More Frugal Beauty Tips

This is a continuation and expansion of a prior post found here.

I thought a bit about the frugal skin care ideas that I've used over the years and realized that I no longer have access to one of the products I mentioned as being previously free to me. What would I use now? And don't think this is purely a mental exercise! I will be returning to this skin care routine shortly but I still have no intention of buying anything! I will need to substitute something while still implementing the following inexpensive steps:

1. baby oil
2. wash with - oh, I don't know; we'll discuss this in a minute
3. alcohol on 1/2 of a cotton ball
4. moisturizer

I was taking inventory this week of potential substitutions on hand and was surprised at what I found. For Step 2 above I am amply supplied with small bars of moisturing soaps courtesy of the many hotels/motels/inns/lodges where we've stayed in recent years. I usually bring home any opened bars of soap instead of letting them be thrown away by housekeeping.

I also am equipped with a few bottles and bars of baby soap from previous babysitting days. Perhaps I'm wrong, but it seems to me that if a product is mild enough to use on a baby's delicate skin it might not be bad for using on my face either. I see no reason to let these products go to waste.

These two sources of soap shall now take the place of cleanser in Step 2. My point being that any soap would do as long as the oil and moisturizer steps are faithfully followed.

Moving on from the facial package, there is the matter of the mouth.

• Toothpaste, teeth whitener, and mouthwash

I don't know why any frugal person might need to find a substitute for toothpaste these days but I suppose it could happen. I haven't paid for a tube of the stuff in years! It takes effort to clip coupons and watch sale papers but most frugal people do that anyway.

But what happens if you're traveling and find that you've forgotten to pack toothpaste? Okay, most places will give you a complimentary tube at the front desk if you ask, but not all of them. And I've been surprised to find that it is some of the higher-end places (where we've been deposited by the churches where Pastor Dad has been a guest speaker lest you think we're paying their exorbitant prices ourselves. Ha! Ha! Ha!) that will charge a nominal fee for forgotten items.

Forget it! Go to the nearest store and buy a package of baking soda. It will cost less than those micro sizes of toothpaste and do nicely in a pinch. Brushing with a powder isn't as sublime an experience as brushing with paste (oh, I'm really a wise-cracker today!) but it will get the job done inexpensively and will also remind you to pack better next trip. If you cannot take the box of baking soda home at the end of your stay (for instance, if you're traveling by airline) give it to someone (the host pastor's wife maybe?) or just throw it away. The money wasted will be less than on a small tube of toothpaste.

Speaking of oral hygiene, for every day teeth whitening and mouth wash, swish a very small amount hydrogen peroxide around in the mouth for 5 minutes each morning and then gargle it before spitting it out. You must use a very small amount or you'll end up looking like you're suffering a case of rabies! But a small amount is good anyway when you're striving to be thrifty!

As an added bonus, peroxide kills germs. This could potentially save the cost of a doctor bill, too. But don't swallow the stuff. Just swish, gargle, and spit it out.

• Acne products

I feel a bit strange talking about acne products when I'm long past using them myself and have spilled the beans on my facial plan, but I've got a teenager at home who needs the help that only some of the acne products provide. There seem to be a couple of options for getting them: order by mail or pick them up at mall kiosks.

The mail option usually nets the subscriber with more product than can be used in a month. My theory is to split the order between 2 or 3 friends. Or do like my daughter did and wait to have such a backlog that the subscription can be cancelled without running out of products for a year or so.

The kiosk option is only available to those who live near enough to a mall that has one to meet the need. I checked today to see how close we are to a kiosk where we can buy them directly and it isn't that close. However, there are other purchases we can make while in that neighborhood and we are usually at this particular mall a couple of times a year. That would probably be our best option even though there is no shortage of young people who regularly visit our house to play video games with The Bear that would be potential "product-sharers." I'm not sure how kindly they and their parents would take it if I were to approach them with an offer of sharing the purchase of acne products. Sounds a bit insulting to me. Therefore, I think we'll make a trip to the closest kiosk in the next month or so.

Let me know if you have any frugal beauty tips to share. I'm always looking for new suggestions.

This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom