I am paranoid and need some suggestions

My whole childhood my mother convinced me all beauty products (hair care, skin care mostly) are a waste of money and only make your hair/skin worse so that you buy more product. I remember thinking that was silly at first but once I started buying my own beauty products it started to bother me because I never know what brands are trustworthy. Obviously I know some brands are better than others and not ALL of them are bad, I just need help figuring out which ones are reliable.

So my question is… if you could recommend one hair care or one skin care item that you find really reputable and works well, what would it be? I get worried all the reviews online are biased or paid reviews so I’d like to hear it from yall.

Extra points if it’s an item that helps damaged hair/protects it from heat, or a skin care product that helps with KP.