Everyone wants to look beautiful. Everyone wants to look their best: this is just a part of life. We’ve all seen the high-end fashion magazines with the latest fashion, hairstyle, and nail trends. If you live in a high-octane state like New York, fashion is a part of everyday life. A couple of nail salon visits here, a couple of appointments for your hair there, a quick shopping spree to catch a sale and before you know it you blew your budget!

Some may argue that beauty is an investment in yourself. I believe this is partially true. I want you to think about this: is that investment really going to matter if you have invested all of your money into beauty and you have no money for food?! This can happen when someone continually chases or tries to obtain the latest trend. You don’t have to break the bank to look beautiful: you can simply do it on a budget: let me give you some tips on how to do that.

Hair

Hair is a very part important part of people’s lives: just ask the average person how much money they spend on their hair in a month. Hair care is a reoccuring expense, this means it happens over and over again. Here’s my advice or tip on how to minimize the expense of hair care: do it yourself (insert gasps)! I know what you’re thinking: “you want me to do my own hair myself?” YES I do, after all we weren’t born at the hair salon. There are basic things that you can do to your hair yourself: these are things like washing your hair, conditioning your hair and keeping up with daily maintainence. My hair is natural which means it is not chemically processed. I decided to educate myself on how to best care for my hair. Hair is one thing that is with me all the time, so I better know how to take care of it.

I believe there are two main reasons why most people go to hair salons: 1) because they lack the basic knowledge/ know-how or 2) they don’t desire to do it. We pay for convenience: we all know how to wash, condition, and style our hair because we’ve been doing it for our whole lives. Salons offer expertise and service. Hair stylist are highly-trained professionals, and quite simply we pay for their knowledge and know-how. You should go to the hair salon for big jobs such as color and chemical processes. You can however, maintain your hair on your own and leave the heavy-lifting to the professionals. If you “must” have the professional look that comes from a trip to the hair salon, then factor it into your budget.

Nails

Who doesn’t love perfectly manicured nails? I mean COME ON! It’s something about manicured nails that are very attractive. One of my favorite styles are French manicures: I love them on natural nails and I love them on artificial nails. I think they are classic and classy, however, that little white line running across the tip of your fingernail can cost you a minimum of $8.00: it’s literally just a white line with a clear or pinkish based coat. I learned to do my nails myself, and they look great. Learning how to polish your nails will help you when you can’t get to a nail salon, like when businesses shutdown due to a global pandemic. Try giving yourself a manicure, pedicure, or both see if you can cut shape and polish your own nails. You can find plenty of tutorials online if you aren’t sure about what to do. Want a relaxing pedicure? Try adding some Epsom salt to warm water for relaxation, you’re feet will thank you and you will look your best at a fraction of the price you would have spent at the nail salon.

Clothing

I know you have heard this time time and time again but let me remind you once more: SHOP YOUR CLOSET! I will admit that doing this is a skill: you have to take what you have and transform it several times. This requires creativity. You can start with some basic pieces like a basic black t-shirt and a pair of dark wash skinny jeans. Let’s call this your base outfit you can make this as casual, funky, or as stylish as you want. Let me give you an example, if you want an edgy style you can take this outfit and throw on a scarf and a cool pair of sneakers to make this funky. You can add a fitted blazer and ballerina flats (for a casual feel), or heels ( for a stylish/chic look). Adding statement pieces like jewelry can change your whole look. Adding a fun hat like a fedora and a pair of oversized-shades to the base outfit adds different dimensions and layers of style.

Now that you have these tips, I hope that you are inspired to look your best on any budget! Do you have beauty tips that help you save money? Let me know in the comments below!

Talk to you soon,

Gelayne