the cost of beauty

i used to spend money like it was growing on trees.  trips to nordstrom and sephora were routine, and i'd drop cash on all sorts of fun stuff that caught my eye.  sorta like what high society in the old days called "nouveaux riches" - sort of.

and then the economy took a shit and so did the hub's industry.  bah.  you remember operation downsize, don't you?  i learned a lot and found myself going back to my budgeting, penny-pinching roots during that year-ish.  it was fun and depressing all at the same time.  heh.

i'm totally rambling.  what else is new, right?  well, i'm not exactly back to my old spendy ways, but i realized that i'd been headed in that direction again - at least, when it comes to cosmetics.  you know i love me some makeup, and when i started running out of key products in my stash, the teen and i hit the mall. 

but as we were perusing sephora and i was happily tossing this and that into my basket, she became my voice of reason:  "mom, you can get that at target, and it'd be way cheaper."

wah waaaah.  i reeeeeeaaaalllllyyyyyy love my urban decay 24/7 eyeliner and the fresh brown sugar body lotion and the stila convertible color and and and...

she was right.  i truly didn't need to drop three figures on stuff to use on my face.  and so the majority of the products went back on the shelf and we headed to good ol' target.

from $25 stila blush to $5 maybelline:

the colors aren't quite the same (okay, they're really very different), but the cheapy stuff works just fine.  i'm happy to save $20.

as for my beloved urban decay eyeliner, the revlon colorstay is a decent substitute.  i guess.  i'm saving $13 here.

mascara has been a drugstore buy for me for ages now, after i came to realize that the pricey higher-end stuff really isn't much different.  some of you may disagree, but i'm good with my combo of l'oreal extra collagen and...any other brand with a brush that separates my lashes.

not to mention, i scored on a multi-pack of this at costco for $14 - and i had a $2.50 coupon too!  woohoo!

i also bought this stuff thinking i'd do my own manicures.  so far, they're still unopened.  heh.

i did splurge on a couple of things, though.  i can't seem to stay away from my beloved MAC studio fix.  it's just too easy to slap it on and go - fits right into my 5-minute makeup routine. 

and because i'm a total sheep, i followed the lead of my twirlies and dropped the cash on this:

this color is FANTASTIC.  i got it on my toes during my last pedicure (yeah, i'm too lazy to DIY those) and it's a totally fun, metallic, super chic color.  it'll work right through the rest of summer and all the way through fall and winter.

i did see at sally beauty supply that they sell the stuff to do gel manicures, too.  the base, the color, and the little UV light to bake it on.  i'm actually considering picking that up and saving the extra $15 per visit to the nail salon. 

that's if i'm not too lazy to do it myself, that is.  heh.