Affordable Beauty Rituals For Men and Women

I’ve experimented quite a bit with different beauty treatments. Well that was when I had a job and money. Lately, I’ve just settled for home remedies and exercising. 😄 They can however, go along way when you’re on a budget.

Here’s a list of all the affordable beauty treatments I’ve tried and what works and what doesn’t:

1. Wax hair removal. Doesn’t work on sensitive skin. At least at home, didn’t try at the salon. I got a bad rash and it left me ingrown hair.
2. Sugar hair removal. Works. Tried at the salon to remove hair from my upper lip.
3. Homemade scrubs. Works. Coffee scrub for your body is cool because it’s cheap and effective. Though if you have sensitive skin you should mix in some coconut oil etc. You can also use avocado as a facial to purify your skin on your face.
4. Hairsalon vs. home dye. Depends. I tried highlights at home, literally NEVER worked out.😆 Highlights at the salon works. (If you pick a good hair stylist) If you have an even hair color, such as black, it’s super easy to dye the roots yourself. Just make sure your skin tone and hair colour compliment each other. Nothing looks tackier than bleach blonde hair on very dark skin and pitch black hair on super pale skin. As a general rule, warm tones for brown skin, cold tones for light skin. I prefer for example blonde-toffee color highlights. In my opinion, unnatural bright red doesn’t look good on ANYONE ever.
5. Eye creams for dark under eyes. Doesn’t work. I tried like twenty different ones from 3€- 100€ ($3,40- $112). The 100€ ($112) does NOT work. I bought it when I had a full-time job and a regular salary. It was purely marketing and waste of money unfortunately. Dark under eyes are inherited, so depends on your genes and ethnicity. Traditional sleep deprivation is different than my dark under eyes. Some racist men have also made it their mission to make sure I know I have the eye bags and YES, I fucking know.
6. Teeth whitening. Works. 7,5% or 9,5% Day White ACP Hydrogen Peroxide for 10-20min twice per day for a week at home rather than at the dentist, because if you have sensitive teeth, it will hurt like hell at the dentist. I tried and the problem for my teeth is that they use too strong Hydrogen Peroxide because they need the results in one hour. My dentist recommended me the home kit because I told him my teeth are super sensitive. He also said whitening toothpastes are a marketing trick and damage your teeth. The dentist makes a custom mould for your teeth and you buy the whitening gel from your dentist or online, such as dentist.net.
7. Hair and nail growth supplements. Depends. I bought some from a pharmacist in Paris and they worked like magic! I guess it depends on your country’s regulations, what stuff is allowed and what is banned.
8. Coconut oil. Works. It’s usually used as skin moisturiser. The only downside is that you smell like coconuts.😝 Maybe better not to use before going to the office.
9. Avocado oil. Works. I bought it from a nail salon. It strengthens fragile nails.
10. Castor oil. Doesn’t work. I used it for growing my eyebrows and eyelashes for more than a year. I didn’t really see any visible results in my eyebrows, though my eyelashes did get thicker.
11. Argan oil. Works. This oil is used for dry or damaged hair. It worked for my hair because I used to have natural blonde highlights. Though my hair is naturally TOO oily and that is why I preferred highlights to dry my hair a little bit so I didn’t have to wash it everyday.
12. Vicco Indian cream. Works. This cream works like magic for pimples and red spots. It’s available in Asian stores in Europe or if you go to India, it costs only one euro ($1,20) there.
13. Vitamin supplements. Depends. I didn’t notice any difference when I took vitamin supplements and vitamin drinks. However, I haven’t tried many of them and there MANY. When I lived in NYC for a couple months, my roommate was a model and she recommended me vitamins for pregnant women even if you’re not pregnant. She told me they have more nutritions than normal vitamin supplements. Haven’t tried them yet though.
14. Finnish sauna. Works. You sweat off toxins, it clear out your skin and you come out relaxed! Finnish sauna is a wooden sauna usually kept at 80 Celsius degrees. I like to sit alone for an hour. I used to go once a week when I lived in an apartment that had one.
15. Drink two litres of water everyday. Works. Some people don’t like the taste of water, so you can drink sparkling water, add lemon/ lime juice or orange pieces, strawberries or add some store bought flavor. Water clears your skin and keeps you hydrated. Also helps for cellulite.
16. Fresh fruit and vegetables. Works. For example just eating half a grapefruit has your daily intake of vitamin C. 🍎🍊
17. Gave up sugar for eight months. Works. It worked miracles on cellulite, but it comes back once you stop your sugar-free diet. Sugar is unfortunately my weak spot, because I’m under constant stress as an unemployed single woman.😫
18. Followed mostly a plant-based diet. Depends. You are what you eat. I tried to become a vegan, but currently follow a dairy-free pescatarian diet. I eat tofu, fresh spinach, rice and potatoes.
19. Oily fish. Depends. Even though I try to eat vegan food most of the time, oily fish, such as salmon is an excellent source of protein, B vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids.
20. Gave up alcohol. This is a very new thing to me (even though I had a couple of 8-month periods without alcohol). There is an endless list of the harmful effects of alcohol for your body and mind. I used to think a few glasses of wine are healthy and vodka helps purify toxins in your body. I have changed my mind now. Let’s see how the results will be by the end of the year. I will keep you updated. 😉