What's the bare minimum you could spend on hair/skincare/makeup and still be happy with how you look?

[Anonymous]

I am in super saver mode right now as we gear up to hopefully buy a SFH and move out of our condo in the next few years. Ever penny counts and we're looking to reduce costs however we can.

I'm already a fairly low maintenance person in terms of beauty but I'm trying to figure out what the bare minimum I can get by with is. I wear my hair long so I'm reducing cuts, coloring at home with a Demi-permanent dye my colorist recommended (I know it doesn't look as good, I just want it to look good *enough* until we can return to more normal spending), no professional nail care, and minimizing skin care down to just the essentials.

I'm struggling with makeup though because while I don't wear it often, when I do wear it, I use it for a confidence boost in social and professional situations and I want it to look really good. But it's like how can I justify spending $40 on a tube of mascara I use 3x a month? So I'm trying to figure that out as that stuff adds up fast.

Would love to hear and hacks for doing beauty on the cheap, or what some of you have discovered you can easily live without that you used to think was necessary.

[Anonymous]

Shouldn’t a tube of mascara you use 3 times a month last a long time?

[Anonymous]

2x/year haircut @ $100 per

Monthly home hair color @ $10 per

1x spring pedicure @ $45

$300 touch up Botox

[Anonymous]

^^forgot the Retina A. $60/year if I get a tube overseas. Plus Olay day and night creams, using CVS and other coupons

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t a tube of mascara you use 3 times a month last a long time?

I've read that mascara is one of the areas where the drugstore does okay.

I also have a mascara problem since they say you should only keep it a couple months because of bacteria, but I use it so rarely that means wasting so much. I wonder if there are washable brushes or something we can use to always be dipping in a clean brush. Or just smaller sized tubes.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done beauty on the cheap for a lifetime and all products I use daily are 💯 drugstore purchases.

To name just a few:

V05 hot oil treatment
Ponds cold cream to remove makeup and Ponds moisturizer at night
Dove original soap as safe and body cleanser

Neutrogena sport -spray 50 sunblock
Garnier Clearly Brighter - facial moisturizer under makeup

Nivea in shower moisturizer
Hawaiian Tropic deep tanning oil as alternative (I have very dry skin)

Tried ‘em all and my go to mascara is Maybelline in pink and green tube-waterproof

[Anonymous]

By the way, I stockpile my favorite items listed above. I try to have at least one extra on hand at all times.

[Anonymous]

I am never frugal with my looks. I will watch my money on anything except my looks.

Hair 300/ month
Ozempic 600/ month
IPL 2 times a year 900/yr
Botox 1000/yr
Products at sephora 100/month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve done beauty on the cheap for a lifetime and all products I use daily are 💯 drugstore purchases.

To name just a few:

V05 hot oil treatment
Ponds cold cream to remove makeup and Ponds moisturizer at night
Dove original soap as safe and body cleanser

Neutrogena sport -spray 50 sunblock
Garnier Clearly Brighter - facial moisturizer under makeup

Nivea in shower moisturizer
Hawaiian Tropic deep tanning oil as alternative (I have very dry skin)

Tried ‘em all and my go to mascara is Maybelline in pink and green tube-waterproof

Sad

[Anonymous]

Mostly drugstore makeup, maybe once a year buy a few good makeup products from Sephora. No hair color, no extra services like that. Haircut at Hair Cuttery every 3 or 4 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am never frugal with my looks. I will watch my money on anything except my looks.

Hair 300/ month
Ozempic 600/ month
IPL 2 times a year 900/yr
Botox 1000/yr
Products at sephora 100/month

that's so helpful!

[Anonymous]

If your only big remaining beauty expense is makeup, you can easily get by with drugstore brands - they are constantly improving and many of them are dupes for name brands.

Search this topic on tik tok or insta and you’ll find someone who has a drugstore rec for every makeup category. Even the big beauty mags like Allure recommend some drugstore brands.

[Anonymous]

I like higher end skincare, but it lasts a while so I don't find it that expensive. I am open to spending more on makeup, but I found a few drug store items that perfectly match my skin and a cheaper mascara that I'm really enjoying.

I am overall pretty low maintenance. I wear my hair long and get maybe 2 cuts a year (but they are like $130 ea). If I do coloring, it's $220, max twice a year. Rarely do nails, sometimes Dh and I treat ourselves to pedis at the local place which is like $40. My makeup probably costs $100/year max.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn’t a tube of mascara you use 3 times a month last a long time?

I've read that mascara is one of the areas where the drugstore does okay.

I also have a mascara problem since they say you should only keep it a couple months because of bacteria, but I use it so rarely that means wasting so much. I wonder if there are washable brushes or something we can use to always be dipping in a clean brush. Or just smaller sized tubes.

This true, if I keep mascara too long it makes my eye hurt, probably from bacteria. It also starts drying out. That’s why I don’t always get the expensive kind.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been bare minimum the last few years and feel great about how I look, but I’ve embraced middle age invisibility wholeheartedly.

I use Head & Shoulders 2 in 1 with tea tree oil to wash my very short hair and a tiny dab of Aveda Be Curly (my one splurge, but it lasts a year or more given my hair length) to give it some texture, Aveeno body wash, almond oil to moisturize body after shower. I use Olay for face moisturizer and either Olay or Neutrogena face wash. My only makeup is Wet & Wild eyeliner and Burt’s Bees lip balm - and I curl my eyelashes.

I wish I could get all the hours and dollars back that I spent on hair and makeup and such over my lifetime. It was a huge waste of time and resources which I could have spent on books and reading lol.