5 Beautiful Budget Beauty Buys
OK, I'll admit it, shopping (and even occasionally splurging on luxury buys like these) cheers me up. Well, let me clarify that. Shopping cheers me up unless I can't afford anything at which point, shopping depresses me. Happily, there are enough affordable makeup products and services to get me through those rough patches -- and some of them are down right indulgent. Here are my current beautiful budget faves:
Budget beauty buy #1: Get a beautiful blush -- Mode Glide and Glow 3-in-1 Blush Highlighter Stick, $4, is an easily blendable, lightweight cheek stain whose natural minerals and mica impart a beautiful, just-kissed glow. Plus, if you pick up one of these, you'll be doing your skin -- and the earth -- a favor. All Mode products use only organic ingredients and are produced in "non-wasteful" packaging. Inexpensive, natural and eco-friendly? Ca-ching.
Budget beauty buy #2: Getting threaded -- Sick of plucking your eyebrows and/or bleaching your mustache? Why not try threading? This ancient Arabic/Indian technique has become all the rage in America because, for one thing, unlike waxing, threading doesn't aggravate your skin or leave behind any telltale redness (so it's the perfect lunch-hour errand). Plus, at a typical salon, you can have your brows threaded for $7-$9 and your upper lip done for a mere $5.
Budget beauty buy #3: Switching up your hair color -- For $9 you can go from mousy brown to fiery red in just 10 minutes using Clairol Nice 'n Easy Perfect 10 hair color. It's true! This revolutionary formula is less damaging than traditional ones and the color lasts longer and stays truer. "It puts salon color to shame," says Jason Backe, master colorist at Ted Gibson Salon and color director for Clairol. If an endorsement like that isn't enough of an enticement to try a new look, what is? (Is your hair the right color? Take this quiz and see.)
Budget beauty buy #4: Get a (partial) rubdown -- With our hectic, chock-full schedules, who has the time (or money) for a full body massage? While escaping for a couple of hours into spa bliss may be unrealistic, a chair massage can be the next best thing -- especially if you're a sucker for having your tense muscles kneaded. Whether you get it done at the mall, at a nail salon or even your local Whole Foods, a chair massage will typically find you seated in an ergonomically designed chair as the masseuse manipulates your neck, back and shoulder muscles (those that can be adversely affected by sitting at a desk all day) on top of your clothes for the going rate of a dollar a minute. Think a short rubdown won't make any difference? Think again. A study done by the Touch Research Institute in Miami revealed that regular 15-minute chair massages reduce stress, anxiety and depression! Oh, and they feel heavenly too. (And, if you saw that episode of "Modern Family" where Claire/Julie Bowen got hers, you know it's only too true.)
Budget beauty buy #5: Revisit a classic perfume -- Fragrance is a powerful thing -- one whiff of a particular scent can take you back to another place and time. Love's Baby Soft by Dana, $9.99 is a classic scent that many of us grew up with because, well, it's inexpensive and teen/tween friendly. Launched in 1974, the familiar pink perfume is classified as "a refined, gentle floral fragrance" that boasts a blend of florals but for some, one spritz is tantamount to taking a walk down memory lane (remembering your bunk at camp, your first sleepover or maybe even "spin the bottle"). Memory-inducing notes aside, it smells much better than its small price tag would indicate and is teensy enough to toss into your gym bag or glove box to keep you powdery fresh at all times. (Not sure if this scent is right for you? Take this quiz and find out.)
Love getting a bargain? See 5 more budget beauty buys.
And, here are the best makeup finds for $5 or less.
Help hedge your bets when you do splurge on beauty products by seeing which are the best and worst makeup products.
Like these 16 worst drugstore makeup products and these 8 worst drugstore shampoos.
