Picture Perfect Style: Don’t Break The Bank Or A Nail!

Every morning we go through our strict beauty regimes to achieve the flawless, effortless, stylish look that we strive for, but do we ever stop to consider exactly how much all of these beauty products are costing us? The beauty industry is big business; we can’t walk down the street or turn on the television without seeing a product promising to rid you of wrinkles or give you hair that shines like the sun. The question is: can you afford to keep buying a whole host of expensive beauty products?

With money worries on everyone’s mind, it’s time to start getting creative with your beauty regime and saving pennies wherever possible. Take a look at some of these fantastic frugal beauty tips:

Moisturizers

–    Moisturizing creams can be incredibly expensive, but most dermatologists agree that the most important feature is to protect against UV rays; every other ingredient and benefit, you can do without. By choosing an inexpensive day cream that simply moisturizes and protects against the sun, you can save a lot of money.
–    Don’t use too much. If you’re conservative with how much you use, you’ll still reap the benefits without spending a fortune by replacing your moisturizer twice a month.

Nails

Instead of forking out to go to a nail salon every other week, get practicing on your own nails.
–    Instead of buying expensive glitter nail polish, paint your nails with a clear base coat and let it partially dry until tacky. Once your nails are sticky, dip them into glitter and apply a topcoat. You can buy multipacks of glitter for around £1 while one nail polish will cost approximately £5.
–    Place thin strips of sticky tape over already dried nail varnish; paint over the tape and take the tape off straight away. You’ll be left with perfectly straight stripy nails.

Hair

A lot of us take enormous pride in our hair and with good reason; your hair has an overwhelming effect on your overall look. Of course, that doesn’t mean we have to spend hundreds of pounds on styling products, salon hair coloring, and cuts alongside a whole range of cleaning products.

–    Try to resist the urge to go for the senior stylist in a salon. More junior stylists will be cheaper, and if you’re brave you can opt to have a trainee do your hair; it’s loads cheaper or even free!

–    Shampoo products don’t stay on your hair for very long so think carefully about how much you’re spending on shampoo and how much you use. Most directions will recommend you use a pea-sized amount; by using a  larger amount than this, your money will quite literally be going down the drain.

Do your research and get onto beauty blogs and forums — there are hordes of frugal beauty queens that are more than happy to share the tips that they swear by. Some of the tips won’t work for you but you’ll find some real gems that could end up saving you a fortune: happy saving!