How to Save on Cosmetics and Toiletries

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By Virginia Allain
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A tube of lipstick, bottle of shampoo and some sunscreen may not seem that costly, but the price of cosmetics and toiletries may be hurting your efforts to balance the budget. Here's how to save money on these daily-use cosmetics and toiletries.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Don't buy any more until you assess what you currently have on hand. Rummage under the bathroom sink and other places that you stash such supplies. Get it all out and spread it on the counter.
Step 2

Some of these cosmetics were tried once, then shoved out of sight. There's still plenty left in most of them. Give it another chance. Maybe you'll like that shade of lipstick better this time. Maybe that hand lotion works fine once you get used to the scent.
Step 3

Use up the remnants of hand and body lotions that might have thickened up a little too much over time. Just squirt a bit of baby oil into the container and shake it up. Usually that makes it free-flowing again so you can use it up.
Step 4

Put a shampoo that you really don't like into the laundry room. Use it to take out spots or remove ring-around-the-collar. Those collar rings are caused by body oils, so a shampoo works fine for it.
Step 5

Collect together the usable items that you know you'll never finish. Have a swap with some friends for products they bought but didn't care for. This works for toiletries like bottles of shampoo, sunscreen, and lotions. Do not swap cosmetics that have touched you (eyelash thickener or lipstick). There's too much risk of infection to trade those.

Comments

whiteshoulder said

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on 11/11/2009 Great tips on saving money by taking inventory first. Also, remember to empty purses...sometimes they get swapped for another without being completely emptied.