A VERY SPECIAL FAB FRIDAY ARTICLE FROM OUR USUAL SEPHORA SIREN KATIE!
Katie here with a Spa-It-Yourself My mother trained me well... despite my best efforts, I became a bargain shopper. Though I often yearn and/or lust and/or drool over the most luxurious things, and vow..."When I get my first paycheck out of graduate school, I'm going to buy myself (insert luxury item here: Black Louboutin pumps/Prada calfskin leather bag/Lexus Sports Sedan). But for now, practicality often rings out. (I.e. I COULD buy that gorgeous new Dior 5-Pan Eyeshadow Palette, but instead I buy a whole lot of stuff at BeautyTicket.com.) You know, more bang for my buck!
So perhaps that's why the idea of spa treatments really don't appeal to me so much. For that SAME $135 for a brightening facial, you can BUY a whole bunch of really nice products, and have the treatment more than once! So I wanted to share this magic advice with all of you and give you some amazing product combos to do that job yourself over and over again (all for the price of a nice little spa treatment or less!)!
Silky Smooth Legs
Caudalie Spa, New York: Full Leg + Bikini Wax: $95
OR
Buy: the Caudalie Cabernet Scrub, Caudalie Fleur de Vigne Soap, and Caudalie Nourshing Body Lotion, and your favorite raxor: $35 + $12 + $36 = $83. This combination is amazing! Start by exfoliating your legs, underarms, bikini area (wherever you like to be bare!) with the scrub. (The Cabernet Scrub is a little bit more rough...for a gentler exfoliator try the Sauvignon scrub). Then lather your legs with the sweet-smelling and non-drying soap bar and shave. Finish with the body lotion while your legs are still wet (but after you turn off the water). The result is the smoothest shave you've ever given yourself!
Tight and Light All-Over
Bliss, Dallas: Deep Sea Detox: $165
OR
Buy: Bliss Seaweed Ceullute Soap, L'Occitane Delicious Tummmy Cream, and Ole Henrikson African Red Tea Body Mask: $14 + $38 + $65 = $117.
Clear, Bright Skin
Kinara Spa, Los Angeles: Ultra Cleanse Facial: $190
OR
Buy: Boscia Clarifying Detox Mask + Caudalie Purifying Concentrate + Dr. Brandt Oil-Free Hydrator: $25 + $39 + $35 = $99
Use this Claifying Detox Clay Mask 1-2x per week on a clean face. It cleans out those clogged pores and leaves your skin bright and tight. Mix a drop or two of the concentrate into the hydrator and smooth onto skin for cool tingle. You'll have great oil-control while treating acne-causing bacteria with the hazel and rosemary essential oils in the concentrate.
Slim and circulate in the shower with the cellulite soap bar with built-in scrubber! Turn off the water and DON'T DRY OFF. Slather on the self-heating Ole Henrikson Mask to plump, hydrate, and bring health to your skin with the body mask. Wrap yourself in a robe and enjoy the warmth. Then, before you get dressed, rub some of the slimming tummy cream on your problem areas and slip on your skinny jeans!
In this economy we can all use some tips to save some moolah! What regimen brings you stellar results! Do tell!
- meg's blog
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Reviews
Thanks for the link to BeautyTicket -- I'd never heard of that one yet! I am always a sucker for discount beauty sites.I've never been able to talk myself into paying for manicures/pedicures, especially when I can buy so many good nail products for cheap. I love Sally Hansen's Nail Quencher Base Coat and Insta-Dri Top Coat - with those two almost any old cheap nail polish stays on a long time. A good cuticle cream/oil (I like the California Mango line from Sally's) and a nice rich lotion and I'm good to go!
Fabulous post, Katie, especially in "these hard economic times". For me, I finally have money for the first time in my life (I have a job and am living at home!). But here's a few ways I save money:Nails: I stopped my ridiculous acrylic nail addiction (I do still miss them...).INSTEAD, I substitute it with a nice nailpolish and some Sally Hansen InstaDri :) I realized that I like very few nailpolish colors, so I might as well buy the expensive stuff when I find one of my Holy Grail nailcolors (and they aren't that expensive if you get it from transdesign or 8ty8beauty or some discount site like that!).Hair: I stopped getting salon highlights. I miss my multi colored hair :(INSTEAD, I either dye my hair at home or just leave it my natural color, and splurge a little on a bit of nice conditioner and product (ISO with the yellow cap, and J&J leave in conditioner and J&J detangling spray, Fekkai Glossing Cream).
♥ Lipgloss and Spandex: a blog for gals who look good and run fast
Fredrick Fekkai now has DIY color for $30 at Sephora, in store and online, it comes w/ the color, developer, bowl, brush, and conditioner. For Highlights, my niece gets foils from the beauty college, the cost is 1/2 of what she paid in the salon. I just got the FF color and will let you know how it turns out. It is more expensive then reg. drug store color, but, it is suppose to come out like salon color, making it a great bargain. Salon color usually starts around $75 for shoulder length hair, that is w/ out high-lights, hair cut, or style. I hope this helps a bit. Take care.
Thanks for the great Ideas!! love them.. what do you say for coloring your hair at home??
Ooh, fantastic thoughts! I love the idea if getting a bunch of girlfriends together and sharing the costs of said items then having a big ol' pampering day together! :DYou've inspired me. ♥
Like you said you get more bang for your buck-think of all the home treatments you'd get out of the home product verses one salon treatment-Im sure you'd see better results.
PotionPrincess♥
Spoken like the true professional you are Katie. These are fabulous ideas! I love it when we get your step by step, try this and that, type of instructions. Katie, you are the Sephora girl that I always hope I will end up with but alas, never do! I love to mix and match products and brands. You really have to be familiar with the active ingredients but I swear, you end up with cutting edge results. Right now, I am loooovvvving Ambrosia Soothing Shaving Cream by Lush (100g-$9.95 or 250g-$16.95) followed up by slathering my legs and the rest of my bod, with their Buffy Bar (95g-$10.95 or 200g-$21.95). It seems backwards to use the Buffy Bar after I shave but I swear it just works so much better that way. Due to my KP symptoms, I'm forced to think outside of the box and this box suits me to a Tee. When I attempted using these two items in the reverse order it totally gunked up my razor, making it impossible to clear the blades between each swipe. We all know Lush can do no wrong but I had no idea it would be the answer to my perpetually porcupine-ish legs! It's been a total life saver! Just make sure you take a plastic cup full of piping hot water in with you to the shower so that you can sluice your razor quickly, with less fuss between swipes. You won't regret it, it's worth the extra effort. I can't imagine the results you would get if you happen to have normal skin--I'm thinking something like...... Who wears short shorts?......... The Buffy Bar is awesome at ridding the rest of my body of the KP bumps too and afterwards it leaves my skin uber moisturized! So unexpected! Lush says, "The Buffy Bar was inspired by the Brazilians in Rio who use a mixture of sand and suntan oil to buff their nether regions and combat cellulite." So that's their secret. Originally, Lush created a 95g size bar intended for our backsides, but it was such a huge success they designed the 200g size bar for the entire body. Thank you Lush, my backside and the rest of my bod are in your debt!
Imagine, all those other things you can save on. I think I might even afford a vaccation, and looking and feeling my very best, following these advices.Personally, I tend to mix up my own items whenever possible. I make my own salt and sugar scrubs, body powder moisturising oil mix. I'm just getting started, and I'm sure I'll learn to make even more products myself in the future, such as clay masks etc.Anyhow, at the moment, I use Ocean Salt from Lush on dry skin before shaving. Then I wash. Then I slather on a bit of my oil mixture (safflower/jojoba). The shaving cream I use is Razorantium, also from Lush. I found Ambrosia (which I use on my face, yes I admit, I shave my face since I've found it to be the most economical and least hurtful to my sensitive skin) to be a bit too light for my legs, but the Razorantium shaving cream is just about perfect. The razor just glides over the layers of oils and moisturising goodness. When I'm finished, I just massage the rest of the oils etc. into my legs and they are baby smooth. Sometimes I can finish of with a bit of Ambrosia, as a lotion, since I imagine it helps against irritated skin and ingrown hairs etc.
Yeah, beautyticket is a great site. Lots of amazing deals. I never pay for what I can do myself! I love DIY treatments too! :)
goood tips, i love the diy if i have time, and the suggestion of makeing it an event with friends is really nice, me and my pals recently had a spa night watched old movies like dirty dancing etc and did face srubs , face masks, hair highights, and spa pedicures bt instead of it being work it was fun and social!
makeup makeup makeup!!!!!!!
I am on a budget so your tips are always a pleasure to read I love the DIY stuff cause you feel so proud making your own lil products even if I am not always good at it somtime I take everything healthy that I find in my kitchen and make my own receipe loool it's funny how come some stuff by themselves smell good or doesnt have sent mixed to other just stinks like crazy lolI love to use Honey and brown sugar lol and I don't know if it is a good match....
Hollywood http://thehollywoodheels.blogspot.com
Ladies, Fredrick Fekkai now has a Salon Hair Color kit DIY at home, $30. I just bought it and will let U know how it turns out. I have heard good things about it. The kit comes w/ everything including the bowl,brush, conditioner etc.. I paid $110-$120 for color, cut, and style. Now I will do the color at home w/ Fekkai, the cut is $30, so I end up spending 1/2 of what I did spend. Buy Fekkai DIY color at Sephora, you can buy in store and online. If you need high-lights, you can get foils done at the beauty college for 1/2 or less then the cost of salon. My niece gets her foils done at the beauty college and gets her actual cut from the regular gal. There is 2 ways to save and look fabulous.
When I was in high school, someone gave me the hardcover Vogue Body and Beauty book, which was choc full of spa day ideas for home, including cleansing recipes. Most of the ingredients could be found in your fridge or grocery drawer. I used to regularly do 'beauty days' with all my friends. I hadn't even thought about it in years until I read this. Stylemama - I also have dire KP - I attack mine with a mixture of aqueous cream and glycerin, with sugar thrown in for the scrubbing effect. Does a pretty good job. Even better with a little essential oil added to the mix.....
Rie
vicci13 - please let us know how the FF works. I have some gray so I want that to be covered. I know that we are about the same age (22!) so maybe you are dealing with that issue too? Otherwise, I will stick to the 6.00 box on sale method. I have cut way back on salon treatments in the last year with the exception of my haircuts.
I never heard of beautyticket before and it's amazing. I'm just sad they don't ship internationally :( My fave brand to do at home spa is L'occitanne. I love the peach body lotion.
More bang for your buck, I like that! Thanks for the great post! Im off to check out beautyticket!
www.nanisnails.blogspot.com
Thanks for the ideas! I am also a huge fan of Beautyticket, one of my fave sites to shop!
HOPEFULLY Beautytcket doesnt ship overseas lool cause I dont have anymore money and I want those YSL lipglossss !!!!
Hollywood http://thehollywoodheels.blogspot.com
I love DIYs & knowing how much I'm saving. (: Thanks for mentioning beautyticket.com-- I've never heard of the site until now.
Ohhhh I love Beauty Ticket and am all about a bargain!!!! I love DIY's!! Thanks for the lovely post :)))
Thanks Katie for this great post! In this crappy economy, I am always looking for ways to stretch my dollar and save some pennies. Some things that I have done: DIY manis & pedis, stetching out the time between haircuts and highlights, using up all of a product before buying another and using coupons/promo codes. When you add it all up, it is amazing how much $$ you can save over the course of a year!
Great tips!! I love Beautyticket.com -- they have great prices and ship really fast.
Super post, Katie! I so love going to the spa and getting people to do all this to me. But realistically, I just can't afford to do that nearly as often as I'd like. I like these alternatives and will start with the smoooooth legs.Thanks also to all the great suggestions from the other Megettes here! I haven't been to the Lush counter recently and I see that I'm missing some essentials!I appreciate suggestions on how to save $ and get great results. Who doesn't need that?
Carole
I totally enjoyed reading your tips Kate! Wow! Interesting news about Fredrick Fekkai color kit! I had no idea they had color kits! I can say that Fredrick Fekkai products are fabulous – top quality! I have used a few of them now and their reputation is exceptionally good!
I definitely save a lot of money by doing my own roots. I have been doing this for years now! I think for the most part I do pretty well! A guy I work with (he used to be a hair dresser) told me the other day that if he was a woman and had long hair he’d let me do his roots because he said I consistently do a great job! I was so flattered! I realized years ago that being a blonde takes a lot of maintenance (if your hair is really dark brown/grey) so I needed to be able to do the upkeep myself 99% of the time because it’s just too expensive to go to a salon! I have tried just about every brand out there to use for root touch ups over the years and I have also gone to Sally Beauty Supply and learned about color and processing creams and tried that over the years too! I keep coming back to my favorite brand though, and that is L’Oreal Preference! I just have the best results with their hair color! I loved the Feria colors too but they faded wayyyy to fast for me and the product has a fierce overpowering yukola smell! The trick to doing your own roots is to be careful that you don’t get banding. By that I mean, for instance, if you use one shade of blonde and do your roots and then in 8 weeks or whatever your time table is, you use another shade, you start to get bands of color at your roots. When I get to that point (if I experiment too many times with different shades of blonde) I will save up some money and go have a professional put low lights in my hair and that breaks up the band so it’s not so noticeable. I have a color brush that I use to make sure the entire root gets taken care of. I do not like Clairol Nice ‘n Easy Root Touch-up because it gives you such little product – I tried in once and ran out before I was even 1/3 of the way through my roots! I just buy the regular box size and toss out the product I don’t use after mixing. My L’Oreal Preference product costs less than $10.00 and sometimes they have sales and I always buy extra when they do! I learned from a friend in marketing that, at Target, on the end caps, that they most often put the BEST DEALS you can buy on those shelves and I have found two for one hair colors on the end caps or drastically marked down products. To do my roots, here’s what I do, and it’s totally worth it to me because it’s SO costly to get your roots done at a salon! It’s a lot of detail but sometimes you learn things you wouldn’t have thought of doing if somebody didn’t suggest it.
In the bathroom I cover the sink and toilet with a huge plastic drop cloth so nothing spills (I learned the hard way that no matter how careful you are – there ARE splatters!). If you don’t have a cheap drop cloth, outdoor plastic picnic table cloths work great! If I don’t have any drop cloths I just cut open LARGE trash bags and use those. My sink is directly across from my bathtub and we have a shower curtain on a rod there. I pull the shower curtain all the way back to one end and I flip the plastic curtain over on top of the lovely cloth curtain part so nothing gets on it either. Then, I take my large hand held mirror (it has a hole in the handle) and I take a couple of hangers and attach the mirror to one of them and hook the hangers together and hang the two hangers and mirror on the shower curtain rod and angle them a bit and just like that, I can now see the back of my head!
So, I mix up the product, and get my clips and I make ¼” parts and apply the product in all the parts, all over my head until I’m done! Then I go down the basement after the stove timer goes off and rinse it all off in the washtubs so I don’t get any color in our sinks and after I dry it I do the big “Tah Dah!” You can of course run the color through your hair in the last 15 minutes and it will look more even, this also prevents the ‘banding’ showing near your roots. However, several hair dressers suggested to me that I don’t pull it through because it’s hard on your old hair shafts to keep layering color on them over and over! I think not pulling it through has saved my hair actually and that concludes one of my biggest money saving tips!
Jeanasina!
I love Loreal Preference too. I haven't dyed my hair for a long time but I used to die my hair every few months for years (bad i know) and I think Preference was prolly my fave too! I never had to do my roots thank god since my hair is dark and I only dye is dark colors, they blend really nicely when the roots come out. I also LOVE the Feria colors, so vibrant! But they really do fade SOOO fast! Especially the redder hues!
Thank you for giving us money-saving, luxury spa tips for at home. I especially like the fact that we have lushious leftovers! Question: since you work with these products, do you keep an eye on paraben-free as well as avoiding mineral-oil and petrolatum? All of these types of petroleum-based ingredients are not healthy, and are best suited for cars. Keep up the great work!
Yes, those are some great ideas. Definitely more bang for your buck when you consider you'll be able to use these products and do these things many times, instead of just once. I love DIY, and I love saving money!
Sounds like with all these saving suggestions I can definately have spending money while i'm away at school. I could even split the cost with my roomate and we could have beauty nights rather than spa and salon days!
-Thanx kate and girls
Beauty=Pain
oooh i am such a bargain shopper too! CVS is my fave place to get tons of goodies for cheap and free! I haven't ordered from beautyticket.com but i definitely plan on trying them in the next few months. I sometimes dream of the finer things as well but when I find myself starting to have material envy, I make sure to thank God for everything I have and remember how much less some others have. It really helps me put things in perspective and not care so much about material things. But damn they sure are fun lol!
yes, I am too...definitely!! I just checked out beautyticket.com and already found a couple "steals" for me, lol. Bargains like these do calm my bad conscience which I surely have, if I could e.g. donate the money I spent here to an organization for people in need. I do make donations to the Salvation Army every now and again plus I donate to the ASPCA regularly. It just makes me happy to help when I can.
Make up your beauty-full mind...www.myspace.com/blackdivaworld
Thanks for the suggestions Kate! I love Origins Modern Friction scrub. They say it's like natures microderm abrasion, and it really does a great job at exfoliating the skin. I put it on dry, and use it like a mask by letting it sit for 10 minutes before rinsing it off. I wanted to try a papaya enzyme mask at the Aveda salon that I go to. It was a bargain at $35, not bad. However, I really didn't want to save the money, so I found the Alba Papaya Pineapple Enzyme mask at Hi Health for $12.Vidal Sasson salons usually have students. These students already have their liscences, but are being trained so that they can work for VS. I've been a hair model for them a few times, and have gotten great cuts and color for super cheap.
This is SUCH a great post!!! Lots of inspiration and ideas to get us all thinkin' about how to multi-task and multi-purpose with style and for less cash! My "saving grace" currently is to actually USE stuff UP!!! Seriously,if I didn't like something,I'd toss it in the old days but now I find alternate uses:Hair conditioner makes for a great leg shaveShampoo I hate goes into husband "bodywash",LOL...he could care less! ;)Clear lipglosses and balms get used as cuticle smoothers...just keep the tube by a chair and apply/massage in while you watch TV.Epsom salts and dry powered milk can make a helluva' "spa bath" when I am low on LushCoconut oil...most of you know I adore this stuff,organic and creamy you can "deep treat" hair and feet,slater on then cover and seep!I'd love to see more of your fabulous and fun suggestions in the future girl,thanks! :)
There are so many things I'm eyeing on beauty ticket! First I need a job though lol I love discount beauty sites like that and beauty crunch. great deals at almost drugstore prices
I love beautyticket, I buy way too much stuff on their site...Hello, awesome Smashbox discounts? Anyway, I like this post. I always used to say "when I have a real job...I'm going to buy this and that, blah blah.." lo and behold, I still haven't and I'm still pretty frugal.I don't see that as a bad thing. I pretty much do anything myself that I can - pedicures, manicures, facials, etc. I just went and bought some new polish today as a "treat". Two new bottles of polish cost way less than 1 manicure, so, why not?
i loved this review!!! this is what i do i am such a bargain hunter and just cant bring myself to splurge on one thing i dont ming spending a lot of money but i want a lot of stuff to show for it! (more bang for my buck-that made me lol!)
There are lots of great tips in this review. Personally, I have used this economy as an opportunity to clean up a lot of the stock on hand. Like mjsred, I am using things in a variety of ways. This week a used a deluxe sample of Dior skincare on my dry legs. I felt a little guilty at first but, it made my face break out and I did not want to toss it.
I am also using up shower gels and lotions by rotating them. The bottle may not be brand new but a fresh scent in the shower is always nice.
I love this blog post - there are always ways you can achieve great results from DIY at home.You look great and its also a fabulous way to save a bit of $$.Every couple of weeks I do the whole 'DIY' spa at home - with the scrubbing and the shaving and the painting of the nails. A great way to relax as well!! :)
I am all for DIY, and everyone on here may disagree with me on this, but I can ALWAYS spot a home hair color vs. salon. Unless it is a really bad salon. For something that important, that stays on my head till it grows out, I only trust a trained professional. Even if you had the same products at your disposal, your colorist is trained, educated in cuts and color, etc., and does it every day. And in past years I have done it myself, but get much better results when I have it done in the salon. It's $150 for cut and color, and after that, I'm good for at least 6-8 weeks.
i dye my own hair and highlight it with stuff from sallys and i do my own acyclic nails also. i no longer pay to go get my hair every couple months i have my friend trim it for me i go get it cute about every 6 mon.2 a year
We need more! Love love love do it yourself spa treatments! What real woman can afford it all these days!
Tan is Love
The fact that you probably won't use all of the product at once, so you get more pampering for your beauty buck is the absolute best part!I've never been to have a mani or pedi, facial or anything. I've got all the stuff at home to do a pretty good mani/pedi. But I suck at painting my toes, I can't stay in the nail! A trick for that is the next day when you're in the shower, scrape the skin around the nail with your finger and the polish comes right off. And I've read so many horror stories about unclean instruments and dirty water and fungus. Ewww! So I don't really feel I'm missing anything. Bonus: when I do it myself at home, I can sit in a robe and do it all and control the light, music, temperature, etc. And I don't have to be presentable to go out and get pampered. :) Homemade scrubs are awesome. Some epsom salt or raw sugar and some oil or a shea butter and a little essential oil or even lemon juice for a scent...heaven! And waaaay cheaper than the stuff you buy in the store. Great post!
what great ideas!!!! You pretty much just saved my life... If only i was at home instead of at work =[
Thanks for all the ideas! I've never heard of beautyticket before also! Will have to check it out. Do it yourself stuff I love because sometimes a gal just doesn't want to leave the house to be pampered!
I also lust and/or drool over luxury items. I totally agree with you about spa-it-yourself. I am always doing little spa-like things at home. I read about the scrubs you listed. I LOVE scrubs. The more and rough the scrub....THE BETTER for me. :-)
A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.
-Coco Chanel
I'm all for DIY instead of expensive treatments! For example, my Clarisonic cost around $150, but I'll never need a facial! The years that the device will last will more than pay for what it does for my skin and eliminating the need for expensive, frequent treatments.
I have a fabulous yet affordable hairdresser... and am all about DIY... Sometimes I DIY my hair colour I am a closet hairstylist hehe no drugstore hair colour for me....
I love do-it-yourself treatments, what a great article. It is easy to translate those recipes into even more affordable versions, by substituting drug store products for the high end ones. I wrote a post in Chit Chat about one of my favorite at home facial treatments, here is the link: 5 Star At Home Facial Recipe! It buffs away dead skin and leaves you with a subtle faux facial tan.
Indi
Indi:That link didn't come through :(Any chance you could just post your chit chat?I'd love to read it! : ))
Thanks for the link...i'm always looking for cheaper stuff. I think I will look into the detox mask.
My scrapbook shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/elle71125
I completely agree. I can't bear to pay for mani's and pedi's every week, facials every two weeks and goodness knows what else ! It's so much cheaper to just buy the equipment and do it yourself... yes you don't get the same pampering as a salon but for the money you save you could buy something to pamper yourself. Not to mention you don't have to worry about the bacteria since everything you use will be your own and you'll know how well it was cleaned !