Geeks on a Budget: Face Care on a Budget
Greetings, readers! Our lovely Editor in Chief has a fabulous regular bit called Beauty and the Geek where she gives advice on health and beauty to all who are interested. She’s cover a ton of topics, but today, I’m going to edge a little into her territory and throw the budget angle into this as well as share some of my own regimen. You may be a little surprised, but hopefully these tips will help. Let’s start with a little bit of shopping help.
1. Sales and Coupons
This one came right from our E-I-C herself. If you have products you love, shop around for the best deal. Look in the coupon mailers that stuff your mailbox every day, look online for deals, and see if places will price match. Drugstore.com is fantastic for finding good deals on good products, and Amazon sometimes has deals if you buy products in bulk from certain sellers. Look for a product you like on Facebook and see if there’s coupons for hitting that “Like” button. I’ve come out with many a good deal as well has had an opportunity to try new products that way.
2. Shop Cheap
This really relates to using off-brands and some of the lower-cost brands. I’m sure e.l.f. products have been brought up, and they do make really good make-up remover cloths and other good items. Sometimes a company like Wal*Mart, K-mart, or Target has their own version of a popular product. For example, they make their own versions of Neutrogena’s cleansers as well as baby oils and lotions. If you don’t have sensitivities or problems with the off-brands, give that a try. Also, even if you buy a brand name, buying the larger size is typically the better deal.
Those are really my biggest bits of advice as far as the shopping goes. Now I’m going to share with you my own regimen and include the prices.
I have very weird combination skin, so I’ve had to experiment until I’ve found the best soap. I use Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Acne Wash, which on their site is selling for $4.49 (marked down a dollar). A bottle lasts me several months, so I’m going to average that to about $1.25 each month. I also use a regular bath puff to exfoliate my face twice a week, which I paid $.99 for, and will last me at least six months. For keeping my lips moisturized, I use Burt’s Bee’s Nourishing Lip Balm, which is about $3.50 and lasts me roughly four months. I make sure to go at least two days a week without using foundation so that my skin can breathe, and wash my face morning and night. My eye makeup remover is by Almay and costs $4.69, lasting also four months or more. I use witch hazel as an astringent, costing $2.95 for a six month supply (at least), and use Johnson’s Shea and Cocoa Butter baby oil on my dry spots, spending about $3.00 on a six month supply (I also use it for full-body care).
So let’s assume that all of the above is merely for a six month supply. I spend about $3.50 a month on my facial care at most. That’s relatively accurate. If I need cotton pads, I get them at the dollar store. I also tend to spend less because I do use coupons for the things I know I buy regularly, buy multiple packs if I can, and always get the economy size.
Now I know there’s some of you out there that insist that department store brands are the way to go, that spending $50 on your face wash means that you’ll get the best product out there. Well, hate to burst that bubble, but that’s not always true. Quite often department store brands will sell to drugstores under a different brand. The best thing to do is read labels and make sure you aren’t swayed by clever marketing campaigns. Use what’s best for you. If you have one pricey brand you know works, use it, but make sure you balance your costs in other areas.
Next week, I’ll be going on the full body skin care and a few tips for saving money. Consider it a bit of an addition to today’s. Happy face washing!
Geeks on a Budget is a weekly column about saving money without sacrificing the geek lifestyle.
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