I think I have a love-hate relationship with buying beauty products: I love how they make me look & feel, but I hate how expensive they can be! I’ve still got that broke college kid mentality from my undergrad days, so I like to find ways to get what I want without having to pay full price for it. (I may or may not have been obsessed with that TLC show Extreme Couponing… and had my own stockpile of random stuff at one point 😂)
I’m sharing exactly what products I used to prep my skin for any look, why they work for my oily-combo skin, and how I saved money on them! Go get some paper and take note of my techniques, and get ready to save some money on your next skincare haul…
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, they’re marked with 💰. If you use them to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. I only link to products I genuinely love to use, and not because of the commission. Whether or not you decide to buy something using my affiliate links is completely up to you.
Ok back to the skin prep & savings…
- First of all: Wash. Your. Face. Doesn’t matter how tired you are or if you think you’re good since you just woke up; excess oil and dead skin can build up on your skin overnight and you need to get that stuff off before trying to put any treatments on. I used the Peter Thomas Roth Water Drench Cleanser to wash my face because it’s gentle and doesn’t dry out my skin. It’s sold at Ulta💰 and to my surprise, Target too. (JK, unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be available on the Target website anymore as of 11/9/19)
- SAVE:
I bought mine from Target using my Target card, which let me save 5% off the cost. You can save by picking up a value kit like this one and try a few products at the same time.Now that it doesn’t seem to be available at Target anymore, you could save by using an Ulta credit card, or waiting for a store coupon before purchasing.
- SAVE:
- Next up is my eye cream (switched the order in my picture, oops). I loveee using the Biossance Squalane & Peptide Eye Gel– I’ve got oily/combination skin, and the gel is light enough for my undereyes while still being hydrating. It says it helps with dark circles & puffiness too, but mine are genetic so nothing’s really gonna help that.
- SAVE: I bought this from the Biossance website💰 when they had a 25% off sale, and I got a kit that also included a mini size of their Vitamin C Rose Oil (plus some free samples). After the sale promo code and their free shipping offer, I spent the same amount online and got a bunch of products as I would’ve spent at Sephora on just the eye gel alone!
- Treatment time: I used the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum all over, including down my neck (like the legend Caroline Hirons says: “take it to the tits” 😂) Caudalie uses an extract from grapes that works similarly to Vitamin C when it comes to brightening & evening out skin tone, and even skin tone is my BIGGEST skincare goal.
- SAVE: I had a bottle I was working through, but it was running low and I knew I wanted more. At the time, the serum was available as a 100pt perk through the Sephora rewards program. I did the math and realized that the mini perk size was exactly 1/3 of the full size… meaning all I had to do was cash in 300pts I had already earned, and I’d have a brand new serum waiting for me!
You can save on this yourself by purchasing their holiday kit– it’s the same price as the serum, but comes with mini sizes of other products too.The holiday kit is no longer available but you can use this link💰 to shop for yourself now, or wait until the next holdiay season for the kit to come back!
- SAVE: I had a bottle I was working through, but it was running low and I knew I wanted more. At the time, the serum was available as a 100pt perk through the Sephora rewards program. I did the math and realized that the mini perk size was exactly 1/3 of the full size… meaning all I had to do was cash in 300pts I had already earned, and I’d have a brand new serum waiting for me!
- I finished up my skin prep with the Herbivore Orchid Facial Oil– might sound weird since I have oily skin, but my skin is also dehydrated. Bonus tip: dehydrated skin tends to overproduce oil because it doesn’t have enough water and feels ‘dry’, so sometimes if you add a little oil to your skincare routine, it’ll trick your skin into thinking it’s good and it won’t produce as much oil (#themoreyouknow ✨)
- SAVE: I saved on this oil by buying a mini size that came in a trial kit from the Herbivore website (no longer available but you can shop the full size here💰). Since I don’t use a lot of facial oil, there’s no point in me buying a full size, so I stick to minis and use coupon codes that offer me free shipping or a bonus gift with purchase (I got a trial of their Bakuchiol serum before it fully launched!)
How do you save money on beauty products? Do you stick to drugstore for certain product types and splurge on others? Any good deals going on? Let’s talk about it! Follow me on Instagram @sharanas.jams to see more of my skincare and makeup routines 😊💜