Angela's Personal Finance Blog

I'm home sick from work today, so I thought I would take advantage of my down time and share some of my favorite frugal beauty tips. Enjoy!

Money Saving Beauty Tips

1. Replace your eye makeup remover with Extra Virgin Olive Oil. I must admit that I just love Lancome BiFacil but I can't afford it while on a budget. Olive Oil breaks up and easily removes eye makeup just as well, plus it's super gentle. This really does save money if you are a bulk buyer.

2. Treat acne with aspirin. This really works! Aspirin contains salicylic acid which is the active ingredient in many acne medications. Apply an aspirin mask by dissolving 4 uncoated aspirins in a few drops of water (it really only takes about 3 drops) and mush it until it is a paste. Apply to affected areas and rinse off in ten minutes. A friend of mine had her teen daughter start using the aspirin mask and it cleared up her acne and saved her hundreds of dollars in prescription creams.

3. Use microfiber cloths to remove makeup, not cotton balls. You can get microfiber cloths at the dollar store and they remove makeup very well. Plus, you can reuse these which cuts out unnecessary waste and expenses.

4. Try out LUSH shampoo bars. While the initial investment may seem high, these actually last forever. My favorite is Seanik and I have had it for about 3 months. Plus, there is no packaging so these are environmentally friendly. Plus, I don't have to use conditioner with this awesome shampoo so that saves even more!

5. Need a body scrub? Cut a lemon in half and sprinkle sugar on the insides. Rub the lemon over all the rough spots- elbows, knees, feet, wherever. Add more sugar as needed. Note: this will remove self-tanners.

6. Check your local grocery store for sales. My grocery store almost always has either Revlon, Cover Girl, L'Oreal, or Maybelline on sale BOGOF.

7. If you must have high end cosmetics, check out Ebay. They have some great deals on there, but beware- some members sell fake merchandise. This is especially a problem for MAC cosmetics. If you ever have a question about the authenticity of an item, feel free to message me, I'm pretty good at telling the difference.

8. Got oily skin and need a primer? Get some Monistat Anti-Chafing treatment. I am absolutely not kidding. You may feel kinda squeamish about putting this on your face, but it is full of dimethicone which is the main ingredient in most primers. In fact, the Monistat cream is an almost exact dupe of Smashbox Photofinish primer. If the thought of that completely turns you off, consider Milk of Magnesia- it has awesome oil absorbing properties. Use your fingers to spread over your t-zone and clean up any white marks with a damp washcloth before applying makeup.

9. Make your own lip color. Scoop out about a teaspoon of vaseline into a small screw top jar. Add 2 drops of the organic food coloring of your choice (this can be found at Trader Joes). Stir with a toothpick and you have just made your own colored lip balm. Use red food coloring for the same effect as Benefit's Benetint Stain.

10. Don't toss old mascara wands. When you are done with them, wash with soap and water to clean then use these as brow groomers. It's the exact same thing as the spoolies you would buy in the store, but it's recycling!

11. Take advantage of recycling programs. The most popular is MAC's B2M, or Back 2 MAC, program. For every 6 empty containers (must be b2m marked) you bring back in, you get a free full sized items. At counters you get a free lipstick of your choice, and at standalone stores you get to choose an eyeshadow, lipstick, or lip gloss of your choice.

These are some tips that I have picked up along the road to becoming thrifty!

1. Eat Ramen again. I know that you probably swore it off after college, but once in a while wouldn't hurt you. Keep a few packs in your pantry and reach for one of them next time a Big Mac tempts you.

2. If possible, walk to do your errands. This will really help to save on gas, plus it's exercise! If you live in a rural area, plan ahead for your errands and do them on the same day to conserve gas.

3. Look through your cosmetics and fragrances. Do you really need that blue glitter eyeliner that you wore for Halloween two years ago? You can actually sell your used cosmetics online, check out some of the cosmetic communities on Live Journal. I've made over $50 doing this. This might not apply to you men out there, but if it does, who am I to judge?

4. Go through your closet and be honest with yourself. If you are working full time and dealing with the new stresses of real life, you probably don't have much use for that club wear. Luckily the younger generation does and it sells really well on Craigslist, just be sure to post pictures.

5. Use Christmas and your Birthday to help your wallet. Instead of asking for something I want, I ask for things I *need*, namely cash or gift cards. I tell my grandparents that I would most appreciate gift cards to restaurants. This way when I am fed up with PB&J and Ramen, I can treat myself for free. If you are careful, your cards can last you til the next big gift giving occasion.

6. Do your own manicures and pedicures. Mine never seem to quite look as good this way, but chances are no one will notice except you. Plus if you cut out your monthly pedicure, you will be keeping an extra $300 per year in your pocket.

7. Shop at the dollar store. I live by this one, and trust me, I am definitely a former store-snob. One day I walked in out of curiosity and I was so surprised- Tide laundry detergent, Herbal Essences Shampoo, and Windex... all for $1?!?! If you switch from a larger chain store to the Dollar Store for your household needs, you will be saving lots of cash to put towards those student loans!

8. Check out Plato's closet. It's much less of a hassle than Ebay and they are happy to take many of my "preppy cool" items from college and give me cash in return. I took in some American Eagle and Abercrombie and Fitch yesterday and walked out with $36.

9. Turn off the lights! When you are just out of college and were at mom's before that you probably just roll your eyes when your mom still tells you to turn off the light when you leave a room. Well take a look at your electric bill and you will know why she says that. I used to leave for work and not turn off my bedroom lamp because I felt like it was a hassle; well I quickly learned that forking out the cash for my laziness was even more of a hassle. Be conservative with energy and you will be surprised at your shaving.

10. Re-evaluate your medications. In our society we tend to medicate everything. Some of us truly need the medication that we take to function and others take medication as a convenience or a sort of "safety blanket." If you fall in the latter two categories, add up how much you pay per month in prescriptions and weight that against whether or not you truly need that happy pill for your bad days (and this is absolutely not intended to offend anyone who truly does need the medications to function).

11. Go Natural. It was a hassle and super expensive to keep up my roots when I was a bottle blonde. I went back to my natural color and spend $0 per month maintaining my color as opposed to $100+ every 6 weeks. Just think of it as a makeover!

That's all for now, but any comments or additional tips are always welcome!

-Angela