9 Useless Beauty Items We Keep Wasting Money On

According to a survey done in 2017, an average woman uses about 16 cosmetic products daily. And this fact isn’t surprising thanks to the variety of skincare and makeup items that cosmetic brands entice us with, making it hard to resist the temptation of buying more and more.

Bright Side decided to find out whether or not all cosmetic items are equally useful and came to the conclusion that many items aren’t worth spending money on at all. Look through this compilation to learn more about these products.

Night cream

Night facial creams are not completely useless. They often contain components like retinol that don’t “work” in the daytime due to the influence of the sun’s rays. Still, dermatologists say that the cost of special night creams is overpriced and that there’s no need to buy them if you take proper care of your skin during the day.

“Female” shaving creams and foams

Foams and gels soften the hair and moisturize the skin to make shaving smoother. That’s why the content of both female and male shaving items is almost identical. The only difference between them is the odor and the design of the packaging. If the fragrance doesn’t matter to you much, there’s no need to buy special “female” shaving items. Especially when male shaving products cost way less! A moisturizing shower gel or hair conditioner can help soften the hair on your legs too.

Pore strips for blackheads

Blackheads appear due to the accumulation of bacteria and excess skin secretions at the base of the hair follicle on the skin. Pore strips, however, remove only surface dirt and traumatize the skin by taking away its protective layer. The strips don’t help to get rid of acne which is why it’s better to buy a good cleansing gel with salicylic acid instead of these.

Neck cream

The neck skin is very thin and delicate, therefore, it needs regular moisturizing. However, there is no need to buy a special cream for it. A regular day cream for the face will be enough. Apply it with smooth movements from the bottom up.

Spray for the face

According to the commercials, sprays for the face help to keep the facial skin moisturized during the day and give the feeling of freshness. Dermatologists, however, say the opposite: the moisture from the skin evaporates together with the water that such sprays contain, which may lead to dryness. Sprays with moisturizing components don’t give such an effect. However, the high price of such sprays makes it a useless purchase anyway.

Matte wipes

Matte wipes are thin pieces of paper that absorb the excess sebum on the skin. Regular tissues or towels can provide the same effect, except the oily spots won’t be as visible on them.

Thermal hairsprays

Thermal hairsprays prevent the evaporation of excess moisture that is present due to high temperatures. The protective effect is created mostly in thanks to silicone. This is present in the composition of many hair products, including styling sprays and caring oils. That’s why there is no need to buy special thermal protecting cosmetic items.

Sunscreen with SPF 50+

It might seem that SPF 100 protects 3 times better than SPF 30, however, the first item misses 1% of UVB rays while the second one misses 3%. In addition, a sunscreen with a higher SPF gives a false sense of complete protection, which is why you may spend more time in the sun than needed. The optimal choice would be sunscreens with SPF anywhere from 15 to 50.

Nail polish top coat

The durability of nail polish depends primarily on the nail polish itself, not on the presence or absence of a special additional top coat. That’s why it might be disappointing to expect the effect of a salon manicure that the manufacturers of these top coats promise. Buying a nail polish that is good quality would be a wiser way to spend your money.

Bonus: How skincare has been changing over the last 100 years

Today, most cosmetic companies offer 3-stage skin care consisting of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing. However, these methods were not always around. Look at how skincare has been changing within the last 100 years in the video above.

What other useless cosmetic items should we stop spending money on? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments!