By: Tori Lutz
Everyone wants to look their best, particularly during summer months when you get to show some skin.
Fancy beauty treatments that help you get to that goal look can get quite expensive, though, if you don’t budget wisely and find some ways to save money with it all.
To help make sure you feel as confident as possible this summer without breaking the bank, here are a few affordable beauty tips to get you ready.
At-Home Spa Treatments
One of the easiest ways to save money on beauty treatments is to do all of the pampering yourself at home!
This can help you save an enormous chunk of money when it comes to simpler spa treatments like doing your own nails, putting together a skincare routine that involves masks, scrubs and other necessities, setting up your own aromatherapy and more.
A good rule of thumb is really just asking yourself what all you can accomplish on your own. Some treatments and services may require an outside party (laser treatments, massages, elaborate hairstyling, etc.), but many don’t.
The best part about an at-home spa day is that it can be tailored to your exact specifications without dipping too deep into your wallet. Choice of treatment, brands and application methods are all up to you!
Research Affordable Beauty Providers and Products
Big price tags don’t always mean the best service or quality, and there are often plenty of affordable salons, med spas and other beauty providers that will provide excellent service and results.
This tip is something that will require basic amounts of research in your specific area, but making sure that you do this will help to guarantee that you aren’t overspending.
One general piece of advice is that if there is a beauty school in your area, they will often provide great service for a fraction of the price. Not only are the students almost always receiving advice and instruction from experienced professionals, they are also often meticulous with their work since they still have a lot to prove.
If choosing a beginner stresses you out a little, there are often tiered options to select more experienced students as well.
As far as products go, just remember that a brand name doesn’t inherently imply quality. If you have products that you love but feel are a little expensive, try to look into the specific ingredients or type of product it is and see if you can find a lesser known brand that accomplishes the same result for less.
Sunscreen Will Save You Headaches
A big part of summer fun often involves much more sun exposure through days at the beach, strolls through the park or even just being out and about in the hotter weather.
A little goes a long way with sun protection, and this is definitely one of the least expensive parts of any skin routine!
By making sure you take care of your skin and keep it protected from UV rays, you will save yourself a lot of stress over things like sunburns, peeling skin, uneven pigmentation, advanced signs of aging, skin cancer and much more.
Treatments do exist for a number of the issues that sun damage can cause, but they can sometimes get expensive and it’s possible that not all of the damage can be undone.
The best thing you can do for your skin at any age is to make sure you invest in some good sunscreen this summer and skip the tanning oil!
Invest in Long-Term Solutions
If you do already have existing insecurities and want to invest in solutions that can leave you feeling more confident, the best way to go is looking into quality, long-term solutions that will leave you happier and healthier.
When it comes to beauty, medical spas, dermatologists and naturopathic physicians are often great resources. Many of them will also offer free consultations so you can get an expert opinion on what to look into.
Dr. Sarah Bennett, a naturopathic physician in Scottsdale, knows how pricey visits to a med spa can get if you don’t do the right research beforehand:
“I always want to make sure my clients get the best care for them, so I like to give free consultations to not only make sure that we are the right fit but also to make sure that they get all of the needed information firsthand. I know that I’m far from the only naturopathic physician who does this, so I definitely encourage anyone considering treatments like botox, laser hair removal or others to look around online and see who is available for a brief, informative conversation.”
If you have insecurities like body hair or skin problems, looking into a long-term solution can be affordable – you just have to make sure to do the proper research in your area and pick treatments that best serve you and your needs to make sure you don’t accidentally rack up a bill on things that you could otherwise handle in more affordable ways.
Clean Eating Goes a Long Way
Food can impact a great deal more than just your weight. It can also impact your skin, hair, mood, tone and more.
Clean eating can help to make sure that you avoid a lot of the toxins that can cause problems like acne and weight gain while also boosting your morale and helping with energy, motivation and overall mood.
The most important thing to remember when you try to make a switch in your lifestyle like this is that it is just that: a lifestyle choice. Looking at it as a diet has a tone of impermanence while also carrying negative connotations that will make you think of suffering or “going without”.
Clean eating is just the opposite of that. It’s adding to your life by giving your body more of the nutrients it genuinely needs and less of the unnecessary chemicals, fats, sugars and other contents commonly found in more processed foods.
If grocery stores are a place of temptation for you that will make clean eating hard to stick with, try to only shop the perimeters of the store where you’ll find more natural and healthy essentials like produce, fresh meat, dairy needs and bread.
In Summary
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it is more than possible to achieve the best version of yourself by making a conscious effort.
This effort doesn’t even need to break the bank. By pampering yourself at home, switching to more affordable providers and products, remembering sunscreen, investing in yourself and eating cleaner, you will already make all the difference.
For more money saving tips to avoid overspending in other areas of your life, be sure to check out our other great blog posts on this topic!
Katherine (Tori) Lutz has made a career out of freelance work and published through a variety of outlets in many industries. Her work has been published on platforms like USAToday, the Tallahassee Democrat, Altitude Group Inc., and others. She has contributed a breaking news story that ranked as the top viewed article on USAToday for 3 days, served as the sole resource for the Tallahassee Democrat and USAToday network at the 2017 Richard Spencer event at the University of Florida, and stayed on top of on-going coverage of Hurricane Irma. In addition to over 175 published articles, she has also completed a collection of poetry, managed social media for numerous companies, worked at an independent newspaper as a writer, section editor, and Editor-in-Chief, and taken on a number of corporate copywriting and copyediting jobs.
