Beauty Blogger & her Budget

A beauty blogger / enthusiast & her money are soon parted.....

Generally by the 20th of every month.

It is one of those drawbacks of makeup being a hobby, whether you beauty blog or not. It is not a economical hobby, like let's say writing or cleaning or observing nature or walking et al.

You need makeup in beyond basic shades like black, you need the professional tools like brushes. Plus there is a quite a learning curve associated with the art. It is only with trial and error that you learn about your skin undertones, your eye shape, colors that look good on you. What you can carry, and what you can't. Not to mention the number of trials it takes to get your foundation & concealer right.

While your chances of buying dud products is quite less with reviews these days, they also serve as the devil's apple, tempting you.

I'm not going to sit in censure here and condemn those who buy a lot of makeup every month - be it high end or drugstore. It is really your hard-earned money, and I feel that we are all adults and the best judge of what is good for us.


This post is more about how I budget for my makeup expenditure. I thought I would share these tips:

1. I have a fixed budget every month for skincare & makeup purchases. I generally keep aside 5% of my salary, and stick to this budget no matter what. For those of you who are not working, I guess you could keep aside 3 to 5% of the monthly budget.

2. I try to find products and shades I like in drugstore makeup as far as possible.

Some drugstore brands I like are Jordana, Bourjois, Faces, Colorbar, Lakme & Maybelline.  I resort to high end brands only when I know I won't find a comparable dupe in terms of color & quality in drugstore.

3. Take advantage of online sales.

Not only will you save time & money travelling, you will also find some really nifty deals online. Online sites also give you the advantage of walking away from the counter, so to say, and come back the next day if you feel equally strongly about the products. I do this quite a bit, select products to add to my cart, but I never order them right away. I take a week off, go read reviews & come back & order only if I feel equally strongly a week later about those products.

4. I never buy products just for reviewing purposes.

I buy a product because it interests me & I want to use it. Not because it is the latest launch and every other blog has a review therefore I should carry one too. You know where this leads right, you buy it, use it for few days to review, and then it languishes until you dig it out for a blog sale.

5. Read between the lines of the review as well. 

Take into consideration the lifestyle of the blogger. I once read a review for a face mask by this blogger, who raved & raved about it. It sounded so good, I also went & got myself a pack. While it was good, I didn't get the same earth shaking results as the blogger. I then went back & read some other posts by her and realized that she was a young mother to a four month old kid. Obviously she had been sleep deprived and hadn't really had the time to take care of her self. When she used this particular face pack, it worked wonders on her. But on me, who has the time to do follow a routine everyday, not quite the same results.

6. If you are based in Mumbai, there are plenty of discount stores to shop from. While I'm partial to Alfa (Irla) & New Beauty Centre (Khar), you could also visit either the Kandvali store or the one at Crawford market.

7. Once in a while, go on a detox diet.

Take a stock of your makeup possessions, throw away what is spoiling or expired. Giveaway what you won't certainly use to others. Sometimes we have really wonderful shades with us, but it becomes a case of "out of sight - out of mind". Just reorganizing your makeup, may sometimes curb that itch you are having to get that new lipstick!!

8. Go for smaller quantities.


Most beauty bloggers have small attention spans. We constant want to try the latest launch or a new color. I find that brands like Inglot are very useful here, especially when it comes to eye-shadows or lipsticks in their freedom system. Even beauty boxes are a good way to curb your budget and yet try out new products, however the beauty box scene in India, is still going through teething troubles.

9. For neutrals, hit the drugstore
I read this tip in a beauty book I have (can't remember the name now). Basically the author suggested that we get our neutral fixes in eye-shadows & lipsticks from drugstore and vibrant colors from high - end. Why? Well, she says that drugstore makeup is less pigmented and has a lot more fillers compared to high-end, as a result it sinks into the skin faster. If you were to use a vibrant shade from the drugstore, not only would you need to pile on a lot more to get the same effect, it would fade and wear off faster. But neutral makeup doesn't show fading as much and you can easily reapply without too much trouble.

10. At the end of the day, do what feels right


At the end of day, it is your money. Do what feels right to you. I am not one of those who advocate strict abstinence as I have realized that one often regrets not doing something, rather than having done something.

But at the same time, makeup is not worth going bankrupt over. There is a way of moderation, and you can have your cake & eat it as well.

So what are your tips to stay in budget? Do share!! I could do with some more :-)