Four Expensive Products I Think Are Worth The Spend

Let’s have a real quick chat about ‘worth’. It’s a word I see get bandied around online all the time, usually hurtled cynically towards high-end products – ‘yeah, but is it really worth the price??’ – and I honestly feel like that is an impossible question to ever answer. Worth is so relative. To some people, spending 120K on a Porsche is worth it, while to others forking out 20K for a Kia is a huge deal, while another group of people again will tell you that cars are money pits and to use public transport instead. All three options will get you from A to B, but the fashion in which you get there is remarkably different. I think it’s kinda the same approach with skincare.

You can buy a tub of face moisturiser for around $10 at most chemists (think of this as your bus – it’ll add some moisture back to your skin), you can spend $40 on something with a decent amount of research and development put into it – maybe even some additional ingredients that will give you a better result (this here is your Kia) and then you can fork out $120 (or so much more!) on something that is packed with top-tier ingredients, innovative formulations and clinical trials to back up their promises (this here is your Porsche). The problem is that merely assessing the price tag doesn’t tell you the whole truth when it comes to which category you’re buying into. There are plenty of brands that charge a small fortune for their products, but when you compare their ingredients and results it becomes pretty clear that the price point doesn’t correlate with the results that you can expect. Similarly, the last decade has seen a boom in lower price point brands that use basic research and development at their foundation to create great ranges of products whose results far exceed their price tag.

So… worth. It’s a funny thing. But today I’ve compiled a list of products that *I* consider expensive (either for the category that they sit in or for skincare spending in general) but that I love so much that I intend to, or have already, repeatedly repurchased.

Quick disclaimer: I would never recommend spending beyond your means on anything, but especially when it comes to skincare. I buy these because I can afford them at this point in my life, but if I couldn’t that would be fine too and I’d act accordingly. As always, I’m a huge advocate of stocking up during sales and promotions. AfterPay Day is in March and August, and November has ClickFrenzy and Black Friday, so I do tend to stock up on promo days since they’re nicely scattered through the calendar, but having said that I don’t think these four products are overpriced either. But again, that’s just my opinion.

Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Peel Pads | $132 for 30 treatments = $4.40 per use
These are marketed as daily acid treatments, and I know a lot of people swear by using them each morning, but for my skin, I find them too strong for repetitive use on consecutive days. I use them once, maybe twice a week at most, but really I reach for them when my skin feels like it needs it rather than when I’m scheduled to use them. They leave my skin smooth and glowy, but they also make my skin feel refreshed, smooth and like all the other products I put on after can work their magic better. The benefit of these individually packaged pads is that you’re getting the benefit of the ingredients kept at their full potency as well as the benefit of the slightly textured fabric pad for just a touch of physical exfoliation. But what I love about these over the other peel pads I’ve tried is that these are two-parters – you start with Step 1 (a blend of Glycolic Acid, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Malic Acid and Benzoic Acid plus Glycerin and Chamomile) and then two minutes later you use Step 2 (which includes Retinol, Resveratrol and CoQ10). My skin is generally quite sensitive to acids, but this particular blend gives me all the glow with none of the irritation. I use the Universal version, but they are also available in Gentle and Extra Strength varieties. These are a serious investment if you were to use them daily, but a box of 30 lasts me a few months and I can stomach that.

Murad Intense Recovery Cream | $125 for 50ml
This is a fairly new launch and it’s one of those products where less is definitely more so I’m still on my first pot of it, but I’ll definitely be picking this up again over the Winter, and it’s something I would 100% have with me if I went on holidays to colder climes. It’s a thick, balmy, mint-coloured cream that can be applied straight from the tub or warmed between your fingers and pressed in like a facial oil. It works wonders on my skin when it’s stressed out from environmental factors, irritated due to other products or just generally unhappy for some reason. This product was developed specifically for stressed skin and aims to calm the visible signs of irritation in the skin and boost skins resilience when used regularly. I also love using it as a barrier when I apply stronger actives like Vitamin A to reduce the harsh effects while my skin gets used to them. It’s housed in a luxurious frosted glass jar with a screw-top lid and smells like a heavenly blend of herbaceous botanicals. Full review here.

Indie Lee CoQ10 | $55 for 125ml
As far as toners go, you either love them or think they’re a waste of time, so if you fall into the second category this spendy option is going to seem outrageous. $55 for a spray bottle of smelly water? But I can genuinely say this is so much more than the water mists you might be familiar with but also isn’t quite in the big league of strong acid toners. The Indie Lee CoQ10 Toner falls somewhere in the middle, in that it gives comfort and moisture, but also makes a visible difference in my skin. And it’s for that reason that it’s by far my most used skincare product ever. I use it every single day, usually twice a day to balance out my inherently combination skin and it genuinely makes such a difference. Occasionally I’ll swap this out when I’m trialling a new toner, but so far nothing has come close to the balancing and hydrating benefits of this. It contains CoQ-10, Aloe Vera, and the most refreshing Cucumber you’ll ever smell, and regular use keeps my chin spots to a minimum which is a serious win in my book. Full review here.

Aspect Extreme B17 Serum | $136 for 30ml
There are no two ways about this, it’s a pricy serum. But what makes this serum stand head and shoulders above the other Vitamin B serums I’ve tried, and worth the price – in my opinion, is that it contains the seriously popular Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) as well as Panthenol (Vitamin B5), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Thiamine (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) and Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6) – basically, it’s a powerhouse of Vitamin B. It gives visible results fast. When I use this, my skin is less red, more balanced, less spotty, more evenly toned, has increased plumpness, feels stronger and put plainly, just looks better. I use ½ a pump each morning and night mixed with a couple of drops of a hydrating serum and I find that works perfectly. It’s pricey, but I would forego a lot of other skincare before I went without this. Full review here.

What are the spendy products that you think are worth the price tag? Or are there any inexpensive options you’ve found that work even better than the expensive options of products you love??