What good skincare should cost
We sell some of what is named here
Routinae sells some of the products written about here, so read this the way you would read any shop’s opinion of its own shelves. Where we think a cheaper product does the same job we say so, and where the evidence is thin we say that too. Our buying standard is published so you can check the argument against it.
We sell a €14.95 toner and an €87.95 eye cream. That is either hypocrisy or a useful vantage point, so here is the honest version.
Where price genuinely buys something
Below a certain floor, formulation gets harder: preservation, stable actives, decent packaging and real testing all cost money. That floor is lower than most people assume — roughly €12 to €15 for a cleanser or toner, a bit more for a sunscreen that has actually been tested.
Above that, you are mostly buying three things: better texture, better packaging, and more testing. Texture is not vanity — a product you enjoy using is a product you apply properly, and application beats formulation more often than anyone selling formulation wants to admit.
Where it stops buying anything
Somewhere around the €40 to €50 mark, for most categories, the returns go flat. Past that you are paying for brand, distribution, and the pleasant experience of owning the thing. All legitimate. None of it is on your face.
Rough ranges we would defend
Cleanser €12–25. Toner or essence €15–30. Moisturiser €18–35. Sunscreen €15–25 for a Korean daily one. An active serum €17–35.
You will find things on this site above those ranges. Where they are, it is because they do something specific that the cheaper option does not — a mineral filter that suits reactive skin, a format that gets reapplied, a clinical range with its own test data. We try to say so on the product page rather than let the price imply it.
The expensive mistake nobody counts
It is not the €60 cream. It is the four €20 products bought in one month, none of which got a fair trial, all of which are now half-used in a drawer. That is €80 spent on not finding out anything.
Buying one thing and using it for eight weeks is cheaper than buying four and using none of them properly.
If you want the shortest routine that will do the job, the routine builder will not upsell you a fifth step.