Hello lovely readers, I hope you are all well! I am currently hating myself for procrastinating and essay by doing just about everything possible to avoid it ._. It is going to be a looong night..but for today’s post I thought I would share with you my top 10 make-up money saving tips, following on from my 101 day spending ban post – I hope this is helpful!
1. Make Use of Advantage/Loyalty Cards!
I have one for boots, Superdrug, Debenhams and the Nectar card (because where I work is located within Sainsbury's). I also have a Costa card and a Nandos card. If they are offering you points, which could later be translated into money take it! Although it may not seem like a significant amount, every little adds up! Last year boots held a few ‘points events’ and I went along and bagged myself £10 worth of points which I later spent in their boxing day sale! Who doesn’t love a double bargain?? I must admit the Superdrug card is a little naff, they only give you one point per pound spent…but then you can use your point’s to pay for PART of any payment, something you cannot do with boots. Having said that boots give you 4 POINTS PER POUND! So why not snap them both up! Along with this some stores give offers exclusive to card holders, for example Debenhams offer free delivery to any one with a beauty card! And I’ve yet to come across a store who charges for the card, so what are you waiting for?!
2. Become an e-mail subscriber
You know those little boxes at the end of most shop’s online webpages? Enter your e-mail address, or perhaps create a second e-mail that is not for personal/work related and enter that… then keep an eye out for offers. I always find it handy to know when a store is having 20% off, free delivery or gift with purchase. Sometimes shops will have online only sales, so you can pick up your makeup and skincare for cheaper than leaving your home – winning! Again it’s totally free and takes a matter of seconds.
3. Always wait for a 3for2!
Do you REALLY need that eyeliner right now? Or can you wait a little till boots do this fantastic offer? I think we both know the answer, and believe me it feels a LOT better getting an eyeliner for free than it does having to cough up for one! I would say I’ve probably shopped at boots twice when they HAVEN’T had a 3for2 type of offer on, get more for your money ladies!
4. Keep Wish lists
So following on from the previous point, write stuff down. I’m sure the majority of us like making lists anyway, so jot down something you’ve seen a YouTuber or Blogger rave about (I always have a wish list going in the notes section on my iPhone) and then when offers strike you can pick up what you wanted! it also allows you to think carefully about whether you really want the particular item, although of course random splurges are sometimes inevitable!
5. Have a browse of your local super market!
You may remember my Sainsbury's post a few weeks ago, where I picked up some things that were ridiculously cheaper than a ‘drugstore’! So if you do the weekly shop, or are simply passing a supermarket and have time, go check out their beauty and skincare isles and see what is on offer that week. I am always pleasantly surprised to pick up a moisturiser or blush for a very reasonable price from a grocery store.
6. ASOS IS A STUDENTS BEST FRIEND
Firstly they offer 10% student discount all year round, IF you have a NUS card or have signed up to UNIDAYS (LINK). And don’t worry you can be a secondary school student and sign up too! So if you’re after a particular rimmel mascara, or bourjois bronzer do check out ASOS’s beauty section and enter your code for a cheaper beauty fix! Another thing I adore about ASOS is sometimes they RANDOMLY have flash beauty sales on a particular brand, for example 30% off Rimmel. So by keeping the beauty section bookmarked and checking it now and again you could have some serious savings! FINALLY the days when they have a whooping 20/30% off EVERYTHING, beauty lovers REJOICE because that means you get to pick up a NARS BLUSH for 20% off! Oh YES! I purchased my first and second NARS blusher’s during these 20% off’s, so worth it! Oh ASOS, I love thee.
7. FragranceDirect.com
I’ve ordered from here at least 4 times and have never had an issue with any of my cosmetics or perfumes. I LOVE this site! You do have to thoroughly go through the categories to separate the good from the bad but sometimes you can find AMAZING deals! For example the Manhattan Mat Lip Creams (reviewed) are available for 99p!! It’s well worth checking FD out now and again.
8. Invest in A Good Base
Now not everyone will agree with me on this one, but I think although the drugstore have some phenomenal products, it is always worth investing a little more into a base that will be failproof. Mine is probably NARS Sheer Glow, it is a good medium/full coverage base which photographs beautifully and seems to look better and better the longer I wear it. Plus the yellow tone in the foundation is amazing! Especially if you are a WOC going high-end will make your makeup routine easier, and probably cheaper….with the more expensive stuff generally a little goes a long way, it’s more long wearing and of course tailored to more unique skin tones something the drugstore fails on often. A lot of the times (but not always!) higher end bases can tick more boxes than drugstore, so by investing in one you're saving more time and money and adding less stuff to your face to get the perfect base.
9. Invest in Acrylic Storage & Get Organised
Yes Muji seems to be on every beauty guru’s channel and most blogger’s own them but there is a great reason for that – they are incredibly functional (as well as looking gorgeous!). With acrylic storage you can see EVERYTHING you own and hopefully you’ll end up using it a great deal more too! If you’re a generally unorganised person like myself they will go a long way in helping organise all your makeup and really getting your money’s worth out of a product! On top of that you can immediately see if you NEED another concealer or if the one you have is still going strong….resulting in unnecessary spending and less waste ok maybe I just love Muji too much to not include it in this. But seriously ladies, although they are an investment, and can be pricy if all bought in one go, I cannot recommend them enough. It has changed my makeup collection for the better, and will help me make the most of my stash, especially when I move rooms!
10. Use iHerb.com to buy your Real Techniques and Eco Tool brushes!
Every single Real Techniques brush I own, aside from Sam’s picks collection was bought from iherb! You get your brushes for almost half price, and the shipping is very reasonable too. I bought the core collection which costs around £21 for only £11 and so could afford to spend more money because the US prices are so reasonable! One thing to make note of however is that if you order more than £15 worth in one go you will probably be charged customs tax…so keep it under 15! When I ordered mine I made multiple separate orders and had no issues, you can also pick up Dr. Bronner’s soap from there which I mentioned in my ‘how I thoroughly clean my makeup brushes’ post as well as a heap of other natural products for cheaper prices! Don’t forget to use the code LCD104 to get at least $5 off your first order – every little helps ;D
And those are my golden money saving tips ladies! Like I said I RARELY pay full price for anything, and through being a little savy I’ve built up a collection I am quite proud of. When you can save your pennies, why not? ^_^ If you found this post useful please give it a thumbs up on my facebook page, and thankyou very much for reading! Please feel free to share any other ways YOU save money on makeup below :)
p.s Again thankyou all SOO much for your wonderful comments on my past few posts, I will reply to them as soon as I’ve ticked these assignments off, but honestly you’re such an amazing bunch! <3
