Kelle Walsh

Brands create a lot of noise in the skincare space.

Like you can't just go to the store and buy a simple moisturizer.

There's a dozen different choices, it seems, from every single brand.

And just to figure out what you need for your skin, you have to wade through it all.

It's super confusing and complicated.

Hey, thanks for having me.

What was your relationship to skincare before you started reporting on this?

Um,

I used a gentle cleanser because my skin can be sensitive, a moisturizer, and then sun protection in the form of sunscreen, you know, ridiculously big hats and scarves and sometimes long sleeves.

And then a few years ago, I started using a vitamin C serum because I'd heard it was good for brightening skin and mine was starting to look dull.

And I think it helped, but it's expensive.

The truth is I didn't feel very savvy about skincare and I actually had some FOMO around it.

Like I'd see these other women in their 50s and they would have this bright, dewy, shiny, buoyant skin and I'd be like, what do they know that I don't?

What are they using?

So every once in a while, I'd go down the rabbit hole and I'd buy some new product and usually I'd stop using it after a few weeks because either I didn't like the way it felt or I didn't think it was making a difference.

When I started this series, I discovered I had 10 different skincare products and only used four of them.

You know, it turns out I was doing pretty well by my skin.

Who knew, right?

I'm still using those core products and I'm keeping the Pricey Vitamin C Serum.

And I recently started using a lactic acid serum for gentle exfoliation, but the jury's still out on that one.