Expert makeup artists say women should frequently clean out their makeup collections because certain products can expire and become useless. Mascara and liquid eyeliner expire the quickest and should be tossed every three to four months. Lip gloss, chapstick and lipstick should be replaced every six months while powders, like blush, bronzer and eyeshadows, can last between 18 months and two years. According to Web MD, if liquid foundation is properly kept out of the sun, it can last for up to one year.
Women who wear designer makeup brands know that the cost of replacing makeup every other month can add up. When Urban Decay “Perversion” mascara costs around $22, it’ll cost you a small fortune to buy a new tube every time it dries up. Bye, bye paychecks.
Luckily for you ladies that love makeup and can’t go without it, there are plenty of helpful hacks out there for you to extend your collection of beauty supplies. By the way, just so you know a hack is “a clever solution to a tricky problem,” according to Urban Dictionary.
Did you know that many of the products in your household and existing beauty cabinet, can be used for a multitude of things? In fact, you’ll be surprised at how many of your kitchen ingredients can benefit your beauty regimen.
If you’re ready to make your beauty collection last a lifetime, then read on for 20 beauty hacks you already own. You’ll be feeling frugal and fabulous in no time.
20 Peppermint Oil Lip Plump
If you want big lips, don’t waste your time with the “Kylie Jenner Lip Challenge.” The trick of sucking on a shot glass to get bodacious, amplified lips is more harmful than helpful. Have you seen those crazy bruises it causes? Not cute. If you are still dying to get juicy lips, you don’t have to splurge on overpriced Lip Venom either. Dig through your pantry for some peppermint essential oil and add it to your favorite lip gloss. The peppermint causes a tingling, allergic reaction (don’t worry it’s safe) and will give you a big, sexy pout.
19 Homemade Eye Primer
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Stop shelling out big bucks on eyeshadow primer when you can make your own at home. To make your own better-than-Primer-Potion, combine a squirt of body butter with a squirt of liquid foundation in a small bowl or jar. Use any scent/brand of body butter you’d like. Just know it is not recommended to use scented body butter if you have sensitive skin. Mix the two together until you achieve your desired consistency and spoon into a small container for storage. If you have veiny eyelids, you can sub out liquid foundation with concealer for extra coverage.
18 Extend the Life of your Mascara with Visine
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Visine isn’t just for contact lens relief; it’s for refreshing your mascara too! If you’ve noticed your favorite mascara is getting dry and crusty, squirt a couple of drops of visine into the tube. Mix the wand around a couple of times and wallah! Good as new! If you don’t have visine on hand, don’t fret. Contact lens solution (saline) works too. When designer mascara costs $20 to $30 and “expires” every couple of months, it is important to use up every last drop.
17 Elmer’s Glue for Blackheads
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Using pore strips is a fun way to pull out the clogged dirt and oils in your skin, but let’s be real, buying a box of them every week can get pricey. Luckily, for you (and your wallet), there is an at home hack for pore strips: Elmer’s glue. Yes, the classic glue you used to eat in preschool can be used on your nose, chin and forehead to pull out the toughest of blackheads. Just take a paint brush and apply a thin coat of glue to your T-zone and wait for the glue to dry completely. Then, comes the fun part. Slowly peel off the glue and watch as your blackheads become unclogged one by one.
16 Homemade Dry Shampoo
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Beauty experts say that washing your hair everyday is actually damaging to your strands and can strip them of their natural oils. For those of you with hair that gets oily fast, it may seem impossible to go without your daily wash, but it’s not! Dry shampoo is a great solution to prolong washes and keep your tresses oil free. There are plenty of dry shampoo options at your local drugstore, but why buy those when you can make your own at home? All you have to do is mix ¼ cup cornstarch with ¼ cup baking soda. Tip: If you have brown/black hair and want to conceal the white powder in your hair, mix in a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder until you reach your desired shade.
15 Business Card Mascara Trick
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The worst feeling is when you are almost done with your makeup application and your mascara smudges. Not only is it annoying that you have to go back and fix the smudge, but it also messes up the eyeshadow that you took ten minutes to finish. Luckily, there’s a way to avoid this problem. Find a business card that’s laying around your house and hold it up behind your eyelashes as you apply your mascara. The card will catch any mascara that misses your lashes and will save it from ruining your eyeshadow. This trick can be used with your lower lashes too. Now that’s taking care of business!
14 Apple Cider Vinegar for Dandruff
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Removing product build up in your hair is one of the hardest beauty tasks known to man. Many commercial shampoos and rinses claim to remove buildup, but add to it instead. Apple cider vinegar is a natural liquid that can wipe out any flakes or product that’s leftover in your locks. Make your own rinse by mixing one part apple cider vinegar with one part water and applying to your head after you shampoo. Another benefit of this rinse is that it has been proven to make your hair more soft and shiny too. Build-up be gone!
13 Use Blush as Eyeshadow
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Have you ever wanted a pink, rosy eyeshadow look but didn’t have the right shades to do it? Well, you’re never going to have that problem again. This may seem obvious, but there are many women out there who don’t know that blush can be used as eyeshadow. Take a moment and let that sink in. Yes, your coveted Nars Orgasm blush can be applied to your eyes as well. Well, don’t just sit there. Go over to your beauty cabinet, get out your favorite blush and apply it as you would your everyday eyeshadow. TA-DA! Now, that’s what you call a 2-for-1 hack.
12 Homemade Bronzer
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You’re never going to look like an ice queen again with this crazy hack. Open up your spice cabinet and chances are you already have everything you need to create a bronze beach glow. You’ll need cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, cornstarch and a small jar. Mix the spices together in a bowl, pour the loose powder into the jar and you’re done. This au natural, chemical free bronzer can not only be used to fake a tan but can also be used to contour your face. Did you just get back from a month long Caribbean cruise? You didn’t? Oh, that’s just your awesome homemade bronzer.
11 Toothpaste
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In case you haven’t heard, toothpaste isn’t just for brushing your teeth anymore. This hygiene staple has more than one use and should now be a common item in your beauty routine. Got a pesky pimple? Grab that old fashion Crest rolled up in your your medicine cabinet and use a dot of it to dry a pimple up overnight. Got a mosquito bite? Tooth paste can fix it. Put a dab of paste over the mosquito bite and the itch will be gone in no time. Old fashioned toothpaste can even remove stains from your nails. Squirt some onto your finger nails and take a wet nail brush to em.’ If you really want to be savvy, stock up on mini tubes of toothpaste next time you go in for your check up at the dentist.
10 Conditioner as Shaving Cream
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Shaving before a date is absolutely necessary. But what do you do if you are taking your pre-date shower and realize there’s no shaving cream? While that situation may sound like a nightmare, there is an easy solution. Pick up that bottle of Pantene Conditioner and use it as shaving cream. You’ll find that the conditioner is thick enough to protect your legs from knicks and will leave them feeling soft and touchable.
9 DIY Gel Eyeliner
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Winged eyeliner is all the rage these days. To get the perfect winged look, experts say it is essential to use gel eyeliner. Or is it? While pencil and crayon liner is not very thick, there is a way around this standard beauty rule. For those of you who already have pencil eyeliner on hand and don’t want to go out of your way to purchase the overpriced kind, there’s an easy way to transform what you’ve got. Take a lighter and heat the tip of your eye pencil. Let the tip cool off and after fifteen seconds, you will have pencil eyeliner with an intense smudge that’s similar in consistency to a gel. Now spread your (eyeliner) wings and fly!
8 Egg Mask
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How do you like your eggs? Sunny side up? Scrambled? How about in your hair? Everyone knows eggs are full of protein, but what many people don’t know is that eggs can benefit your hair just as much as they benefit the rest of your body. Next time your hair is feeling dry, get your egg carton out and rub a little yolk into your tresses before you shampoo. This egg mask will help mend split ends and make your locks look more healthy and soft overall. So what are you waiting for? Get crackin’.
7 Homemade Tinted Moisturizer
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Foundation can feel so heavy sometimes, especially in the sweltering summer heat. When it’s 95 and sunny, ditch the foundation and create your own tinted moisturizer at home. To make your own tinted moisturizer, mix your daily moisturizer with concealer, foundation or BB creme. The moisturizer makes the foundation lighter so you won’t have to use as much and won’t sweat off your makeup under the scorching sun.
6 Heated Eyelash Curler
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Mascara will add length and volume to your lashes, but to get them to curl you must use an eyelash curler. For the best results, heat your eyelash curler up before you curl your lashes. You can do this with a blast of hot air from your blow dryer or by holding the tool under hot water. Whichever way you choose to heat your eyelash curler, there will be guaranteed results. People will be asking you all day if you have falsies on.
5 Baby Powder for Eyelashes
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After you curl your lashes to the heavens with my #5 tip, follow this hack for extra va va voom. Apply your mascara like you would normally. While the mascara is still wet, dab baby powder onto the tips of your lashes with a cotton swab. Then go over your lashes with another coat of mascara to fully cover the powder and extend the length of your eyelashes. Let your eyes dry fully and there you have it: beautiful, bold and natural lashes.
4 Coconut Oil Makeup Remover
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"I’m in love with the coco"…..nut oil. This natural, organic oil can be used for just about anything: Cooking, cleaning, beauty recipes, you name it. Perhaps one of the best uses for coconut oil is taking off your eye makeup. Move over Neutrogena Makeup Wipes, there’s a new head honcho in town. Coconut oil not only takes off all of your toughest makeup in one swipe (yes, even your waterproof mascara too) but it also moisturizes the delicate skin around your eyes. Plus, it has a light, sweet smell of coconut that will remind you of your favorite tropical destination. Ahh, paradise.
3 Lemon Juice Highlights
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Fact: there’s nothing cuter than tan skin and highlights in the summertime. That being said, you don’t have to break the bank to get professional looking highlights. All you need is a little bit of lemon juice. With a spray bottle, squirt lemon juice throughout your hair and comb it through so it is evenly covering the sections you want to be highlighted. An old toothbrush works great for this. Next is the fun part. Grab your lawn chair and head out to your sunny spot of choice. If you aren’t close to a beach or pool, just relax on your back deck anytime between 12 and 2pm when the sun is the brightest.
2 Koolaid Lip Stain
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If you want a way to stand out from the crowd, then this hack is for you. Toss your traditional lipsticks and stains to the side and get out your handy-dandy packet of…. Koolaid? Yes, that’s correct. Powdered Koolaid plus a little water can create a lip stain that’ll last for hours. With Koolaid’s wide variety of flavors, the color possibilities are endless. If your homemade lip stain is too clumpy, smooth it out with a wet Q-tip across your lips. As it’s made from Koolaid, this lip stain tastes phenomenal and any boy that kisses you will agree. Just make sure you don’t lick off all the powder right after you apply it to your lips. It’s really tempting.
1 Vaseline Everything
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If there is one product every woman needs, it’s a jar of petroleum jelly. Also known as Vaseline, petroleum jelly has a great quantity of uses in your daily beauty regimen. Some swear it helps eyelashes grow overnight while others use it for anything from makeup removal to moisturizing cracked elbows and feet. Simply put, you can do no wrong with Vaseline. For skin soft as a baby’s butt, you can apply petroleum jelly to any area you desire and wrap it with cling wrap for 30 minutes. Unwrap and your skin will feel completely moisturized and soft to the touch.
Sources: seventeen.com, elle.com, diyncrafts.com
