With the rising cost of living, consumers are looking to cut back in all areas of their day-to-day life. To explore how this will have an impact on our beauty spending habits, Beauty Daily by Clarins surveyed 2,000 British women to find out their most prized beauty items, and what they would remove from their routines if money was an issue.

Beauty Daily found that face masks, perfume and facial exfoliators are a luxury, and UK women would remove them from their beauty routine if they were forced to make cut backs.

When looking at the findings overall, skincare was deemed less essential than makeup in light of saving money. Face masks, face exfoliators, toner, face serum, eye cream, cleanser and lip balm made up the top 10 products they’d stop buying.

Despite revealing the products they’d remove should money be an issue, 92% of consumers revealed they would consider more affordable cosmetic offerings from brands before removing products completely. Face moisturiser came in first place, with 45% of respondents revealing they’d find a cheaper moisturiser, followed by cleanser at 43%.

The Top 10 Beauty Products British Women Would Find Cheaper Alternatives For

When it comes to the products British women would be less likely to find cheaper alternatives for, only 12% cited they’d find cheaper alternatives for contour products, 13% for lashes and 14% for lip liner. This further reinforces the idea that consumers are more inclined to cut costs when it comes to their skincare as opposed to makeup.

With perfumes known to be some of the most priciest beauty products, it’s not surprising that consumers would remove it from their beauty routine if they didn’t have adequate funds. What is interesting though, is that if money was not an issue – 57% of women cited that fragrance is an essential part of their beauty routine. According to the NPD Group, 5% of fragrance sales weight can now be attributed to refillable packaging.

Sarah Joan Ross, Editor of Beauty Daily, states: “With the cost of living rising, and a lot of women around the country having to make cutbacks, these findings are so insightful regarding how we spend on our beauty routines. I will certainly be looking at cutting back on a few items, except SPF! This should be considered a non-negotiable staple. There’s also a case for looking into formulations – rich, high-tech, and concentrated products that you use less of and inevitably can last much longer could be the way to go.”