Over the course of her lifetime, the average woman spends 1 million dollars on beauty care.
Ok, that statistic was completely made up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that number wasn't too far off. Women want to look good. Beauty care is expensive, but ladies often spend more money than necessary on their looks.
Most things can be done at home instead of paying others to do it, and in many cases, with homemade beauty products.
Hair Styling
Hair salons usually charge an arm and a leg to do something that you can easily do at home. Things like blow drying, curling, and straightening can usually be done at home with the aid of a blow dryer, the right brush, a curling iron, straightening iron and some hair spray. Yes, this equipment is not very cheap, but if you insist on a styling, even after the cost of the equipment, doing it yourself is a much cheaper equivalent.
If you do insist on paying someone to do it for you, beauty schools are a cheaper alternative.
Hair Cuts
I've already mentioned how easily and cheaply you can cut men's hair at home with a simple trimming machine, but even women's hair can easily be cut at home. All that is required is a mirror, comb, spray bottle and good scissors. Hair cutting tips can be found on youtube. If you're nervous, first try cutting someone else's hair and have them cut yours. Once you get that down, you can even cut your own hair into a beautiful style.
Note- it may be worthwhile to cut the hair a bit longer than you want it at first so that if you need to correct it, you have some leeway.
Layered hair cuts are the easiest to give yourself, because they're more forgiving of slight uneven lines.
I'm totally thrilled with my homemade haircut done by moi in front of a mirror. Looks better than any professional haircut.
If you do want to have it professionally done, grow out your hair and donate it for Locks for Love and you'll usually get a free haircut and style in return. Alternative, you can go to a beauty school for a cheaper cut.
If you go to a hair salon, if you come with your hair already washed and brushed, you'll probably save money for saving them work.
Hair Dye
First off, consider eliminating hair dye. That stuff is chock full of chemicals that will be sitting on your scalp, right near your brain. Do you really want all those chemicals leeching in? Can you just embrace the hair that you've got?
If you do insist on dying your hair, consider doing it yourself at home. I dyed my hair at home once and it was so simple and easy and cheap- much better than the more expensive salon alternative.
Eyebrow Shaping
Instead of paying a professional to shape your eyebrows, do some online research to discover which eyebrow shape suits your eyes and face best. Use a tweezer and pluck to get the desired results. Tweezers are a one time cost, are easy to learn to use and they work well.
Upper Lip Hair
Instead of paying a professional to do this for you, you have two options. For those looking for a simple answer, just buy hair removal strips from your local pharmacy. These are cheaper than paying a professional and are easy to learn how to use.
Alternatively, you can try threading, a hair removal technique from Asia that involves twisting a thin thread and catching little hairs inside it, pulling them out in the process. This is a bit more complicated but is definitely cheaper than even hair removal strips and definitely cheaper than a professional. I have managed to figure out threading enough to remove small areas of hair and with a little more practice, I'm sure I'll get good enough to even shape my eyebrows that way.
Legs
You can pay a professional 20 dollars per leg to remove all your hair via waxing, or you can simply buy an at home wax kit from the store.
Or you can go even cheaper and sugar wax- a great hair removal technique that requires only sugar, lemon juice and water. I've done this and it works well and I plan on doing a full length post just on sugar waxing.
Epilators are also an alternative to professional waxings while still removing hair from the root.
Manicures
Do this at home! Why pay a professional 10 dollars per hand so they can paint your nails? Just by your own polish and do it yourself and save a whole lot of money! Not able to paint the nails on your dominant hand? Switch off with a friend and do each others' nails.
All the equipment you need- a nail file, nail clippers, acetone and nail polish.
Pedicures
Do you pay someone money to scrub the hard parts off your feet before painting your toes? Honestly, I've got a hard time with this concept, money aside. I feel it is quite degrading to ask someone to do that for you, even for pay, so would do this at home regardless of cost.
To give yourself a full fledged pedicure, fill a wide bucket up with warm water, possibly add some epsom salts, then soak your feet for a good while. (About 15 minutes should do the trick.) This should soften up any rough spots, making it easy to remove dead skin with a pumice stone and a loofah. Use nail scissors, nail clippers, and nail files to trim your toe nails, making sure not to cut the toenails too close to avoid ingrown toenails.
Then give yourself a good paint if you so desire.
No need to shell out 20 dollars or more each time.
Deodorant
Forget Secret. Chemicals in antiperspirants and deodorants have possibly be linked to breast cancer. Baking soda mixed with corn starch brushed onto underarms works great as a deodorant without the chemicals. I also have a recipe for homemade deodorant that I want to try soon and share with you.
Lotion
Instead of buying expensive chemically stuff, just using a bit of coconut oil (bought in bulk to make it cheaper) works well as a moisturizer for dry, rough skin.
How much do you spend on your beauty care? Too much, too little, or the perfect amount? What do you do to cheapen the price of being beautiful
Ok, that statistic was completely made up, but I wouldn't be surprised if that number wasn't too far off. Women want to look good. Beauty care is expensive, but ladies often spend more money than necessary on their looks.
Most things can be done at home instead of paying others to do it, and in many cases, with homemade beauty products.
DIY Beauty Care
Hair Styling
Hair salons usually charge an arm and a leg to do something that you can easily do at home. Things like blow drying, curling, and straightening can usually be done at home with the aid of a blow dryer, the right brush, a curling iron, straightening iron and some hair spray. Yes, this equipment is not very cheap, but if you insist on a styling, even after the cost of the equipment, doing it yourself is a much cheaper equivalent.
If you do insist on paying someone to do it for you, beauty schools are a cheaper alternative.
Hair Cuts
I've already mentioned how easily and cheaply you can cut men's hair at home with a simple trimming machine, but even women's hair can easily be cut at home. All that is required is a mirror, comb, spray bottle and good scissors. Hair cutting tips can be found on youtube. If you're nervous, first try cutting someone else's hair and have them cut yours. Once you get that down, you can even cut your own hair into a beautiful style.
Note- it may be worthwhile to cut the hair a bit longer than you want it at first so that if you need to correct it, you have some leeway.
Layered hair cuts are the easiest to give yourself, because they're more forgiving of slight uneven lines.
I'm totally thrilled with my homemade haircut done by moi in front of a mirror. Looks better than any professional haircut.
If you do want to have it professionally done, grow out your hair and donate it for Locks for Love and you'll usually get a free haircut and style in return. Alternative, you can go to a beauty school for a cheaper cut.
If you go to a hair salon, if you come with your hair already washed and brushed, you'll probably save money for saving them work.
Hair Dye
First off, consider eliminating hair dye. That stuff is chock full of chemicals that will be sitting on your scalp, right near your brain. Do you really want all those chemicals leeching in? Can you just embrace the hair that you've got?
If you do insist on dying your hair, consider doing it yourself at home. I dyed my hair at home once and it was so simple and easy and cheap- much better than the more expensive salon alternative.
Eyebrow Shaping
Instead of paying a professional to shape your eyebrows, do some online research to discover which eyebrow shape suits your eyes and face best. Use a tweezer and pluck to get the desired results. Tweezers are a one time cost, are easy to learn to use and they work well.
Upper Lip Hair
Instead of paying a professional to do this for you, you have two options. For those looking for a simple answer, just buy hair removal strips from your local pharmacy. These are cheaper than paying a professional and are easy to learn how to use.
Alternatively, you can try threading, a hair removal technique from Asia that involves twisting a thin thread and catching little hairs inside it, pulling them out in the process. This is a bit more complicated but is definitely cheaper than even hair removal strips and definitely cheaper than a professional. I have managed to figure out threading enough to remove small areas of hair and with a little more practice, I'm sure I'll get good enough to even shape my eyebrows that way.
Legs
You can pay a professional 20 dollars per leg to remove all your hair via waxing, or you can simply buy an at home wax kit from the store.
Or you can go even cheaper and sugar wax- a great hair removal technique that requires only sugar, lemon juice and water. I've done this and it works well and I plan on doing a full length post just on sugar waxing.
Epilators are also an alternative to professional waxings while still removing hair from the root.
Manicures
Do this at home! Why pay a professional 10 dollars per hand so they can paint your nails? Just by your own polish and do it yourself and save a whole lot of money! Not able to paint the nails on your dominant hand? Switch off with a friend and do each others' nails.
All the equipment you need- a nail file, nail clippers, acetone and nail polish.
Pedicures
Do you pay someone money to scrub the hard parts off your feet before painting your toes? Honestly, I've got a hard time with this concept, money aside. I feel it is quite degrading to ask someone to do that for you, even for pay, so would do this at home regardless of cost.
To give yourself a full fledged pedicure, fill a wide bucket up with warm water, possibly add some epsom salts, then soak your feet for a good while. (About 15 minutes should do the trick.) This should soften up any rough spots, making it easy to remove dead skin with a pumice stone and a loofah. Use nail scissors, nail clippers, and nail files to trim your toe nails, making sure not to cut the toenails too close to avoid ingrown toenails.
Then give yourself a good paint if you so desire.
No need to shell out 20 dollars or more each time.
Deodorant
Forget Secret. Chemicals in antiperspirants and deodorants have possibly be linked to breast cancer. Baking soda mixed with corn starch brushed onto underarms works great as a deodorant without the chemicals. I also have a recipe for homemade deodorant that I want to try soon and share with you.
Lotion
Instead of buying expensive chemically stuff, just using a bit of coconut oil (bought in bulk to make it cheaper) works well as a moisturizer for dry, rough skin.
How much do you spend on your beauty care? Too much, too little, or the perfect amount? What do you do to cheapen the price of being beautiful