Beauty

Top posts in Beauty:

One of the best spa experiences you’ll ever have–even if you’re on a budget!

I’ve been kicking around a post idea for awhile about my favorite spa, and after getting a couple of impossible-to-pass-up specials via their email list this week, decided that time is of the essence.

Go, now, do not pause, do not slow down, just go (and you can thank me later). e.l.f. cosmetics (that’s eyes, lips, face) is my new favorite shop. I’d seen mentions of them for awhile in magazines here and there, but for some unknown reason–temporary insanity, perhaps?–I’d never surfed over to the website. Silly me. Silly, over-paying, missing-out-on-the-fun me.

Most of us like a little color on us–on our legs, at the very least–as we come into spring and summer. Ghastly white legs emerging in skirts and shorts after a long, cold winter doesn’t attract the kind of attention we’re hoping for, after all. A nice tan (real or not-so-real) gives you a healthy look, and has the added bonus of giving a slimming appearance–and who doesn’t want that?

Surely we all know by now to wear lots of sunblock and avoid the shoe leather look, but should we really expect to shell out $35 or more for a professional spray tan session? Surely not. This is a budget blog, after all!

Fortunately for us palefaces, the quality of self-tanners has improved dramatically over the last several years. No more scary orange faux tans, if you know a few secrets for good application.  more…

Hair. Don’t ignore it; it doesn’t have to be expensive.

I’m speaking more to myself than any of you, I think–I have hair paranoia and a very small budget. I’ve had one too many bad cut over the years, so I’m instantly suspicious of every new stylist I go to–which is unfair to the stylist (mostly).

For me, it’s like going to the dentist, but without all the pain (oh, but the pain will come later–I’m always sure of it). I dread the price tag, I dread getting a stylist who gives me a blank look and just nods a lot when I try to explain what I want–even as I’m pointing to the picture I brought with me. I dread the possibility of getting a stylist in a bad mood. Run, do not walk, to the nearest exit if your stylist seems grumpy–trust me on this. I dread the bad cut that I probably won’t get, but that I’m afraid I will get–truly, I do have hair paranoia. I like my hair. I have pretty nice hair. I’m picky about my hair–probably too picky. And I don’t want anybody to mess it up.  more…

Have you recession-proofed your skincare routine?

As people begin cutting back on non-essentials to survive the recession, some of the first things to go are high-ticket non-essentials, and for a lot of us that includes the skincare products we all love so much. The to-die-for facial cream or super-moisturizing masque might be much-loved, but when it comes to wondering if you’ll have enough extra cash to buy groceries, plunking down $50 or $75 or more for a tiny jar of cream suddenly seems the height of folly.

The June issue of Marie Claire magazine features a cover story on “budget” skincare; their grand total for recommended budget products for a woman in her 30s is $278.21. That’s for enough product to last you about six weeks.

I’m not sure the editors of the magazine truly understand what “recession-proof skincare” means for those of us struggling through the bad economy, because $278.21 so entirely exceeds my budget that the magazine’s total is just laughable. What chagrins me most about articles like this, however, is knowing that women out there will read it, see the outrageous “budget” price tag, and resign themselves to abandoning their skincare routine because they think good products are still beyond their fiscal reach.  more…