Tips for Making Your Makeup Last

    As this is a blog for my fabulous budget minded beauties, I was contacts by HSN about a recent blog post they did on saving makeup, saving money.  I decided to share some of their great tips and add a few of my own!

1. Build a Better Makeup Bag

At times, I look through my stash and find no fewer than a dozen variations of the exact same lip shade. None of these products get used consistently and they mostly end up expiring before I can even scratch the surface. I've learned that by better editing my purchase decisions, I can make sure that I have a variety of products that I use more frequently – and I’m more likely to use them to the very last drop.

*Fabulously Thrifty Tip- Keep a list on your phone or planner of colors, finishes, products that you want or feel your collection lacks.  Hopefully this will keep you from purchasing 5 of the same shades of coral.

2. Clean your Brushes

Not only are makeup brushes expensive, but they also touch all of your makeup. By keeping them clean, not only are you extending their life, but also the life of your products. Keeping powders and blushes free and clear of oils and bacteria that tend to break them down will help them live a longer life.

*Fabulously Thrifty Tip- Washing is super important, but just as important is the way you dry them!  Try to dry them with the brush head facing downwards so water can't enter the ferule and eat away at the glue.

3. Keep it Pretty

You will never find my hard earned makeup knocking around in a vanity drawer or at the bottom of my purse. Oh, the horror! I’m careful to keep my beauty treasures tucked inside of pouches when I’m on the go or on a tray sitting on my vanity at home. This way, there’s far less chance that they will crack or explode, wasting precious product.

*Fabulously Thrifty- Traveling with a palette?  I tend to keep my palettes separate when traveling and wrapping them in towels or wash cloths to keep them safe.

4. Scrape the Bottom

I recently discovered these little spatulas that you can use to actually scrape the bottom of your makeup bottles to get to the very end of them. I’ve also been known to use them after cutting open tubes of concealer and lip glossto collect one final application. Brilliant!

5. Portion Control

It may go without saying, but using only what you need can really make your makeup last. I found that I was always left with unneeded foundation or extra moisturizer after applying, so I downsized my dose and I’m wasting less. Making other small changes like not spraying my fragrance into the air and walking through it has also helped!

*Fabulously Thrifty- Apply concealer after foundation.  A lot of foundation application methods will just wipe away concealer, which means you will need to apply more.  

How do you guys make your makeup last longer?