Cheap Beauty Green Beauty

Tiffany talked about being a beautiful cheapskate the other day on her blog and asked for ideas on how to be a cheap beauty. A cheap beauty is also a green beauty.

While it’s great that there are many natural and organic beauty products available nowadays, I’m going to focus on the “reducing” aspect of the equation. If you don’t NEED it, you don’t need to buy it, even if it’s eco friendly. Here are some ways to be a cheap green beauty.

Eliminate stuff you don’t need

Every beauty and skin care expert I’ve ever read said that noone needs toner (or astringent). Wash your face well and rinse well. Skip the toner.

If you have oily skin you probably don’t need moisturizer, and if you have normal skin, your sunscreen might be enough of a moisturizer. Use a natural sunscreen daily and that’s probably all you need. If your skin is dry, use the gentlest cleanser you can and you might need less moisturizer.

Most people, unless their skin is extremely oily, don’t need to wash their faces with a cleanser in the morning. Of course it goes without saying that you should thoroughly cleanse your face at night, but as long as you do this, your face is clean enough in the morning to just splash with warm water.

Exfoliation is important for healthy and pretty skin, but you probably don’t need an expensive product. Use a very clean washcloth to gently scrub your face. Or put some baking soda in your hand and use that as a gentle scrub. Or sugar or salt mixed with a little olive oil. Olive oil makes a great eye makeup remover by the way!

Skip the allover foundation. Most people don’t need it all over their faces but just a little bit under the eyes and around the nose. Use a little tinted moisturizer instead or try mineral makeup, which makes your face look flawless and seems to last forever.

If you curl your eyelashes you might be able to skip mascara and eyeliner. It opens up the eyes and really makes them pop. If I were stranded on a desert island, I would want my eyelash curler and lip balm! Keeping your brows groomed also shapes your face without needing a product. In addition to tweezing, try trimming the longer hairs that stick out after you comb your brows (use cuticle nippers).

You can even skip shampoo entirely and try the baking soda (“no poo”) method.

Try multi use products

Body lotion or conditioner can double as shaving cream. Buy makeup that can be used for eyes, cheeks and lips, like Kiss My Face 3 Way Color.

Coconut oil can be used as a facial and body moisturizer, hair conditioner/styling product, and as an ingredient in natural deodorants and toothpastes.

Make your own

Making your own skin care products usually means you’ll use far less packaging than if you bought everything. It doesn’t have to be super complicated though. You can mix honey and salt to make a body or facial scrub. Or sugar and olive oil. Lemon juice, salt and olive oil are great to exfoliate and bleach elbows and heels. Here are more homemade skin care recipes.

Learn to love your natural look

I have a story here. My sister has super thick, curly hair. The kind that, if it were long, would rest in ringlets down her back. The kind that other people spend $100 per perm to try and achieve. Now she has accepted her hair and decided not to fight nature, but when she was a teenager and everyone had Farrah Fawcett wings, straight was the look. So she would spend money and time trying to chemically straighten her hair, which was mostly an exercise in futility!

Learn to accept your natural face. Freckles are cute and don’t have to be covered up. Curly hair is beautiful and doesn’t have to be straightened. Ask your hairdresser to help you choose a style that works with your facial shape and hair texture. The more you try to change your natural look the more money and time you’ll spend.

Now- what are your simple beauty tips?