Sharing the love for Forest Essentials! They smell so good!!!!

OP, I find a bare minimum routine so liberating. I do use good European moisturizers, a sunscreen that's tinted for my darker skin, and NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer. That's it. I haven't found my holy Grail hair treatment, and at almost 40, I've found I can't really be bothered. Life is too full to deal with shallowness.

I will say that the PP who mentioned dyeing hair bc of employment prospects does have a point. Sad but true that we do need to prepare for things like that.

Botox: $800/quarter (with board-certified derm)
Hair: $400/quarter
Supplements: $400/quarter
Skin care: $1200/year (tretinoin, vitamin c, cerave products)
Makeup, nails: $500/year

So annually, $8100

Yikes!

$0.00

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am already on bare minimum. There is very few things that I splurge on.

My biggest cost is monthly hair cut and color - $80.

Most my products are basically homemade for skin and haircare. I have good skin and hair. I keep my nail short and paint my own nails. I make my own wax and do my own waxing and threading.

These are the products I buy in US -
"baby foot peel", Loreal lipstick, Oil of olay moisturizer, stivectin neck cream from costco

I buy my makeup and bath products from India -
Lakme and Forest Essentials. Forest Essentials cost a bomb too.

My pharma beauty products are from India - RetinA (costs around $1 per tube) and face serums.

Recipe for waxing?

I use citric acid instead of lemon.

If you really feel you have to wear makeup, go to a discount grocer, like Amish or Mennonite place. They have tons of big names.

I’m a pro at this.
Cut my own hair, basically just when it’s in my eyes.
Buy shampoo/conditioner at Trader Joe’s and discount grocery places.
No makeup
Make my own anti aging serum with very very low cost c powder and water
Cut and shape nails and buff for shine
Generic aveeno for face and hands

Nars, not bars
Also cereve not cerebellum

I’m a mostly low maintenance drugstore girlie (late 40s if ya have to know). I’m not brand loyal but have liked the following:

- neutrogena or cerebellum face cream
- eucerin 50 tinted sunscreen
-eucerin daily hydration moisturizer
- herbal essences, Pantene or Aussie schampoo
I do live Aveda hair styling products like nitrile ish circle gelee or the round tan disk of wax

Recently I splurged for makeup and got bars at Sephora. I like it well enough, but the tinted moisturizer is good for everyday

Ive bought cheap and expensive mascara. Dont see a difference. The cheaper might be better. Biggest difference is curlin. Or use twine kind of oil my daughter used to make long lashes.

Where does one get botox for $350? Very interested

What I do now:
- Botox $350 4x a year, so $1,400
- Hair $400 2x a year, so $800
- Make-up probably $200 a year, I don't wear much and mix drugstore and some $30 things
- Shower (hair, body, lotion) probably $100 a year at the very most
- Skincare/Moistuirizer probaly $150 a year, mix of drugstore and Tatcha/Laneige, etc...
- I don't do my nails but maybe do a $30 pedicure 2x a year.

Let's say I spend $2,700 a year.

If I absolutely had to cut to the bare minimum I would not get Botox, would buy only drugstore and some store brand products for everything, and I would probably not have to dye my hair (only a few pluckable grays at 42). I have cut my own hair before during the pandemic with sort of success if I focus and stay very basic (long, straight, easy).

Some products I like that are cheap are:
- Target brand head and shoulders shampoo leaves my hair feeling clean (not good for color), suave coconut conditioner is nice but you need a lot if you have thick hair. fructis if you are looking for drugstore brand. I like the dove brand dry shampoo which is about $6 a can.
- Face: Target's dupes for cetaphil and aveeno and neutrogena are all nice. Eucerin in always on sale in AM/PM packs. Differin is $11 a tube.
- I love Trader Joe's stuff: their clear face wash, body lotions, shampoos and conditioners, and seasonal dupes for glow recipe/pharmacy/sol de janeiro/laneige lip balm/etc... I buy them all and like 90% of them.
- Makeup: I am loyal to Almay bb cream and loreal true match concealer, both of which are cheap. If I use powder it's a sample size translucent from tatcha or maybe a drugstore mineral translucent. I like Nars blush but you can find dupes. Maybelline mascara. Any eyeshadow. Lip I do tend to spend money on (Wonderskin, Clinique, Charlotte Tilbury) but you can get balms for good prices, and Amazon Prime Day has makeup deals all the time (on Laneige especially).

Anonymous wrote:I am already on bare minimum. There is very few things that I splurge on.

My biggest cost is monthly hair cut and color - $80.

Most my products are basically homemade for skin and haircare. I have good skin and hair. I keep my nail short and paint my own nails. I make my own wax and do my own waxing and threading.

These are the products I buy in US -
"baby foot peel", Loreal lipstick, Oil of olay moisturizer, stivectin neck cream from costco

I buy my makeup and bath products from India -
Lakme and Forest Essentials. Forest Essentials cost a bomb too.

My pharma beauty products are from India - RetinA (costs around $1 per tube) and face serums.

Recipe for waxing?

The only thing I spend money on is moisturizer. Nothing else is worth the money to me.

I am already on bare minimum. There is very few things that I splurge on.

My biggest cost is monthly hair cut and color - $80.

Most my products are basically homemade for skin and haircare. I have good skin and hair. I keep my nail short and paint my own nails. I make my own wax and do my own waxing and threading.

These are the products I buy in US -
"baby foot peel", Loreal lipstick, Oil of olay moisturizer, stivectin neck cream from costco

I buy my makeup and bath products from India -
Lakme and Forest Essentials. Forest Essentials cost a bomb too.

My pharma beauty products are from India - RetinA (costs around $1 per tube) and face serums.

Anonymous wrote:

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

Why is this sad? I think the idea that expensive is always better is sad—it simply isn’t true. I guess a fool and their money really are soon parted.

Maybe $300 a year not counting weight loss which is a health expense for me (and has been free but will go up next year). My most frequent expenses are face wash and face cream. My makeup is Clinique or drugstore (Elf and NYX both good) and I keep it until it's gone rather than toss after X months. I have a couple nicer brands I requested as holiday gifts.

I cut my whole family's hair including mine. I used to dye mine at home but I've decided to grow out the gray - we'll see how long I can go before visiting a salon for help. My curly hair products are expensive but last a long time.