Reddit, a free content platform with millions of monthly users, offers a minefield of tips to make just about every corner of your life easier – and the same goes for your beauty routine. After several weekends spent sifting through hundreds of forums (the site’s an information vortex!), I decided to short-list and share the eight most useful and affordable budget beauty tricks that you really have to try. I found DIY beauty recipes to make your skin glow, budget ways any amateur can lift their makeup game, and more life-changing ideas to try right now. Even better: You’ll already own most of these items, so total body beautification won’t cost a thing.
1. Dry your hair with a soft t-shirt.
If your hair tends to get a little bit frizzy after you towel-dry, Reddit user toastytoes18 suggests swapping out your regular bath towel for a soft t-shirt. It’s cheaper than buying a microfiber towel (although those definitely help too), and the soft texture leaves you with wavy, more tame beach locks.
2. Wear hair scrunchies on your wrist when washing your face.
For as long as people have had bathroom sinks, we’ve been washing our faces and splashing water absolutely everywhere. It’s why this trick is so damn genius. Shared by Reddit user NimetonTytto, if you simply wear a hair scrunchie on both wrists while you’re cleansing or washing your face in the sink, you will avoid water dripping down your arms and all over the bench and floor. Life. Changing.
3.Create a DIY scrub.
Lip, face, and body scrubs, like this particularly delicious one by Frank Body, can easily cost $15 for a small tub. However, if you don’t have spare cash for such luxuries, they also happen to be very easy to make at home. Reddit user Loren-G mixes organic argan oil and baking soda in her palm before massaging into lips with her fingers, or a soft toothbrush. I love using sugar, coffee powder, and cold coconut oil (it’s more malleable than warm, liquid oil) to exfoliate my not just my lips, but my entire body.
4. Mix your foundation with moisturizer.
Rather than buying a separate tinted moisturizer to wear on days you don’t need full coverage makeup, hot_sugar mixes in a pea-sized amount of moisturizer to her regular foundation. It’s a total game-changer, particularly if you’re a fan if glowing, natural skin. Personally, I’m also a fan of mixing in a small amount of jojoba oil rather than moisturizer as it leaves the same glowing finish, is all-natural, and jojoba is non comedogenic, so it won’t clog your pores.
5. Treat zits with hydrocolloid bandages.
After trying out this tip, Reddit user AerinHawk is my new favorite person. You see, hydrocolloid bandages are different to regular bandaids as under the outer layer, they’re made of carboxymethylcellulose suspended in gelatin and pectin. The gel mixture draws out water and fluid, attracting all the gross things that make a zit. Meanwhile the outer layer protects the skin and keeps it moist, accelerating the healing process and helping to prevent scarring.
You could buy the bandages specifically designed for acne, or cheaper blister bandages that do the same thing at a cheaper price. I like Nexcare Hydrocolloid bandages ($6.56) and the Band Aid Advanced Healing Blister Block ($6.99) – just use a sterilized pair of scissors to cut into smaller, blemish-sized pieces.
6. Use your credit card for winged eyeliner.
You could go ahead and buy a dedicated winged eyeliner stencil for your makeup drawer – or, you could just use a credit card to do exactly the same thing. This trick from Reddit user Hellodeeries is particularly useful for anyone who regularly uses gel or liquid liners and wants a sharp, even line.
7. Swap your dry shampoo for baby powder.
As someone who relies on dry shampoo in order to operate as a functioning adult, I find the prices to be absurd. I not only use it between washes, but just about every day (even straight after I was) to add texture and volume, so a $10 bottle may only last me two weeks. Reddit user takesometimetoday has a solution to this obsession that I’ve been enjoying lately: Sprinkle some baby powder into your roots instead. It works just the same, and costs a fraction of the price.
8. Make your own brow gel.
Need to tame your eyebrows? Reddit user bigface614 swears by a touch of clear hair gel on a clean mascara wand to brush your brows into place. I tried this and suggest using your brow pencil first to avoid messing up your carefully-gelled shape.
