My favourite thing to get was these individually packed face masks. They had so many different kinds – warming ones, relaxing ones, exfoliating ones. There was an entire rack of them! Whenever they were on special, I would turn into a crazy Chinese lady and buy a basket full.

Anyway, since being in Budapest, I sort of forgot about my face mask stock piling – until I hit the drugstore this weekend. They had these masks on special for something ridiculous like 150 Forint for a pack of 2 (which is like 50p or 75 cents or something). So naturally, I got 6 packs. (As I’m typing this, I can’t believe how much of a “crap-on-special” hoarder I am.. despite the fact that my skin is VERY fussy as to what it likes and doesn’t like.. which apparently I forget when I’m in the middle of some bizarre mask-hoarding spree.. I digress…).

Even as I was buying them, I thought to myself “what if they’re crap? I’m going to have 12 packages of rubbish..”. But of course my inner hoarder took over and pushed the voice of reason aside, and I went to the cash with my treasures.

A few days passed, and I decided to try out one of these masks. They only had 2 types – reviving and cleansing (the fact that there was only a choice of 2 kinds should have meant something too…). I went with the pretty blue cleansing one. Everything was going perfectly – until it came time to rinse it off. It came off my face, but left me with a few patches of blue.

After much scrubbing, the patches became sort of a bluish tint. It wasn’t overly noticeable, but of course, I thought I looked like an Avatar creature.. minus the sparkly face designs. Sadly/thankfully, there is no photographic evidence.

The moral of the story is… If it can be classified as cheap crap, don’t buy it, because it might actually be crap and you may end up with a blue face. More importantly, don’t stock pile it. Hoarding expensive, high quality crap is fine. But hoarding cheap, rubbish crap is what compels people to label you as a crazy person.

I’m all for saving money. I think the urge to be frugal comes as our age increases.. You know you’re grown up when you start looking at the cost per sheet on the loo roll…

As I mentioned in a previous post about beauty on a budget, only buy things that you need and that you’re going to use. There’s no point saving money on stuff that is going to spend the rest of it’s days hiding in a drawer. Or, as I learnt this weekend, there is no point saving money by paying for a sub-par product. As my mother always says “if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys”.

I love the feeling of going out to buy new make-up. Especially at the high-end counters when you get free things! I love free things – even though it normally means buying a lot of things to get these so-called “free gifts”! Just thinking about it makes me want to go out shopping! But, sometimes, we do have to be frugal. With Christmas coming up, birthdays and lets not forget the economy, we have to save money whenever and wherever we can!

Here are some things that I do to save some pennies!

Brown Sugar & Honey Exfoliator

This is a great natural exfoliator that you can use in place of those costly store-brought scrubs. It’s just as effective, smells great, and you know exactly what it’s made from!

Deep Treatment for Dry Skin

All you need is olive oil, some cotton balls and a sink full of hot water. Dab the olive oil onto dry skin areas with the cotton balls, and then steam your face over hot water to help your skin absorb the oil. Be sure to avoid break out areas. Your skin will feel great afterwards!

Double Duty Products

Instead of forking out money for both a shimmering highlighter for the eyes and face, just buy a single shadow and use it for both purposes. Also, pink eye shadows can double as blush, and you only need to use a small amount!

Old Lipsticks = New Shades

When you start to get tired of your current lipstick or lip gloss selection, you can mix lipsticks & glosses together to create new shades. Sometimes you find a GREAT combination, and all your friends will want to know where you got it from!

You can do the same thing with nail polish! It’s fun to see what kinds of different combinations you can come up with!

Lustrous Liquid Liner

Forking out big money on liquid liner? You don’t have to! Use a small angled brush and a little Visine or water in your favourite eyeshadow. And Voila! You have a beautiful liquid liner in your favourite colour! This is great if you need a funky coloured liner for a party or if you want a change from classic black or brown.

Also, if there are sales or promotions, like 2 for 1 or 70% off, then stock up! You have to be like the Chinese lady in the grocery store with a cart full of toilet paper!

But only buy things that you need and that you’re going to use. There’s no point saving money on products that are going to sit in a draw somewhere.

Spend wisely, and look fabulous!