'Smart-girl' beauty hacks to have you looking like a billion bucks for less

Budget barbies, come out to play

1/11

Counting your coins and budgeting your beauty? #SadSmiley. No sweat.

Click through the gallery slides for a flurry of fantastic beauty hacks that should please your inner penny-pinching budget Barbie. Enjoy!

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

 

A “milky” treat for a milky mien

2/11

My household’s magical ingredient? Milk of magnesia. While it’s meant to allay tummy aches, my little trick involves slapping it onto my skin to radically reduce the redness of rashes.

How on earth does this embarrassingly simple solution work? As it turns out, the active ingredient in milk of magnesia (impress your chemist by saying “magnesium hydroxide”) is an excellent anti-inflammatory, making it great for balancing out blotchy skin. Simply dab onto affected areas, relax and kick off your kitten heels for a couple of minutes, then rinse off for smoother, softer skin.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Extend your extensions’ shelf life

3/11

“Eye” know how you like ‘em: The longer and thicker, the better. (Yes, we’re talking eyelash extensions here.) To make your falsies last longer, always peel away the gluey goop sticking to the spine after use. These clumps are a cesspool of bacteria build-up, and can weigh down upon and warp the natural curves of your eyelash band.

To circumvent this sorry state of affairs, simply use a pair of tweezers to take off the glue, paying special attention to the inner and outer corners, where grime tends to gather. Bonus tip: Be extra careful during application by always keeping within the line of the spine – getting glue onto the hairs will mean the sticky kiss of death for that particular pair of falsies. Cheers to fluttering those falsies and faking your way to a fabulous time!

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Lengthen the longevity of lip gloss

4/11

Press your gloss applicator into the centre of your pout, then slide it back and forth in one smooth pendulum-like movement. Wait a beat, then apply a second coat. Once you’re satisfied, blot softly with a sebum-absorbing sheet – the oils in glossy formulas are the main culprits of colour slippage.

Voila, a Goldilocks-esque stain that hits the sweet spot between wet and matte, with the added benefit of being long-lasting to boot.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Ask for more seaweed with your hawker centre fish soup

5/11

Don’t forget to eat your sea veggies! This marine manna is so very good for you – and so very yummy, too.

The most direct beautifying benefits? Seaweed boasts a stress-alleviating stockpile of B-vitamins that bolster your body against fatigue by fortifying your adrenal glands – and this in turn will help to soothe stress-induced skin sallowness. Ask the canteen auntie for an extra spoonful in your fish soup the next time you’re lunching!

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Use your night moisturiser as a power-packed pre-cleanser

6/11

That pricey pot of fancy face cream you blew your bonus on is giving you pimples. What now?

Don’t toss it out! If you suspect a cream is too rich for all-night use, slap it on before cleansing, let sit for five minutes, then take it all off. Beauty bonus: You’ll find that your warpaint slides off that much easier too, thanks to the extra lubrication.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Try before you buy!

7/11

The early bird catches the cream, so aim to arrive at the cosmetic aisles in the first hour of the store raising its shutters, when shoppers are sparse and you’re more likely to receive rapt attention from the counter crew.

Beauty bonus: When foot traffic is light, the makeup consultant on standby will also be more likely to throw in a full face makeover, if that’s what you’re gunning for as well.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Do this with your eyes wide open

8/11

If you’re particularly puffy from pulling too many all-nighters, try this neat little “eye-xercise” after applying your eye cream. Using clean fingers and starting from the inner corners, press gently for about five seconds.

Inch outwards at five-second intervals: Five seconds of pressure close to the tear ducts; five seconds at the midway point directly below your pupils, and a final five seconds at the tapering end of your lash-line. This prodding of your pressure points prompts further fluid drainage, plus it'll feel pretty darn good after a long day of eyeballing your electronic devices.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Ice, ice baby

9/11

I swear by this incredibly “cool” if strange-sounding beauty hack: Simply “ice” in the morning.

Hold a cold compress against your cheek for a minute or so, then pat dry. The plunge in temperature shrinks the skin’s blood vessels and takes care of puffiness, pores, ruddiness and such for instant Insta-ready skin.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Nail the art of whiter nails

10/11

The trick to restoring your nails to their pristine pink state is the exact same as that for your pearly whites: Hydrogen peroxide by way of teeth whitening strips. Head to your nearest pharmacy and ask for off-the-counter hydrogen peroxide. (Scrutinise the label to make sure it doesn’t exceed the three percent concentration threshold; any greater and there’s no guarantee you wouldn’t well, get your fingers burnt.)

In any case, mix one tablespoon of said three percent bleaching agent with about two tablespoons of baking soda. This creates a paste that you can plaster like polish over your nails. Wait a couple of minutes and wash off for perfectly pearly nails. Genius, yes? Told you I had “talon” for this sort of sorcery.

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results

Mix your very own lip balm

11/11

Here’s my super quick and super dirty recipe to transform any cream into a lip-loving lotion: Dump equal parts moisturiser and Vaseline jelly into a clean mixing bowl, give it a good stir, then stash the slurry into an airtight jar. Tadah! Your very own pucker-pampering treatment.

Right, then. You know the drill: Spill the #deets if these tricks work for you, and do me a favour by sharing this story with your fellow beauty buddies. Cheers to a “priceless” complexion!

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READ MORE: Take our feng shui quiz to find out what your face shape reveals about your luck (and what to do about it!); Skincare noob? Make sure you read this application guide for the best results