Take a moment and mentally tally up what you spend each year on hair care, skin care, makeup and other must-have beauty products and we think you’ll agree, primping is not always easy on your pocket book.
But you don’t have to go broke to look beautiful. Here are some of our best tips on how to save money and still look fabulous.
• Would you believe one of favourite beauty products is greasy, fragrance-free and over 100 years old? With prices starting at just $3.39 for a 13 oz. tub, Vaseline can be used to remove eye makeup, moisturize lips, hands and feet and even to minimize split ends.
• Let your hair down. Stretch out the time between haircuts. If you usually get your hair cut once every six weeks, try stretching it to once every eight weeks and save yourself the cost of at least two haircuts plus tip each year. If you highlight your hair, make sure your colourist knows how often you are willing to return. You can stretch out the time between colourings with more subtle highlights.
• Most of us have a body lotion, hand cream, and even a moisturizer for just feet. But the truth is, with the exception of your face, you only need one bottle for head-to-toe.
• To keep your hair professionally coiffed for less, look for salons or cosmetology schools that do stylist training and sign up to get a student cut or colour. One of the Smart Cookies recently visited the uber savvy Blanche McDonald Centre for Applied Design in Vancouver. She got a cut and colour by a stylist in training. The result — a hairdo she raves is the best she’s ever had! And the cost of this luxurious treatment: Only $40!
• Shop at a drugstore that offers a points program. If you’re going to spend money on beauty, you might as well be rewarded with points that can be applied to future purchases. One of our favourites is Shoppers Drug Mart’s Optimum Points Program, which not only allows you to earn points that can add up to as much as $200 in free products, but also runs a program which allows members to donate their points to local charities. To earn even more points, we stock up on necessities at their 20 times the points events.
• There are also amazing beauty finds on eBay, but just be careful. Be sure to review the sellers’ history and feedback, and compare picturess of the product to those on the brand’s official website. Pay close attention to the logo and colour. Only buy products that are photographed in their original, plastic-wrapped packages.
For more on how to save, go to our website, www.smartcookies.com. If you have comments or questions, email us at smartcookies@metronews.ca.
– Tune in Monday nights at 10:30 p.m. EST/PST on the W Network and be sure to visit
smartcookies.com for more tips.
