Skip The Spa and Salon
It never ceases to amaze me to learn how people spend their money, especially those with little to spend. For example, the surprisingly large number of women who may be financially strapped, but can splurge on spa days and pricey beauty treatments.
Personally, I have only been to a spa once in my life and it was on a gift certificate. Although I had a nice time, I couldn’t believe how much it cost for each relatively basic treatment, ones that I could easily do myself at home.
1. Facial
Average Price: $75-100
My spa day experience started with a fairly standard facial. My face was cleaned, cleared (painfully) of imperfections, and then pampered with an array of serums, lotions, and creams.
My face did look rather nice for the next few days, but to be completely honest, I don’t usually give my face any special attention, other than my daily warpaint (make-up). So I guess what I’m trying to say is, if I bought the moisturizers, scrubs, and whatever else they used, I could easily freshen my face myself, for much less than $75!
2. Manicure
Average Price: $25 -40
Next on my spa day itinerary was my manicure. Again, had never had a manicure before, but figured it was about time to, seeing as my wedding was fast approaching and I wanted my nails to look nice for the big day.
I had a full set of acrylic nails put on, with your basic pink and white French manicure. Although my nails looked fantastic, they would have to be filled every 2-3 weeks at about $15 a shot. There’s too many online tutorials to pay that much to keep up a manicure!
3. Pedicure
Average Price: $20 -30
We’ve talked about taking care of your hands, but what about your tired, neglected soles? Like the manicure, I have only had one, and it was in preparation for my wedding day. Since I had open-toed shoes, I wanted my feet to look as nice as possible, despite the feat (PUN!) that may be.
Long story short, my pedicure just started with a simple soak in a foot bath, followed by scrubbing, scraping, filing, lathering, and finally buffering. As long as you don’t have chronic back pain or poor range of motion, there’s no reason why you couldn’t easy pamper yourself with a D.I.Y. pedicure!
4. Waxing
Average Price: $30 -100
As you can see, the range in salon prices varies quite dramatically, but this is because there are several types of waxes you can get, e.g. Eyebrows, Legs, or even the Brazilian wax.
Waxing is a great alternative to shaving, since you get to skip the stumble, razor bumps, and the frequent schedule, but dishing out for each individual wax will add up quickly. My recommendation, skip the salon and pick up a pre-waxed paper strips. No need to heat and no waxy mess to clean.
5. Tanning
Average Price: $10 -100
Again, you’ll notice that this price range differs quite a bit. That’s because tanning isn’t just a 1-session treatment, it’s a series of treatments that will slowly develop your color.
So while one tanning session may run you $10 or so, you’ll pay more like $100 for the color you’re looking for. If you really want a good tan, either head to the beach or invest in a quality faux tanner. I recommend TanTowels, no streaking!
6. Hair Coloring
Average Price: $75-100
Whether you’re getting highlights, lowlights, frosted tips, full dye jobs, or whatever other fancy type of hair coloring techniques are out there, odds are they can be easily replicated using at-home hair coloring kits.
Now I’m not saying you’re going to be flawless the first time, but to become good at something takes practice. My personal opinion is that if you can save yourself over 90% of your money, at-home hair coloring is worth at least an attempt!
7. Teeth Whitening
Average Price: $400 -500
Figured it would be best to save the most expensive beauty treatment on my list for last! At an average price ranging from $400 to $500, professional teeth whitening is quite a pricey procedure!
I have had professional teeth whitening done, and although it did make my teeth whiter, it wasn’t so dramatic of a difference that its benefits outweigh its costs. Interested in at-home whitening systems? My favorite system is Go Smile; Quick, easy, and my favorite part: affordable!
What beauty treatments have you tried yourself? How did it work out? Which treatments are you willing to splurge on? Let us know!
Photo Attribution: MyTudut