Beauty on a Budget

You can't spell "bad btch"without bargain

Cutting Costs

While tariffs have been recently deceased, distribution centers are collecting their refunds of the costs they passed onto the consumer. Meanwhile, the effects of the prices still continue to live within the high prices we find in our beauty products. With the beauty industry being a billion dollar industry, this leaves women who still want to hold onto the normalcy of our regimens that keep us sane, looking for prices that meet our standards and budget. How do we keep up on our beauty routines, while shopping smart and intentional?

A $92 pretax, 30ml bottle of perfume is what inspired this post today, as well as the solution to saving me money. Though, I have to be honest, I don’t shop for perfumes often, so I’m not familiar with price fairness when it comes to. The perfume I fell in love with lingered around on my jackets, and hair, but would continue to refresh my memory that this 30ml bottle would cost around $92. I guess that's not too bad in an economy where gas is about $30 less than that, right? Wrong. Yet, I had to have it, so I went on the hunt to find my first recommendation on how to save on beauty tools and products discussed below.

Shopping Second Hand

Now I know what you're asking, did I get the perfume? Is a young ho, me? Of course I got the perfume, and I got it for $72 after tax AND shipping on my first suggestion of the day: Mercari.com

As of now, I am no where near popular enough to start accepting brand deals, so this is NOT sponsored or encouraged by anyone else, but me. I genuinely love shopping on the platform! I was pleased to also find that Mercari doesn't stop at perfumes and apparel, but other users on there offer hair products, hair tools. Mostly all brand new or gently used- for great deals that you can bargain with. This is the same for other platforms like Depop, Poshmark or even your local Facebook Market Place.

Another great option, even closer to home, would be product swapping with your friends. Think of all the many products sitting in your cabinet collecting dust, because you didn't feel like returning it. Instead of eventually throwing out full bottles of product or trying to use it just to not waste it. Try calling up a friend or more to do an impromptu product swap. Then, we hit two birds with one stone- saving money while limiting on waste.

Recap

• Shop Second Hand: Mercari, Poshmark, Depop, Facebook Marketplace

• Phone a Friend or Three: Product and Beauty Tool Swap

Built to Last

A little hesitant on buying from strangers? No worries, shopping from places that have heavy safety and packaging regulations brings all of our minds to ease. However, if you’re gong to shop in big retail stores while still saving on costs, investing into GREAT products that stand the test of time will be the name of the game for you.

I love cute packaging and trendy brands just like anyone, but sometimes that’s all some brands offer. I noticed that quality and quantity of a product is directed to the brand’s aesthetic instead of the actual product itself. There's a couple ways you can you tell for yourself. Firstly, ask a licensed professional, with experience. Sometimes, you don’t have to make an entire haircut appointment with a stylist to ask where to start, a simple consultation can be booked to get you on the right track and answer simple questions.

Another way is to stick with brands that have a history of remaining consistent in delivering great results as well as prices. Especially, when you compare the quantity of the product provided to the total on your receipt. From my 7 years behind the chair, here's what has lasted me in the salon for months on hundreds of heads, while also keeping my overhead fees low:

• Design Essentials

• Mielle's Organcis

• Mizani

• Ouidad

The great thing about these brands is that most offer liter sizes for a steal of a price, and they're pretty accessible to non-professionals as well. You may even be able to find liter sized, professional products from Ouidad and Design Essential's at discount stores like TJ Max and/or Marshall's

Recap

• Buy intentional over aesthetic

• Buy from reliable brands

• Shop liter sizes

• Look at discount stores

Phone a Friend

Okay, we got the products out of the way, but there's still one more thing to address. What about application? What if you don’t even know how to style your hair? That’s where your community comes in again.

After you product swap, see if your friend can show you how they applied the product to their hair. Maybe one of you knows how to curl hair very well, and the other knows how to braid! Swapping services would not only be a great way to save, but a beautiful way to bond with you close ones, as well as skill sharpening and knowledge swapping.

If none of you know where to begin, try investing into a consult or appointment with a cosmetologist to help gain insights on how to care for your hair. After your appointment, you can take these tips and tricks you learned and spread the knowledge amongst your friends. Lastly, we are all so lucky to live in the digital age where tutorials are on every platform we can get our hands on. I suggest taking a few weekends out of the month to learn how to do your hair from tutorials, then trial and error until you get accustomed. To make it more fun, learning with a friend could help ease the initial weight of perfection when you first start trying. We all have to start somewhere!

Recap

• Phone a friend

• Share the knowledge

• Watch tutorials

• Learn with a friend

At the end of the day, we all just want to hold onto the things that make us feel somewhat normal in a time where everything but occurs everyday. Even through tough times, we deserve to show up in whatever we consider our best to be, while also not being penny pinched and squeezed for every last cent we barely have. Especially from corporations who get refunds on our expense. As I stated before, you can't spell "bad bitch, without bargain."

If you enjoyed my blog, found these tips helpful or incorporated them into your lifestyle let me know by liking, sharing, commenting or even better, sticking around for my next upload. Thank you, I'll catch you next time,

byeeeee!