Beauty magazines bombard us with ads and articles on "essential" skin care products - but if you followed all the advice, you'd be broke!

It's not just the cost of these new "skin ceuticals", it's the sheer variety. Gone are the days of the simple mantra, "cleanse-tone-moisturize". Now we have cleansers, tonics, peels, scrubs, moisturizers, lotions, skin conditioners, serums, primers - the list goes on!

In reality, there's no need to spend a fortune on skin care products. The secret is to spend your money where it will do the most good, and economise on the rest.

Let's look at the various types of skin care, one by one:

Think about it - how long is a cleanser in contact with your face? Long enough to get the full benefit from those special ingredients you paid a motza for?

In any case, you want your cleanser to remove dirt and make-up from your skin. If it's claiming to "nourish" or "moisturize", it's going to leave something behind - so how can you be sure it won't leave some dirt with it?

Cleansers that claim to remove stuff make more sense - these days you'll find cleansers that claim to have a mild peeling or scrubbing action. However, there's growing concern that daily peeling and scrubbing may damage the skin in the long term (see the "toners" section for more detail) - and until that risk has been fully assessed, products containing fruit acids or abrasive particles are best kept to once a week.

So save your money and buy a cleanser that removes makeup, period. If you don't wear makeup, you don't even need a cleanser - get yourself a Neutrogena or Dove face bar and be done with it (if you occasionally wear a bit of mascara, buy a bottle of eye make-up remover as well).

Assuming you do wear make-up, a supermarket brand cleanser will do the job just as well as a big-name product. Read the descriptions on the package - you're looking for words like gentle, non-drying, non-comedogenic.

Unless you have extremely dry skin, choose a cleanser that can be rinsed off with water (for reasons why, see the "toner" section). The label may call it "rinse-off", "wash-off", or "water soluble". Be suspicious of any cleanser that says something like "tissue off or remove with a warm washcloth". It may be water soluble, but more likely it's an older style cream that leaves a residue, which is why you need the washcloth.

Unless you wear heavy, waterproof make-up, you'll find most rinse-off cleansers will remove eye make-up as well, so there's no need for a special product.

Toner was invented because originally, cleansers were heavy creams that left a greasy residue. The toner (or astringent) removed the last traces of grease and left the skin feeling fresh.

If you choose a cleanser that doesn't leave a residue, you don't need a toner (don't believe the claims that a toner tightens your pores - by the time you get to work, they'll be back to normal!).

That's why I recomend a rinse-off cleanser, because a water soluble product definitely won't leave any residue. A good splash of cool water will give you the same refreshing feel as a toner, too.

Note: Some cosmetic companies have replaced the toner with an acid-based lotion. The acid strips away the dead skin from your face, revealing fresh new skin beneath. Some dermatologists are beginning to question the safety of using acids daily, because it disturbs the skin's natural protective layer, the acid mantle. There's some suggestion it may even encourage wrinkles because the skin is forced to regenerate too fast.

While that jury is still out, I don't recommend these lotions - another opportunity to save your pennies.

As toners have become less popular (some cosmetic houses don't even make toners any more), other products have arisen to replace them.   These products - which may be called vitamin tonics, serums, or treatment creams - are used instead of toner, after cleansing and before you apply moisturizer.

I could be cynical and wonder why the manufacturers can't just put the same ingredients straight into the moisturizer and save us all a lot of time? 

They would argue that serums and vitamin tonics contain high concentrations of the most effective skincare ingredients - which are also very expensive.  So putting them in a separate product makes sense, because you can make it go further by using it selectively on the areas that really need help. 

It's true that serums have been gaining a reputation for actually working.  You may have heard the recent publicity about Boots No. 7 Protect and Perfect serum, which was found to be more effective than face creams costing hundreds of dollars a jar.  But even the Boots serum isn't cheap. 

On balance, however, they do tend to have more concentrated formulas and more effective ingredients, so I feel they're worth the investment.   But there's no need to double up - if you invest in a good serum, you can get away with a simple moisturizer.

The most important requirement for a moisturizer is that it must contain sunscreen, even if you don't live in a sunny country. Exposure to the sun is the primary cause of skin aging. Don't rely on your foundation to provide a sun screen. That SPF factor is tested using a generous layer of the product - if you used that much foundation, you'd look like a clown.

For the same reason, I don't recommend you buy a very expensive moisturizer, because you need to be generous with it, or the sunscreen won't work. Be lavish, then let it sink in for about 10 minutes while you go about your chores. If it hasn't all disappeared by the end of the 10 minutes, your skin has had enough to drink - tissue off the excess before you apply your make-up.

If you have invested in a serum or tonic with nourishing ingredients, there's no point in doubling up with an expensive moisturizer - keep it simple, and inexpensive!

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All text copyright Marisa Wright. Photo courtesy of Sunshinecity on Flickr.