Cheap Chick | Inexpensive Beauty Products

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -  

You don’t have to spend a fortune to take care of your skin and hair, and look your best. Here are some frugal ways to look fabulous.

For Your Face:
- Use baking soda to exfoliate your skin. Just wet your skin, pour a teaspoon onto your fingertips and gently rub in. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.
- Generic-brand baby wipes are great for removing makeup, gently.
- Regular (not extra virgin) olive oil removes eye makeup without irritation.
- Vitamin E capsules (not the tabs, but the gel caps) can be used externally, too. Just puncture the cap, squeeze out the oil, and use it treat facial scarring, such as acne scars.
- Try a ’honey pat.’ Spread a thin layer of honey over your skin, and pat it with your fingertips until it is sticky and tacky to the touch. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water.
- The best part of a tube of mascara is often the wand. Wash and dry your old mascara wands and use them to separate your lashes and comb your eyebrows. They work better than an eyebrow brush and they’re free with purchase.
- According to dermatologists, sulfur is a great treatment for acne pimples. Queen Helene’s Mint Julep Mud Mask contains sulfur, and at $3 a tube, it’s much cheaper than a doctor’s prescription.

For Your Hair & Body:
- Make your own body scrub with inexpensive sugar/sea salt and oil. Mix one part scrubbing agent to one part oil, such as regular olive oil or even baby oil.
- Olive oil is also a great hot oil treatment for hair. Warm a bit in the microwave, and massage into your scalp and hair. Leave on up to 30 minutes and rinse, then shampoo.
- Olive oil, or those Vitamin E capsules also work as a cuticle oil.
- Instead of buying a separate shave cream, use an inexpensive conditioner to shave in the shower. It stays on better than foam, but still rinses clean.
- Sally Beauty Supply sells my favorite hot oil treatment, Proclaim Aloe Hot Oil. It’s $1.79 for two treatments.

With any new beauty treatment, you want to test it on your wrist before smearing it all over your face or head. For example, baking soda works great on my face, but some people may find it too harsh. So patch-test it first. A trip to the doctor or dermatologist is not cheap.