Beauty hacks for busy moms? Genius! It’s no secret that once you become a mom, your personal beauty standards are suddenly very different. Long showers, daily blowouts, manicured nails, and full faces of makeup often get relegated to the backburner when faced with the time demands that come with raising children.
Gone are the days when we could afford to waste our precious time or money on experimental beauty products – we moms need things that work, and we need them now! And – we don’t want them to break the bank.
Looking great shouldn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, so here are 4 easy beauty hacks for busy moms that will hopefully end up saving you a buck or two:
1. Makeup Remover Cloths
Before I discovered the ease of makeup remover cloths, I was buying makeup remover wipes and using them daily. Not only were they expensive, but I also bought them almost every other week and I felt bad just throwing them away after I was done {I was already doing that like crazy with baby wipes!} It felt wasteful, both financially and environmentally – there had to be an easier way!
As a “beauty hacks” experiment, I bought the cheapest makeup remover cloths I could find on Amazon, and two years later I still could not be more impressed with them. A one-time $7 purchase made my makeup wipes a thing of the past. They are basically just a microfiber washcloth, and even though I typically wear waterproof/long-wear makeup {because #momlife} these cloths take my makeup right off. Two years of daily use later and the cheap makeup remover cloths are going strong! I estimate that 2 years of using these have saved me at least $144 over buying makeup remover wipes! Plus – I feel better about contributing a smidge less to a landfill.
2. Shaving with Conditioner
If you are a mom who shaves her legs on the regular, you deserve applause – it’s a time-consuming task! Shaving cream by itself isn’t going to bankrupt you, but I used to get annoyed at how fast cans of shaving cream ran out. I switched from buying fancy shaving gel marketed to women to bare-boned Barbasol to save some money, but even those cans ran out quickly.
I can’t remember where I heard it, but someone told me to try shaving with cheap conditioner instead of shaving cream – and it was a “beauty hacks” game-changer! Not only did I feel like I got a smoother shave by using conditioner, you can buy massive bottles of it at your local grocery store for a whopping $1.99 – and it lasts forever. Plus, if you’re anything like me, you usually need to buy two bottles of conditioner for every one bottle of shampoo, and it’s not a bad thing to have extra conditioner laying around! I estimate that shaving with conditioner saves me about $75 a year over buying shaving cream.
3. Dry Shampoo Powder
When you have any amount of children at home, finding time to keep your hair perfectly shiny is daunting. There’s a reason why many a meme geared toward moms reads, “Running on Coffee and Dry Shampoo!”
After having kids, I used dry shampoo liberally, but my favorite aerosol dry shampoo ran upwards of $6 a can! Again, not going to put you in the poorhouse, but it’s annoying to spend that much on dry shampoo frequently. Enter, your new “beauty hacks” best friend: dry shampoo powder! It’s the same thing as dry shampoo spray, but instead of spraying it on your roots like hairspray, you shake some into your hands and then rub it into your hair. I thought I might hate that, but after a few applications I got the hang of it. It works just as well if not better than your favorite aerosol dry shampoo, and it lasts infinitely longer – I bought a one ounce bottle last summer and I haven’t used it up yet! (For reference – My hair runs to my mid-back and I use big amounts of dry shampoo powder at least 3 times a week). Using this $10 product has saved me around $120 on dry shampoo in the last year!
4. Silk Pillowcases
Last but not least, you’ll be doing skin and hair a big favor by swapping out your traditional pillowcase for a silk pillowcase.
During the pandemic, my “hobby” was learning all about the “curly girl method” as I was a few months postpartum and my hair was newly wavy {and wonky. And frizzy. And falling out}. One of the things the curly community advocates for is the use of silk pillowcases to reduce friction while sleeping at night, which reduces frizz and breakage of hair. There’s anecdotal evidence that silk pillowcases may help your skin wrinkle less at night as well. A pillowcase isn’t going to massively transform how you look, but sleeping on a silk pillowcase makes you feel like a princess and it’ll cost you less than $20 – that’s a “beauty hacks” win in my book!
Mama, you are working hard, doing your best to raise good humans in a crazy world. Practice a little #treatyoself and use these hacks to pamper yourself on a budget. You’re doing a great job!
Have you tried any of these 4 beauty hacks?
What other budget-friendly beauty tips would you add to this list?
