When it comes to building a skin-care routine, certain products have achieved "can't-live-without-it" status, while others remain nice-to-have extras. In a recent NewBeauty survey of more than 1,300 readers,* the results reveal which products make the cut—and which ones might be collecting dust in your bathroom cabinet.
The clear winners? Moisturizer and cleanser reign supreme, with 91.8 percent and 91 percent of respondents respectively considering these essential steps in their routines. Serums follow closely behind at 87.3 percent, suggesting that targeted treatments have become a mainstream must-have.
Eye cream proves its staying power with 80.4 percent of surveyed readers regularly incorporating it into their routines, while sunscreen—often touted as the most important anti-aging product—is a regular for 74.9 percent of respondents.
Anti-aging creams have found their way into 69.6 percent of surveyed readers' routines, while neck creams and toners show similar adoption rates at 64.3 percent and 63.7 percent respectively.
Coming in as the least-used product category? Face masks, with less than half of readers (48.3 percent) regularly using them. This lower adoption rate might reflect masks' occasional-use nature, positioning them more as a "treat" than a daily essential in most skin-care routines.
*Source: BeautyEngine Advanced Research, 2024
