I've always enjoyed wearing makeup.
As a teenager I first starting using my face as a canvas to hide all the image destroying zits that sparsely covered my forehead and formed in patches on my cheeks. Naturally, at the time of my face painting phase, I was unaware of the scientific improvements being made to treat acne that would eventually appear first in the doctors office as Retin A. Meanwhile I continued to strip all the natural oils from my skin by over washing my face with soap, and further drying it out by applying rubbing alcohol to my zits. This is not a good idea. Sometimes my face was so tight and dry in places it hurt and then I ironically ended up applying some kind of oil (petroleum jelly aka Vaseline or regular baby oil) to soothe and restore the obviously necessary moisture back to my skin. Yes, the teenage years; I've since learned much healthier skincare methods.
Cosmetics always have been and still are an expense for most women when adapting a budget. The Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) jobs I worked as a teen enabled me to start purchasing make up on my own. When I got my first close up look at the price of cosmetics, I realized getting pretty was going to be pretty expensive, and as expected, along the way, there were a few expensive mistakes made. How I wish the idea of the tester trays had caught on more back then.
In the early eighties, most cosmetics were sold in chain stores like F.W. Woolworth (now Footlocker) or major department stores like Macy's and Bloomingdale's or the more affordable Alexander's (I'll reminisce about Alexander's another blog). I didn't even know places like Sephora existed and any local store or neighborhood bodega had a very minuscule stock and basically nothing for someone of medium to darker skin tones such as my own. I may have been gainfully employed, but at age 14 I really still wasn't allowed to go shopping in a store alone and really wasn't supposed to be buying makeup, thus began what I called my "Teenage girl's mission to go shopping for---". As soon as I got paid I hit the stores.
Now fast forward to present day. While the business of beauty is booming unfortunately the economy has not been wonderful to all of our pockets. Still if you shop around you can find products to fit every budget.
When you have an extremely tight budget, you should focus on your best features and spend your money on the products that will enhance them.
Five Tips for Budget Beauty
- It's always good to experiment, but when you find a brand you like, stick with it. This way you'll have an estimate of what you will be spending when you run out.
- Check the Sunday news for health and beauty store sales like CVS, Walgreen, or Rite Aid. Look for discounts and coupons in magazines....yes, I said magazines like the paper ones which I still prefer because they come with lots of free samples. Store circulars also carry coupons for cosmetics and of course all that annoying paper that person keeps stuffing in your mailbox is worth looking through sometimes.
- Know your skin type before you buy and take the time to read the ingredients. Why buy something if it makes your skin look and feel worse.
- Purchase multi-functional products like an all over cover stick and buy in bulk when you can.
- Stock up as much as possible so you can still look good in hard times.
Whatever the amount of your beauty allowance, invest in the products you apply the most, and go less expensive on items you may only use for special occasions.
Stay looking good in a tough economy.
Check out your local Dollar Tree for many of these products for one dollar!
Are you bad and bougie on a budget?
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