is a pocket friendly version of that one.
This cleanser is hydrating, moisturizing and nicely dissolves eye makeup without a lot of rubbing. You do not need to rinse this out but Dr Dray recommends washing it off to make sure you get all the residue off, as with the cleansing balm. It a great product for in between makeup applications as well!
Click here for more Cleansing balm and Cleansing Oil recommendations by Dr Dray!
Wrapping Up
These five products are the best skincare products that were released in 2022. Those are the most affordable and amazing skincare products of the year! If you are looking for great products without damaging your pocket, you can’t go wrong with these skincare products. I blindly trust dermatologist Dr Dray when it comes to skincare, she has saved my skin over the last two years of me discovering her on YouTube.
All categories have been covered in this post, take your pick.
Cheers to a calmer skin and mind!