As you may have noticed, I have a lot of experience with buying skincare. Therefore, I very rarely buy total duds, but there are often things that don’t perform quite as well as I expect them to. It’s never a great feeling – the waste of money, the waste of product… It must be even worse when you buy skincare rarely and it turns out not to work. I always recommend testing first, but even that does not guarantee success: products can suddenly start to cause irritation, skin can change, the long-term benefits may never come.

So what to do, when you’ve made a skincare investment that is not paying off? My first thought is always if there’s anyone close to me who might enjoy it – I gave my Sunday Riley Luna to my Mom, my Bobby Brown cleanser to my sister and so on. But if this is not an option or you’d like to use the thing yourself, here are a few things to consider:

1. Use it on your neck. I’m sure you’re aware that you should use your face products on your neck and décolleté as well – “take it to the tits”, as Caroline Hirons eloquently puts it. I must admit, however, that when using my most precious serums and creams, I’m reluctant to ‘waste’ so much of them below the face. But if you have products with great ingredients that just didn’t suit your face, these are often perfect for neck and chest: creams that are too rich for the face work wonderfully on the neck, as the skin there is dryer; breakout-inducing potions generally don’t have the same disastrous results on your chest.

2. Use it on your body. This is an extension of the first option. Especially if your main concern is to use things up, you can always just put them on your body. Face creams, face scrubs, facial self tan products – they can all equally well (and sometimes better) be used on the body. Useful life hack: if you don’t have a travel size body lotion, throw a moisturiser that didn’t work for your face into your luggage for that very purpose.

3. Use it on your rough bits. It is a mystery to me why so few body products contain acids (Ameliorate being one of the exceptions). Acids are the best thing for uneven, rough or “chicken” skin. So I’m almost looking forward to buying facial acid products that don’t work for me, although they almost always do. Anyway, if you happen to by face pads or acid peels that are too strong for you, use them on your upper arms or thighs or wherever your skin is its worst. Exfoliating pads are also good in case you struggle with ingrown hairs.

4. Use it on your hands and feet. One of the very few acid products that caused an unpleasant reaction on my face was Nip & Fab Glycolic Instant Fix mask. So I stopped using it as a mask and instead, spread a generous layer on my feet, put socks on and go to sleep – all the rough skin will be gone by the morning. For a quicker version, take one those exfoliating pads and go over your feet (or hands! hands can always use things that target pigmentation). To add extra pampering, massage your feet (or hands!) with any rich moisturising product and do the overnight sock (glove!) thing. I often use Caudalie Overnight Detox Oil – a perfectly nice oil that just did nothing for my face, but makes my extremities nice and soft.

If everything fails, console yourself with buying something new.