In January 2025, I started a notebook where I recorded every skincare product I bought, the price, and the date I finished or stopped using it. In December 2025, I tallied the totals. The total spend was €1,840. The total value of products I actually used was €680. The €1,160 difference is the cost of habits, marketing, and self-deception.
The audit changed how I buy skincare. The audit is worth doing.
The full year breakdown
I bought 47 products in 2025. The breakdown:
Cleansers: 4 products, €85 total, all used. The cleansers are the most reliable category. The cleansers finish within 2-3 months. The rotation works.
Moisturizers: 6 products, €340 total, 4 used (€220), 2 returned (€120). The moisturizers are the second most reliable category. The two I returned did not work for my skin.
Serums: 11 products, €680 total, 4 used (€280), 7 stopped using (€400). The serums are the least reliable category. The serums take 4-8 weeks to show effects. The effects are subtle. The subtle effects are easy to attribute to other things. The 7 I stopped using were probably mostly fine. I just did not have the patience.
Sunscreen: 3 products, €85 total, all used. The sunscreen category is the most reliable. The sunscreen is functional. The functional category is the easiest.
Eye cream: 4 products, €240 total, 1 used (€60), 3 stopped using (€180). The eye cream is the category I have the least faith in. The evidence for eye cream is weak. I keep buying it. The keep-buying is the habit.
Masks: 8 products, €165 total, 5 used (€95), 3 stopped using (€70). The masks are the category with the highest return rate. The masks are occasional. The occasional use means the masks sit on the shelf. The sitting-on-the-shelf is what makes them go bad.
Exfoliants: 5 products, €135 total, 4 used (€110), 1 stopped using (€25). The exfoliants are mostly reliable. The exfoliants have visible effects. The visible effects are what make them work.
Toner: 6 products, €110 total, 3 used (€55), 3 stopped using (€55). The toners are unreliable. The toners are mostly water with a few active ingredients. The active ingredients are usually already in my serum. The toners are the most duplicative category.
What the audit revealed
A few patterns that emerged from the data.
I buy too many serums. The serums are the category I over-buy most. The over-buying is driven by marketing. The marketing for new serums is effective. The effectiveness of the marketing is the issue. I now limit myself to two serums at a time. The limit has reduced my serum spend by about 60 percent.
I under-use masks. The masks are the category I most often buy and never open. The never-opened masks are the most wasteful. I now have a rule: I do not buy a new mask until I have used the last one. The rule has reduced my mask spend to near zero.
I rotate too much. The rotation through products is what makes most of them go unfinished. The rotation feels like variety. The variety is wasted money. I now keep a routine stable for at least 3 months before changing anything. The stability has reduced churn.
Returns are a real option. I used to feel guilty about returning products. The returns I did in 2025 saved me €120. The returns also gave me data on what works for my skin. The data was more valuable than the products. The returns are now a regular practice.
Samples are the right way to try. Most brands offer samples. The samples cost €0 to €10. The samples last a week or two. The samples are enough to know if a product works for me. The samples are now how I evaluate most new products. The samples have replaced my full-size impulse buys.
What the routine actually costs
The products I used in 2025, full-size costs, annual expense:
Cleanser. CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser, 236ml, €13. Lasts 4 months. Annual cost: €39.
Serum 1. The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%, 30ml, €7. Lasts 3 months. Annual cost: €28.
Serum 2. La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Serum, 30ml, €45. Lasts 4 months. Annual cost: €135.
Moisturizer. CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, 340g, €18. Lasts 4 months. Annual cost: €54.
Sunscreen. La Roche-Posay Anthelios UVMune 400, 50ml, €16. Lasts 2 months. Annual cost: €96.
Total annual cost: €352. The total annual cost of my actual skincare routine is €352. The €352 is the real cost. The €1,840 I spent is the cost of habits and marketing.
What I learned about categories
A more honest assessment of each category.
Cleansers are mostly interchangeable. The cleanser category is mature. The cleansers from CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, and Cetaphil are all roughly equivalent. The marketing tries to differentiate. The differentiation is mostly fiction. Pick the cheapest one that does not irritate.
Serums have a few winners. The serum category is over-marketed. Most serums are not worth the price. The exceptions are: vitamin C (proven brightening), niacinamide (proven texture), retinol (proven anti-aging), and hyaluronic acid (proven hydration). The exceptions are the only serums worth the price.
Moisturizers are about texture, not ingredients. The moisturizer category is mature. The ingredients are mostly similar. The texture is what matters. The texture is what determines if I will use the product consistently. The consistency is what makes the moisturizer work.
Sunscreen is non-negotiable. The sunscreen category is the one category where the cost is irrelevant. The sunscreen is the most effective skincare product. The most effective product is worth any reasonable price. The reasonable price range is €10 to €25.
Eye cream is mostly marketing. The eye cream category has the weakest evidence. The skin around the eyes is thinner. The thinner skin is not more in need of separate products. The moisturizer applied around the eyes works fine. The eye cream is a category I have largely stopped buying.
Toner is mostly duplicative. The toner category was important when cleansers were harsher. The cleansers of 2026 are gentle. The toner is now mostly water. The water does not add much. I use a toner only when my skin is irritated.
Masks are occasional. The mask category is for occasional use. The occasional use means the masks are a small annual cost. The cost should be low. The cost is low if I resist the impulse to buy every new sheet mask that launches.
What I am buying in 2026
A short list of the changes I am making.
No new eye creams. The eye cream category is out of the routine. The moisturizer covers the eye area. The savings are €240 per year.
Two serums at a time, max. The serum limit is two. The current two are niacinamide and a hyaluronic acid serum. The hyaluronic acid is added for hydration in winter. The niacinamide is for year-round texture. The cost is €163 per year.
One mask per quarter. The mask limit is one per quarter. The masks are saved for occasions when my skin is reacting to something. The cost is roughly €20 per year.
Samples before full-size. The rule is now: I try a sample before buying a full size. The sample rule has eliminated most impulse buys. The cost is whatever I spend on samples (typically €20 to €50).
Same cleanser and moisturizer for a year. The stability rule is to keep the same cleanser and moisturizer for at least a year. The cleanser and moisturizer are the foundation. The foundation should not change. The savings are €50 to €100 per year.
The honest summary
The audit revealed that I was wasting 63 percent of my skincare spend. The 63 percent was going to products I did not finish, did not use, or did not need. The waste was the most painful part of the audit.
The fix was discipline. The discipline was a notebook. The notebook was the data. The data was the answer. The answer was to buy less, finish what I started, and stop believing the marketing.
The 2026 routine costs €352 per year. The 2026 routine is the routine I actually use. The 2026 routine works as well as the 2025 routine that cost €1,840. The difference is the discipline. The difference is the savings.
The audit is worth doing. The audit takes 15 minutes at the end of the year. The audit reveals the patterns. The patterns are the changes. The changes are the savings.
The real cost of your skincare routine is not what you spend. The real cost is what you actually use. The difference is the cost of marketing. The difference is worth closing.
The broader principle
The audit is specific to skincare. The principle applies everywhere.
Clothing. Most people wear 20 percent of their wardrobe 80 percent of the time. The 80 percent is what should be optimized. The optimizing is what the closet audit would reveal.
Books. Most people read a small percentage of the books they own. The owning is the issue. The issue is what a similar audit would reveal.
Kitchen gadgets. Most people use a small subset of their kitchen tools. The tools that get used are what should be kept. The keeping is what a kitchen audit would reveal.
Streaming subscriptions. Most people watch a small percentage of the shows available on their subscriptions. The subscriptions are what most people are paying for. The paying is what an audit would address.
The audit framework is universal. The framework is: track what you spend, track what you use, calculate the gap. The gap is the cost of habits. The cost is what you can change.
The change is the value. The value is what the work is for. The work is the audit. The audit is the first step.
