A $17 pimple treatment and a cult Japanese buy: 7 beauty products celebrities rate under $100.

In 2023, it can be awfully hard to decipher what's legit and what's total BS. Especially when it comes to celebrities and beauty. 

Y'see, the problem with many celebrity beauty recommendations is that it can be quite hard to trust them. So many celebrities now have their own beauty brands which blurs that even further — meaning it becomes really hard to find genuine celebrity beauty faves.

As podcast host Kelly McCarren shared on a recent episode of You Beauty, "It's very clever of them to do so because it makes a lot more sense financially. Because if a celebrity has a strong social media presence, they have a s**t ton of influence. And they know that when they mention a product that they use, it sells out."

Watch: You know what else we've talked about on You Beauty? Diamond lips. Post continues below.

"Take, for example, someone like Hailey Bieber," said Kelly. "With skin so glowy, you can literally see your own damn reflection. So when she says she loves and uses a product — like that time she said she finished her third bottle of the Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream — the Internet goes crazy."

"But not many people can afford a $437 cream to use every day. Which is why it made so much more sense for her to launch her own brand at a much more affordable price point."

"Because people still feel like they're getting that little bit of luxury in the packaging and in the relation to the celebrity, but it's a much more mass market and probably not as effective formula-wise."

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"I would put money on her 100 per cent still slathering on her $437 Agustinus Bader cream, but pretending that her $44 cream is her product of choice. I just don't buy it, but it makes a lot of sense for them."

Truth.

Here, we're going to draw from Kelly's very important investigation and talk about all the products that are loved by celebs — the ones they swear by and mention time and time again.

The best part? They're all under $100.

Off we go.

Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream, $65.

Image: Getty; Canva, ActiveSkin.

"Jennifer Lopez told Andy Cohen that she used the Dr. Hauschka Rose Day Cream for over a decade, and she's got gloriously glowing skin," said Kelly. 

Well, if it's good enough for JLo...

"Obviously, she's another one that has launched her own skincare line, but she does always still look fresh and glowing, so I would definitely want to give this one a go." 

"Like I said, it's under 100 bucks, and she has been talking about it a lot."

La Roche-Posay Serozinc Toning Mist, $27.95.

Image: Getty; Chemist Warehouse, Canva.

Next up we have Naomi Campbell. With over 30 years of working as a model, she undoubtedly has had unrivalled access to the best of the best. 

"She's got the expertise of world-class facialists, makeup artists and money to access any and all skincare — but she's actually a huge fan of a reasonably savey product," said Kelly.

Campbell said she uses La Roche-Posay Serozinc Toning Mist after cleansing every single day and said the zinc is like 'magic'.

"Now this toning mist, which I have used before, is excellent and under $20 currently at Chemist Warehouse," shared Kelly. 

"And if it's good enough for a supermodel, it is definitely good enough for me — so I'll be repurchasing that one ASAP."

*Drives straight to Chemist Warehouse*

CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser, $19.99.

Image: Getty; Canva, Chemist Warehouse.

Poppy Delevingne, Cara Delevingne's sister, has always been super open about her issues with acne which is so refreshing. Isn't it so nice when celebrities are honest about their skin problems?! 

"The model is actually a huge fan of the CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser, which is a gel-textured cleanser that contains a decent amount of salicylic acid. It helps unclog the pores and really breaks away that bacteria and sebum from the skin so it's a really good product."

"She once posted about the product on Instagram, saying 'My dearest friend to the makeup artist Florrie White introduced me to this brand last year on a shoot and I have never looked back.'

"You can get that product from supermarkets now and Chemist Warehouse as well. So if you are an acne sufferer, give that a go because Poppy knows best."

COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Power Essence, $38.

Image: Getty; Canva; iHerb.

Next, we have Emily Ratajkowski.

"I think we can all agree she's so hot. She's got beautiful skin and you can tell that it's not like filters and stuff."

"On Instagram, in a random Q&A, she recommended the snail mucus power essence from South Korean brand CORSX, which contains 96 per cent snail secretion. It definitely doesn't sound appealing, but it is famed for skin healing and promoting skin rejuvenation."

You can get it for under 40 bucks on Adore Beauty.

Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Universal Daily Peel, $32.

Image: Getty; Canva, Mecca.

Glowy Queen Chrissy Teigen is a huge fan of the wildly expensive but wildly effective Dr Dennis Gross Peel Pads.

"I first recommended these as a spendy many moons ago on You Beauty," said Kelly. "You get five for $32 — you don't have to use them every day. But the idea is that you build up so that you can. 

"It's so expensive, but my goodness, they are good."

Anyone else already sold?!

"It's like a two-step process. You open up the first one, and rub it all over your skin until the pad is dry (because you obviously don't want to waste any of those beautifully glorious active ingredients)."

"Then, you wait two minutes and repeat with step two. You're meant to do it every single day after you've built up a tolerance — but you would start by doing it every second or third day."

Kelly said it's good for minimising the appearance of fine lines, enlarged pores and clarifying your skin tone and texture. Basically, clinical results at home. We love to see it.

Bioderma Sensibio H2O Soothing Micellar Water Cleanser, $32.99.

Image: Getty, Chemist Warehouse, Canva.

Next up with have our friend Gwyneth Paltrow.

"She loves Bioderma Micellar Water —  and we don't blame her. All of the Youbies love this, Leigh and I both love this... it is just such a great cleanser. Paltrow said it is the best makeup remover —  and it is." 

If you haven't tried it before, it's a cult product for a very good reason. It's unscented, it doesn't dry out your skin and it doesn't sting. It gently cleanses the skin and leaves it clean and soft. 

There's no tight, dry feeling or any of that annoying stuff that you can get with a lot of other micellar waters on the market.

You can grab it at Chemist Warehouse or Priceline — and it's pretty affordable, too. 

Kelly said, "I love buying them when the limited edition pump packs come out, so you literally just put your cotton pad thing on it and just use it all over your face. I love it."

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, $27.

Image: Getty; Mecca; Canva.

Word on the street has it that Mario is also friends with Liv Tyler! 

"It is a favourite of the masses. It's got over 40,000 reviews on Mecca and people love it for its ability to quickly dry up pimples."

"Liv Tyler also loves it — she's mentioned it on social media before. I have used this my whole life whenever I get a pimple — and it is amazing. Yes, it really works."

In case you haven't heard of it before (where have you been?!), it comes in a tiny glass bottle and it looks like it's half water and then half pink stuff. That's the calamine lotion component of the formula.

As Kelly explained, "The calamine soothes the pimples. There's also sulphur in it to cleanse the pores and absorb oil and then salicylic acid to exfoliate the dead skin cells away."

"All you do is dip a Q-Tip into the solution without shaking it, and then you pop the pink stuff on the blemish and completely coat it and leave it on overnight. It gives you fast results — it doesn't completely dry the skin out, even though it's called drying lotion. It dries just the pimple. But it is magic and I'm absolutely obsessed with it."

Do you use any of the above products? What are your thoughts? Share with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Getty; Canva; Chemist Warehouse; Mecca.