College and University : Save $$$ on Beauty
Hello Dolls and Gents,
I am a third year student in university in Canada and when I go to the mall I tend to walk into MAC, Sephora , or any department store to look for makeup. I found myself window shopping, but not really purchasing. I have a plan that I usually follow when I am out of school and when I am in school.
I know, many college or uni students who are working and they have money to pay for groceries, essentials and beauty. However, there are some students who do not work, like me, who feel that they can not handle the pressure of a job and school at the same time or they can't find a job (that's me!). I never work during the school year, but I worked during the summer to make up from it, so as soon I finished school in April, I would start working in May all the way until I have to go back to school.
Now, you are thinking, okay how do you save money on makeup and what is the plan? Well, if you stick around a bit more, I will tell you what I do. DISCLAIMER : I know that this is not for everyone and some people rather splurge or not buy at all. This is how I save some money when it comes to buy makeup. Remember, this may not work for everyone, but it works for me.
In-Store
The best way to buy makeup is in-store because it allow you to see the price and how the product looks. I find that when I am in-store, I always swatch it and then I will keep in mind the texture, longevity, and etc. Now, being a uni student, I do not always have the money to buy all my makeup from Sephora, so I usually go to the drugstore. I swear, the drugstore is every college and uni student place to makeup, unless they want to splurge.I always go to Wal-Mart or Shoppers Drug Mart . I find that Shoppers hikes their price so much, so I go there sometimes. The thing is when I go to Shoppers and Wal-Mart, I look for items that are on sale. Once I find those items, I think to myself, what is the budget that I want to spend on makeup. I find that this helps me know what I can get and what I should put down because it is over my max budget. Usually, I know what is on sale when I check their online flyer. I picked the items that I need first, before picking the items that I want. I find that many of us, confuse those two and because I am not working, I solely focus on what I need and if I have some money left over from my budget, then I may get something I want. The brand I usually tend to gravitate to is Maybelline, NYC, Essence, CoverGirl, Wet n Wild, and Hard Candy. Out of all the brands, Essence is the brand that I usually pick, because here in Canada, all the Essence products are under $5. That is perfect for me, as a uni student because I can get eyeliner, lip liner, mascara, lip stick, and nail polish and go to another brand to get foundation and concealer. This is the method that I use when in school and out of school.
MAC and Sephora
I love MAC and Sephora, but the prices of the products are crazy expensive if you are not making any money. So, what I do is that when I break for school and I start to work in the summer, I stocked up on my MAC and Sephora shopping because I do not have to worry about do groceries and paying the bills. So, I have enough money left over to splurge. Now, I know it's not a good idea to do this and I should save money, but I found that when I do this, I save a lot of money, because I am able to buy the foundation, concealer, and beauty tools that I want and know that in the next school year that I do not have to purchase those items again. Now, I always set a budget for Sephora or if I do not do that I will be spending over $100. In the summer, I do not have time to go into Sephora and purchase the items, so I order them online. I suggest if you have time, go into your Sephora and buy your makeup because you save money on the shipping cost and you have the items immediately. Sephora online before had free shipping over $75, now is $50. So I made sure when shopping online, that I spent the maximum to get free shipping, so I do not have to pay for it and making my cost a little cheaper. What I do is Sephora is my opportunity to purchase the products that I have sampled or tried out. When I am in school, I go to Sephora and get a lot of samples of foundation and try on different lipsticks, lip gloss, liquid lipstick to know what would look best on me. I also do this with MAC. So, I purchase products that I have tried but do not own.
On-line
So, I spend most of my makeup shopping online because sometimes can not be bothered with the the lines or going into stores. I purchase makeup, nail polish, lashes, and brush online that I have already use and I know my shade. I know many people do not like the idea of online shopping because they do not know what their right shade, but I never buy a brand new foundation that I have never tried online. I always try to find beauty sites that ships to Canada, but the shipping is either free or under $10. There are some sites that are U.S. but ships to Canada and they are a bit over $10, but is not as bad as paying $25 for shipping. I am always trying to find the best place to buy beauty products that is affordable because I know that I do not want to spend a lot of money overall. Again, I set myself a budget and when I do this, the budget includes the shipping cost, so what I do is I put all the items I want into a basket and then I get an estimate of the shipping then I decide my budget. I subtract the shipping cost from my budget, which gives me the amount I can spend. I do not include taxes, because it is based on the items in the cart.
Affordable Makeup Sites
Overall, these are my methods to saving money on beauty products. This works out perfectly for me and I hope that it helps some of you. Remember, you need to know your foundation shade before purchase anything online or even if you do not know your drugstore foundation colour, I suggest you check this post or this and I explain how to find the perfect shade for you.
2 comments
Wow, I never thought of this before. You really do have a plan to help you save a little money on beauty. You are right, this is not for many people. because I do not think I could do this. But, even though this method is not for me, I could use some of your tips to make wiser purchases in the future.
ReplyDeleteThanks, this works for me. I am glad that you can use some of these tips to make better purchases in the future
Delete