Where to Save and Splurge with Your Beauty Products

In a dream world we could splurge on everything and it wouldn’t affect our budget. Unfortunately that isn’t the case. We run out of everything at the same time, our panty hose run and our hair looks fantastic the day before our hair appointment – such is life. So we have to strategically splurge and save in order to get the most for our money and look.

My general rule of thumb is to splurge on your base products, save on the “fluffier” ones. I’ll explain that here in a second.

First, keep in mind the fact that when you spend a lot of money on a product, it is going to go a lot farther so your cost per use might be about the same as a cheaper product.

Now let me show you what I’m talking about…

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Moisturizers: Splurge

It’s the first thing you put on in the morning and the last thing you put on at night. They sit on your skin for long periods of time and have long-term effects on your skin. Here’s what I use…

Artistry Brand Night Cream – one of the highest rated brands in the beauty industry. It runs around $100 (click here to get more info about purchasing). At night your skin cells are turning over while you sleep, which makes it even more important that you have quality ingredients helping your skin repair itself.

Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate – Facial oil that also helps while you sleep. It’s going to really moisturize and help stave off wrinkles as well as help with putting good oil on your skin so that it doesn’t have to work hard to produce its own (which ends up in a breakout). This is around $50 at Kiehl’s.

Neutrogena Day Cream – while it’s not as expensive, it is a higher end drugstore product ringing in at $20. It’s got SPF and Vitamin C which helps keep your skin tone look radiant.

With all the money you’re spending on these moisturizers you can save it when it comes to face wash and body lotion.

Face Wash, Body Lotion: Save

Cetaphil: I’ve heard and read so many good things about this brand. And I’ve gotten from multiple sources that dermatologists recommend it. I’ve also tried a wide range of brands when it comes to face wash and this stuff does just as good of a job as the expensive brands. It’s only $6. The lotion is great as well, it really puts the moisture back in your skin without being greasy (it’s around $10).

Makeup Brushes: Splurge

To get the most professional looking makeup, you’ve got to have great brushes.

A cheap makeup brush isn’t going to last you as long, it’s not going to leave the product on your face well, and it’s going to start shedding little hairs all over your face.

Sephora has a great selection, MAC and Bare Minerals are also great places to go. I have an angled eye brush from MAC that I’ve been using every day for over 5 years and the bristles are still strong and useful. I’ve definitely gotten my money’s worth out of it.

Mascara, Eye Makeup Remover: Save

Save some cash with your mascara and eye makeup remover. I’ve tried different expensive brands of eye makeup remover that do work great – but this Target brand does just as good of a job and it’s around $3-4 (and sometimes it comes in a two pack at a deal).

Same things goes for mascara. Sure there are some expensive brands out there that are going to be awesome, but with something like this that you have to replace every 3 months, go with a cheaper brand that’s going to work really well. I love this Loreal Voluminous mascara more than I’ve loved bigger brand name mascaras that promise all these different things but don’t deliver.

This one gives me full lashes, allows me to touch up without becoming crunchy and comes off easily at night.

I hope this has helped spread our your beauty budget as well as give you ideas on how to best take care of your skin!

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