Make your beauty products work double time. Turn your daily hygienic products and regular household, dorm room items into makeup boosters to spend less (time & money!) and get even more out of your speedy beauty regimen on a collegiette’s™ mindful budget. Read on to learn a slew of cheap beauty tricks for the collegiette™ with little time and even less money.
MAKE UP
Let your lips do the talking.
Want to try a fun new lip color without dishing out a pretty penny for the latest Bobbi Brown wonder shade? You’ve got a few options here.
1. Layer colors that you already have! To make an effortless rose hue, use layers of brown and pink based lipsticks, for plum use red and purple, and for fuchsia use coral and red. And while you’re at it, to make your lipsticks last even longer, use a lip brush for application when your stubby products are nearing their end.
2. If you’re really feeling creative, melt a few old lipsticks together! Cut off the stubs, shove them in the microwave for a few seconds, and pour the liquid into a little tin. Presto! Lip color that applies like balm but packs the punch and classic coverage of your favorite stick.
3. Dab on pressed powder in between coats to intensify your everyday lipstick. Or tap on some liquid foundation to rock the nude-lip look. Be sure to put a coat of clear or sheer gloss over the foundation to prevent the color from flaking.
Get cheeky.
Never fear, even if you weren’t born with a model’s distinguished, too-perfect-to-be-real bone-structure, you can still score an ultra-feminine look by contouring your face to play up the beautiful cheeks that you do have. High, defined cheekbones paired with a fresh wash of sheer color can take day-makeup from drab to fab in no time flat.
1. Once you find yourself running out of your beloved bronzer, mix what is left with a non-scented moisturizer. Not only do you end up making the perfect highlighter for a sheer, dewy glow, but you also prolong the life of your product too.
2. Use tinted lip balm, lip stain, or lipstick as blush. (But not lipgloss!) And vice versa—use blush and cheek stains as lip color. Just be sure to tap the color onto skin lightly using the pad of your finger to avoid over-application. The vaudeville, theater-esque look is not exactly classroom-ready.
3. Use eyeshadow to contour your cheekbones. Pick a neutral taupe-based hue about two shades darker than your skin tone and apply using a medium-sized blush or contouring brush just underneath your cheekbones. Such an easy, cheap way to sculpt your face and make your feminine features pop!
Recycle and reuse. Recycle your old lipstick tubes and purchase products with refillable compartments. While some companies (MAC) give you a new lipstick for FREE, others (Stila) make environmentally friendly reusable compacts with refills that are much more economical than buying an entire new product every time the old one run out.
Bat those beautiful blues (or greens, browns, hazels…).
1. Use an eyeshadow close to your natural hair color as eyebrow filler, using a slant-tipped small-sized brush for best control. If your eyebrows have a hard time cooperating, use clear mascara in place of over-priced tinted eyebrow gel to hold those pesky hairs in place, or try combing a bit of hair spray through your brows using a plain old toothbrush.
2. Use Vaseline or a non-sticky formula of lipgloss for a clear dab of shine on eyelids, lips, and even the tops of your cheekbones. Try tapping a little shimmery pink gloss under your brows to highlight and lift your eyes. Be sure to blend in!
3. To conceal dark circles, try dusting a thin line of taupe shadow under our lower lashes. If you’re running low on concealer, taupe shadow can easily offset blue and green tinted under-eye circles.
SKIN CARE
Do-It-Yourself skin care can often be just as rejuvenating as, if not at times even more effective than, dishing out serious dough for a professional treatment.
Make your own exfoliating scrub by mixing brown sugar and honey into a paste to buff the dry, wintery plains of your elbows, knees, and hands, into skin smooth as a stone. Finish off your pampering session with a little baby oil to hydrate your refreshingly soft skin.
Raid your medicine cabinet for key double-timing agents: Pepto-Bismol, Aspirin, and toothpaste! All of these common items can be used to prevent dreaded acne.
1. To incorporate Pepto into your skin care routine, smear a layer of bubblegum pink liquid over your face like a mask and rinse off after letting it dry. Pepto works like salicylic acid—the main component in Aspirin—to tighten your skin and reduce redness.
2. If you’d rather spare the Pepto, empty a few capsules of Aspirin (or dissolve the non-coated tablets) into a small Dixie cup of warm water. Mix the water and aspirin to make a paste and apply directly to emerging pimples. Let it sit for a while and rinse off like any other nighttime acne rinse.
3. Use a dab of toothpaste the same way you would a regular acne spot-treatment. The active ingredients work just like salicylic acid to dry out those pimples before they pop up. However, make sure you don’t use whitening toothpaste as the whitening ingredients can irritate your skin.
Facials at their finest. An easy way to get clean, clear skin that’s both easy-on-the-eyes and easy-on-the-wallet is to use Bioré strips. According to Farnoosh Torabi, author of You’re So Money: Live Rich Even When You’re Not, once a month place thestrips all over your face and follow the directions. Since Bioré strips pull out all of the dirt and grime clogging your pores, they make a fabulous substitute for an expensive facial—cheap and effective. Perfect.
Shave with conditioner or body wash if you run out of shaving cream. Both shower products soften the hair and the cuticles, hydrate the skin, and keep the razor clear of any clogs.
It’s only scent-sible. When it comes to your fave scent, waste not the expensive eau de parfume. Just when you think your bottle’s run dry and nothing sprays out anymore, pour in a little water, swish it around, and pour the concentrated parfume-water mixture into an unscented body wash, lotion, or moisturizer to get the most use out of every last drop.
Plump it up!Ever wonder how you could get similar effects to DuWop’s infamous lip venom without shelling out $16 for a tiny tube? The secret is in the spicy active ingredients—namely, cinnamon. Cinnamon oil can be found at natural-food stores, like Whole Foods for example, and can easily be combined in a tin with your favorite lip balm to make your own lip-plumping potion. The best part, aside from the price? It’s every bit as effective as many of the expensive plumpers out there.
For more money-saving ideas & beauty tips
check out these sources:
Cosmopolitan.com
Sheknows.com
You’re So Money: Live Rich Even When You’re Not by Farnoosh Torabi