Makeup Tools on a Budget

From Arts and Craft Stores
Visit your local arts and crafts supply store for lots of great tools to use for makeup. Artist palettes work well for getting creative with mixing lip and eye colors. Particularly if you have a graveyard of colors you don’t like and you want to mix them together to tone them down or create new shades of your own. Just cut a little tip of the lipstick off and place on a palette to mix with other colors to create new colors, with foundation to tone colors down, or eye shadows to create completely new creative colors. Do the same with eye shadows-just place some on the palette and mix to your heart’s desire with any other makeup medium you can come up with. For an even cheaper way to mix colors together, use what I use for my paintings to mix colors-an empty Styrofoam egg carton. It gives you a dozen pockets for mixing and it’s disposable-and closable to save for later.

Paint and tool boxes make great makeup boxes with lots of compartments to store any kind of item. And artist brushes come in hundreds of shapes and sizes to choose from. Instead of paying a high price for good makeup brushes, look for high quality artist brushes on sale (Michaels Arts and Crafts Supply often has 50% off sales for brushes) and stock up on different kinds-many are shaped very much like makeup brushes. The natural bristles work best since acrylic or nylon brushes don’t hold most makeup well. Boar or camel’s hair brushes work best. Don’t forget to get a few stiff, pointy brushes for lining lips and eyes or feathering brows in. If you don’t like the long handle, simply saw some of it off and sand the end a bit.

Tired of getting hairspray on your face or shoulders? Don't spend a lot of money on a specialty hairspray shield, just use a sheet of clear plastic. You can see through it so you can view what you're spraying. Reuse the plastic from packages you would throw away and cut them to size, use them several times, then toss. You can probably find lots of items you could use for it when you look around the house.
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Makeup Removers and On-the-go Cleansing

Fast and Cheap Makeup Removers
For a quick and cheap way to clean your face, buy cheap baby wipes. Instead of buying the expensive brands like Ponds facial wipes, go to Target, WalMart or other discount store for fragrance free baby wipes in a generic brand. They are perfect for traveling, hiking or camping trips too for washing up without water. You can also keep a couple 'Wet Naps' packets in your purse for quick clean ups (the type you get when you order BBQ ribs for dinner).

For thousands of additional tips and information: Beauty and the Budget at VirtualBookWorm

Home Made Beauty Products and Containers

Containers for Your Natural Products
Buy honey in the plastic “bear” shape squeeze bottles. When empty, they make perfect dispensers for your home made toners, lotions and conditioners. You don’t even have to rinse the honey out since it’s a great ingredient for both skin and hair care products. Empty salad dressing or condiment bottles also work well since they often have flip tops with squeeze openings. Dress them up with a little paint and print up your own custom labels and give them as gifts.

For thousands of additional tips and information: Beauty and the Budget at VirtualBookWorm

Saving Money on Cosmetics

Beauty on a Budget?

Cosmetic companies pay for packaging, advertising, distribution, employees, etc. and have to pass the costs on to you. That all costs a lot of money.. Make your own products for a fraction of the price... who says you have to spend a lot of money to keep yourself looking good!! What the big companies put in their products is not much different than what you can make yourself and without all the preservatives, chemicals and dyes they add to theirs.

Here's just a couple ideas for products using kitchen ingredients (and lots more in the book):
Avocado-Egg Facial Masks to Improve Skin Texture and Revitalize:
Avocado's smaller molecules helps the moisturizing qualities penetrate and soak into your skin better than olive oil or other natural oils so it's great for aging skin. Lemon juice is astringent and helps rid skin of excess oil. Egg whites help tighten up skin and pores while yolks add moisture and nutrients.

For Oily Skin:
White of 1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Mashed pulp of half an avocado
Place all ingredients into a blender for a few seconds until it turns into a smooth green mixture. Apply masque evenly over cleansed face and neck. Relax for 20-30 minutes then remove with tepid water and a face cloth. Follow with cold astringent or skin toner.

For Dry Skin:
Yolk of 1 egg
Mashed pulp of half and avocado
Blend together well and apply to cleansed face and neck as above, relaxing for 20-30 minutes. Remove with tepid water and face cloth followed by a cold water rinse and mild skin cream.

Use avocado and egg as a face cleanser with the addition of milk:
Beat the yolk of 1 egg till frothy and add half a cup of milk and mix into half an avocado mashed. Use on a cotton pad and run over skin to remove pollutants and grime while adding nutrients to skin. Since this mixture will spoil, keep it refrigerated and replace every few days.

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Beauty and the Budget Book

A beauty reference manual with over 2300 tips, ideas and recipes for head to toe makeovers and beauty treatments.
This book incorporates tricks the pros and top models use today with folk remedies and beauty routines used for centuries. Increase self confidence and look great even if you have little time or money to spend. Create inexpensive (or free) custom products tailored for you that work just as well as the enticing, expensive store bought or spa treatments. Use the tips and advice to solve beauty problems like flat hair, frizzies, dandruff, skin problems, acne, wrinkles, bloating, etc. Make your own custom cleansers, scrubs, masks, lotions, conditioners, styling products, powders and more. Learn techniques for makeup, hair styles, skin and hair care, hair coloring, hand, foot and dental care. Know important information regarding your voice, posture, skin tone and aromatherapy. Simple diet techniques that improve skin and hair, and the truth about losing weight. Written with the busy woman in mind without the hype and egos of Hollywood experts and marketers. This book is a straightforward resource guide without lots of filler words that you will refer to over and over again. Beauty and the Budget at VirtualBookWorm