How I Save A Ton Of Money On Makeup And Still Look Fabulous

Hello. My name is Lisa, and I wear makeup. Oh, did I mention that I’m also not ashamed of it? I know in today’s day and age of minimalism and loving oneself for who you are without the need for makeup is all the rage. But I’m not raging that way. I enjoy my makeup and I’m not giving it up. I do, however, keep it frugal and save a ton of money when it comes to spending on makeup. Here’s how.

Introducing The Backstory

First, let’s go over the backstory so you understand my viewpoint and fondness of daily makeup.

Growing up back in the 80s and 90s, I can remember watching my mom apply her makeup and style her hair every single day. If you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought she had a high-profile, power career that demanded she looked her best at all times. Well, let me tell you, that was not the case.

Aside from a few spotty years of employment, she was mostly a stay-at-home wife and mother. Even after having 4 children (I’m the youngest), she meticulously geared up for each day by employing a makeup and hair styling routine fit for a model. No sneakers in sight, my mom sported heels seven days a week.

Day after day, year after year, I watched my mother put on her polished face in preparation to tackle the world. And thus, I, too, fell into a love affair with makeup when I hit my teen years.

Those Awkward Years

Emulating my mother’s morning routine, I started wearing makeup routinely in high school. Back then I was clueless about a lot of things, including makeup, as evidenced in the pic above. I mean, bronze eye shadow? C’mon. I obviously wasn’t one of those put-together girls that always had perfect hair, perfect clothes, and a perfect life. Instagram-worthy, I was not.

Nope, I was the awkward girl that had no idea what I was doing or where I was going, but I did know that I liked wearing makeup. I didn’t wear makeup to cover up who I was or to make me more appealing to boys. I just liked it and thought that every girl wore it.

Aside from my awful bronze lipstick and eyeshadow (so awful for my skin tone), I had a knack for applying my makeup and enjoyed knowing it evened out my skin and made me feel polished.

Eventually, in my 20s, I learned how to pick makeup that was right for my skin and I realized that wearing makeup didn’t have to mean the whole shebang every day. And by “whole shebang” I mean I was wearing, foundation, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lip liner, and lipstick. Every. single. day.

Now that we covered that necessary ground, I will now regale you with an entertaining account of how I save a ton of money on makeup and still look fabulous…I hope.

The Makeup

Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s…well, you know the rest. I’m not brand loyal but I do tend to buy the same makeup over and over again as part of my frugal routine that works for me.

This is what I like…

• Foundation: CoverGirl liquid in creamy natural (affiliate link)
• Cheeks: CoverGirl, Cheekers blush in classic pink (affiliate link)
• Eyes: Any brand of mascara will do as long as it’s very black like this one (affiliate link)
• Lips: I prefer a pale shimmery pink like this (affiliate link), no brand preference

My 3-Step/3-Minute Morning Makeup Routine

I don’t mean to brag…but…my morning makeup routine takes me about 3 minutes and consists of 3 basic steps. Those 3 steps start with the application of foundation and end with shimmery lips with a little blush in between.

Foundation

I start out with my super inexpensive creamy natural CoverGirl foundation that matches my skin tone to give myself an even all-over look. I sporadically yet evenly dot the foundation all over my face. Yes, I actually do that. Then, as expected, I use my fingers (no sponges here) to apply it.

Foundation application makes me instantly look like my face is fresh. I don’t normally have big blotchy or uneven patches, but when I do, (read: lack of sleep because my kid was up sick all night) foundation is the perfect cover up, so to speak.

Total Time: Approximately 1 minute

Cheeks

After the foundation has been laid, I embark on adding a little color to my cheeks in an attempt to look less like a ghost and more like someone who is among the living.

For this, I break out my super cheap blush brush. Say that 3 times really fast!  When I say super cheap I actually mean free. Yes, this is what happens when your husband makes movies for a living and can bring home the extras from the set. Sometimes those extras = free makeup, hair supplies, and applicators. Yep, I’m a lucky girl.

Before being given a new blush brush, I had a 10-year-old brush that I bought for about 5 bucks back in the day. It served me well and I certainly got my money’s worth out of it. No doubt my consistent and thorough cleaning of said brush contributed to its usefulness and longevity.

These days I’m using the new, free brush to apply my classic pink blush to my cheeks. I smile when I apply blush to make sure I’m hitting the right spots high on my cheekbones. At some point in my life, I heard a pro give that tip so I clung on for dear life and still use it till this day.

Total Time: Approximately 1 minute

Eyes and Lips

Here come the finishing touches. Like I said earlier, unless I’m getting married, hitting the town, or invited to some ballgown event, I’m skipping the red lips and eye makeup. My daily routine consists of a little mascara since my lashes are almost non-existent and a simple shimmery pink lipgloss to give my lips a bit of a glow, but in a natural sorta way.

Remember, my goal is to look polished without looking like I’m wearing a bunch of makeup. In my biased opinion, I believe I achieve this goal most days.

Total Time: Approximately 1 minute

What About The Hair?

Here’s the scoop on the ‘poo and goo that keeps my locks long and luscious without costing a fortune. Just joking about that long and luscious bit. My hair is okay but I wouldn’t necessarily file it under the long and luscious category.

I buy the absolute cheapest shampoo and conditioner on the planet. Seriously. I don’t pay more than $1.50/bottle and it usually lasts me for weeks. I go through a bit more conditioner than I do shampoo because I have a lot of THIN hair. Thin hair = tangles.

My hair-washing regimen consists of ‘poo, conditioner, and, well, that’s about it. And like a lot of women out there, I also don’t wash my hair every day which saves me time and money! On days I do wash my hair, I blow it dry and will sometimes use a little (a lot) dab of mousse to give it a little extra bounce.

I must say if you’re looking to save time, skipping hair products like mousse, gel, and putty is advised. I’ve noticed that incorporating these requires more frequent washings. And when I say more frequent, I mean every day. Although I love having that extra bounce from mousse or that edgier look from putty, I opt to skip it if I know I won’t have time to fuss with my mane the next morning.

After the mousse, gel, putty, or whatever, I blow it dry and add a few finishing puffs of hairspray to keep it in place yet still soft and flexible. The goal is to have styled hair and not helmet-head. 🙂

Now when it comes to my hairspray, I don’t cheap out. I mean, I want to cheap out, I just can’t. I have tried tirelessly to find an inexpensive hairspray that holds my hair in place without being stiff and leaving a residue. All attempts have failed miserably.

Side note: I’m still open to suggestions if you want to offer one up.

After being defeated more times than I can count, I have accepted that every two to three months I must purchase a can of professional hairspray like Bed Head or Big Sexy Hair (psst, those are affiliate links to products I actually use and absolutely love). My preference is Bed Head from Amazon. I can snag 2 cans for $20 delivered to my front door.

Related:

• Ditch The Financial Gimmicks For A Better Life
• Frugal Eats For Our Workweek
• Frugal Hacks To Live An Awesome Life
• Mama Always Told Me You Better Have Your Own Money

The Expense

Time to break it down. All in all, each of my makeup items costs approximately $5 – $6 when I shop at Dollar General or a comparable discount store. Lucky for me we live in a very congested area of Pennsylvania so finding one of these discount chains is never a problem.

So let’s say I drop $20 on these items and most items last longer than a single month, that means I’m spending about $10/month on makeup. Add in the hairspray and it’s a couple of bucks more. Well worth the expense in my post-makeup, polished opinion.

Wrapping It Up

Being frugal doesn’t mean cutting every last luxury to the bone. Keeping my makeup routine was never on the budget chopping block. One, because it’s not a major line item and, two, I like it.

If I were buying super expensive brands that were adding up to $50 or more each month, I’d definitely look for ways to reduce the cost without compromising the outcome. Thankfully that’s never been the case for me so I’m keeping my morning makeup routine and I’m not sorry about it.

How do you keep your makeup routine cheap?

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