Hello Dear Reader,
Even though I try to be as thrifty as possible, I will not compromise on skin care. I’m a great proponent of taking care of ourselves. People often comment on my clear skin and I tell people I have always looked after it. I always exfoliate when I’m in the bath or shower and always use a body moisturiser. Currently, and because it’s on offer in our local Superdrug, I use Palmer’s Cocoa Butter. I wait for it to be on offer and usually buy it when it’s under £2.
I make my own small face clothes, they are half the size of a flannel and I cut up old towels and keep them ready to use. I use Superdrug’s Simply Pure calming cleanser to remove any make up.
I massage it well into my face and then use on of my homemade clothes to remove the cleanser. In the morning, whilst in the shower, I massage Superdrug’s hot cloth cleanser into my face and then wipe it off. It saves on cotton wool or cleansing pads. I rinse them out and use them twice before I put them into the wash. I have a small cotton bag with a draw string that I wash them in and peg them out with the rest of my laundry.
My go to moisturiser is Aldi’s Lacura Daily Face cream and it’s £1.49! I swear by it along with the Q10 anti-wrinkle day cream. I’ve tried others and none of them suit my skin like they do.
I’m amazed that people don’t pay more attention to their skin. Gnarly dry skin on feet, dry and un nourished skin to me just signifies some sort of poor health or poor attitude to health. I only use very cheap off the shelf products but believe we can take care of ourselves even on a tiny budget. I also think we don’t need to use loads of cotton pads when cleansing and we can make our own cleansing clothes which can definitely save us money and cut down on waste.
Over to you, what really cheap skin care product do you use and swear it does as good a job as something expensive?
Until tomorrow,
Love Froogs xxxx
I love the idea of using cut up towels instead of cotton wool. Might try this as we have lots of old hand towels going grey.
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I'm a firm believer in olive oil + sugar/salt as a body scrub that also softens skin.
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It isn't cheap as such but I buy Boots number 7 eye make-up remover and toner when there are £5 off vouchers around which means I get an £8 product for £3! I've tried other cheaper eye make up removers but found them either very stingy or they didn't actually remove my waterproof mascara. Other people tend to give me their vouchers as they know I use them so I don't even need to buy something in the first place which I really appreciate.
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Love this post Froogs! Thanks for sharing 🙂
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This is not exactlyskin care but you may be interested. I wash my hair with Baking Soda. I have a jar of baking soda in the shower I tip about a teaspoon full into my hand, mix it with a little water and rub it through my hair. It instantly makes my hair feel super clean and soft. I have bee using Baking Soda to wash my hair for 3 years now. My hair has never been so healthy, soft and shiny. Try it, you may like it.
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I don't put anything I wouldn't eat on my skin… skin is our largest organ absorbing directly all get to the liver or kidneys… I use a little grapeseed oil as moisturiser just massage it a little and it's all absorbed and like Caroline I do the grapeseed + sugar/salt or seeds as body scrub.
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I use the olive oil and sugar scrub too! Its great if you have been gardening, it really doesn't matter what oil it can be sunflower too.
Julie xxxx
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Johnsons. Baby lotion from 99 p shop as a cleanser. Good old cold water for a toner. I like to go paraben free when I can and this does the job. I rarely wear eye makeup but this removes it well without any irritation. More expensive than 99 p but lasts for ages is waitrose baby bottom butter. A great night cream and works well on dry skin on the feet. I like the cut up towels idea 🙂
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Drinking lots of water is my best moisturizer, I hardly use any cream as a result. A good night of sleeping and having my hair so short I don't need shampoo or conditioner. Love this post.
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I try very, very hard to balance eco-friendly with frugal *and* what works best for me in all areas of my life. I try to stay with eco-friendly soaps, shampoos, detergents and the like; this is tricky as I have hyper-sensitive skin, and our youngest son does as well. It can't be perfumed. In any way. LOVE your post, by the way! 🙂 I do buy Clinique brand moisturizer, as it's the only one that doesn't cause a problem. A little goes a long way. I combine that with Clinique serum for my face. I don't use soap on my face at all. Instead, I use biodegradable facial cleansing cloths (they cost a bit, but one wipe takes off any makeup I might be wearing). Waiting for sales and using coupons, twice a year I buy myself an extra large, pump top moisturizing shampoo that's phosphate free. This means I don't need added conditioner, as my hair is short. I've dyed my hair for many years, but now that I'm nearing 53, have decided to see what I'll look like gray. I just am contemplating not sending chemicals down the drain. IF I don't like the results, I'll dye my hair again. We have pure soaps at all of our sinks/basins. No dishwasher. Clothes are washed in a mixture of dry, phosphate-free soap and baking soda blend that I make myself for a fraction of the price of name brand detergents. It's truly a balancing act that I sometimes feel I fail. Yet we can only do what we can do?
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I also cut up old towels into small cleansing cloths, but didn't you have to hem yours? In the picture they look like a cut edge, which is what I did but mine continue to ravel and fray even though I wash them separately in a net bag. I swore that next time I will hem them first, and then I expect they will last years!
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I use an Australian brand called QV. I have very sensitive skin and wear little makeup as it is not worth the reaction. Finding something that did not upset me took quite a while. I always buy it on special as everyone in the house uses it now.
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I have been washing my hair with only conditioner. Apparently conditioner has a cleaner in it and my hair is definitely not as dry. I will have to try the baking soda wash. I agree with drinking a lot of water to keep your skin moist but when I need something more I usually look for cheaper brands that work well. I guess that since I have never used expensive creams I can't compare the cheap ones to them. I live in the Pacific Northwest and our water is not bad. I only go over the base rate in the summer when we water plants. Every area has problems and I think it is really interesting to hear how people solve them.
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I don't wear make up so that side of things I don't need. I just wash and rinse well 2 to 3 times a day, apply Ulay and that is it.
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I like Boots “traditional skin care” cream. It's a bit pot and lasts for ages, and it smells gorgeous. I cut our old towels up as baby wipes for my boys.Then I pop them in the wash with the nappies.
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The moisturiser I use is glycerine from the chemist. I put a spritz of a favourite perfume in a small spray bottle, half fill the bottle with the glycerine and top up with water. Give it a good shake.
It lasts for ages and costs very little. It's the best moisturiser I know, most bought ones have glycerine and water in them
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Maybe just a simple zigzag stitch around the edges would do?
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I use oils and rose water for my face. I have used expensive skincare ranges for 10 years, with the only result of red, very sensitive, stripped skin (looking at you clinique exfoliator). I'm done with that industry, I tell you. I get big bottles (0,5 liters) of the almond oil and rose water at the chemist, and then go back with the bottles for refill. Way cheaper than to buy them in small bottles, or any cleanser/moisturizer. Oil is perfect for taking off makeup too.
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The best thing I've ever used on my skin is coconut oil. A huge tub is less than a tenner and you only need a smidgen so it lasts for ages.
I also stopped using shampoo back in November and replaced it with bicarb… cheap as (home-made) chips and my hair has never looked better.
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One thing I do is to take into consideration how long a product lasts. For instance, I use Clinique's Clarifying Lotion as a toner. (Never found anything else as good.) One 200ml bottle costs over £20 but will last me well over a year of twice daily use. I always buy mine when they have one of their offers on where you get a goody-bag but must spend over ?£25, and purchase two products, one of which must be skin care. The Clinique goody bags contain good sized samples that last 2-4 weeks and are usually things I will use, so for me the whole deal is good value.
I balance up my expensive toner with a cheap-as-chips cleanser - whatever is cheapest in the supermarket but it must be a foaming wash-off cleanser - which costs around £1.30 for about 5 months-worth.
My favourite cheap moisturiser is Nivea Soft, about £3.60 a tube. It's often sold as handcream but is lovely on your face.
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I stock up on night cream from Aldi when I go home to Ireland every couple of years. I use it at night and/or in the morning. 5 or 6 jars of Cien Night Cream with Q10 at Euro 1.99 does me until I next go home the next time. Living in Western Australia the climate dehydrates skin easily so night cream works well as a day cream too. Soap for the shower is an essential oil and olive oil based treat (smells like sage or lemongrass) but the bar lasts ages. Make up is blusher (last one lasted 6 years!), eye colour (sometimes blusher again) or neutral browns, eyeliner and a bit of lipstick. I find that if you keep your eyebrows well groomed it only takes moisturiser and a touch of make up to look well presented all day. Some interesting comments to this post….will try some of the natural suggestions.
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I hesitate to call what I do a “beauty routine” but here goes: at the age of 50, I still wrestle with oily skin, but I also am troubled with eczyma. I shower daily (twice in Summer often), using Dove soap or a spluge (usually a gift) of Europeen lavender soap. I apply store brand witch hazel to my T zone, Oil of Olay spf 15 daily moiturizer on my face (not T zone) and buy that at the discount drug store, usually with a coupon on top. One bottle lasts about a year, I spend about $6. I use little make up: Coty loose face powder, whatever brand solid blush bought on sale/clearance/perhaps with a coupon blush. Cover Girl mascara, a tinted lip balm/stick (again sales/ w/o coupon). For body moisturizing, Suave brand shea butter lotion bought on sale with coupon works fine. I spend about $1.50 for a large bottle. Our family uses at least 2 bottles/year. I also have RX creams/ointments for my eczyma, which is significantly worse come Winter with the cold and dry indoor heat. I try to capitalize on when my high insurance deductible has been met and stock up then, as there is no charge during that spent up period. Hair care: any brand (usually discount druggist plus coupons) color care shampoo for me, $1/bottle stuff for the rest of the family as well as for conditioner (per my stylist, it's the shampoo that is an issue with stripping hair color off). Ditto hair mousse and spray-whatever is cheapest out the door. These are all items that I will stock up on when there is a deal, so as to never pay full price.
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My favourite flannels are from the 99p store for 6, they are so good. I only ever buy skincare products when they are on special! I do seem to have a few 'spares'. The last item I bought was from Wilkinsons for 50p for some cleansing cream, they are all re-branding stuff at the moment so a lot of stuff is being changed. I also picked up some eyeshadow brushes for 10p each.
Cxx
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I do that baking soda-as-shampoo thing too and I know I've saved tons on shampoo! For a moisturizer I use coconut oil, the thick kind that comes in jars. Costs about 7.00 for a jar and lasts for a long time. And smells good 😉 As a face toner, I use mint leaves steeped in vinegar and diluted with water—great for restoring the ph of the skin. Most of the expensive cosmetic treatments are just a lot of packaging and hype!
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Me too!
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I only use my home made olive oil soap for washing my face, then use olive oil and sugar to scrub off dead skins cells. I also use this in the shower, then clean water to rinse off. It only costs me pennies and does a fab job to give clean and soft skin. No need for all those extra cleansers you are using. I think they are a waste of money when other products you have for kitchen use can do the same, if not a better job, as they are far better for your skin than any commercially produced items.
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Well, ladies, I am allergic to most make-up, but I am also retired so I'm just not wearing much these days. A little blush and lip gloss, pressed powder, and I'm ready. And on my face, I use the cheapest of products: water. I do not moisturize, cleanse, or anything fancy. If I've been in the garden and need soap I use it, but mostly just plain water. And I'm told I have good skin-at 71. Maybe I am just lucky. I use a supermarket shampoo-cheap but not the cheapest available. No conditioner. A spritz of cheap hair spray at times. Everywhere else I have dry skin and use a bought-on-sale body lotion from Bath and Body Works (they have big sales after Christmas and in July and I buy for the year.) I do use a store brand triple antibiotic ointment on small scratches and scrapes, to keep infection away, and also because I'm a scratcher and could keep a rash going indefinitely if I did scratch. I do drink a LOT of water.
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I don't wear much make up, just use warm water on my face and use coconut oil as a moisturiser… works for me. I knit my own soft cotton face cloths with cotton thread that I bought in bulk from the local thrift store. Brilliant!
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I am definitely going to get hot cloth cleanser, I love Liz Earle but way to expensive now. Just trying to make my own dish cloths, hopefully there will be some cotton left to try a face cloth. Thanks for the inspiration, Lucy
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Just looked on Superdrug website and cleanser is half price at the mo! Lucy
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As a toner, you can use apple cider vinegar diluted in water. I just use water to wash my face with every night. If I feel like I need to clean my skin extra, I use the diluted apple cider vinegar. I use a cheap sorbolene (no fragrance) cream from the chemists as a moisturiser. The best thing I ever did for my skin though was stop eating the foods I was sensitive too - gluten, dairy, caffeine and deadly nightshades. My skin hasn't look better.
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Made my own body wash and hand wash this week and it worked out great, all you need is a bar of soap and boiling water check out this clip on YouTube it's where I learned how to do it http://youtu.be/5-DKT6w3AdQ
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