Making up is hard to do (and it doesn’t come cheap)

1st April 2009

Making up is hard to do (and it doesn’t come cheap)

posted in Body Image, Fashion, Fat Bias, Feminist Topics, Mental Health |

A few years ago, I covered a children’s beauty pageant being held at a local hotel. It was my first experience with pageantry in general and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. About 50 little girls in frilly formals edged with lace and sparkling with beads, sequins and rhinestones milled about a conference room with their anxious mothers hovering about. One by one, the girls – all of whom were under the age of 6 – were paraded across a stage where they strutted, preened and pranced for a panel of judges. The judges told me that they were looking for the “total package” – facial beauty, personality and overall appearance. Exactly how they judged “personality” is beyond me since none of them even spoke to the girls.

I spoke to one set of parents who had entered two daughters in the pageant. They believe in pageantry so much that they even started their own company – there’s good money to be made off a great set of dimples and obsessive parents. The mom told me that the pageant instilled confidence in her daughter and that she “isn’t afraid to speak to anyone” yet when I tried to speak to the girl, she shied away behind her mother’s skirt, scowling. Another mom insisted that she drove more than an hour to the competition simply for the prizes offered, but with entry fees averaging between $75 – $100 with additional expenses for dresses, shoes, hair care and travel, the cost of entering far exceeded the nominal prize awarded. Another mom was more honest, admitting that it’s all an act of parental vanity. All the parents I spoke to insisted that their children absolutely loved competing, but as the pageant wore on, I couldn’t help but notice most of the kids tugging at their itchy chiffon and silky organza dresses and growing tired and cranky. One child even plaintively asked to go home, but was quickly shushed by her mother. This particular pageant gave some kind of recognition to all children who competed, but I’ll never forget the crestfallen looks on the faces of the little girls left standing trophy-less on stage. I found the whole experience very, very creepy and I haven’t covered a pageant since.

Pageants represent the extreme end of vanity, but they’re not so far off the bell curve. As Newsweek’s Jessica Bennett reports, “Little Miss Perfect” is quickly becoming the “new normal.” Consider this:

Four years ago, a survey by the NPD Group showed that, on average, women began using beauty products at 17. Today, the average is 13—and that’s got to be an overstatement. According to market-research firm Experian, 43 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss; 38 percent use hairstyling products; and 12 percent use other cosmetics.
Eight- to 12-year-olds in this country already spend more than $40 million a month on beauty products, and teens spend another $100 million, according the NPD Group.
New statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery show that cosmetic- surgery procedures performed on those 18 and younger have nearly doubled over the past decade.
According to a 2004 study by the Dove Real Beauty campaign, 42 percent of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner, while 81 percent of 10-year-olds are afraid of getting fat.
[A]ccording to a NEWSWEEK examination of the most common beauty trends, by the time your 10-year-old is 50, she’ll have spent nearly $300,000 on just her hair and face.
It’s estimated that girls 11 to 14 are subjected to some 500 advertisements a day – the majority of them nipped, tucked and airbrushed to perfection. A University of Minnesota study suggests that all it takes is 3 minutes a day of staring at these unrealistic images to have a negative impact on girls’ self-esteem.
A lifetime of manis and pedis could cover four years at a public university; hair and face treatments would pay for a private college.

“It’s not that women haven’t always been slaves to their appearance,” writes Bennett. “But today’s girls are getting caught up in the beauty maintenance game at ages when they should be learning how to read—and long before their beauty needs enhancing.” Bennett blames the media, new technology and the Internet, in part, for imposing more stringent body project ideations on today’s girls. From airbrushed models to “Toddlers in Tiaras,” girls today are being reared in a culture that tells them “that everything, everything, is a candidate for upgrading,” she writes.

As an example of what the future holds for today’s “generation divas,” Bennett considers her own beauty rituals:

It’s constant, and exhausting. I should know: at 27, my daily maintenance regimen takes at least an hour, and I own enough products to fill a large closet, not to mention a savings account. I have three shades of tanning lotion and $130 Crème de La Mer face cream I use so sparingly it defeats the purpose of having it, and 34—I counted this morning—varieties of lip balm, gloss and tint. I have hair wax and cream, a balm that’s made of latex, surf spray for when I want that weathered look, and grooming cream to get rid of it. And I haven’t even started to look at the anti-aging products yet. This is what the 11-year-olds of the world have to look forward to—times 10.

My experiences are… much different. As one who is unabashedly cosmetically-challenged, my daily maintenance regimen takes, oh, about a tenth of the time it takes Bennett and costs a fraction of her total beauty budget. It takes five minutes tops to style my hair and maybe another few minutes on those days I wear foundation to even out my skin tone. I don’t get manicures or pedicures or go to a tanning bed, but when I do indulge, it’s at the salon. I shamelessly drop about $125 every five to six weeks on a cut and style, all-over color and partial highlights. My other beauty expenses are, in brief:

Aussie hair gel and hairspray — $3 each; Revlon molding putty – $3.50 a jar
Almay concealer and foundation – About $10 each
Oil of Olay face moisturizer with sunblock and Loreal wrinkle de-crease used daily/nightly – about $28 combined, less with coupon (what can I say, I’m turning 30 this year)
A makeup bag filled with various eyeshadows, mascara, lip gloss and lipstick, powder and eyeliner – Total cost for all between $40-60, but since I apply them only about twice a year, they should last a lifetime
Witch hazel astringent and Oil of Olay facial scrub — about $12 combined
A few random bottles of purple- and green-colored nail polishes for summer sandal wear – About $3 a bottle
A bazillion tubes of chapstick tucked away in my jacket pockets, purses, desk drawers and sometimes found in the washing machine – Average cost of each $1.50

How about you? What would you estimate your monthly beauty care expenses to be? Do you think they’re excessive? A necessary expense? How do you compare to the national average of what women spend on cosmetic maintenance?

As a side note, Lois Banner’s “American Beauty” and Kathy Peiss’ “Hope in a Jar” are excellent reads on the history of cosmetics and beauty products in America.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 at 2:22 am and is filed under Body Image, Fashion, Fat Bias, Feminist Topics, Mental Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On April 1st, 2009, Emma said:

Just as a note, mascara especially doesn’t keep for much longer than 5 months.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 3:18 am

2 On April 1st, 2009, lilacsigil said:

One thing I really like about being fat, is that I’m very much free to participate in beauty rituals or not, as I see fit. Anyone who wants to judge me by the patriarchal, media-friendly standards of beauty is only going to see fat, fat and DEATH FAT, so I feel free to wear clothes that I like and make-up if I feel like it, subject to my personal comfort, the weather, basic work requirements and public decency laws! Usually I don’t wear any make-up or hair products at all, though I always wear sunscreen because I’m a fair-skinned Australian (highest skin cancer rate in the world) with a family history of skin cancer. But here, sunscreen is tax-free because it’s not a beauty product, it’s a health product.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 4:13 am

3 On April 1st, 2009, Vittra said:

23, Canadian

I recently moved overseas for school for 6 months and had to evaluate what was actually worth bringing. Here’s the list of what I brought or have acquired since getting here:

1 bottle liquid foundation – $12
1 copper eyeshadow – $1
1 black eyeliner pencil(sparkly) – $2.50
1 brown eyeliner – $2.50
1 mascara – $4
1 bottle moisturizer – $4
1 bottle comb in conditioner – $3
1 visine eye drops – $5

That’s pretty much it, and most of the eyeshadow/mascara etc I’ve found I didn’t need to bring because I never wear it. I will likely throw out a whole bunch of stuff when I go back home.

One note though, bring things like conditioner and makeup with you when going to a new country – figuring out the words for carrot or beef for groceries is easy enough, figuring out the words for things like smooth, de-frizz, oil-free, hydrating etc was impossible.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 4:43 am

4 On April 1st, 2009, styleygeek said:

I wear sunscreen. Every day, including winter. All over. (The double whammy of being super pale and living in Australia).

Otherwise nothing.

I think I own a couple of lipsticks somewhere that my mother gave me years ago. I doubt they are usable anymore. I bought some eyeshadow and foundation in 2005, but only used it for a couple of parties, and don’t know where it is any more.

I used nail polish every day for a few months until I stopped biting my nails, but that was in the 1990s.

I get my hair cut at the local hairdressing training school for $10 a cut. I don’t own or use products on it apart from supermarket brand shampoo and conditioner.

I would estimate that over my lifetime I have spent no more than $100 a year on beauty products (and that includes the sunscreen and haircuts!).

Unfortunately I can’t say it’s REALLY quick to get ready in the mornings, as putting sunscreen on (face, cleavage, back of hands, and in summer on arms and legs) takes a while. But no more than 15 mins to do that, my teeth and hair.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 6:45 am

5 On April 1st, 2009, naath said:

My morning between exiting the bed and exiting the house takes 20mins, for “beauty” I brush my teeth, run a hairbrush through my hair and stick it in a ponytail and put on some deodorant. I’ve not added up what I spend, and it depends what you include I guess; I adore Lush stuff and probably spend quite a bit on Lush bath products which are simply a luxury. I also buy Lush cleanser, toner and moisturiser (and use them, er, sometimes) and soap (yes, I use the soap). I own a heap of makeup junk that I almost never use, I should probably throw it out and reclaim the closet space

I find it really strange the amount of effort some women put into “looking good” to go out to work. Realistically my efforts are limited to being clean, having clean clothing and tidy hair; just like the efforts of most of the men I know (most of the men I know shave every morning too, which might make their morning routine more faff than mine!).

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 7:21 am

6 On April 1st, 2009, DaniFae said:

I’m a bargain shopping glam girl, I like to buy more expensive, high quality products, but approach it logically, and keep from overspending. An example, I have an eyeshadow palette from Urban Decay, it has 8 colors is in, and 4 of them can double as eyeliner, the palette cost $36, eight full eyeshadows would have cost $120 and adding in four liners would have easily made the same range of looks cost $200.

Here’s a List:
St. Ives Apricot Scrub ($8)
Oil of Olay SPF 15 Moisturizer ($10ish)
Rice Powder ($8)
Urban Decay’s Ammo Box ($36)
A variety of lipgloss/lipstick/lipbalm ($1.50-$15)
Nail Polish, reds, greens & purples ($3-$7)
Mascara ($8)
Pencil Liner ($5)
Tigi’s Curls Rock Curl Amplifier ($15)
Manic Panic Pillar Box Red and Vampire Red hair dyes mixed together ($16 total)

That said my MONTHLY cost is on average, $20, unless I feel like doing something drastic. My hair’s short (a kind of punked out Marilyn Monroe thing), so I get a few applications out of my hair dye. And I spend 10-20 minutes getting ready on a daily basis, even when I do my hair and makeup. I have cut my own hair for the last couple of years, and have been dying it myself since I was 16, which cuts way down on cost. I do also wax my eyebrows, yet again DIY, and it’s been so long since I’ve had to buy wax I don’t remember how much it costs.

Most of my beauty rituals are fun (waxing’s necessary and sucks, skin care is necessary, but just part of taking a shower) and I don’t mind spending money on things I enjoy doing. I don’t have a problem leaving home without makeup on or my hair styled, or running around with chipped nail polish.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 7:43 am

7 On April 1st, 2009, Linda said:

Part of this, is, of course, that cosmetics can only be a growth industry if you keep finding new things that have to be “improved.” Before WWII, most women wore a little face powder and maybe rouge. Stuff for your lips and eyes was for hookers, actresses, and models. No more products=no more company growth.

Also, we now live in a time when looks are not considered a lottery, but something you have total control over, via cosmetics and plastic surgery. Therefore, if you aren’t beautiful, you didn’t lose the lottery, you’re “just not trying hard enough.” My cousin, with 3 jobs to support herself and her daughter, actually heard this from a supermodel, when she was home with the flu.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 7:46 am

8 On April 1st, 2009, lilacsigil said:

I should also say that I’m white and fair-haired, so I can look “presentable” with very little work – my upper lip and chin are hairless, my eyebrows don’t meet, I’m not expected to straighten my hair. Nor do I have acne to cover up. My only real expense is, of course, sunscreen, which costs me about $60-70 a year.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 8:06 am

9 On April 1st, 2009, Godless Heathen said:

Lesse uh
SPF 15 foundation and matching powder $8 (Cover Girl had a two-fer deal.)
6 different eye liners $15. (Two electic blue, two espresso brown, two black)
Some name brand lipstick: Free
Full size face powder from Sephora that’s a shade too dark: Free
Assorted lip balms and glosses in the dozens: Who the hell knows. Some of them were free, some came in big kits.
Hard spiking hair gel: $3
About 12 different bottles of nail polish: $30
Acrylic nails: $20
Non-aerosol hair spray: $1.50, barely used.
Body Glitter: $5, yes I am too old to pull of the look.

My biggest expenditures are usually lotions because I dry out a lot. About once every two weeks I go through one of those sticks of pure cocoa butter trying to keep my skin from splitting open in dry weather.

I usually don’t buy makeup to wear, which is why I will have 50 nail polish bottles I never use, but can’t remember to get a blusher for when I actually need to wear makeup. The best I can explain it, I like the colors. I’m pretty good at ferreting out freebies and samples, though not so good at making sure they come in “damn, you pale!”.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 8:08 am

10 On April 1st, 2009, Bree said:

My beauty ritual is 15 minutes. Currently, here’s what I’m using:

-Clean & Clear Lemongrass Cleanser, $6.
-Revlon Toner, $4.
-Avon pimple control gel, $3.49.
-Avon rose colored blush, $6.
-Assorted lipsticks, all under $6.
-Hair gel/mousse, all under $5.
-Nail polish (toes only), all under $5.
-Eye shadow (for special occassions), under $7. I have Mary Kay I got for free, and a Clinique brand.

I also moisturize my feet, either with Dollar General Creamy Vasoline, Johnson & Johnson Baby Lotion, or Avon foot cream. I don’t use perfume, I prefer Bath & Body mist spray. I’m really low-maintenance when it comes to beauty. I don’t look good with a lot of makeup on anyway, so I prefer to keep it simple and natural. I do color my hair, and the most expensive brand I use is Feria, which is $9-10, but I always have coupons for hair color. I used to get my nails done every two weeks, but quit when I became unemployed for a few months and now I just prefer to keep them clear and natural. It’s one unneeded expense that frees up $30 for other things.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 8:50 am

11 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

Just as a note, mascara especially doesn’t keep for much longer than 5 months.

Thanks for the tip. I bought most of that makeup before my wedding. I’m celebrating my second wedding anniversary this summer, so I should probably throw some of that gunk out.

I do find it odd that I begged my mom to let me wear make-up as a kid and now that I’m an adult with disposable income, I’d rather not wear it. Apart from foundation, of course. And even the brand I get is good for your face.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 8:52 am

12 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

But here, sunscreen is tax-free because it’s not a beauty product, it’s a health product.

Yeah, I wear sunscreen too (my husband is pale and burns very easily so we have SPF gazillion). I didn’t consider that or Visine or body lotion or even my cute, stylish glasses to be beauty-related, but rather health products, so I didn’t list them.

I probably should have mentioned that I do buy salon shampoo and conditioners. I’ve found that if I buy the economy size jumbo bottle, it’s actually cheaper than the store stuff because you don’t need to use as much. Plus, it prolongs the color in my hair by a couple weeks, thus reducing salon expenses which are far more pricey. When I used the store stuff, even the stuff specifically for color-treated hair, the color faded out in 3-4 weeks. Now I can go 6 weeks between colorings (red fades the fastest).

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 8:54 am

13 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

Before WWII, most women wore a little face powder and maybe rouge.

Make-up really started to take off about the turn of the century. It was considered acceptable and had lost its taboo by the 1920s. During the Depression and WWII rationing, cosmetic and beauty product sales even increased. Lipstick, apparently, was considered as much a necessity as food.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:06 am

14 On April 1st, 2009, Lisa said:

I bought my current bottle of 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner in early January. I’m lucky that my short hair doesn’t need too much special treatment.

Skin’s a different issue. I know I probably should invest in ProActiv or another one of those acne-clearing systems, but at the moment my spf moisturizer + foundation + undereye concealer + mascara ritual spackles me up nicely enough.

I should say that I really, really love mascara. I almost always manage to slick some on.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:16 am

15 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

I should add that if you do spend a lot on beauty products, there’s no need to feel ashamed or to minimize it. Our skin is our largest organ — of course we should take care of it. If cosmetics makes you feel more empowered and confidant or allows you to express yourself, have at it. I am fortunate enough that I do have the disposable income to drop lots of money on my hair at the salon and I make no apologies for it. It makes me feel more confident (I get complimented on my hair nearly every day) and I love the pampering and socializing with my stylist and her colleagues. For me, my hair care is as much a part of my eating disorder recovery as was therapy. In fact, I think it was even more helpful than recovery, considering that my stylist is a heck of a lot more skilled at her craft than any of the therapists I saw.

Don’t get me wrong… It’s outrageous that girls so young feel the need to use beauty products and I think we should always examine our motives for using beauty products to see if they are unduly influenced by culture. But I don’t think cosmetic and beauty product use in itself is in any way anti-feminist. Some of the major cosmetic industries still in operation today were started by women and were wholly owned and operated by them (until about the 1920s, that is, when men began taking them over). Elizabeth Arden, for example, maintained strict control over her company until her death in the 1960s. Her keen intellect and savvy marketing know-how catapulted her brand into one of the most expensive and successful brands still in existence today. The beauty industry was one of the few arenas in which women, white and black, could become financially independent and even powerful. And women who used cosmetics said they felt a sense of freedom in using them.

So, if you splurge a lot on cosmetics and beauty products, fess up. There’s no need to feel as if you’re somehow in the wrong for spending time and money on yourself.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:26 am

16 On April 1st, 2009, meerkat said:

Ha ha! I fail at being a woman. I have some Bare Earth mineral stuff in 2 colors, one of which I actually use, but only on special occasions or when my skin is particularly hideous (and then it usually only lessens the hideousness slightly anyway). Aside from that I don’t have any beauty rituals that are extricable from cleanliness routine. That is, I have shampoo (Nature’s Gate and Giovanni) and soap (Shikai and Alba? pineapple enzyme and Kiss My Face) and a loofah and a hairbrush. And a toothbrush and toothpaste and dental floss. And hair-ties and nail clippers, but I cannot stand nail files. My mom cuts my hair maybe once a year for free.

I do have other things that I tried out but gave up on (including leg shaving devices and creams and various prescription face creams), many of them expired by now. It’s not entirely impossible that I would at some point want to wear more makeup but probably more of a costume makeup and certainly not on a regular basis.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:27 am

17 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

I have some Bare Earth mineral stuff in 2 colors, one of which I actually use, but only on special occasions or when my skin is particularly hideous

Is that supposed to be a green makeup? I bought some new “green” brand foundation and it was awful. It felt cakey and oily and I tossed it after a couple uses. I like the Almay brand because they don’t test on animals (which is a requirement for any product I use) and it contains ingredients that actually help heal blemishes. But I’m not sure how green it is and I’d like to be more environmentally-conscious in all avenues, including cosmetics.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:31 am

18 On April 1st, 2009, ksf said:

Physician’s formula concealer: $8
Physician’s formula mineral powder: $10
tons of eye shadow which I never use: free (from a friend)
sulfate-free, “cone” free shampoo: $10
conditioner: $2
Sample size gel and hairspray: Free from salon
full size mousse: $5

I get my hair cut about every two months at the local cosmetology school for $10 a cut. About once a year I decide to get it colored or to add highlights, which runs about $30.

I also use prescription acne products, but since my acne is such that it is painful if I don’t use it, I consider more of a medical expense than a beauty expense.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:34 am

19 On April 1st, 2009, meerkat said:

Oh, I left off deodorant, but that’s not really a visual thing.

ProActiv can bite me! Their infomercials decrease my quality of life. (And if my doctor and the dermatologist she recommended couldn’t do it, why should I expect results from them? I guess birth control pills belong on the cosmetics list because I take them for the sole purpose of clearing my skin. Infinitesimally.)

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:35 am

20 On April 1st, 2009, meerkat said:

Sorry, I think I got the name wrong. I think it’s Bare Minerals, and while it might cover better if it were a cakey oily sludge, it is just a powder. I have never worn other makeups so I can’t compare how it feels, but it really doesn’t feel like anything at all.

I also wouldn’t want to use products tested on animals, so that’s another reason I just don’t do makeup in any real way. It would be expensive and time consuming to hunt down a brand with no animal testing and no animal ingredients. This is one reason I never actually act on the whim to go get pampered at one of the various beauty parlors I pass by all the time, but if there were one that advertised its animal friendliness I totally might. If I were feeling random and spendy and up to taking all the comments it might elicit.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:40 am

21 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

I guess birth control pills belong on the cosmetics list because I take them for the sole purpose of clearing my skin.

Ha, if you watch commercials for birth control, you’d think that was their purpose! That or less periods a year. It’s as if it’s still shameful to suggest that women want to have sex for reasons other than procreation!

22 On April 1st, 2009, meerkat said:

And it does conceal minor blemishes. It’s probably just as good as the concealer I experimented with like 10 years ago, but they say concealers are bad for your skin, whereas Bare Minerals is supposed to actually be good for it.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:41 am

23 On April 1st, 2009, Faith said:

My monthly expenses are negligible. I have v. short hair so I use about a drop of shampoo every morning. I use dove soap. So maybe that’s $1 per month. Maybelline eyeliner and Revlon color stay lip stuff last for about 9 months. I don’t use any other products (and I’m turning 40 next year).

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:47 am

24 On April 1st, 2009, Diane said:

I love my boyfriend, because he actually HATES it when I wear make-up. He thinks that the foundation I wear covers up my natural beauty. There need to be more men like this in the world, men who actually like, EVEN LOVE, us when we don’t have 50 pounds of make-up caked on our faces!

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:49 am

25 On April 1st, 2009, saraphonic said:

I say the two most important items in my makeup bag are:

Tinted moisturizer with SPF 15
Cherry Chapstick

I have fun with different makeup every once and a while, but those two things make me feel fresh and glowing every day.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 9:55 am

26 On April 1st, 2009, nymphaeales said:

24, American:

-Philosophy Moisturizer (spf 30)/face wash/eye cream/skin mask kit: $80
-Too Faced Mascara: $18
-Maybelline eyebrow pencil: $3
-Sephora eyeliner: $9
-Philosophy lip gloss: $12
-Biolage Shampoo: $20
-Biolage Conditioner: $20
-Leave-In hair product: $20
-Drugstore eyeshadow palettes: $5 each, and I have three or four.

I don’t wear much makeup, obviously, but I more than make up for it with skincare.

It takes me around six months to cycle through everything (and some stuff, like eyeshadow, eyeliner, eye pencils, and lip gloss, never seem to run out), so I guess I spend around $30 a month on beauty prouducts, which I’m okay with. I think I’m on the low-maintenance end, though, as most of my friends own more cosmetics than I do and also spend small fortunes on the tanning bed and manis/pedis, which I don’t go for.

It only takes me around an hour to shower, fix my hair, get dressed, and apply makeup, depending on whether or not I am straightening my hair that day. If I’m not, my prep time goes down to around 30 minutes.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 10:08 am

27 On April 1st, 2009, Stephanie said:

I’m 26 and American; a Midwesterner with a business-casual day job (although I’m going to law school in the fall).

I spend about $6-7 a bottle on shampoo and conditioner, and $2 a bar on soap (and $6 on deodorant) and I feel like I splurge. But the deodorant lasts like 2 years (I threw the last one out because I was sick of it, and I do wear it every day) and the soap lasts almost 6 months, and the shampoo/cond about 3 apiece. I wear makeup maybe 3 times a year, including foundation (the birth control pills make my complexion nearly perfect, for which I thank them every day) and I don’t even use a hair dryer. My haircuts cost $12, and I get them every three or four months.

I did shell out about $170 for my hair for my wedding, but the $40/bottle foundation I used was free — I threw myself on the mercy of the Sephora people, and they gave me free samples about the size of a small lip gloss pot.

I also steal my husband’s shaving gel, because the bottle rusts out before he can use it all.

I think that’s about everything. I own some hair gel, but it’s a few years old and I think I paid $3 for it. And I buy lip balm, but I don’t know if that’s beauty or health, being that over the winter my lips crack and bleed if I don’t slather the stuff on constantly. I paid $10 for 3 huge tins that’ll probably last me until I’m 30. Or 40.

I don’t wear perfume, although I love scents, because my husband is really sensitive. I don’t wear most makeup because I’m lazy and I don’t really need it. (Yes, I’m lucky.) I don’t do hair products because I’m inept. I don’t hold anything against women that do, of course, but I’m glad I’ve got such an easy routine.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 10:16 am

28 On April 1st, 2009, Stephanie said:

Oh, and yes, I do wash my face with bar soap. Always have. Again, lucky.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 10:19 am

29 On April 1st, 2009, Katja said:

Its all about making money off these kids. Apparently one of the most popular Disney attractions is the Princess Salon where girls and their moms wait for 3 hours to get “primped” with hair, make-up and nails, turned into mini-Cinderellas. All this while their brothers are exploring Space Mountain and Pirates… Walk through the toy aisle at Target or Walmart and see the nail and make-up kits aimed for the preschool and Kindergarten set. Look at sheet sets for girls that are Disney Princesses, while the boys have space ships and cowboys and parents are told to encourage kids’ “dreams.” As if being a pretty princess is the goal. Disney princesses and even Ginormica in the latest Monster movie are all impossibly thin (literally anatomically impossible) and this is the steady visual diet our girls are weaned on. Ugh. I work in childhood feeding and know that a negative body-image is a risk factor for unhealthy behaviors, being less active, early dieting etc.It has to stop, but how?

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 10:46 am

30 On April 1st, 2009, Elle said:

I’ve never been to one of those pageants or even watched one of those TV shows about them, but what I do know and reading your description of covering one as a reporter is enough to make me agree with you, Rachel, that they’re very creepy indeed.

But I found the Newsweek article you linked over-the-top, in many ways. I noticed a lot of future-tense verbs making predictions about what could happen, rather than data-based statements about what is happening, such as this quote:

There’s no evidence to prove that women who start primping early will primp more as they get older, but it’s a safe assumption that they won’t slow down.

I also have to wonder about the economic/social class of the families who participate in these practices; I’d ask your readers to chime in with examples of beauty practices of tween girls in their families and neighborhoods. For instance, I have 16-year-old niece. She is vain about her long, curly hair, and she wears make-up most days, but she didn’t wear it until about age 14. She likes to get a pedicure in the summertime, but I think she’s only had two or three her whole life, and they’re considered a real treat when she gets them, not a necessity – and she gets them at the beauty salon in her local Wal-Mart. I won’t go on about her, but when only 28% of households in the U.S. have an annual income above $50,000, I’m betting far more U.S. girls are like my niece than the girls in the story.

One more point about the Newsweek article – the reporter notes that, “[t]his trend seems unaffected by the tanking economy: cosmetic surgery procedures dipped slightly last year, but cosmetics sales have increased between 1 and 46 percent, depending on the product, according to the Nielsen Co.” This is utterly typical of spending during recessions. Note that the quote says “depending on the product”; I’ll bet you a couple of your tubes of Chapstick that it’s items under $20. One of the ways that consumers, especially women, often indulge themselves during tough times is to buy something like a new lipstick. They won’t buy the $95/bottle perfume at Macy’s, that’s an unreasonable indulgence during a recession, but a $14 Clinique lipstick is easy to justify.

Sorry to be so long-winded! I don’t have my own blog any more, so sometimes I get carried away in other folks’ comments.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 10:57 am

31 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

You raise some good points, Elle, but I don’t think her predictions are that far off. Have you ever read “The Body Project” by Joan Jacobs Brumberg? In it, she traces the evolution of how girls have regarded their bodies and the products they deem necessary to maintain those bodies for nearly a century. It’s clear that for girls in all income brackets, the standards are continually and consistently getting higher and more stringent.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:02 am

32 On April 1st, 2009, Piffle said:

Yep, makeup should be discarded after a certain period of time; but I’m not sure what. I use soap (lavender scented), shampoo, lip balm, and moisturizers; but naught else. My little girl, eight, uses chapstick and vaseline clinical moisturizer to protect her lips and on her eczema prone areas. I wonder if some little girls who use lip gloss are using it as chapstick, because it often tastes better and is a bit like dress-up?

I’d guess that the expenses are less than five dollars a month overall. I don’t even cut my hair as I keep it in a braid, which takes maybe ten minutes in the morning while I surf the news.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:07 am

33 On April 1st, 2009, Mary Sue said:

Shampoo – $2 every 5 months
Conditioner – $2 every 5 months
Sensitive skin SPF30 moisturizer – $8 a year, I forget it a lot.
Chapstick – $1
Lotion – $6 for 4 oz every 9 months.

I do have a small collection of makeup, but I can’t be arsed to put it on a lot.

Also? I neither wax nor shave. You may be screaming “Ewwww, gross!” but seriously, step back a minute and think about why you shave. Who doesn’t have hair on their legs or underarms? Prepubescent girls. I am not a prepubescent girl.

I’m also not blonde, I just wear long pants or tights.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:15 am

34 On April 1st, 2009, newlyveg said:

I’m afraid to actually list the cost of everything, as I might gasp, and faint when I add it all up. However, I do use Origins A Perfect World moisturizer ($30 for each one), the lady said it would last 6 months so I thought averaged out it wasn’t too shabby. It’s lasted me way longer than that. So, I think it’s a good deal. And to make it even more worthwhile, ever since I started using it (without anyone knowing), I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on how my skin just glows.

I spend $200 every few months to have my hair straightened with a natural product, and another $70 or so every 6-8 weeks for a cut. I also love my Aveda hair care, though, again, I must say, that it really lasts me an eternity, so, over time, the cost isn’t so bad. My new addiction is Elnett hairspray- the one in the gold bottle- ($14 @ Target). My friends thought I was crazy for not just buying the cheaper brand (like Suave or something), but I really like that it’s so light that my hair doesn’t feel like it has any hairspray in it at all, and yet it still has hold. To convince them, I bought them all a bottle as a gift. They now will not go back to stiff hair. Interestingly enough, none of them even so much as flinched before I bought Elnett when I spent $24 on a bottle of Aveda hairspray (AirSpray), which was purchased for the same reason as Elnett.

I love finding new fun makeup, but I usually buy it at ULTA or Target, so it’s not super expensive, and I do use coupons (makes me feel better about buying it).

I, like you, have chapstick all over the place, purses, drawers, etc. But its usually just Nivea or Blistex (and whenever I have a coupon for it, I use it) and they don’t really break the bank. On ocassion, I’ll “splurge” on Burt’s Bees lip balm.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:17 am

35 On April 1st, 2009, newlyveg said:

Oh, and I’m 28, American, and use Noxema as face wash. I think my splurges tend to even out with my more reasonable buys… (or maybe I’m just rationalizing)

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:20 am

36 On April 1st, 2009, newlyveg said:

Darn, also forgot to mention that I am in love with Smashbox makeup primer… And I’m a sucker for lotions (though I get those from Target). I really need to stop thinking about this, or I’ll be here all day.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:27 am

37 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

step back a minute and think about why you shave.

Ha! I just have an aversion to body hair. I shave my legs fairly regularly even though I never wear skirts or shorts. If my husband would let me, I’d also shave his underarm hair. Luckily my hair is naturally blonde so it’s fairly light-colored.

On the subject of body hair… Before my eating disorder developed, I got The Haircut That Would Change My Life. And no, I’m not exaggerating. This was, incidentally, at the same salon I discussed here and where I still go today. My cousin, who is a second-rate stylist, used to cut my hair for cheap but it also looked cheap. To give you an idea of just how very horrible she is, I once asked for a body wave perm once and walked out with a corkscrew poodle perm. I then went to a quality salon and got a cut that flattered me and made me feel good about myself. I also tried eyebrow waxing for the first time and I was amazed at what a different it made in the way I looked. When my eating disorder developed, plucking became kind of a stress reliever. When I felt the urge to binge, I’d pluck instead. Even though I’m recovered now, I still obsessively pluck my eyebrows whenever I’m feeling bored or stressed. My husband even bought me a magnified, lighted mirror and quality “green” tweezers for Christmas even though he still refuses to let me trim up his bushy brows.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:43 am

38 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

My friends thought I was crazy for not just buying the cheaper brand (like Suave or something), but I really like that it’s so light that my hair doesn’t feel like it has any hairspray in it at all, and yet it still has hold.

Agreed. That bargain Suave crap is scarcely better than Aqua Net. I buy the Aussie brand because it’s lighter yet holds my hair in place and it smells great, too.

I, like you, have chapstick all over the place, purses, drawers, etc. But its usually just Nivea or Blistex…

Yeah, I have many different brands, too. I mostly buy the medicated chapsticks because I suffer from chronic chapped lips. I really like the Blistex medicated berry chapstick, which costs about $1.79 at Walgreens. I find that it works much better than the standard 99-cent Chapstick variety. I’m constantly buying more chapstick because I always forget them in my pockets and find them in the wash. They can usually survive one round in the wash, but any more and they kind of dissolve. Fortunately they don’t ruin clothes like lipstick.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 11:46 am

39 On April 1st, 2009, spoonfork said:

I indulge in a $32 haircut each month, but despite my stylist’s pleas, I don’t use product. My usual regimen for my short hair is washing (2-in-1 stuff, usually), brushing, air-drying, and sometimes using a curling iron just to get my cowlicks going in the same direction. Luckily my stylist (back off, she’s mine) reluctantly plans for this general neglect and abuse, which makes her well worth the money.

I use Clinique (only stuff that doesn’t make me break out) moisturizer every morning: $24 bottle, but I only use two squirts a day, so it lasts me a good long time.

I’ve never really been into makeup, and just started using it again regularly . . . the impulse comes and goes. I own singles of Clinique foundation, concealer, powder, and blush: say about 100 bucks worth, but again, this stuff lasts me forever and when I run out, it may be months before I bother to go out and restock.

I have contacts, stare at screens all day, and can’t keep my fingers out of my eyes, so I don’t use eye makeup–luckily, my lashes are really dark (if stubby), since I’m more likely to harpoon my eye with the mascara wand than get my lashes done. I grew up playing the bassoon, and my teacher would have murdered me if he’d found lipstick on my reeds, so I never got used to it. I’ll use lip balm, but that’s about it.

I’ve told my six-year-old that she can’t wear makeup until she’s 13, at which point I will take her to a hypoallergenic makeup counter and have a professional show her exactly how to put the minimal on so she doesn’t look like a Bratz doll. There’s a Halloween and dance recital exception to this rule, subject to my approval. I lived through the ‘eighties. Never again.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 12:00 pm

40 On April 1st, 2009, Rosa said:

I’m white, blonde, mostly-hairless, and live in the Midwest – so the standards of “looking professional” are pretty easy for me to hit. As I get older, I feel more pressure to wear makeup at work, but my current company is a lot more casual than most and I work from home right now, so that’s 0 pressure.

i spend about $5/mo on “beauty” – I cut my own hair, but I buy shampoo & lotion (in bulk from the coop) and glycerin face soap, and occasionally wear makeup. That’s slightly more than my male partner, but only because he’s bald.

I mostly don’t wear sunscreen, only on my face – otherwise I wear long-sleeved things or stay in the shade from 10-2. Ever since I found out sunscreen kills coral, i’ve wondered what it does to our lake & stream flora So I try to minimize how much of it I use. We have a toddler and we always make him wear a sun hat in summer.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 12:03 pm

41 On April 1st, 2009, Maureen said:

Four years ago, a survey by the NPD Group showed that, on average, women began using beauty products at 17.

Okay, that survey has to be wrong. I’m pretty sure that 90% of my seventh-grade class had at least one bottle of nail polish back in the dark ages of 1996-96. (To be fair, the mid-nineties were fantastic for nail polish colors.)

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 12:16 pm

42 On April 1st, 2009, Entangled said:

I tend to have a rule of thumb and a couple of exceptions to it. Generally, if my boyfriend – a moderately vain guy – would laugh at the suggestion that he do it himself, I won’t be bothered with it. Sunscreen and deodorant every day, brushing my hair and teeth, shampoo… the occasional dab of concealer – those are all worth the effort.

I do own a fair amount of makeup – once a year or so my mother takes me out to buy nice stuff and I occasionally feel like playing around with it. I own a blow-dryer. It is used for making my hair dry when I really don’t want it to be wet anymore – I am clueless when it comes to styling but fortunately my hair is pretty well-behaved. Though the real exception is waxing – since the boy puts up with my stealing his old spice (it smells good!) and dressing like I’m about to go to the gym most of the time, and I know he likes it. He also likes when I dye my hair red, but I’m too lazy to use the dye I bought months ago.

Funny, as a girl all I wanted to do was wear heels and makeup and my parents wouldn’t let me.

43 On April 1st, 2009, Rachel said:

As I get older, I feel more pressure to wear makeup at work, but my current company is a lot more casual than most and I work from home right now, so that’s 0 pressure.

So do I. I find that the cats generally don’t care what I look like. I usually always wear a light foundation if I’m meeting people for stories, though.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 12:22 pm

44 On April 1st, 2009, Lisa said:

I came back to see if there are any more comments – this is a neat thread! It’s interesting to look a little more deeply into how I create my outward self every day.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 1:13 pm

45 On April 1st, 2009, goodbyemyboy said:

“It’s not that women haven’t always been slaves to their appearance,” writes Bennett. “But today’s girls are getting caught up in the beauty maintenance game at ages when they should be learning how to read—and long before their beauty needs enhancing.”

This stuck out at me. It’s more of the same “pressure to be thin is good, pressure to be too thin is bad” kind of bullshit. Women do need to pay out the ass to fit some artificial, unrealistic beauty standard–but God forbid they start at some arbitrary age deemed “too young.”

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 1:19 pm

46 On April 1st, 2009, twilightriver said:

$9 for 8oz Dr. Bronner’s unscented castille soap
$6 Earthscience unscented shampoo
$6 Earthscience unscented conditioner
$4 for 3oz Tom’s of Maine unscented roll-on deoderant
$12 for 4oz NOW jojoba oil (all over moisturizer)
$2 Burt’s Bees lip balm (tube)

Since that stuff lasts at least 3 months, I’m spending less than $13/month on my self care products.

$220 for Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion, 9 MAC eyeshadows, 2 lipsticks, 1 blush, and 1 Studio Fix foundation powder.

Breaks down to $10/month for makeup (because I’ll replace the primer potion at least once, since it turns the fastest.)

It will be 2 years before that stuff gets gunky, funky, or otherwise unwearable. When the texture, scent, or color changes, it’s time to throw it out. Women’s magazines often offer a chart, but I find my nose, eyes, and skin to be a more accurate gauge of how fresh my makeup is than an arbitrary time period.

$23/month isn’t bad for being hygenic and playing up my eyes on special occasions (or when I get bored.)

I get my hair cut about once every 6-9 months. I don’t pluck, shave, wax or otherwise attempt to remove any of my body hair (except for that one wiry whisker on my cheek that HURTS if I don’t pluck it.)

I would still be using salon shampoos if they ever made unscented versions of their products, but my allergy to synthetic fragrances makes it impossible. Not only does perfume give me a headache, make me feel nauseous, and create a chemical taste in my mouth, but it also raises welts on my skin before causing my skin to crust over and break open. Nickle has the same effect. Don’t get me started on polyester and my lack of fashion choices (which was already intensely narrow because of my size.)

My chances of ever living up to the grooming/fashion standards of the professional world are pretty much nil. My hopes of ever having a job that utilizes my considerable professional skills are even less.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 1:26 pm

47 On April 1st, 2009, Annie said:

But I’m not sure how green it is and I’d like to be more environmentally-conscious in all avenues, including cosmetics.

B Never Too Busy (https://www.bnevertoobusytobebeautiful.com) is a great company. It’s a sister company to Lush cosmetics, and both are very environmentally conscious. B Never Too Busy used to have a thing on their site about their company and the environment, but I can’t find it right now. They just did a site remodel and everything’s kind of wonky. Hopefully it will show back up soon. But their cosmetics are great. You have to order their stuff from the U.K., but for anyone who wants to buy incredibly good makeup from a great company, B Never Too Busy is a good choice, in my opinion.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 1:37 pm

48 On April 1st, 2009, TropicalChrome said:

My haircuts are $44 plus tip, and worth every penny. I finally found a new stylist who understands my curly hair and gives me a cut that not only looks good right after, but grows out gracefully. I’m thinking about trying some color again, but I admit to being too lazy to keep it up all the time. I earned my gray.

Makeup…I have no idea how to estimate costs because it lasts so long. I have a mix of name brands and drugstore brands – while I’m fundamentally thrifty and don’t believe that the more expensive stuff works any better, I go ahead and buy the colors I like because it’s better to have one expensive eye shadow I use than 10 inexpensive ones I don’t. And I’m in love with Urban Decay’s Eye Shadow Primer Potion.

When I was younger, I refused to leave the house without makeup because I thought I was completely unpresentable without it. Now I wear it when I go out socially or professionally (I work from home so I don’t wear it every day) or when I feel like it, and don’t really care the rest of the time. I don’t kid myself that it’s going to magically transform me into the current ideal, it’s now something I do because I like the results.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 1:51 pm

49 On April 1st, 2009, Emerald said:

I’m 40, and British. My biggest expenditure is my hair, undoubtedly. I have it foiled (£60, two or three shades of red depending on my mood) every few months, and trimmed, if I remember, every six to eight weeks (£8). I’ve stuck with a style I like for the past few years now.

Other than that, I’ve found regular supermarket shampoo, makeup, deodorant, chapstick and hair removing cream (neither waxing, electrolysis or bleach ever succeeded in making my upper lip any less visibly hairy). Only thing I go anywhere special for is Lush shower gel, because I like the smell. Hard to estimate cost, but I very much doubt I shell out more than £20 a month, if that.

As far as beauty goes, I have this attitude that perhaps stems from my upbringing. As a child, I was paraded in Laura Ashley frocks and Victorian-style, complex updos involving lots of bobby pins. I also got scrubbed to within an inch of my life to attempt to make my naturally olive complexion more pink and white. So by the time I was a teen, I hated primping – yet I was expected to do lots of it to myself, while not being allowed to either chill and occasionally just run a comb through my hair, or to play around with nail polish like my schoolmates. It was ‘be a well-groomed lady or you’ll never be loved’, and I despised it. (I still hate the word ‘groomed’ – reminds me of a prize horse or something.)

So my attitude now is that a lot of the time I do just shower and run a comb through my hair. But you will also see me at weekends, or on vacation, sporting a very carefully put together girlie gutterpunk kind of look. Most days I just have powder foundation and lippy on my face, if that; other times it’s all-out with blush, eyeliner, shadow, the lot. (Never got on with mascara; wear contacts now and daren’t use the stuff.) Basically, I found the whole looks thing could only ever be fun for me if it’s optional. Treat it as something I must do to look ‘acceptable’ for the world, and you’ve lost me.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 3:03 pm

50 On April 1st, 2009, spacedcowgirl said:

Interesting question. I never quite thought about it in terms of monthly expenditure.

Well, the most important products I use (for about the past year now) are my prescription acne medications. So say $50 every 3 months. I’m fortunate that they are covered by insurance.

I also use Paula’s Choice 2% beta hydroxy acid gel, daily mattifying lotion SPF 15, and super antioxidant concentrate when I remember. I haven’t replaced any of these products in longer than I can remember… although I have been fanatical for years about sunscreen, I don’t wear it every single day now because I don’t always leave the house. I would estimate I drop $75 on Paula’s Choice about twice a year.

Hair stuff–Shampoo and conditioner in the realm of $5 apiece. I replace these probably every couple of months. Also, I wouldn’t say I “need” it, but I usually end up succumbing to temptation and buying a salon brand hair styling product or two about twice a year. Let’s say $80 a year on those.

Hair removal/lotion–I use Gillette Venus Breeze razor cartridges, which are obscenely expensive, I suppose about $20 for 6. I end up buying a new pack every 3 months or so. I use drugstore or Whole Foods store brand lotion during the cold season–maybe a bottle a year, so that’s about $5.

Makeup–I am no longer allowing myself to buy makeup because I don’t wear it. It’s getting harder and harder to force myself to put it on, even for a wedding or special occasion. If I use up what I have, fine, but for now $0 on makeup. Nail polish, I usually end up buying 1 or 2 bottles of OPI a year at around $7 apiece. I don’t use them that much, but I get distracted by the pretty colors. My toenails don’t always look that great for running-related reasons, so polish does come in handy.

Haircut/grooming–I pay about $55 (including tip) for a haircut every 6 weeks or so. I have short bangs now, so I actually remember to do it. I used to get my brows and bikini line waxed at that time as well (the waxing is something that would normally strike me as way over the top and high-maintenance, but my husband liked it when I had it done for a vacation, and I found I did too, so I kept doing it). But then I started going to my current more expensive salon because my original hairdresser quit, so I don’t really feel I can justify the waxing expense anymore.

OK… totaled up and rounding, that comes to $90 a month! If you eliminate the haircuts, it’s $50. That still seems like a lot, but there it is. I tried not to leave anything out.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 3:54 pm

51 On April 1st, 2009, spacedcowgirl said:

Oh, and realistically, I usually end up going for a $50 mani/pedi about once a year when somebody gets the idea that we need to have a girly outing, or if I’m in a wedding or something. I totally love the perfect shiny nails that result from a professional job, but it’s not something I am ever very tempted to spend money on unless someone else is coercing me.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 3:57 pm

52 On April 1st, 2009, mccn said:

I have a lot of makeup, too – bought some of it before, and some of it just-for my wedding, and have only picked up one or two things since. I used never to wear makeup, as I disagreed with the principle – I knew I wasn’t “pretty enough” by regular standards, and I’d be damned if I’d spend money and time trying to pretend that I was!

But in grad school, I went to a cosmetics counter for a lesson, before a first date I was really anxious about. And it seemed like so much fun! So I went back. I’d bet right now I have maybe $250 worth of makeup in my makeup box – but, like Rachel, I don’t wear it that often, so I expect it to last quite a while. I don’t feel badly about it – I do enjoy it now, quite a bit. But I’m still not comfortable wearing it regularly.

I’ve timed myself and found that it takes me 17 minutes in the morning from bed to door. I don’t dry my hair; I shower with soap, water, and a shampoo+conditioner, throw some moisturizer on my face and hair, floss, brush, and go. So I spend for my regular expenses something like, let’s see, $45 every 3 months? (shampoo, soap, floss, moisturizer, and replacement toothbrush head.)

My big expense has to do with hair. I had dense, dark hair on my face for my whole life. I always felt self-conscious about it – I was mocked as a kid for it, and growing up, I walked with my chin tucked way down to try and hide it. In highschool and college, I’d shave it, and I would shy away from being touched by people I was dating, for fear they’d feel the stubble. It made me feel so awful. When I graduated from grad school, I finally said – f*ck it, I don’t care if it’s vain, I’m getting rid of this once and for all, and started electrolysis. It took almost two years, and it hurt – and it cost probably $4,000 in total. But today my chin and upper lip are free of dark hairs – and they’re free forever! I don’t have to get up 5 minutes early to shave, or if I don’t, spend all day worried about it. I walk around more confident, head held higher, and I don’t mind if my husband touches my face. It’s made an incredible difference in how I feel about my appearance.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 4:13 pm

53 On April 1st, 2009, Rosa said:

Well, my cats prefer if I wear salmon-scented body lotion, but that’s neither here nor there.

I just started working from home a month ago, so I’m still sorting out how much “getting ready” I need to feel psychologically set for work, and how much was “OMG people will think i’m weird if I don’t wash my hair.”

I think that’s a pretty good measure of whether I’m grooming for my own benefit (which I do, sometimes – makeup is occasionally fun) and how much is “your self is not acceptable for the grownup world unless you fix it.” – and the difference between what women have to do to be acceptable and what men have to do is a time/money tax on femininity, pretty much.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 4:25 pm

54 On April 1st, 2009, Sony said:

This is one of those things I struggle with. I mostly work from home and on days when I don’t go anywhere it’s just Oil of Olay SPF 30 on my face. I’m also doing a no-shampoo experiment and have been just using a citrus conditioner from Trader Joe’s to wash my hair (which works fine, BTW) and Cetaphil soap for face and body.

My incredibly high maintenance way of being low maintenance the rest of the time includes getting my brows/lip/chin/neck (thanks PCOS!) waxed every three weeks and also having my eyelashes tinted. I also get regular pedicures.

Beyond that, as a professional I feel like I have to play the game when I go to the office. Would it be wonderful to wear no makeup and jeans and corporate giveaway t-shirts like my male colleagues do? Sure, but as a size 24, 37 year old woman, I can’t do that and have any expectation of being promoted. The bottom line is that the same clothes on a fat woman read as sloppy in our culture.

So I have rules for myself – mascara, light eyeliner, lip stain with a gloss over it (hate leaving lipstick on coffee cups), and a bit of foundation mixed in with sunscreen for the office/professional meetings. Along with that, only dark wash jeans or nice slacks, no athletic shoes, and no t-shirts.

So I guess my monthly expenditures probably average about $80 – most of that in waxing and pedis.

posted on April 1st, 2009 at 5:08 pm

55 On April 2nd, 2009, Alexandra Lynch said:

Given that I write and edit from home and otherwise play housewife, and also suffer from chronic pain disorders, my beauty routine is pretty minimal. But, again, white and straighthaired, so I can do that.

Toothbrushing, lip balm when I feel a little dry, and bathing. The big beauty thing for me is my hair, which I am Growing Long. So I have a boar bristle brush and will buy a very pricey wooden comb soon (yes, it DOES make a difference in breakage rates and oil distribution down the shaft). I only wash it about once a week in the winter (summer washing depends on how much time I spent outside) to also ease the stress on it. (No, it’s not gross.) And since it is waist-length, I unbraid it every morning and brush it out, and put it up into a bun, and then every night I brush it out again and put it into a braid. Sometimes I redo the style in the middle of the day. And I have been coloring it red every six weeks (a friend applies it for me), but decided to go to the salon and have my roots matched and see if I like the color, since I haven’t seen it in twenty years. If I don’t like it after living with it for a month or so, I’ll go back to coloring.

But I don’t do much with cosmetics most of the time. I am going to start because I think it will be good for my sense of self. It’s hard, though, because I am a pink-fair complected person, and many powders and foundations are just too dark, or they feel much too heavy on my skin. Finding a lipstick that doesn’t make me look Gothy or ’80s is also hard. It will be even more of a trick when I go back to my natural color, as natural color is a nearly black shade of brown.

posted on April 2nd, 2009 at 2:40 am

56 On April 2nd, 2009, newlyveg said:

OK, I couldn’t resist, I’m back. And boy am I so excited that Rachel posted a reply to one of my comments! “Eeeeeeeee!!!!” I feel like a tween who was just acknowledged by a Jonas brother!!!

Anyway, I had to share, that I recently found a new SPF. It’s by Australian Gold, it’s one of those continuous spray ones. The kicker is that it has bronzer. So you can protect your skin and still look tanned. I love it! It comes in the whole range of levels (from SPF 4-50 or something like that). Perfect for down here in Florida, where apparently it’s a crime to be pale. I think it was only $8. Makes me feel better about lying out in the sun bc I’m not risking my skin. After a while (as I don’t want to apply so much I may turn orange), I switch to my regular SPF 30.

posted on April 2nd, 2009 at 9:28 am

57 On April 3rd, 2009, keshmeshi said:

I try to keep my beauty expenses down. I do splurge on a $90 (including tip) haircut every other month. Otherwise I try to stick to the basics: a good facial cleanser, face and body lotion, lots of sunscreen. I guess I have the next decade to worry about anti-aging creams, but honestly I consider much of that to be hogwash. I’d rather spend my money on Perricone products or save up for real intervention from a dermatologist, but not Botox.

posted on April 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 am

58 On April 3rd, 2009, Doll said:

I’ve just discovered your blog. It’s great, you write really well. I’ll be following your posts from now on.

Onto the question. I don’t spend money on fake tan/sun beds although I’m extremely pale. If I started I’d be a slave to it, so I won’t. My friend cuts my hair (she is trained). I use prescription cream on my face as my skin is very sensitive so cost is minimal. I do LOVE make up, however, and have far more sparkly items than any 34 year old woman could possibly need – especially one who gave up clubbing when she had her first child. I don’t buy excessively exspensive brands though. Don’t get me wrong – I’d like to, I just can’t afford it and my family comes before my vanity.

I would say I spend about £20 or less a month (honestly) not sure what that is in $. I guess I’m just not the groomed type. I suppose a lot of women would look down on me for that, actually I KNOW they do having read comments regarding women like me (slightly unkempt)on women’s forums. I’m just me though. I gave up women’s magazines in my late teens as they were exacerbating my problems with self image which had reached a critical level. So I guess the lack of magazines helps me somewhat.

posted on April 3rd, 2009 at 4:53 am

59 On April 4th, 2009, caitlan said:

20, californian
I am pretty satisfied with how I look sans makeup, but nonetheless I like, you know, attention.
Keeping my skin intact and smooth:
burt’s bees body butter
victoria’s secret something or other lotion
alba sea moss moisturizer

looking tan, sparkly, and tan-and-sparkly
zia ultimates sunless tanner
sugar platinum body shimmer
l’oreal sublime glow
e.l.f. bronzing powder in luminance
nivea silky shimmer lotion

if i want to look extra cute for something:
giovanni shine of the times silicone finishing mist
vs love spell shimmer body mist (apparently I really like mists)
Maybelline XXL volume + length mascara
some funky awesome nail polish
and i totally use my straightening iron on my straight hair.

I don’t really know how much I spend on beauty but like a lot of commenters said, I don’t really use anything up. I replace the mascara and the sunless tanner, and will probably need new shampoo someday, but most of my stuff is like a one time purchase.

posted on April 4th, 2009 at 4:49 am

60 On April 8th, 2009, merri said:

You should definitely not keep eyeliner or mascara for more than a few months, the bacteria that grows on it will give you an eye infection. I think most other things are fine though to keep. I was just thinking the other day how very much i spend now on beauty products. I spend more and more as i get older… mostly for my skin – so it’s not dry and flaking, so it’s not covered in pimples, so i don’t have lines… i buy better brands than i used to because i figure i’m worth it. i’ve also started to wear more makeup in the past year, and pay attention to makeup trends, in an attempt to become more “girlie”. All of that is for me, not for other people though, so it’s ok. As for work, i usually am too tired to put on makeup till half way through the day or the end of the day or not at all. I figure there’s no point… my computer doesnt care lol. I do spend $65 on haircuts but i’m just happy i found a stylist that can cut it how i like it, and that’s worth it to me. Tanning helps my skin once again… So i think it’s mostly about feeling good about myself. I dont think there’s anything wrong with wanting to feel pretty. (and moisturized!)

posted on April 8th, 2009 at 8:20 pm

61 On April 12th, 2009, ladyjaye said:

I’m not into cosmetics much, so even though I do have a few lipsticks and nail polishes, I rarely use them. In fact, my main cosmetic purchases are the following: hydrating cocoa butter creme from Vaseline (mostly for my hands, my elbows and parts of my legs that got dry skin due to cold water), hair salon Matrix-brand shampoo and conditioner, Oil of Olay cleansing pads for the face (my face tends to become oily, so that helps to avoid pimples), and 2 little containers of conditioning lip balm with spf, really effective when the lips get chappy. BTW, this whole unmade-up look, combined with my natural geekiness, means that I look like I’m in my early 20s when I’m actually 33…