Here's some foolproof skincare advice

I recently returned from a business trip in Reston, VA; a cute town where pedestrian crosswalks actually mean something to drivers. Our meetings had ended early so I stepped out to take walk down Market Street and paid a visit to the beauty supply store, Sephora.

As of late, I've started to pay a bit more attention to my skincare. As in, I've started to use moisturizer on a daily basis. Needless to say, I am completely clueless in this field as far what ingredients do what and what brand is worth the extra buck.

I had incidentally packed a bottle of lotion that baaarely had half a pump left and brought it all the way to VA ::doh:: Since I had time on my hands that day and there were few customers in the store, I sought the advice of their skincare expert. We had narrowed it down to a few potential products that I might have been happy with. Standing to my right was the skincare expert and randomly, a fellow Asian customer was standing to my left chiming in on the choices because she, too, was looking for a moisturizer. We looked like a small Asian focus group discussing moisturizers back and forth. I really did enjoy having her as a sounding board.

We were comparing 2 products in the end, Sephora's hydrating lotion ($22, no spf, smooth application, cute and modern looking pump bottle) and First Aid's 5 in 1 lotion ($38, small squeeze bottle, SPF 15, anti-aging magic). My main concern was the price. The other girl's concern was the price and SPF protection.

Her: 'Ahh, I don't know what to get, I like the Sephora one but I wish it had SPF'
Me: 'Are you outdoors that much?'
Her: 'Yea, I'm a student so I'm always walking around outside to get to class and I want SPF protection and I DON'T want my skin to get dark'
Me: 'Yea, but the other one is a bit too pricey'
Her: 'I don't know what to do...'
Me: 'How about...you buy the cheaper one and you take the $ that you would save, by not buying the expensive one, and buy an umbrella'

And that folks, is my foolproof skincare advice; no skincare expert needed.
Oh, and I ended up buying something completely different (and even less expensive) for myself.