I’m the kind of girl who needs to get the best value for everything she shops for.  I shop online through ebates to get cashback, I always ask if there are any available discounts or promotions at the register, and I love to haggle when I know I can.  Not paying full price for things really is a cheap thrill.

Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t mind spending money, so long as it makes sense.  I’m about VALUE, not being cheap.  There’s a difference.

I bought $200 boots three years ago and have probably worn it 300 times by now.  I will calculate that purchase as 66 cents a day.  Versus, if I had only worn the same boots twice instead, that’s $100 each time I wore it – ouch.  To me, that means I didn’t get the best value out of those boots.

Now imagine, having that mindset for everything you own.  In this Beauty blog, I’m going to give out tips on how to really get the most value out of an item’s shelf life which will ultimately either make the most of your money already spent and/or will save you money in the long run for it.

1.  Use up all that leftover cream and make-up at the bottom of the bottle.

I used to wince every time I threw away my make-up containers and lotion bottles.  I knew that there was still so much leftover product inside but I just couldn’t get to it!  According to Consumer Report, we throw away up to 25% of product!

Meaning you paid 100% of the price for only 75% of that (insert cosmetic branded product here). 

To put it into perspective, you could’ve had yourself a whole ‘nother bottle of lotion after throwing away 4 of them.

After watching entrepreneur Cheryl Rigdon pitch the Spatty Daddy on ABC’s entrepreneur reality show Shark Tank, I bought one immediately.  She fashioned what’s basically a tinier version of a kitchen spatula to better scoop up whatever’s left at the bottom of our cosmetic bottles.  It’s one of those simple “why didn’t I think of that first” creations.

My Hourglass Veil mineral primer is $52 a bottle.  I justify the price with my lack of acne breakouts.  After the bottle can no longer pump any more primer out, I use the Spatty Daddy to reach along the sides of it and at the very bottom of it.  I was able to get 3 more weeks use of it!

The Spatty Daddy can be purchased for between $5.49 to $9.99- a small cost for the long run.  However, if you just can’t wait to get your own Spatty Daddy right now, another way to get all that leftover make-up is to use an unused/clean make-up brush that you already have and brush it out.  Just note that the product/creams will stick to the handle of the make-up brush– but feel free to wipe it off to use if you’d like.

Recently, I finished squeezing Bath & Body Works Forever Sunshine triple moisturizing body cream.  I decided to cut off the top and was amazed by how much was leftover.  I sealed it back with a binder clip and got another month’s use out of it.

2.  Don’t get rid of your sweaters that look old because of all the fuzzy pilling

What’s up with sweaters losing their first store impression on you after you’ve washed it just once?  Even if you air dry them, somehow the fabric lint have had an unspoken agreement to roll themselves up into tiny fuzzy balls– aging the sweater’s look like you’ve had that thing for yeeeeears.

Well, before you give away that sweater in all of its fuzzy pilling glory and spend more money on a new one, here’s how you can make sure your sweaters look new each and every time you wear it.

I bought myself a Fuzz Wizard 7 years ago (Yes, as SEEN ON TV!)

I have been able to extend my sweater’s shelf life simply by shaving off all the pilling.  It’s a pretty fun (not to mention AMUSING) way to do it too.  It runs on batteries and it’s a well-worth-it investment for anyone’s closet really.  However, keep in mind though to not rush it, otherwise you might snag and make a hole in your clothing.

And if you’d rather not spend the $9.99 for a fuzz wizard, a good alternative would be use a disposable razor that you already have lying around the house.  Move it along the fabric in the direction of the weave.  It’s a little more time consuming, but it’ll get the job done.

And voila!  You get to wear your sweater as if you JUST bought it from the mall all over again!

3.  Don’t wash your hair everyday

In the Victorian era, it was the norm to wash your hair once a month.  Later on a column in the New York Times wrote that it was okay to wash your hair once every two weeks.  It wasn’t until the 60’s and 70’s that marketing campaigns made it a point to convince its target demographic that washing your hair should be daily.  Makes sense for a business to advertise like that, they make more money based on selling volume! (Pun completely and utterly intended.)

What can you take from this?   It’s unnecessary to wash your hair everyday.

Not only will you buy less shampoo, it’s HEALTHIER for your hair and scalp!  When you wash your hair every day, you strip the natural oils (sebum) that should be there to protect your hair in the first place.  You’re also letting it overproduce the oils each day because it’s overcompensating for the dryness – and that’s why our hair looks so greasy when we don’t wash it.

I’ll wash my hair and blow dry it straight and keep it like that for two days.  The third day, I’ll curl my hair and then the fourth day I’ll wear a hat or will have washed it by then.

If I can’t stand how greasy my hair looks, I’ll use baby powder or dry shampoo to absorb.  My tip for this is to use a nylon bristled brush, rather than your fingers, and rub the baby powder/dry shampoo into your hair/scalp.  Rub it gently back and forth until you don’t see white anymore.  It takes away the yes-I-haven’t-washed-my-hair-oily-look and gives your hair texture and volume – it’s amazing for styling!

Over time, your hair will produce less and less oil between hair washes.

It’s become a cultural norm for Americans to wash their hair everyday.  And perhaps it might be slightly uncomfortable for a few of us to go without a day of doing so.  But I promise you, if you start with baby steps of washing your hair every other day, and then even 2 days at a time, your hair (and wallet) will thank you for it.

4.  Buy generic.

Sure, you’ve heard this plenty of times, but it’s definitely worth it when it’s available.  You’ll be surprised by how effective the generic brands are.  You pay more for brand names and thanks to the advertising big bucks, we believe that they’ll be higher quality.  Truth is, sometimes they are, sometimes they aren’t – just as with any product really – brand or not.

I can actually use a recent example for this particular tip.  I’ve been loyal with Neutrogena’s oil free make-up remover for years.  It wipes off even the most stubborn waterproof mascara.  And gently too!  So save your bicep power.

However, I recently came across a generic brand from Bed Bath & Beyond and compared both products side by side for ingredient comparison.  Everything was literally the same.  There was not one additional or substituted ingredient.  Either this is the case or I’ve seen the majority of the times where it’s just one ingredient different.

I saved myself $2 plus I also had a 20% discount from BB&B.  (If you sign up for their newsletter, they send a new 20% coupon every 2 weeks to a month)

When using it, I could tell that the generic brand was a little more watered down.  Meaning, even though both products use the same exact ingredients, they used different amounts of each one in their formulas.  I still found it to be just as beneficial despite this and if it wasn’t, I would’ve stuck with Neutrogena.  But to be honest, I probably will be going for this generic eye makeup remover from now on since it does the trick!

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And so, there you have it.  Little tricks to economically stretch out your dollars and products. If you’ve got more to share, please comment them below.  I’m all about finding what else I can do to maximize my beauty products and things!  Thanks for reading!