The other day a fellow mommy friend posted a picture on Instagram showing a Sephora bag full of goodies. She was so happy to get the small, black and white stripped bag filled with goodies for under $200. I counted, she got 5 items for her $200.
As frugal as I am, I happen to love makeup. I remember counting down the days in Jr. high school until my mom would allow me to wear mascara. I’m not particularly ‘’girly’’ and have no problem walking around sans makeup, but given the opportunity it’s something I have quite a bit of fun with. As much as I love makeup, I love money savings more. If given $200 to spend on makeup, it would last me over two years.
I’m not judging how someone chooses to spend their money. If you want to use a decent chunk of disposable income on beauty supplies, to each his own. My preference though is to look good on a budget and for me this mostly means quality drugstore products.
Buy Makeup From the Drugstore
This isn’t going to be a product-recommending post because, quite honestly what works well for me may not work for you at all. What I will say though is that ‘’drugstore’’ quality products have come a long way in the last few years.
I’ve tried a few expensive brands on some items (I’d never pay more than like $8 for mascara though) but honestly in the last 10 years especially, the quality and selection of some drugstore brands outweighs some of my high-end stuff, to the point that I can’t justify the major difference in price.
It took me a few years to find a really good foundation, I eventually did find a name brand one that worked for me for years. It was during my maternity leave (when I couldn’t justify the $34 per bottle anymore) that I decide to try a well-reviewed drugstore one. I immediately felt like an idiot when my new $12 bottle was out performing my expensive one. I now have three favorite drugstore foundations, all under $15 which I rotate through.
Watch YouTube Makeup Reviews & Tutorials
This is where my first tip comes in. You Tube. I am borderline obsessed with YouTube makeup videos. My favorites being product reviews. If there’s a product you think you may be interested in, or you’re searching for something new, check out YouTube.
What I love about YouTube beauty vloggers, is that they give great, honest, opinions on different products. Most of the woman will test a product all day and do through the effort of showing you how it wears as the day goes on. Some will also do things like take pictures using flash photography so you get more ideas of how the products appear. You Tube is the place to go when looking for opinions on any products. YouTube vloggers are also great at giving tutorials for different ‘’looks’’.
Shop Amazon
My next ‘’tool’’ for a frugal beauty collection is Amazon. Things like beauty brushes are usually much cheaper on Amazon than they are in any store. Good quality too.
I find most of the actual products to be pretty comparable to prices I can get at stores around me though so unless it’s a product I can’t find around here, or looking to saving on shipping (in which case I’ll add a product I frequently use), I’ll just buy products here. I often check prices though just to see what they’re selling for as a reference point. I like EBay too but find Amazon to generally be quicker with shipping and easier to deal with for returns.
It really doesn’t have to cost hundreds of dollars a year to have a great quality makeup look. If you’ve been using the same expensive products for a long time, I suggest picking one to try to replace with a ‘’drugstore’’ brand. It will probably surprise you!
Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.
