Yes, we all know the economy is weak; times are tough, blah, blah, blah. I’m not dismissing it, I’m just sick of hearing it. As I’m sure you are. But here’s the good news, it’s not all gloom and doom. With a little creativity you can still maintain your beauty regimens without going into debt. Yes, here is the beauty secret of the year: you can be beautiful and frugal! While it may not be as glamorous as going to a spa for the day, you can still look spa gorgeous for very little cash by doing it at home.

As the economy took a downturn you may have tried stretching the time between haircuts by convincing yourself the Crystal Gayle look was in or by painting your own nails thinking that was all you could really do on your own. Not true, there are loads of easy, at-home beauty treatments that even the most frugal of harried woman can successfully pull off. For example:

For that “just had a manicure” feeling for your hands do an inexpensive hydrating treatment. While washing the dishes, cover your hands with a thick layer of lotion and wear latex cleaning gloves. The warm dishwater helps you to get the deep lotion treatment while gloves provide insulation of heat. Repeat it once or twice per week to get economical, beautiful soft hands.


For that “skin so soft” feeling you experience after a day at the spa you can relax in a milk bath at home. Mix half cup of milk powder with your bath water, soak and feel the difference.

To keep your face naturally beautiful without spending a ton of money on monthly facials, splash your face with warm water and massage it with a tablespoon of honey, which is antibacterial in nature, then rinse your face well with warm water. You can also use plain yogurt instead of honey, which works to exfoliate and its lactic acid dissolves dead skin cells.

To preserve your skin at night, instead of using an expensive night cream, make your own. (Because we all know beauty is a 24/7 endeavour.) Mix up ½ cup olive oil, ¼ cup vinegar and ¼ cup water, once the concoction is well mixed and spread over your face. Olive oil serves as a moisturiser and revitalises skin while vinegar takes care of bacteria, dead skin cells and skin discolorations.

To combat dry skin, you don’t need to take out the credit card and pay for pricey moisturisers; instead you can use olive oil mixed with melted beeswax.

Other little bits of frugal beauty secrets I recently learned about include:

Spices and essential oils added to your bath water can make you fragrant for a long time.
Baking soda added to your shampoo once a week will help remove styling product build-up.
Mayonnaise or raw eggs work great as a hair conditioner.

So even with an ugly economy you, the harried woman can remain looking fabulous. With just a little digging around in your kitchen cupboards and a little creativity, you too can be beautiful and frugal.

Coming Up…Jump Starting your Workouts for a Bikini Body.