There's no denying it. As a whole, we fork over a ton of cash — and ample time spent in front of the bathroom mirror — in the quest for "perfect skin." While some swear by creams that cost as much as the rent, others find a miracle in a routine that's much more budget-friendly.
One of those people is Antonio Bermudez, a makeup artist based in Las Vegas who swears by a drugstore beauty routine that transformed his skin from "pimples to poreless." As Allure first reported [2], Antonio has been open about his journey on Instagram and shared this before picture:
In the post he wrote, "This is from a few months ago. My acne got pretty bad and drained me emotionally, stripping away my confidence. At this point I felt like I NEEDED makeup or I couldn't go out in public ... If you are going through an acne struggle small or big, it'll be okay I promise. I don't want you to feel alone, abnormal, or ugly because of it. It's literally NORMAL AF."
He advocated finding a routine that works for you and was happy to share his own, which consists of products you can pick up at the drugstore.
He starts with Cetaphil's Gentle Cleansing Bar [4] ($4), which is great for sensitive skin types and a longtime dermatologist favorite. He also uses No7's Early Defence Glow Activating Serum [5] ($25), which brightens your complexion, refines texture, and reduces pore size; La Roche-Posay's Lipikar Balm AP+ [6] ($20) as moisturizer; and Vichy's Mineralizing Thermal Water [7] ($14) to heal.
It just goes to show that sometimes the best products for your skin may literally be sitting there waiting for you in the drugstore aisle.