Beauty on a Budget: 10 Essential Products to Live By During the Recession
The hottest trend for 2009 across the board is CUTTING BACK. Recession friendly this and recession friendly that are the biggest buzz around town. Gone are the days of stepping into Bloomingdale's and dropping tons of cash on your beauty favorites. Regardless of how much money you have in the bank, everybody is striving to make that paycheck stretch as far it can go. Spending $25 on the amazing Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour isn't exactly a luxury people are indulging in right now.
But your beauty regime doesn't have to suffer just because our economy is. You can still look like a million bucks standing in line at the unemployment office. So let's taking a shopping trip to the local drug store and grab 10 beauty essentials to help us get through this recession.
Our Shopping Budget : $75.00
Baskets ready? Let's go...
1.) Burt's Bees Beeswax Lip Balm ($3.29)
This lip balm makes your dry and chapped lips so soft and healthy. It not only mosturizes with natural ingredients but leaves a great minty tingling sensation on your lips. But the main reason why this is an essential product that you must keep in your purse is because it is an instant relief for cuts, bruises and burns. Get a paper cut during work? Apply some Burt's Bees and it soothes the pain away and heals the cut. Burn your hand with some red hot coffee? Dry it and apply some Burt's Bees to it for a cooling sensation. So for under $4, you not only get lovely lips but an instant prescription for those little everday accidents.
2.) CoverGirl Volume Blasting Mascara Black ($8.49)
Tried Lancome, tried Dior and even tried Victoria's Secret. One that delivers in the same way but with a tiny fraction of the price is the CoverGirl Volume Blasting Mascara. It curls, separates, colors and gives amazing volume to your lashes with their big volume boosting brush. It makes your eyes really pop without hurting your wallet.
3.) Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser ($7.99)
It was created by dermatologists as a gentle, non-irritating, daily facial cleanser. It is great to use every night to remove daily dirt and make up without drying out your skin. What makes Cetaphil good is it doesn't leave any irritating residue and is non-comedogenic, which means that it does not block your pores with the additives and therefore no more annoying blackheads and whiteheads. So leave the expensive and fancy smelling cleansers and make up removers and use Cetaphil and give your skin and budget a break.
4.) Sephora by O.P.I Nail Colour Drying Drops ($14.00)
If there was something to spend a little extra on, it is this magical product by Sephora. They dry your nails to the touch in one minute, and completely in five minutes, with just one or two drops per nail. So if you are one of those who avoids doing your nails at home out of fear of creating a mess, this is your answer. For under the price of a manicure, you can paint your nails and get back to whatever you were doing in 5 minutes. The cherry on top is it has nourishing ingredients: vitamin E and jojoba oil, so your nails can look great and stay healthy.
5.) Revlon Luxurious Color Kohl-Black Truffle ($9.99)
If you swear by eye liner and never leave your bathroom without it then try Revlon's Luxurious Color Kohl. Having used many different eye-liners from all over the world (expensive, cheap, water-proof, pencil and pull-out sharpened) this one works perfectly. Avoid the pull out sharpened ones, they apply as dark, smudge more while applying and you can't get the clean thin line as you can with a pencil you sharpened. The Revlon one comes with a smudger, which can be used to create multiple looks.
6. Trim Nail Buffing Block ($3.49)
This is what the manicurist uses to even out your nails and give it a nice natural shine that looks good without any polish. It has 4 sides - even out, smooth, buff and shine and you can now buy it at any drug store. Giving yourself a great manicure at home just gets easier and easier.
7.) Acne Treatment Cream w/ 10% Benzoyl Peroxide ($5.29)
Hate that big fat zit that appears in the worst place at the worst time? Have you tried absolutey everything against it and gotten defeated as it stood there tall and mighty on your face? The only thing that has ever really worked for me is the generic drug store acne cream with 10% benzoyl peroxide (anything less than 10% doesn't really do the trick with those tough pimples). It prevents future breakouts in those troubled places and clears out any nasty acne. The only down is it dries out your skin but just make sure to apply tons of lotion.
8.) FX Silk Drops Hair Serum ($5.99)
If you suffer from dry frizzy hair, then try this inexpensive hair serum that smoothes, conditions, shines, detangles and helps prevent breakage. It won't make your hair smell like spring flowers but it does the job perfectly fine. Apply some on wet hair to blow dry straight or keep your naturally curly hair intact and silky. Also don't you hate it when you do your hair perfectly and that darn rain comes down on it and wrecks it. The serum also helps keep your styling intact longer and avoids frizz.
9.) Caress Daily Silk Body Wash ($5.79)
If you miss your expensive body washes that smelled like heaven, fret no more and try this drug store gem. It is white peach & a blend of silk blossom and leaves your skin feeling fantastic. Use a little with a sponge or a loofah and after the shower your skin will feel smooth, mosturized and smelling fantastic (as if you sprayed on a little perfume before leaving the bathroom). You will wonder why you spent all that money on the expensive stuff before.
10.) Venus Embrace Razor ($11.99)
Those people at Gillette really know what they are doing. This razor has 5 blades, which means your legs and arms are as smooth as ever. It has a little moisture strip so that your skin isn't all dry and scratchy after a shave. If you have ever used a cheap disposable razor then you have most definitely suffered from painful razor cuts. You wanted nice smooth legs to show off in a summer dress and ended up covered in little bandaids. That is why the Venus Embrace is so divine, you can slip and fall while shaving and still not end up with any cuts. It also comes with a cute pod that sticks onto your shower wall and can store extra blades.
Head to the check out and come to a grand total of $76.71 (sorry $1.71 over budget but look at all the great stuff you got). The best part about all these products is that most of these manufacturers make coupons, so buy yourself the $2 Sunday newspaper for extra savings. And most of these items are also constantly on sale at your local drug store.
So cutting back isn't as hard as you imagined, is it? Looking great doesn't have to come with a big price tag and roughing it doesn't mean you should neglect yourself.
