Beauty on a Budget

One secret to saving money on make-up without going barefaced is to learn to be creative with it. You can get double-duty out of many products, and you can salvage many of those purchasing mistakes that have collected in that bottom drawer by learning to adjust products to your liking.



If you already have mascara, you don't need to buy liquid eyeliner too. You can line your eyes using your mascara and a fine eyeliner brush. This works best with thin-formula mascaras. If you don't have a brush, recycle one from an old tube of eyeliner.



Lipstick can double as cream blusher. If you like to have at least several lipstick colours, you won't have to buy a blusher to match each one, and you will always be colour-coordinated.

You don't need to buy a special brush for your eyebrows or a product to hold them in place. Spray a bit of hairspray or use a dab of hairstyling gel on a recycled toothbrush.



Mascara can also be used to colour your eyebrows and keep them in place. Just wipe the wand off with a tissue first. You can also use eye shadow and a brush to fill in your eyebrows or an eyeliner pencil can double for both eyes and brows.



It is a money-waster to buy separate, special frosted products just for night time/special occasion use. Instead, you can get by with just one inexpensive light colour frosted eye shadow and a highlighting powder, or use the light frosted half of one of those blush duos if you have one. Use this one frosted powder on your eyes as shadow or over a matte shadow to make it frosted, brush it over your blush, or pat a small amount with your fingertip over your lipstick on the center of your bottom lip. Cheapest and most sophisticated option: skip frosted make-up altogether and wear the same matte colours day and night.

You don't need to buy a special eye shadow primer. Your usual foundation or any liquid concealer will work great. If you have oily lids and your eye shadow tends to crease, prime your eyelids instead with face powder, baby powder or a light coloured eye shadow.



Consider buying an inexpensive brown blusher instead of a brown eye shadow. You get much more product for your money, and you may even be able to use it as a blusher too.

Make your own inexpensive loose powder. In a plastic container with a screwtop lid, mash up the cheapest powder compact you can find (buy a colour slightly darker than your skin) and mix in approximately twice as much baby powder.



Powder blush too dark? Mash it up in a plastic container, and mix in baby powder a little at a time until it is as light as you want it. You can turn it into a pretty, light wash of colour, and the new mixture will last you a very long time.

Powder blusher too bright? Mash it up and mix in a little brown brush, matt brown eye shadow, or matt powdered bronzer.



Have a too-bright lipstick you'd like to salvage? Apply a medium-brown lipstick or lip liner pencil over it. If you don't already own a brown lipstick, I suggest you purchase one. It won’t set you back very much as even the cheapest one will do.

Lipstick too dark? Apply a light beige or nude lipstick over it.

Foundation too dark? Buy a cheap brand of ivory foundation (make sure it is the same type of formula) and mix in a little at a time until it matches your skin. Ideally, you should mix them in a separate bottle just a little bit at a time to minimize the risk of error.



Is your oil-free foundation too drying for your skin in cool weather? Mix a quarter-size dollop of foundation in your palm with 1-3 drops of baby oil. Mix well with a finger and apply.

Of course, if you don't make a habit of purchasing the really low-cost drugstore brands you can defeat the money-saving power of these tips. Don't worry, the higher the price label rarely means better quality. When you get more advanced, you can also learn to custom-mix your own lipstick, blush and foundation shades from very inexpensive everyday make-up so you are no longer tempted to splurge at the department store to get the exact shade you want.