12 Frugal Beauty Tips | Beauty On A Budget

Do you love beauty products and makeup but don’t want it to destroy your budget? Welcome to the beauty on a budget club! Today I’m sharing my frugal beauty tips and my own personal favorite budget beauty products as a collaboration with Cents and Purpose and Kate Kaden!

Makeup and beauty is one area where I don’t spend much honestly and get very, very frugal. That’s honestly because this is not an area where I put a lot of my focus or care much about it. Most days I don’t even wear makeup, but I do love to have a quick easy makeup look and get dolled up for events.

Favorite Frugal Beauty Products

Below I’ve listed some of my favorite budget beauty products and my personal favorite makeup splurge item!

Frugal Beauty Products I Love:

Splurge Beauty Products I Love:

Frugal Beauty Tips

Some of these frugal beauty tips you have probably heard and others may be new. Take what you can use from this list and leave the rest. Finding what works for you and your preferences is the beauty of frugality and personal finance.

You can find ways to be frugal and cut costs in areas that don’t matter as much so you can spend in other areas.

My favorite frugal beauty tips:

  1. Drink lots of water. Drinking a lot of water will lead to better looking skin. You look better when you are well hydrated, I promise. The better you take care of your body overall with drinking water and eating healthy foods, the better your skin looks.
  2. Use a makeup primer! It makes your makeup look so much better in most cases and is a frugal way to make the makeup you do actually use look better. 
  3. Figure out what works for you and stick with it. You don’t have to try every new trend and product that comes out. People overspend and waste the most when constantly buying new products that end up not working for them. When you find a product you like, you can find ways to get it on sale.
  4. Shop sales and deals and use drugstore reward points. Makeup is always going on sale and many brands offer coupons. Only buy things when it’s a good price.
  5. Choose one splurge item, instead of spending heavy on everything. Pick one thing that is most important to you and buy the higher end item. For me this is a higher end foundation that works well with my skin type.
  6. Find ways to use one item in multiple ways. Can you also use a shimmer item for cheeks, lips and eyes? Can you use a brown eyeshadow for your eyeshadow and you’re eyebrows?  
  7. Always take care of your skin! Most of the basic skincare stuff doesn’t have to be expensive, you just have to make it a habit. Use a moisturizer during the day. Use retinol for anti aging at night. Again, give your skin what it needs. Always remove your makeup at night.
  8. Spend time improving your technique instead of buying more stuff. If you don’t know how to apply makeup well then the expensive items you buy still won’t look as good as the drugstore makeup another girl uses who has worked on applying it perfectly. 
  9. Remove advertising for beauty items where you can. Unfollow brands and send those newsletters to the trash or unsubscribe.
  10. Set a budget for your beauty spending. Figure out what your beauty budget includes: makeup, hair products, skin care and set a budget. This make be a separate category or it may be within your personal spending money like mine, but set a limit for yourself.
  11. Create a beauty sinking fund. You know I love sinking funds and for good reason – there is no guilt when spending on items it you have saved up for them. If you want that fancy foundation, start a beauty sinking fund and save up over a couple months and then buy it.
  12. Find bonus money to spend on beauty. Finding extra money for your budget makes things like beauty feel less budget busting. In my description box I share things like Rakuten, which sends me checks that I can use on beauty items outside of my budget! I also always use gift cards from birthdays or bonuses from work on beauty items! ➝  Try Rakuten for earning cash back on purchases to spend and get a $10 bonus.  

Those are just some of my favorite ways to be frugal with makeup and beauty products! There are tons of other ways as well!

Frugal Beauty Strategies To Save Money

There are many other strategies for saving money on your beauty routines and skincare regime. Some of the strategies actually involve your mindset and approve to beauty.

Take care of your whole body.

Beauty begins with things that don’t cost any money at all and that’s taking care of your whole body. This includes doing things like getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, and eating healthy foods. These things make your skin look better and your overall beauty will shine!

Spend where it matters.

For an example: have the mindset to prioritize what matters. Decide what you really care about most in your beauty routine and splurge there. Then choose to spend less in other areas or cut them out all together.

Use less product.

If you want to get very frugal, you can water down things like shampoo or otherwise dilute beauty items to make them go further. This makes items last longer and gives you much more bang for your buck. Another option to use less is to actually use less products. You likely don’t need as many items as you think.

Find ways to do it yourself.

You might not be able to DIY every beauty or personal care item in your budget but there are many ways to diy personal care expenses to save money. Take a look at what you currently spend and decide where you might be able to DIY: could you do your nails at home? could you trim your own hair instead of going to the salon? could you make beauty products at home with less ingredients for less money?

Learn what makes you feel beautiful.

Sometimes what makes us feel beautiful matters more than anything we spend money on. Find the things that make you feel beautiful, whether that is fake eyelashes or facials or simply a lovely outfit that fits well. Prioritize those in your budget and day because when you feel beautiful you will also look beautiful!

If you enjoy being frugal, check out some of these other posts about living a frugal life:

Being beautiful and living a full life is possible while being frugal and staying on a budget.

Mary is the founder of Pennies Not Perfection where she shares her journey to build wealth through online income. She quit her day job in 2021 after she paid off her debt and doubled her 9-5 salary.

Mary's favorite free financial tool is Personal Capital. She uses their free tools to track net worth and work toward to financial freedom.

Her favorite investment platform is M1 Finance, where she built a custom portfolio for free with no fees. She shares her portfolio growth and savings progress every month on YouTube.