How much do you spend on skincare?

We sometimes get clients who would love to take professional care of their skin on a monthly basis, but are hesitant because of the cost. We designed Nefaire to be accessible, but we of course understand that some people may still view facials as a “luxury”.

In this article, I’m going to breakdown the true cost of getting facials monthly, and explain how you will actually SAVE money on your overall skincare spend for the year.  

I want to preface this with some context – I was a former acne sufferer who had tried everything from over the counter topicals to two rounds of Accutane. You can see my personal acne story here. I assume that if you are reading this, your skin’s condition is not quite where you want it to be. When I had my breakouts, I would throw money at whatever ad, guru, or recommendation that I’d come across.

With this being said, here is a breakdown of the total spend on beauty with monthly professional skincare vs. without:

So let’s explain where these numbers come from. Part of what we try to do Nefaire is use real data to back up what we do, instead of just saying “yes, you will have better skin and save money on skincare products with our facials and advice”. Buckle up, it’s about to get nerdy in here.

The beauty retailer Skinstore did a survey on how much women spend on the appearance per day, and across skincare and cosmetic products, the average was around $8. In the northeast, this number tends to be higher, hovering around $11 for both NYC and CT. I’m guessing this has to do with higher levels of discretionary income (or maybe people here care about their appearance more?). To be safe, I assumed that on average, you might spend around $10 per day on skincare and makeup products.

Now I had to break up an estimated allocation of daily spend to makeup and skincare. To get a rough estimate, I looked at the total annual spend in the U.S. on skincare vs. makeup. In 2018, skincare spend in the U.S. is estimated as a $17B market, while cosmetics is roughly $13B. This equates to a roughly 60/40 split of skincare to cosmetic spend, and it’s how I got the breakup for average daily spends for the “No Facials” category with 6 dollars on skincare and 4 dollars on makeup.

With consistent professional facials, the number of cosmetic products WILL go down. We think a conservative estimate for this is at least half. These include cutting out the amount of foundation, BB cream, and primer and concealer used on a daily basis. Some of our clients don’t even use foundation anymore as a result of their skin texture becoming smoother, more supple, and clearer.

We also think that your spend on skincare products with our monthly facials and advice will be cut at least 30%. This is because there will be less guesswork. No trying different products, buying things that an ad told you, or buying something just because a Kardashian or influencer told you to. We recommend products based on your unique skin profile and concerns, with context and details on why data says it might work for your skin. This is how we estimated reducing the skincare spend to 4 dollars a day.

On an annual basis, this means you’ll save over $600 on your skincare by getting professional facials, because you’ll have to use less products and cosmetics. 

Now, your spending habits may defer from this, and I can’t guarantee that your skin will be flawless, but as a former acne sufferer, here’s the key takeaway. When I had bad skin, I knew for a fact that my confidence was affected, and it subsequently influenced how I would perform in interviews (and how others perceived me), in social gatherings, at work, and in dating situations. What value do you place on those things?

We pride ourselves in being a combination of data, expert advice, and been-there know how to achieve great, healthy skin, built by people with the exact skincare concerns and frustrations as you. We totally get that people sometimes do facials as a relaxing treat, but if you’re serious about your skincare and the cost of monthly facials is the deciding factor, we probably won’t be a fit for you.

If you’re new to facials, give us a try and let us know what you think. Don’t take our word for it. Actually, we urge you to be skeptical of what others tell you about skin. Nefaire was designed to be transparent, honest, and cut through all the marketing BS + noise, so do take the time to do some research before buying anything, and let us know your thoughts!