Beauty Tips For Less

Hi Everyone!!

Today I just want to share a few tips on one of my favorite topics, Health and Beauty Aids. I LOVE trying new products, and can easily spend more on these than on groceries, if I don't restrain myself!!

1.) Tinted Moisturizer: last spring, I was so tempted to spend $12 on a little bitty tube of tinted moisturizer/ sunscreen at WalMart. But as I was carrying it around in my basket, it dawned on me, I could mix this up at home!! Each morning I put a squirt of my spf 15 moisturizer on the tip of my finger. Then add a little dab of foundation, about 1/3 to 1/2 of the amount of moisturizer, depending on the coverage I want. Mix up with my other finger, and voila!! =)

2.) If you buy a tube of lipstick or nail polish, but you don't like the color once you try it on and you can't return it for whatever reason, try mixing them up to make custom colors!! Right now I have a crimson lipstick that is too dark and a shimmery pale pink that is too light, and I love how they look blended together.

3.) You can double the life of your favorite lipstick just by using an inexpensive lip brush (from the dollar store) to access the 1/2 inch (or more) remaining lipstick in the bottom of the tube.

4.) Go shopping in your bathroom first!!! You can save a ton this way. If you didn't like a product at first, try it again with an open mind and see if it might work.... I cleaned up my bathroom cabinets and I found:
*enough Victoria's Secret/ Bath & Bodyworks perfumes and lotions to last a year ($100+)
*3 Venus cartridges that were pushed into corners and buried ($6-8)
*A couple more disposable razors I thought I didn't like, but they are fine ($4)
*2 half full bags of cotton balls ($2)
*4 half full bottles of conditioner and leave in conditioner ($10)
*3 nice pairs of tweezers ~ I am always losing and replacing these ($20)
*2 bottles of hairspray, hair glaze, a box of hairdye I forgot I had ($20)
*3 tubes of Neosporin (we are always losing and replacing) ($10)
*3 deodorants I didn't like, 2 shampoos I didn't like, 4 different types of toothpaste ($30+)
*All kinds cosmetic products I used once and forgot about. ($100+)
*And lots more.
Just by being A LOT less picky and using what I already have, I should be able to avoid spending a few hundred dollars over the next several months.

5.) Another idea for when you have half-used products you don't like, find a friend who has the same and do some trading!! I have done this in the past, and not only is it fun, you can discover some great new products for free.

6.) I have learned to always save my receipt, though. Sometimes I know the first time Iuse something, it is not going to work. If there's just a tiny bit gone, Walmart and Walgreens have always taken them back when I explained I didn't like it, and I had my receipt.

7.) Don't forget to check the clearance baskets at the ends of the aisles at the grocery store. I never check the regular aisle because it is always too expensive, but the clearance prices, esp. if you have coupons, can be amazing. I bought a Cover Girl Outlast lipcolor for $1, it was on clearance for $3 and I had a $2 coupon.

8.) Last, the dollar store can be a good source, too. I don't ever buy the "off" brands of makeup they sell there, but a lot of times, they'll have name brands like Maybelline and Cover Girl, from drugstores, that were labeled with the wrong color name. I have gotten some good deals there, too.

P.S. I would LOVE to hear what kind of forgotten treasures you all find, if you decide to clean out your bathroom cabinets, too!!!