Budget Beauty!
Today I have a guest post from Bre. I’ve been swamped at work this week, so this guest post came at a much needed time. Anyways, I always love beauty items on a budget. The items that she has listed below are great comparisons, for MUCH much cheaper. Who doesn’t love a great deal?
Hello Making Sense of Cents readers!
Bre here from Basically Bre!
I am pretty much your typical blonde, fashion loving, twenty-somthing gal. I only wish I had the “sense about cents” like Michelle over here! I am more of an attempt at a fashion blogger! However I am pretty savvy when it comes to shopping and beauty products! I like to shop so I have to shop on a budget!
I am here today to tell y’all a few of my beauty shopping secrets. Well no secrets, just lessons learned when I spent money on the nice stuff and learned that the drug store stuff was just as good, if not better!
-My favorite budget friendly find has been the Rimmel London Natural Bronzer. I used to pay $26 for Urban Decay Baked Bronzer which I was in love with! After going through a rather broke stage in my life I stumbled upon the Rimmel bronzer and I swear the $4 stuff is even better than the UD bronzer! Just be sure to try and go lighter with the Rimmel bronzer, it tends to run a little dark!
-Being the Urban Decay addict I was I almost gave in and paid $50 bucks for the infamous Naked palette. So glad I didn’t! When e.l.f. became popular I scooped up one of their palettes and was very pleased! I am not sure of the exact palette I have but any of their shadows are great and fun! And for $1-$8 price tag you really can’t beat it! I have also found that many drug store shadows are identical to the Naked colors, just try some out!
-Philosophy, oh Philosophy. I love their products but the price tags just don’t love my wallet! I got a sample of Hope in a Jar a few months back and was very impressed. However once I realized a small 4oz jar was $60 I knew a jar was never in my future! I squeezed that little sample tube till it was dry and then googled the next best thing. Enter Olay Moisturizer, all-day UV coverage with SPF 15. It is wonderful! I love how my skin feels, its not greasy, not too runny or thick, the perfect moisturizer! The SPF is also a huge plus, something that the Hope in a Jar didn’t have!
-I am a lip-color, lip-stick addict. I even wrote a post about all my favorite lip colors and why they were my favorite! So maybe I have been known to spend too much money on lip colors. Like NARS, it started with my fire-engine-red color and down hill from there! However I recently started using Maybelline Baby Lips and discovered that for $3 I could get some color, moisture and SPF 20! Hollah!! My favorite is the Peach Kiss, nude color and awesome moisture. The Cherry Me and Grape Vine also provide just a hint of color that is flawless for a $3 “chap-stick!”
Well ladies there ya have it, a few of my budget friendly finds! I can’t reveal all my secrets in one post so be sure to head over to my blog and read some more!
You can also follow me on:
Instagram: basicallybreblog
Thanks for letting me take over Michelle!
xoxo
Bre!
Bargain Beauty
Today I have a guest post from a beauty blog that I really love. Her tutorials are very easy to follow and she makes everything seem super easy. I’ll let her take over my blog now…
Hi, I’m Elle, from ElleSees, a beauty-based lifestyle blog. I feature beauty tips and tricks to get the celeb looks without the price and so much more. I’m on a pretty tight budget, so how do I save money when it comes to beauty products?
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| pic via weheartit.com |
Here’s how:
- Dupes–There is almost always a dupe or knockoff of a more expensive beauty product. Try the drugstore generic of a favorite beauty or hair product. Usually they’re made in the same factory! Not in the mood to treasure hunt and try? Search for ____dupe (ex. Mac lipstick dupe) and you’ll easily find a comparable product for a fraction of the price.
- Drugstore--Most of the products I use are drugstore! The quality of what you’ll find is so much better than it used to be. Try Wet N Wild shadows, Revlon lipsticks, and Covergirl mascara, just to name a few.
- DIY–When I saw a brown sugar scrub for $65 (seriously) I knew I could easily make my own. And I do for many hair, skin, and body products. Check those out here.
- Returns–Is there anything worse than spending your money on a new lipstick only to hate it once you bring it home? Luckily, many stores allow returns, even with opened & used products! Try Sephora, Ulta, drugstores, Wal-Mart and Target. Keep the receipt!
- Monthly Subscriptions–One way to sample new beauty products is to try a monthly subscription service, such as Birchbox or MyGlam. Some are even free–try influenster.com
- Beauty Swap–If you have a lot of good friends who use beauty products, try a beauty swap. What doesn’t work for you might be perfect for someone else! Makeup can be easily disinfected (click here for a post on how to).
- Sell, Donate, or Repurpose–See link above for more details!
- Multipurpose Products–I love it when I can use a product for more than one thing. Conditioner easily becomes shaving lotion, baby wipes make great makeup removers, and lipstick can be blush!
- Choose Wisely–I love drugstore products, but I do spend money on my haircut and color. But drugstore mascaras are always better than high-end brands. If you have finicky skin, a name-brand foundation is a wise investment. Drugstore shampoos work just as well as the fancy ones.
What bargain beauty tips do you have?
Michelle’s comment: I’ve honestly never even THOUGHT about looking up dupes! That is such a great idea. I’m going to start doing that. And I recently signed up for influenster and received my first box. I love everything that I got, and best of all, it was all free.
Habits you need to kick in your 20′s
There are many habits that I hope to get rid of soon. Learnvest had an article about it the other day.
Here are habits you need to kick, immediately!
- Tanning. Tanning in expensive and will most likely lead to problems as you get older. Be happy with your color that you have!
- I used to tan all the time (I was never orange), but then recently I started getting weird skin problems, and I was told it was due to tanning and that I need to stop. I have saved a lot of money since I stopped. I have gone spray tanning though. I look like I’m dead if I don’t have some sort of tan, so I am guilty of this.
- Having credit cards with high limits (and maxing out these limits) but not making enough money.
- My credit cards ( I have 2 now) have low limits. I have never carried a balance, so I’m assuming credit card companies don’t like me because they’re losing money on me. I’m not guilty of this. Thankfully!
- Smoking. This is expensive. And deathly.
- I don’t smoke. I never have. My dad passed away partly from lung cancer, so this is my reason. The BF smokes, but he’s more or a social smoker. I wish he didn’t though. Not guilty.
- Shopping. Shopping purely for labels and not quality or what you need.
- I used to be guilty of this. When I managed a retail store, it was all about who had the nicest Sevens or the best purse, but now I don’t really care. I’m more about quality and classic items that look nice.
- Expensive drinking.
- Drinking is expensive. I’m guilty of this. I need to quit the habit of going out multiple times a week.
- Depending on your significant other. Both of you should have equal say about your finances.
- I’m not guilty of this. I probably control the finances a little bit more than the BF, but it’s mainly because I’m better with numbers. I go over everything with him though.
- Not having a budget.
- We didn’t have a budget for quite some time, but this has changed. Not having a budget can wreck you very quickly, so it’s best to have one. Not guilty!
What do you do that you need to stop?
