Skincare products that aren’t worth the money

There may be nothing more luxe than smearing literal gold into your face. And, as it happens, this indulgence is actually not outrageously expensive. For $15.99, you can buy Physician’s Formula 24-Karat Gold Collagen Serum. Gold — yes, real gold — is the sixth ingredient in this product, which may be higher up on the ingredient list than you’d expect. However, it’s actually the concentration of gold in this product that’s part of the problem.

“There’s all these gold flakes and you see them on your skin,” beauty expert and YouTuber Jessica Braun revealed in a vlog. “At least with the stupid expensive Guerlain L’or [24K Gold Radiance] Primer, it has these gold flakes, but you don’t see them on your face because they’re really small.” According to Braun, the flakes in Physician’s Formula’s serum are just “way too big” and can’t be blended into the skin.

In general, gold-infused skincare — no matter the brand — isn’t exactly worth its weight in gold. “Just because something has gold in it, doesn’t mean it is valuable,” Tabasum Mir, a cosmetic dermatological physician, told HuffPost. There’s also no scientific research that suggests it’s a superior antioxidant, said the expert.