3 At-Home Money-Saving Solutions to Skipping the Salon

RealBeauty.com

We can all afford to tighten our belts a little, especially with the holiday season approaching fast. Certain beauty routines like blowouts, pedicures, and hair dye add up, sometimes to astronomical amounts. (Check out the pro secrets to an at-home spa here). Here are three ways to get salon-worthy results at home, for a fraction of the cost. See more money-saving beauty tricks here.

Instead of a full manicure, pay for polish changes only.
If you're squeamish about having someone push back your cuticles or cutting your nails too short, try giving yourself an at-home manicure with a kit that includes emery boards, nail files, clippers, etc. Skip buying your own bottles of expensive nail lacquers and head to the salon for just a polish change - most charge under $10 to swap your color. That way, you can still keep up with the current nail polish trends. We recommend trying the Kiss Professional Manicure Kit, $9.99; walgreens.com

Pamper parched strands with a DIY hair mask.
Instead of shelling out $40 or $50 for a salon hair mask to rejuvenate dry hair, try an at-home avocado mask. All you'll need is a fully ripened avocado mixed in with one egg yolk and a teaspoon of olive oil. After stirring well, apply the mixture to your hair in sections and leave on for 30 minutes or so. Afterward, your hair will feel luscious and healthy.

Buy time for your new hue.
Maintaining your hair color is a time-consuming and expensive job, so wouldn't it be nice there was a way to put it off for a few weeks? "My mom gets her roots done once a month and recently I convinced her to try the Clairol Root Touch-Up Kit ($6.99, drugstore.com)," says Real Beauty senior editor Andrea Lavinthal. "It took me just seconds to mix up the formula and applying it was a breeze. After 10 minutes we rinsed and blow-dried her hair. She was blown away by the results and totally thrilled that she could wait two, even three, more weeks before heading to the salon."

Another way to make your hair color last long is to wash it every other day, and try to give it a break from heat styling as much as possible. Try a fun ponytail or a dry shampoo on days your roots feel especially oily.

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.