Budgeting Beauty: How to Save on Your Favorite Beauty Essentials

When it comes to shaving our budgets, most ladies put beauty products in the "need" category. A study commissioned by Mintel validates this assumption, reporting consumers spent $2.32 billion on shampoo and $1.71 billion on conditioner in 2010 alone.

So what's the best way to save on essentials without resorting to dollar-store cosmetics? Here are nine tips to keep both your beauty and your budget intact.

1. Hair Products
Consider extending the life of your shampoo (and hair color) by using dry shampoo or baby powder in between washes. When using shampoo and conditioner, check out these great tips and best bargain buys from DailyFinance.com.

2. Hand Soap
Foam hand soap is all the rage these days, and one of the easier beauty products to DIY. Refer to EHow.com's recipe for specific instructions, but ultimately all you need is a lot of water, a bit of soap and a few drops of essential oil.

3. Makeup Brushes
In addition to extending the life on pricey makeup applicators, regularly cleaning your brushes is just the sanitary thing to do. And if you really need replacements, consider a tip given to me by a MAC Cosmetics artist; buy art brushes at craft stores for a fraction of the price!

4. Foundation
Whether you're a liquid, powder or mineral foundation girl, you can use less of this beauty staple by applying a base before application. The Magic Perfecting Base by L'Oreal is a favorite among top fashion magazines, and is available for less than $12 from Walmart and Target.

5. Fragrance
Let's be honest -- designer fragrances are among the most expensive beauty purchases, with $80 buying less than 6 ounces of product. If you can't part with your signature Chanel scent, buy gift cards at a discounted rate for retailers selling your fragrance and enjoy immediate savings.

6. Body Lotion
Moisturizing is a must for anyone who wants to avoid the shar pei-look at 50, but lotion gets pricey when you see the words "illuminating," "firming" or "age-defying" on the label. Unless you have a serious skin issue, consistent use of most drugstore moisturizers is sufficient.

7. Hair Color
Prolong your color-treated hair between salon visits using household ingredients. Brunettes can use a strong pot of cooled coffee and blonds can use a lemon juice-water mixture. Apply the treatment after shampooing, let sit for 15 minutes, then rinse, condition and style as usual.

8. Hair Accessories
Today's trendy hair accessories can be homemade for a fraction of salon and department store prices. Channel your inner domestic goddess and create one-of-a-kind hair candy with beads, feathers and artificial flowers found in craft stores.

9. Less is More
There's no need to wear your entire cosmetics collection every day of the week. Consider giving your wallet a break by opting for the basics during mellow workdays or lazy weekends. For tips on how to pull off the "au natural" look, refer to Real Simple's step-by-step instructions.

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Andrea Woroch is a nationally recognized consumers-savings expert, and is available for in-studio, satellite or skype interviews and to write guest posts or articles.
For all media inquiries, please contact Andrea at 970-672-6085 or email andrea@kinoliinc.com

Taste the fun of T.G.I. FRiDAY's at home with the new Entrees for One!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of T.G.I. FRiDAY'S for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Guest Post By Sam H.

Today my guest post is about the great tasting new frozen entrees by T.G.I. FRiDAY’S “Entrées for One” which are great for us guys who don't like to cook or don't have time to cook. These entrees are delicious meals in a box that only take a few minutes to make. They come in several tasty flavors so there is a flavor for everyone to enjoy. I like these entrees for lunch because I only get a 45 minute lunch break and they totally satisfy me until dinnertime once I am back home.

Right now they are hosting a Fun Freezer contest where you can go over to their Facebook page and vote for your favorite fun freezer, really nifty contest is I say so myself. It ends on the 20th of October so make sure you cast your vote today. You can also leave me a comment on this post on which one you voted for, I would love to see your particular choice!

Last week I enjoyed the Sizzling Chicken Fajitas, Cajun-Style Chicken Alfredo and the Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo. Out of those 3 particular ones my favorite was the Chicken Fajitas since I love Mexican food and this tasted delicious and was totally satisfying to my taste buds and to my belly. It was a nice fulfilling meal. Next week I will be trying out the Creamy Chicken Pasta Carbonara so I am really looking forward to that. I am sure it is just as tasty as the other 3 that I have already tried.

I love these new T.G.I. FRiDAY'S frozen entrees because they are easy for me to make, super affordable and they taste delicious. They make great workplace lunches for me and I think you would love them too. I hope you give them a try.

Dorm microwave cooking 101

Guest post written by Stephen Winkler

Most of the time, I'm too worried about studying to actually go and sit down at the dining hall. It's just entirely too much trouble and then also I would rather use that extra time standing in line and finding a table asleep if I don't have to be studying then. So is the life of a pre-med student. So you could say that I've become pretty handy at cooking stuff in my dorm room. It's just so much easier and quicker. Then I don't have to worry about not finding food I want or having someone mess up my order.

But I can always find some new recipes to fix in my room, so I used the few days I had before my classes started to look through and find some new ones. While I was searching for them, i saw the site http://getclearwirelessinternet.com/. After I looked through it some I decided to send it to my mom, who switched our home internet service over to a package on there.

I did find a few more microwave cooking ideas, like some potato skins. There's surprisingly a lot that you can do with a baked potato.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post and I was compensated by the advertiser to write this post. We were provided with the subject matter to write about but our thoughts, opinions and words are 100% our own. Please read our Terms of Service & Disclaimer Policy for additional information. All information contained on this blog is copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.