5 Ways to Save Money on Cosmetics and Personal Care Items

Estimated Monthly Savings: $50

In the United States, consumers spend billions of dollars each year to look younger, feel beautiful, and have silky, luscious hair. Marketing professionals use targeted advertising techniques to convince women that they need to spend thousands of dollars to look like a supermodel on a magazine cover when beauty can be achieved for a fraction of the cost by making smart shopping decisions and engaging in a little old-fashioned DIY. If you are looking to save some money on beauty and personal care items, check out the following tips:

Body and Face Scrubs: Body and face scrubs can run anywhere from $5 to $50 a jar, depending on the brand name, and are nothing more than oil and a scrubbing agent. You can custom create your exfoliating body and face scrubs with ingredients you already have at home like sunflower oil, olive oil, coconut oil, coffee grounds, salt, sugar, or ground up nut shells. You can make your own scrub for as little as $0.50 to $1 and achieve the same results as the designer brands.

Buy in Bulk!: Become a member of your local warehouse superstore and purchase select beauty and personal care items in bulk. You will save a lot of money on lotion, shampoo, conditioner, face cream, and more when you stock up. If a half-gallon of a product is too much for you, split it with friends and family and reap the rewards of even more savings! National brands often contain the same ingredients as their designer label cousins and will cost you much less money.

Cost Cutting on Cosmetics: Buying new cosmetics adds up quickly, and if you are used to department store brands, you can spend upward of $30 per item. To save a lot of money quickly, switch to drugstore brands or sign up for cosmetic clubs. Try out a variety of different drugstore brands and you are sure to find one that is comparable to your department store favorites. You can also sign up for cosmetic clubs that will send you a random sampling of items to try each month for as little as $10. This is a fun way to try out new products on a consistent basis and save yourself some cash. You can also request free samples from manufacturers when they introduce new products and always keep your makeup bag stuffed with goodies.

Use Less and Save More: Consumers are notorious for using way more of a product than they actually need during each application. Double the lifespan of your shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, and makeup by cutting the amount you use in half. This is a simple technique that will save you 50% each year.

Sales, Apps, and Coupons: There are millions of dollars in coupon savings that go unredeemed each year because consumers do not take the time to hunt for discounts. Find coupons for the products you love and keep an eye out on store weekly ads for these products to go on sale. You can get the products you love for pennies on the dollar when you practice smart shopping. Save even more money by downloading shopping apps to your phone that allow you to snap photos of your purchase receipts for rebates.

Looking and feeling your best does not need to cost a fortune and these simple tips will help you save a lot of money over the course of a year. You can still get your hands on the products you desire and your newfound extra cash will make you feel like a winner!