One  of  my pet peeves are  fashion layouts that show you how to  use  the same  pair of shoes in three different  outfits– but  each outfit then requires  more than  $1000 in additional   clothing and accessories.  Money  is  money and  if you are trying to  cut fashion  or beauty costs,   the choices  need to  be genuinely  affordable AND effective.  To bottomline it, I’m not going to use supermarket bar soap to buy a $300  moisturizer.

With   the steady stream  of bad economic news and at  least one friend   laid off every week, I decided to get serious about  cutting skin care costs but without compromising  results.  So here is the first section of my anti-aging  budget beauty guide.  My goal: to   deliver  cleansing, exfoliation  renewal and protection  at less than one dollar a day. 

Cleansing:

I believe that  great skin care starts with  great  cleansing.  A product is on the skin for such a short period of time that  fancy ingredients  will not have  time to act.  You want a product that cuts through  dirt and make-up but  does not irritate or dry out the skin.

Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser– ( $12.99)

This simple  yet effective daily wash  is on every  doctors must use  list.  Fragrance free, soap-free,  it throughly washes  the skin without stripping off to  much oil or moisture.

Exfoliation:

Removing  the  top  layer of dead skin cells, stale oil and just plain dirt is  a fundamental way of stimulating healthy skin growth.  I’m a huge fan of the  cleaning dynamics of Clarisonic.  The price, about $200, not  so much.   I’ve been looking for less expensive alternatives and discovered a  real  gem. 

CVS Facial Cleansing Power Brush ( $18.99)–

  I was  really surprised  how  well this  modest cleanser compared to Clarisonic. The soft brush  head did  a wonderful job of clarifying the skin and can be  used successfully   to deal with both acne  and anti-aging skin issues.  Battery operated, it can be used everywhere and its now the tool  I toss into my suitcase. You will need to manually change the direction of the brushes with a button and  there is no timer, but for 1/10 the price of a Clarisonic, it really stretches my beauty dollar.

Next week:  The best buys in rejuvenation.  This is where prices  can become  frightening.  I went back to the basic science of skin aging   and came up with options that are truely effective  at  less than $20.