42 Beauty Deals & Steals

1. Hold a beauty swap meet. Countless women have makeup in their drawers that never sees the light of day. You'll save money and put unused makeup to good use.
—Paul Innis, makeup artist, N.Y.C

2. Don't pump your mascara brush — this lets air in and dries out the color. Instead, try twisting the wand as you draw it out.
—Eve Pearl, celebrity makeup artist, N.Y.C.

3. Think pink. Pale pink eye shadow is a multitasker: Apply under the eyes before concealer to neutralize dark circles, beneath the brows to shape them, and on top of cheekbones for a perfect highlight. Try Bourjois Ombre Stretch Eye Shadow in Rose Elastique ($15, Ulta).
—Daphne Rush, makeup artist, Sephora Pro Beauty Team, Birmingham, AL

4. Go green. Origins will give you a complimentary skin-care sample when you bring in empty products to be recycled. Or, get a free lipstick when you return six M.A.C. containers to a M.A.C. counter.
—Jenna Hipp, celebrity manicurist, L.A.

5. Sample first. Before buying foundation at a department store, ask the makeup-counter saleswoman if she'll put some in a travel-size bottle for you to try at home.
—Debra Jaliman, M.D., dermatologist, N.Y.C.

6. Extend your lipstick's life. There's often about a quarter-inch more in the tube you can't see. Use a brush to scoop out an additional three weeks' worth of color. Or add a bit of lip balm to make a sheer tint.
—Daniel McFadden, makeup artist, Privé Salon, L.A.

7. Keep an old toothbrush on standby to gently buff lips. Moisten the brush and apply some granulated sugar for extra exfoliation.
—Sharon Ronen, aesthetician and founder, Haven Spa Studio & WellSpa, L.A.

8. Try double-dipping. Dunk an eyeliner brush into your mascara tube for a lasting, instant liquid liner.
—Daniel McFadden

Save On: Hair Care
(At Home)

9. Make your haircut last longer. As soon as you step in the shower, put conditioner on your dry ends, then wash and condition as usual. This move helps prolong a cut on the verge of looking grown out.
—Kevin Mancuso, Nexxus creative director, N.Y.C.

10. Use a natural-bristle brush, which pulls scalp oils through hair. Doing this daily is like giving your locks a conditioning treatment.
—Eva Scrivo, Eva Scrivo Salons, N.Y.C.

11. Hide forehead lines with bangs instead of Botox.
—Mario Russo, Salon Mario Russo, Boston and Stowe, VT

12. Save on frizz fighters. If you have coarse or curly hair, instead of rinsing out every bit of conditioner, leave 10 to 20 percent in (hair will still be a little slippery).
—Tom Brophy, Tom Brophy Salon, Beverly Hills

13. Touch up your own roots. Rather than returning to the salon every six to eight weeks, try tinting your regrowth at home.
—Jon Charles, Jon Charles Salon, Minneapolis

(At the Salon)

14. Get a layered look. It's hands down the lowest-maintenance style. Bobs that have blunt lines need the most upkeep.
—Kevin Mancuso

15. Ask for a free trim of your bangs. Many salons offer them between haircuts.
—Tom Brophy

16. Add a few pale highlights in the cool-beige family around your face if you have light hair. They help blend in grays and stretch the time between salon visits.
—Eva Scrivo

17. Wait before coloring. Hold off until at least 24 hours after shampooing hair; the natural oils will help your new hue last longer.
—Tracey Cunningham, Redken creative consultant for color, Beverly Hills

18. Request subtle highlights starting about a half inch from your roots so the regrowth will be less obvious.
—Tracey Cunningham

19. Barter for beauty services. For example, use your design skills to make a business card for your stylist, or even offer to babysit.
—Jenna Hipp, nail expert who regularly trades two manicures/pedicures for her salon cut and color

Save On: Skin Care

20. Don't be fooled by packaging. If a product looks expensive, you may be paying extra for fancy bottles or boxes, rather than ingredients.
—Jenny Frankel, cocreator, Cover FX Skin Care, Inc., Toronto, Ontario

21. Skip the eye cream. But if, after putting on face lotion, your eye area still feels dry, apply some Vaseline Petroleum Jelly or Aquaphor.
—Heidi Waldorf, M.D., dermatologist, N.Y.C.

22. Hit the kits. Look for value-priced beauty sets. Skin-savvy bonus: The products are designed to work together. One to try: Yes to Carrots Delicious Moisture Facial kit, which includes $30 worth of pampering face products ($20, Walgreens — out this in September).
—Jenny Frankel

23. Buy facial-peel pads from a dermatologist, presoaked with high percentages of active ingredients (such as 20 percent glycolic or salicylic acid). A 60-pad jar provides 60 skin-clearing peels for less than the cost of one facial.
—Dr. Jaliman

24. Scrimp on facial cleanser. You'll get more benefits from the active ingredients in creams that you don't wash or wipe off. Instead, try a works-for-everyone, inexpensive face wash such as Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser ($11, drugstores).
—Dr. Waldorf

25. Squirt a little lemon juice into your favorite face scrub to boost its natural brightening power and exfoliating action.
—Marcia Kilgore, creator of Soap & Glory for Target, London

26. Brew green tea in a pitcher and chill it in the fridge. Immerse two cotton rounds in the tea and smooth over your face to decrease redness and shrink pores.
—Christy Coleman, makeup artist, Venice Beach, CA

27. Sprinkle Epsom salts into warm bath water for a soothing soak. Add a few drops of essential oil: Lavender is great for relaxation; eucalyptus relieves congestion.
—Sharon Ronen

28. Buy spa-treatment packages instead of individual services to stretch your dollars. At Red Door Spas, you save 10 percent when you buy any six treatments, including manicures.
—Cornelia Zicu, chief creative officer, Red Door Spas nationwide

Save On: Hands & Feet

29. Skip pro manicures and pedicures during the winter months and buff nails instead. Or switch to nude nail polish. You can return to the salon less often — and studies show nude hues make hands appear younger.
—Claudia Vieira, manicurist, Salon Capri, Newton Highlands, MA

30. Seek out specials. Ask your nail pro about discounts midweek, when business may be slower.
—Patricia Yankee, celebrity manicurist, Dashing Diva, Deer Park, NY

31. Check your medicine cabinet for unused face creams with anti-aging ingredients or alpha hydroxy acids. Instead of tossing them, repurpose as hand or cuticle creams that smooth and exfoliate.
—Patricia Yankee

32. Warm a quarter cup of olive oil, then stir in the contents of a vitamin E capsule and some lemon juice for a soothing/sloughing hand or foot soak.
—Joanna Czech, celebrity aesthetician, Sava Spa, N.Y.C.

33. Apply hand lotion and cuticle oil, then put on a pair of light cotton gloves under rubber gloves before you do housework. The heat you generate will help the cream and oil penetrate better.
—Patricia Yankee

Try These Big Deals

The next time you're at the warehouse superstore or drugstore stocking up on value-priced essentials like paper towels, toss these supersize beauty basics into your cart as well. Bulk is cheaper, and you can always use them to refill smaller containers or repackage them in chic bottles from shops like The Container Store.

34. Aquaphor Healing Ointment ($17 for 14 oz.) also moisturizes chapped lips and mixes with color to make gloss, tames brows, softens hands and feet while you sleep, smooths rough elbows, and hydrates under the eyes.

35. Q-tips Cotton Swabs ($3.19 for 285) also corrects makeup mistakes, subs for those tiny eye shadow brushes, helps take off tenacious mascara under eyes (dip one into eye makeup remover first)

36. Lubriderm Daily Moisture Lotion ($12.73 for a three-pack totaling 45.2 oz.) also can be used as face lotion, helps shaving go more smoothly (compared with soap), controls frizz (dab on palms, then run them over hair), and hydrates hands without making them slippery

Luxury at the Drugstore

These bargain brands have done studies to prove they can outperform their pricier peers:

37 & 38. Pantene Pro-V Nature Fusion Smooth Vitality Shampoo and Conditioner ($4 each, drugstores): In a blind test, salon-brand users tried these hair products for two weeks; 69 percent reported that they were as good as or better than their current salon shampoo and conditioner.
You save: about $18 compared with salon shampoo and conditioner

39. Aveeno Positively Radiant Tinted Moisturizer SPF 30 ($16.59, drugstores): In a head-to-head comparison with the best-selling department-store tinted moisturizer, participants said Aveeno provided a more natural-looking and radiant finish.
You save: about $25

40, 41 & 42. Olay Professional Pro-X Deep Wrinkle Treatment, Age Repair Lotion SPF 30, and Wrinkle Smoothing Cream ($42 each, drugstores): A six-month clinical study of this regimen found it performed as well as the leading prescription 0.02 percent tretinoin wrinkle treatment, reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles by more than 20 percent.
You save: about $140 (compared with the average cost of a prescription wrinkle cream plus doctor's fee)

Shop Smarter: Store Brand vs. Name Brand
We wanted to know: What are we really getting when we purchase a store-brand or private label beauty product that claims it "compares with" a better-known national brand? To find out, we talked to industry experts and did our own testing.

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute performed blind comparisons of name-brand beauty products with store-brand equivalents in three categories: anti-aging facial moisturizer, body lotion, and two-in-one shampoo/conditioner.