Are all the skincare products in your routine actually necessary?

My husband and I each have our own bathrooms. It didn't start off that way - we had planned on sharing one and having the other one for visitors - but sure enough, he has been kicked out of mine and now has to use the visitors bathroom. So, which one did I score? The en suite of course! But not because hubby was generous enough to let me have the best bathroom, but because it's the one visitors will never go into. Yes, I confess, my bathroom is an absolute disgrace. It looks like a beauty product bomb has gone off. There are products on every possible surface, whereas hubby's bathroom is immaculate. Allow me to show you:

Hubby's beautiful bathroom with 3 products on the vanity and a lone product in the shower

My bathroom - my vanity is covered in products and every drawer in near overflowing, I have lost a third of the floor of the shower to various products then there is even a whole other set for the bath.

The stark contrast between my husband's bathroom and mine has really got me thinking. How is it that men are able to use so few beauty products, yet we women need a thousand different lotions and potions. I mean, with the odd exception, most men have 2 beauty products in their routine - a cleaning product that serves to shampoo their hair, cleanse their face and wash their body, and a shaving gel which they think counts as a moisturiser as well. If you nag hard enough you may also be able to smuggle a sunscreen into their routine.

Our routines, on the other hand, are a whole other story. I don't know about you, but I have just counted nearly 20 different products that I use in my routine, and that's just in the mornings. There is a whole other set for the evening. I have my everyday shampoo, conditioner and Morrocanoil for my hair, plus a special treatment set I use once a week; for my face there's the cleanser, toner, serum, moisturiser, eye cream, sunscreen and occasionally a scrub; then for the body there is a shower gel, scrub or soap (depending on my mood), shaving gel and body lotion. For nights I have 2 different night creams that I alternate because I can't decide which one I like better, an eye cream plus more serums depending on what 'problem' I am trying to correct (uneven skin tone, pigmentation, dullness, blemishes...the list goes on). Then there are the masks I try use once a week or so - one for brightening, decongesting, rehydrating. All of this is just for weekdays when I don't tend to wear makeup. I would just scare you if I were to add makeup to the list.

So how much of this is really necessary? Would it be possible to become like a bloke and reduce our routines to a maximum of 5 products and still keep our beautiful complexions? I personally don't think so, and to be quite frank, I don't want to either. I do actually enjoy playing with all of these products each day. And, to be perfectly honest, most men do not have nearly as nice skin as us. There have been times when I have wondered whether it would be possible to sneak a pore strip onto my husbands nose whilst he slept (I have come to the conclusion that yes, it would be possible. It is removing it that is going to cause me grief).

So, in the next few weeks I aim to find out:

• are toners necessary
• is there actually any difference between eye creams and moisturisers or is it just a marketing ploy to get us to buy both
• do we really need to exfoliate our skin
• what are serums and do they work

Will it decrease the number of products I use? I doubt it! But maybe some of you may benefit from my research Until then, enjoy using all of your products!