Use candy to offset expensive beauty products

Whether the economy has affected your life drastically, or hardly any we could all afford to cut back on spending here and there.  Though, I hate to admit it, most of the beauty products that I use are luxuries in addition to regular household spending.  So, here are a few fun and tasty ways to offset the cost of beauty by substituting candy for expensive product.

1. Fight free radicals with chocolate!  Free radicals are the molecules in your environment that come in contact with your skin cells, damage them and sometimes, multiply.  This damage increases with age and if there are no antioxidants available in your body, there is nothing to fight against the free radicals.  Luckily, chocolate contains flavonols that act as antioxidants in your body.  The more cocoa content in the chocolate, the better, so dark chocolate is best.

2. Make your own products.  The cheapest way to stock up on beauty essentials is to make them yourself.  One of the most commonly used product is also one that runs out pretty fast, lip balm.  Combating dry lips is a daily struggle but, you can fight it frugally.  Pixie Stix and Petroleum Jelly can be easily combined to make cheap and effective lip balm.  I made my own today with my daughter.  It was a fun activity for us to do together and the balm worked great, double whammy! 

3. Substitute when appropriate.  There are many beauty products out there that can be substituted for everyday products in your life if you just get a little creative.  For instance, there are many pricey products on the market that are sold to exfoliate the lips but, Sour Patch Kids candy are a cheap and tasty substitution for these products.  Just rub quickly all over the lips, preferably after a warm shower, rinse and eat!  Then apply your favorite lip balm.  A home-made one perhaps?

What are you ladies doing to cut back on beauty expenses?  I would love to hear your creative ways to save and still look great.  Let me know how these ideas work for you!