Almost everything here can be found in other threads, as in probably more than one, but just in case you happened to miss them, or the ones you most need, here is a quick, compact (well, as quick and compact as I am biologically capable of doing) list that will enable you to maintain the same (and frankly, usually better) standards of beauty and skin care as you ever did, and for literally a small fraction of the cost.
First, some helpful and comforting, if surprising, facts.
1) Any product that really "changes" anything, or really does anything in those deep cell layers, etc, as is often implied, and sometimes stated, by advertising claims, must, in the US, be classified as a medicine and sold by prescription.
This means that yes, any and every lotion, cream, moisturizer or emollient, including but not limited to the cheapest plastic bottle in Wal-Mart to vaseline to plain old oil - including but not limited to coconut, almond and olive, all of which have been used to good effect for thousands of years, will keep your skin just as soft and moist as the most expensive concoction.
If the skin on your face is oily, the "moisture" that is in any foundation, even oil-free, as well as your oil-free sunblock, will more than take care of you, so you only need to worry about your body, for which see above paragraph.
2) The US Pharmacopeia is your guarantee that if it is sold in the US, whatever the ingredients are is what they are, which means that the no-name or store brand aspirin will have exactly the same active ingredient as Bayer, and that the drugstore or generic cleanser, moisturizer, shampoo or whatever with identical ingredients to a brand that costs ten times the price, will be the same product, probably with a less expensive fragrance.
Thus, being poor, or if you prefer, "being on a budget" does not mean that you have to settle for less in terms of effectiveness, in terms of reality.
It does, however mean that you have to start paying attention to and reading the ingredients carefully.
What you DO have to give up
It also means that you may need to do some psychological adjustment with regard to that reality, meaning that you may need to give up some dream and learn to love the cream.
That means that even though you may want the expensive stuff because it comes in a pretty bottle, you are drawn to it by the advertisements, you perceive it as having a high status, or you want it because a designer you admire has licensed the company to use his or her name on the label, you will have to do some descending from those clouds, and go re-read Items 1) and 2), take those to heart, and make a new and even fluffier cloud of reality and cream out of them.
Now on to The List!
Skin Care
Oily skin: Just wash it with soap. I like Mysore Sandal soap, some people love Dr Bronner's soaps. the ToadStool Soap Company makes absolutely fabulous handmade soaps in a variety of fragrances, including actual sandalwood, and their prices are cheap enough for me, which means they are really really cheap. (They also make complete lines of everything from shampoo to talc, and the most expensive thing I have seen in their store is like $8).
So if cannot bear the thought of to giving up luxury handmade bath products in fragrances that normally cost an arm and a leg, through some miracle that I cannot explain, ToadStool Soap Company is there for you.
One caution - because their products contain NO preservatives, don't order a lot and stock up. Save on shipping by combining your smaller, more frequent orders with other people.
Normal/dry/combination skin: Cetaphil Cleanser works for everybody, you can even use it if you are mildly oily, and its generic clones can be had for about $3.
Exfoliation: Plain white granulated cane sugar - that regular old sugar in the brown bag at the supermarket. Sensitive skins may prefer baking soda. Both work for face and body.
I also use a thing called a shower poof. It is a long narrow strip of crinkly nylon fabric, available at your local Asian/International supermarket in the grooming/personal care aisle.
Masks: Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask, Pearl Powder (just smushed pearls, available at your local Asian/International supermarket in the grooming/personal care aisle. Plain, uncoated aspirin smushed into a paste with water has its devotees, and it also has those who get little bumps. Give it a shot, and if it gives you bumps, go back to Queen Helene and Pearl Powder. Or Turmeric, a favorite of billions over the millennia.
Hair Removal: Magic Shaving Powder
Foundation Primer: Drugstore clone of Monistat Chafing Gel. (If the only active ingredient is dimethicone gel, that's what you want).
Moisturizer/Body Lotion/Cream/Butter: Whatever is the cheapest that you like the smell of and has ingredients you like. See Items 1) and 2) and ToadStool Soap Company
Toner: Witch Hazel
Zit Destroyer: Benzoyl Peroxide. Some people swear by toothpaste.
Teeth Whitener: Hydrogen Peroxide. Dilute with water, and use as a daily mouth rinse.
This is frequently suggested by dentists to help prevent gum disease in patients who have a propensity for developing it, due to anatomical configuration, genetics or both, and people who faithfully follow this advice not only avoid gum disease but have very white teeth, since Hydrogen Peroxide is the active ingredient in many tooth whitening products, including those that are done in the dentist's office and cost a lot of money.
Sunblock: Whatever is cheapest. There are only a couple of active ingredients that work. If one disagrees with your skin, pick the other one, and buy the cheapest one whose fragrance you like. Oily skins, get one that says oil free. And use it every day, no matter what color your skin is or how long your mom and your older sisters used to lay out in, work, walk, or otherwise expose their skins to the sun and they never had any problems and still look really young.
The sun changed. It is now dangerous. You can google and learn more about that while you apply your sunblock, or you can just apply the sunblock.
Hair Care
Shampoo: Whichever one is the cheapest, has a fragrance you like, and works on your hair. What works on your hair might not work on your identical twin sister's hair. If you are oily, stay away from anything that says it moisturizes or humidifies or repairs damage or nurtures, and look for the ones that say they are for oily hair, or ones that say they remove product buildup. Beyond the Zone is a line of Tigi products, sold at Sally's, for about 20-50% of the cost of Tigi products. Their Strip Search, I think it is called, is a great shampoo for oily hair, as is Dawn dishwashing liquid. Sally's also offers clones of a whole mess of expensive brands. Read the ingredients.
Conditioner: See Shampoo. Or after you have shampooed normally, you can mix a little coconut oil with some shampoo, lather and rinse.
Hair Serum: Coconut oil. You do not have to apply it Vajpayee style. In fact, please don't. Vajpayee shouldn't either. Just a pea-sized droplet, rubbed between palms, apply first to ends of the back, then work forward and up, roots last.
Hair Spray: See Shampoo
Hair Gel/Volumizer/whateverelser: See Shampoo
Next: Nail Care & Makeup!
First, some helpful and comforting, if surprising, facts.
1) Any product that really "changes" anything, or really does anything in those deep cell layers, etc, as is often implied, and sometimes stated, by advertising claims, must, in the US, be classified as a medicine and sold by prescription.
This means that yes, any and every lotion, cream, moisturizer or emollient, including but not limited to the cheapest plastic bottle in Wal-Mart to vaseline to plain old oil - including but not limited to coconut, almond and olive, all of which have been used to good effect for thousands of years, will keep your skin just as soft and moist as the most expensive concoction.
If the skin on your face is oily, the "moisture" that is in any foundation, even oil-free, as well as your oil-free sunblock, will more than take care of you, so you only need to worry about your body, for which see above paragraph.
2) The US Pharmacopeia is your guarantee that if it is sold in the US, whatever the ingredients are is what they are, which means that the no-name or store brand aspirin will have exactly the same active ingredient as Bayer, and that the drugstore or generic cleanser, moisturizer, shampoo or whatever with identical ingredients to a brand that costs ten times the price, will be the same product, probably with a less expensive fragrance.
Thus, being poor, or if you prefer, "being on a budget" does not mean that you have to settle for less in terms of effectiveness, in terms of reality.
It does, however mean that you have to start paying attention to and reading the ingredients carefully.
What you DO have to give up
It also means that you may need to do some psychological adjustment with regard to that reality, meaning that you may need to give up some dream and learn to love the cream.
That means that even though you may want the expensive stuff because it comes in a pretty bottle, you are drawn to it by the advertisements, you perceive it as having a high status, or you want it because a designer you admire has licensed the company to use his or her name on the label, you will have to do some descending from those clouds, and go re-read Items 1) and 2), take those to heart, and make a new and even fluffier cloud of reality and cream out of them.
Now on to The List!
Skin Care
Oily skin: Just wash it with soap. I like Mysore Sandal soap, some people love Dr Bronner's soaps. the ToadStool Soap Company makes absolutely fabulous handmade soaps in a variety of fragrances, including actual sandalwood, and their prices are cheap enough for me, which means they are really really cheap. (They also make complete lines of everything from shampoo to talc, and the most expensive thing I have seen in their store is like $8).
So if cannot bear the thought of to giving up luxury handmade bath products in fragrances that normally cost an arm and a leg, through some miracle that I cannot explain, ToadStool Soap Company is there for you.
One caution - because their products contain NO preservatives, don't order a lot and stock up. Save on shipping by combining your smaller, more frequent orders with other people.
Normal/dry/combination skin: Cetaphil Cleanser works for everybody, you can even use it if you are mildly oily, and its generic clones can be had for about $3.
Exfoliation: Plain white granulated cane sugar - that regular old sugar in the brown bag at the supermarket. Sensitive skins may prefer baking soda. Both work for face and body.
I also use a thing called a shower poof. It is a long narrow strip of crinkly nylon fabric, available at your local Asian/International supermarket in the grooming/personal care aisle.
Masks: Queen Helene Mint Julep Mask, Pearl Powder (just smushed pearls, available at your local Asian/International supermarket in the grooming/personal care aisle. Plain, uncoated aspirin smushed into a paste with water has its devotees, and it also has those who get little bumps. Give it a shot, and if it gives you bumps, go back to Queen Helene and Pearl Powder. Or Turmeric, a favorite of billions over the millennia.
Hair Removal: Magic Shaving Powder
Foundation Primer: Drugstore clone of Monistat Chafing Gel. (If the only active ingredient is dimethicone gel, that's what you want).
Moisturizer/Body Lotion/Cream/Butter: Whatever is the cheapest that you like the smell of and has ingredients you like. See Items 1) and 2) and ToadStool Soap Company
Toner: Witch Hazel
Zit Destroyer: Benzoyl Peroxide. Some people swear by toothpaste.
Teeth Whitener: Hydrogen Peroxide. Dilute with water, and use as a daily mouth rinse.
This is frequently suggested by dentists to help prevent gum disease in patients who have a propensity for developing it, due to anatomical configuration, genetics or both, and people who faithfully follow this advice not only avoid gum disease but have very white teeth, since Hydrogen Peroxide is the active ingredient in many tooth whitening products, including those that are done in the dentist's office and cost a lot of money.
Sunblock: Whatever is cheapest. There are only a couple of active ingredients that work. If one disagrees with your skin, pick the other one, and buy the cheapest one whose fragrance you like. Oily skins, get one that says oil free. And use it every day, no matter what color your skin is or how long your mom and your older sisters used to lay out in, work, walk, or otherwise expose their skins to the sun and they never had any problems and still look really young.
The sun changed. It is now dangerous. You can google and learn more about that while you apply your sunblock, or you can just apply the sunblock.
Hair Care
Shampoo: Whichever one is the cheapest, has a fragrance you like, and works on your hair. What works on your hair might not work on your identical twin sister's hair. If you are oily, stay away from anything that says it moisturizes or humidifies or repairs damage or nurtures, and look for the ones that say they are for oily hair, or ones that say they remove product buildup. Beyond the Zone is a line of Tigi products, sold at Sally's, for about 20-50% of the cost of Tigi products. Their Strip Search, I think it is called, is a great shampoo for oily hair, as is Dawn dishwashing liquid. Sally's also offers clones of a whole mess of expensive brands. Read the ingredients.
Conditioner: See Shampoo. Or after you have shampooed normally, you can mix a little coconut oil with some shampoo, lather and rinse.
Hair Serum: Coconut oil. You do not have to apply it Vajpayee style. In fact, please don't. Vajpayee shouldn't either. Just a pea-sized droplet, rubbed between palms, apply first to ends of the back, then work forward and up, roots last.
Hair Spray: See Shampoo
Hair Gel/Volumizer/whateverelser: See Shampoo
Next: Nail Care & Makeup!
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