It's no cliché: all beauty comes from within. Every month, “high maintenance” women are spending millions on self care. Unfortunately, they are also poisoning their bodies with the very products that are supposed to make them beautiful. If you cannot afford to keep up with the beauty industry's definition of personal care, you are in luck! Your chances of liver, kidney, and heart disease will be lessened as well as the probability of getting cancer.

Lowering your chances of disease is a bonus, but for those of us that are choosing to cut back on personal spending, here are some ways to look good while being frugal.


Face & Body (Skin):

Eating a diet low in “whites” (sugar, flour, rice, etc) and increasing your consumption of colorful foods is best. Fresh fruits and vegetables should form the cornerstone of your diet. Of course, smoking, drinking, lack of sleep, and excessive caffeine consumption age us. So does not having at least one bowel movement per day!
Drink 8-10 glasses of pure (ideally filtered) water per day. Take a good multivitamin, calcium supplement, and a fish or flax oil supplement.

It takes 28 days for the cells in our bodies to completely regenerate themselves. Eat better and exercise daily in an unpolluted area and you will notice a new glow (makeup free!) in your complexion within a month.

After one month of cleansing using the above principles and following a book called, “The Four Week Ultimate Body Detox “ by Michelle Schoffro Cook, I noticed some surprising changes to my looks. Those pesky bags under my eyes disappeared, my complexion was clear and glowing, and my eyes and teeth whitened!

Keep your skin from drying out by buying a basic organic/ non harmful ingredient based moisturizer with an SPF of 15 or higher.
You can also use olive oil as a moisturizer! Make the most of your moisturizer by applying it after a shower or bath, so it can lock in the humidity of your skin.


Hair Care and Esthetics:

Cut hair care costs by 50% or more by finding a stylist who works casually from his or her home. Discover them by word of mouth, online classifieds, or print classifieds. If you have a favorite stylist already, ask them if they would be interested in cutting or coloring your hair at their home or your's for a discount.

If you are a blow-out junkie or get regular styling, ask your new home-based stylist to give you a tutorial on how to do the work yourself. Alternately, get your hair permed in the style you prefer. It'll save a lot of time and lower your electrical bills.

Do you really need your nails done? Take a moment and calculate how much this is costing you time-wise and money-wise. Yikes! You could find a friend who likes painted nails and set up a regular manicure day. Better yet, just remove your polish and go natural. The ingredients in nail polish are toxic to your lungs and the rest of your body. Instead, just keep your nails looking their best by eating well and filing regularly with an emery board.

Forgo the expensive pedicure and keep your feet soft by keeping a pumice stone in your shower. Slough off rough skin while waiting for your conditioner to do its magic. Apply a minty moisturizer after and voila, your feet will feel like 35$ plus tip!

Pluck your own eyebrows, wax your own short curly areas, shave or wax your own legs.

If you are prone to excessive facial hair, use a sharp dry razor on dry skin and *carefully* shave down the offending fuzz. Bleach first if you must.


Teeth:

Whiten by cutting out the caffeine (and 5$ Latte habit). Instead, drink herbal tea or green tea (if you just gotta have some caffeine). Brush after every meal. This also has the benefit for stopping a craving for sweets and between-meal snacks. Floss daily.


Well, I'm sure you already knew most of this advice before reading this article, but a little reminder about looking your best for less might just be the push you need to gear down from a “high” to “low” maintenance category.