5 Ways to Save Big on Beauty

{photo via the coveteur}

Last fall, I took on the September Spending Freeze, a self-imposed challenge to not spend a single cent on non-essential items (i.e. clothes, nail polish, Starbucks, accessories, lip gloss, dinners out, etc.)  It was a life changing experience that really helped me take a closer look at my spending tendencies.  Even after the freeze, the lessons I learned stayed with me, and I've noticed some pretty big changes in the way that spend.  One of the biggest areas I've seen a change in how I shop, revolves around beauty.  Here are a few of my favorite tips for reeling in your beauty budget.

1. Rethink brand loyalty for nonesstential items. I'm not asking you to give up your favorite foundation, your go to hair product, or your never-fail-me lipgloss.  I think it's awesome to know what you love and stick with it, especially for beauty essentials.  But for the not so staple items, consider going for what's on sale, what's the least expensive, or what you have a coupon for.  My favorite example...makeup remover wipes.  I wear a pretty full face of makeup, so for me, removing my makeup prior to cleansing is important.  But what brand I use really doesn't matter.  I like the Neutrogena wipes, but after once getting the Almay wipes at $3 less, I realized, they were pretty much the same, and I'm willing to compromise on that product.  Ask me to give up my MAC brushes for the Target brand and I'll panic, but ask to me switch around on soap, makeup remover, cotton balls, and salon brand nail polish to save a chunk of change, and I'm all for it.

2. Go every other. This has been the biggest help in reducing my beauty budget (and in some cases I've been able to transition to DIY!)  Think about the services you have done on a regular basis.  Manicure, pedicure, highlights, hair cut, waxing, etc.  Now I'm not ready to give those things up completely, but I did start to wonder if I needed to keep such a tight schedule.  Maybe instead getting a manicure every week, I could go one week, then do my own maintenance and manicure the next week.  That's an extra $40 a month ($480 a year!) for just getting my nails done every other time.  On those weeks where I wasn't getting a professional manicure, I was able to do a DIY manicure, with a light and glossy color, my cuticles still maintained from the previous week.  PS: This method of every other was so successful for me, that I eventually got really good at DIY manicures, and now I prefer them!  So think, if you get your hair cut every six weeks, could you stretch it a few extra weeks?  That stretch will save you money, but also probably help you come up with some creative and cute fixes you may not have thought of!  (Example, I started going every other with my hair cuts, and I've rediscovered wearing my hair curly to hide not-quite-perfect ends and cute bobby pins to tuck back longer front pieces.)  If you can stretch yourself to try one thing on this list, it's this.  Go every other and get creative for the time in between!

3. Keep tabs on your stock and shop with a coupon. How many times have you realized you were out of your favorite perfume only to go to Sephora's website and realize the email you got earlier in the week about free shipping just expired?  I've done that one too many times to do it again.  This tip requires you to be aware of your beauty supply and when it's running low.  When your perfume, shampoo, deep conditioner, moisturizer, etc. hits the two-thirds gone mark, start looking to reorder.  That way, you have time to watch for a coupon code, a Sephora email, a free shipping offer, or an Ulta coupon.  And along those lines, don't ever order something from a beauty website without Googling for a coupon code first.  This step takes about ten seconds, but can save you big time.  So watch your bottles and leave yourself time for a great deal of present itself!

4. Don't pay full price for nail polish. I might sound like a bad blogger on this one, but I'm convinced that the big nail polish brands put out the same colors every season, with slight tweaks and new fabulously catchy names.  But the truth is, no one will be able to tell if the gray tone on your nails is Essie Cocktail Bling, OPI Birthday Babe, or the much anticipated Chanel Le Vernis in Frenzy.  I'm all for following trends, so look for what's hot and then search the sale or clearance shelf for last season's version of that.  My local Beauty Brands has the entire OPI Texas collection for 65% off, which is perfect for this season's focus on bright, punchy hues, for a fraction of the price.   Just think, if you buy 4 nail polishes a month this way, you could save $16 a month ($192 a year!)  Score!

5. Use what you have. Sometimes when I dig around the in dark depths of my bathroom cabinents, I find some pretty impressive things.  Full bottles of dry shampoo, a barely touched MAC eyeshadow, a body butter I scored at an after Christmas sale, and ten million fragrance minis from Sephora (several of which I actually like!)  So sometimes I have to get strict with myself and say "No new anything until I use up what I have."  I'll try to reason with myself, saying I'll alternate with the new product, but that's a lie.  The older product will get pushed to the back of the cabinent, and I will have wasted a small chunk of change.  So go digging in your bathroom cabinents, your travel case, and wherever else you store lost beauty products, find what's there and use it before buying anything new.  And if you're anything like me, once you start using what you already had, the urge for the new thing will fade, and you'll be content using up the rest of your stash!

So, there you have it, my 5 most favorite ways to save big on beauty.  In a culture (and a blog world) that often emphasizes the latest and greatest in beauty, I think it's important to realize that we can dial back that spending with a few creative strategies.  So now I'm dying to hear, what are some of your favorite ways to save big on beauty?

Make “Mom” a Contact

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Earlier this week, I mentioned that I was cocooned in my bed with a bad case of the sneezes/coughs/sniffles/sore throat/aches, and after two days and nights of consistent meds and pampering by Matt (being sick is a great excuse to be pampered), I felt better enough to go back to work/school on Wednesday.  However, apparently Nyquil has a longer hangover effect than I realized…

A group of our friends decided to meet on campus and then walk to Starbucks for a  midday caffeine pick me up.  (Having a Starbucks across the street from your office is a horrible blessing.)  As we waited for Matt, I sat on a bench texting away.  Then, Matt arrived, and we skipped off for coffee.  (Ok, I lie, we didn’t really skip, but it sounds ten times more delightful.)  Five minutes later, Matt gets a call from my mom.

Mom: “Matt, are you with Allison?”

Matt: “Yeah.”

Mom: “Please ask her where her cell phone is.”  (Matt disrupts my coffee ordering and asks me.  I begin to look through my purse though it quickly turns into a furious fumble.  OMG.  My phone, my Blackberry, my lifeline, where is it?!)

Matt: “She can’t find it.”

Mom: (laughing as she speaks) “That’s because she left it on campus, sitting on a bench.  Someone found it.”

Matt: “Wait what?  Talk to Allison…” (Apparently it was too much at once for Matt before his midday coffee.)

Matt handed the phone to me and my mom proceeded to explain the phone call she had just gotten.  Apparently, still in a Nyquil induced state, I set my phone down and then waltzed off for coffee.  Someone found my phone sitting solo on a bench outside my office, but since my phone isn’t bedazzled with my initials or anything (which I’m now rethinking having done, clearly it would’ve helped in this situation) they intelligently picked up my phone, scrolled through my contacts to find “Mom.”  When my mom answered, the incredibly wonderful good Samaritan said, “Hello, I just found your son or daughter’s phone on campus, but since I don’t know who they are, I thought calling mom would be a good place to start.”

Umm, how genius is this person?  Scrolling through to find “mom” in my contacts.  Brilliant. 

The moral of the story?  1.  Have your mom’s contact in your phone read “mom;”  no nicknames and no official synced Outlook contacts.  On the off chance a nice person finds your phone, they’ll know who to call and how to get it back to you.  2.  Avoid doing anything for at least 15 hours after you’ve taken Nyquil.  It apparently causes you to forget how to function.

PS: When I told this story to my dad, he vowed to change my mom’s name in his phone to “wife.”  A precautionary measure should someone ever find his lost phone.

PSS: I ended up knowing the awesome good Samaritan who found my phone.  In fact, she is a follower of my blog and a delightfully sweet person.  Thank you Jessica for being such a wonderfully smart person to search for “mom.”  You are a lifesaver; I heart you!

Traveling Tidbits (and a Giveaway Hint!)

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Hello and happy Monday!  Today is a little less than happy for me, as I’m cooped up in bed with a sore throat and crazy case of the sniffles/coughs/aches.  Lovely, I know.  But, being cooped up has its benefits…hello blogland :) 

It feels like we’ve been traveling a ton lately, even before our world tour.  In recent months, I’ve learned a lot about traveling, and I thought I’d share some of my traveling tidbits with my delightful readers…

The airlines picked up on what my dad wishes he would have picked up on years ago.  If you charge me for bags, I’ll pack lighter.  Pretty sure my dad’s back would have been saved if he would have known that.  I’ve always been a complicated traveler, even when the clothes in my suitcase were from Limited Too.

Don’t ever go on a vacation, roadtrip, or overnight get away without your cozy robe.  It’s the easiest way to feel at home when everything around is nothing like home.

The only thing I dread more than a pop quiz in my Structural Equation Modeling class (yeah, I’m in a class with that name, and yeah, its as awful as it sounds) is the moment on a flight when the dude in front me decides to lean his chair back.  I mean, airline legroom is limited in general, but for a long legged 5’10’’ sista, it’s unbearable.  But no worries dude in front of me, I love holding my magazine two inches from my face and balancing my airplane sized mini coke in my lap. 

A king sized bed with seven fluffy pillows is the best sight in the world after a day full of traveling.  For realz.

I am weirdly obsessed with Hudson News (you know, the airport news/magazine store.)  Something about all those new, shiny magazines lining the walls with candy stacked high up the adjacent wall is absolutely thrilling for me.  I literally stop at every airport and every layover to buy a magazine (or two or three) and some Twizzlers.  I might have a problem, I realize this.

Uggs and snow do not mix. Period.  (Oh how I’m going to struggle in Chicago.)

A poor doctoral student’s dream phrase to hear while waiting for her flight is “Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is overbooked.  We are currently looking for volunteers to get off for a travel voucher with our airline.”  Matt and I heard that phrase before our flight to Chicago, and while all the “real” grown ups with money stayed glued to their seats, looking around thinking, “Oh hell no, I’m not getting off this flight,” I was sprinting to the counter to be the first volunteer.  And the payoff was totally worth it.  For delaying our trip an hour and a half, Matt and I each got $400 in Delta money, as well as breakfast and lunch meal vouchers.  400 dollars?!  Do you know all the places I could fly with that extra money?!  Before our flight even took off, I had already planned a trip with Matt to Napa, Disneyworld, and New York.  Now I just have to choose :)  So the next time they offer a voucher to give up your seat, I’d act fast, or I might beat you to the ticket counter :)

After you offer to give up your seat for your $400, and the gate agent tells you she made a mistake and she can’t get you out for seven more hours, simply and firmly ask to speak to her supervisor.  The problem will be fixed and you’ll have an earlier flight within ten minutes.  (Weird how that happens…)

The roll method of packing really does work.  I swear by it now.  I can fit at least twice at much crap much needed stuff into my suitcase with the roll and stuff method.

Take a fair amount of jewelry on your trips.  Jewelry is relatively small yet can transform the look of any outfit, so pack good jewelry options, and give yourself double the travel wardrobe!

So what travel travel tips have you picked up over the years?  Do share because I’ve got four hundred Delta dollars to spend, and I plan to spend it as a smart and stylish traveler!  Annnnnd….get excited because later this week I’m posting a fun giveaway (woo hoo!) that has to do with one of the travel tidbits I talked about here.  (I’ll give you a hint, it has to do with the last tip.)  Hooray for giveaways, and hooray for sharing your travel tips with me!

Stretch Your Closet

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What is it about spring that makes me want to shop so bad?  Seriously, there must be a scientific explanation for this, because every late February/early March, I begin to get antsy for all the delights that spring fashion brings.  Around this time, I begin to poke through my closet noticing the gaps in pieces I don’t have, which I then proceed to stalk online at my favorite stores.  With Valentines Day passed and the sun starting to shine, the bug is back is full force.  I want to shop!

However, there is one tiny, little, eensy weensie problem.  I am on a major budget.  And when I say major, I mean next to nothing budget.  So I’ve tried to keep my online Anthro/Banana/J.Crew stalking to a minimum because it’s painful to look without the hope of buying.  (I never understand those people who enjoy window shopping at the mall, even when they have no intention of buying anything.  I don’t get it.  It’s like going on a date with Prince William knowing you have a secret but powerful curse on you that says you can’t date him.  Whhhhy would you go and fall in love if you know you can’t end up with the hottie?  To live a life of torture where you think about what could have been, how that dress could have loved you?  See my point, it’s just not smart.)  However, this past week, I discovered a magically brilliant way to temporarily cure this late February/early March shopping bug.  Seriously, I tried it, and it worked, multiple times.  So are you ready for my big secret, the tip that might change your wardrobe and your wallet, the secret to stretching your closet in new and exciting ways?  Ok, prepare yourself, hold your breath, here it goes…

Don’t do laundry.  Yep, you read that right.  Do not under any circumstances do laundry for at least a few weeks (except the circumstance of your delicates.  Please wash those.)  I know this might sound crazy, but it works!  Three times in the past week, I’ve gone to my closet, thought, what in the world am I going to wear, and then walked out with a “new” outfit that I never would have thought to put together before.  Here is my theory: when I go to a full closet with all of my favorite staples, I know exactly what works together.  This cardigan with this flowy tank, with these layered necklaces.  It’s a sure thing, I know it works, I know it looks good, so I wear it, no hesitation.  Even if I try to take risks, having my staples and safe outfits keeps me from taking the plunge.  (Sorry for the dramatic word choice.  You’d think I’m talking about serious life decisions here.)  But when I go to my closet and my staples aren’t there, I’m pushed outside my comfort zone, and I have to make something work.  I mean, I can’t go to work naked (well I could, but I’m pretty sure I’d get fired) so I stretch my fashion self, pair things together that I’m not entirely sure of, then tweak it with accessories when I’m done.  Sometimes it doesn’t work so well, and I have try several more times to get it right, but sometimes it works really well, and I’m standing at the mirror thinking, “Why didn’t I ever think of this?!”

Here is an example from last Friday.  It was freezing here in Texas and I really wanted to wear boots.  My black riding boots were in the trunk of my car (I have a terrible habit of living out of my car) and my Uggs weren’t appropriate for work, so those two were out, which left with my black, tall, scrunchy, heeled boots that I bought a few years ago in Austin and L.O.V.E.  So I decided on the boots.  Now to choose the bottoms.  My skinny jeans are too tight at the moment (dang winter weight) and my favorite black pencil skirt was wadded up on my floor.  Hmm, ok, what about a dress?  I went to my closet, knowing I wanted black, and looked through several cocktail type dresses that were way too dressy for what I wanted.  But then I was distracted to my grouping of black jersey dresses that I practically live in during the summer.  Hmm, would this work, I don’t know, the top is way to summery, but maybe with a jacket?  Though I still wasn’t sure, I tried it, and after about ten minutes I had an ensemble I was so pleased with, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before then.  Black tights, black tall boots, black jersey dress, tan Gap bomber jacket, a big black scarf, big gold earrings, and 3 cocktail rings.  Pretty rad if I do say so myself!  I think I would have been pretty pleased leaving it at that, but that day, I got lots of compliments on my outfit, which reinforced my risk taking.  My risk taking that was forced on me by a full laundry hamper and an almost bare closet.

The moral of the story?  If you want to stretch your closet, save your bank account some grief, and still indulge the spring fever shopping itch, find a way to temporarily put some of your go-to pieces off limits.  If you’ve got a lot of willpower, then just telling yourself those pieces are off limits may work, but if you’re anything like me, you need to make those pieces unavailable.  So whether you reorganize your closet with your favorites at the back or let your laundry hamper overflow, stretching your closet can be easier and more rewarding than you think.  And I think you’ll be surprised at what you come up with and just how creative your fashion brain can be when you’ve got fewer choices!

So what about you?  How do you stretch your closet and cure the late February/early March shopping bug?

25 Random Things About Me

1. I’m a die hard Britney Spears fan and have been since her first hit. Even through her head shaving, umbrella attacks, and marriage to Kevin Federline, my love for her never faltered.

2. I absolutely love my name and didn’t have to think twice about whether or not I’d drop my last name when I get married. Growing up with a strange last name, you spend a lot of time correcting people, so I became attached pretty early. Needless to say, I’ve embraced the hyphen.

3. Anthropologie is the most magical store on Earth to me. It is like a fantasy world, full of endless treasures and surprises (see photo above). I wish I lived in that store, literally.

4. I love potatoes and would be completely fine if that’s all I could eat for the rest of my life.

5. My little brother is my hero. He moved halfway around the world with my parents as a freshman in high school, not knowing a soul. In two years, he traveled to sixteen different countries, learned British lingo, and grew into a fantastic young man. He encourages me to take risks, step outside your comfort zone, and just go for things.

6. I have a running list of baby names in my Blackberry. I do not want children any time soon and am absolutely terrified of childbirth. Strange I know.

7. Shopping is my therapy. I would like to have my ashes scattered outside of Northpark Mall.

8. Tears are the manifestation of almost every emotion for me. I cry when I’m sad, happy, frustrated, angry, scared, surprised, and excited.

9. I buy candles on a weekly basis and have multiple drawers throughout the house dedicated to storing them. I light candles if I’m going to be home for more than 10 minutes. It’s an instant stress reliever.

10. The two best moments of my life were becoming a big sister and seeing Matt when the church doors opened at our wedding. I remember both moments with ridiculous detail and get choked up thinking of both.

11. In the last six months, I have become terrified of aging. I see new signs of aging every day and spend at least 10 seconds freaking over each sign.

12. I do a monthly Facebook cleanse. If I have to think twice about who you are or can’t think about a memory with you…remove friend.

13. I’ve never been a casual dater, I’ve been in 3 serious relationships my whole life. I have absolutely no idea how to casually date.

14. I’ve tanned almost by whole life, until 2 years ago when I got skin cancer. Now I drive by tanning beds and cringe thinking how many of us think only about the here and now.

15. I am a sorority girl and proud of it. People think they know what goes on behind those walls, but if they had any idea, they’d stop judging and want in on the fantastic friendships.

16. I don’t understand why young people smoke. It’s horrible for you and not attractive.

17. I take my camera everywhere. You never know when you’ll see Jessica Simpson or Britney Spears. Gotta be prepared.

18. I have the best friends in the world. They’re totally different, yet they each love me as I am and aren’t afraid to give me crap when I deserve it.

19. I can’t wait till the day Matt and I buy our first house. Years of watching HGTV has caused some serious excitement buildup.

20. I haven’t been able to pull off red lipstick since college. For some reason the classic Kappa look just doesn’t translate to my “grown up” life.

21. When I was little I fell off the diving board onto the concrete giving me a not so attractive scar. I was talking and waving trying to be the center of attention. Go figure.

22. I’ve never really been into the bar scene. Even in college, I just didn’t get it. Don’t get me wrong, drinks with friends is a hobby of mine, just not in a crowded crazy bar with creepy guys hitting on us.

23. I hate sad movies. If I want to see sad, I’ll watch the news, not pay $8 bucks for it.

24. I am a big fan of snail mail. Nothing is as comforting as getting a card in the mail, knowing someone took the time to pick it out, write a sweet message, and slap a stamp on it. I’m pretty sure I inherited this gene from my mom.

25. I keep all my old planners/calendars. They are like my diaries. I write almost everything in them and become sentimental looking back through them.

Ok, I cheated and added one more...

26. I’m complicated and completely ok with it.