The Conclusion of the $100 Beauty Challenge

Hi beauties! Sorry if I haven’t been posting as regularly lately – I went away for a few days (check out my Instagram account to stay in the loop and to see even more beauty musings!). But I have returned and the end has finally come to the $100 beauty challenge!

I must admit that it has been somewhat difficult – I think of skincare and makeup as a ‘hobby’, something that inspires me, is creative and feels good. Because I spend a lot of my disposable income on beauty goods, it’s difficult to say ‘stop – you’ve got enough!’. I don’t want to be buying any beauty goods just for the sake of it. I want my purchases to be thought out carefully and not wasted (what’s the point of having every piece of makeup from a given collection, when they won’t be used up or appreciated?). It’s easy to give in the the hypes about new products and collections, but remember – a lot of beauty gurus get makeup and skincare products for free, and they themselves probably only use a few tried and tested products consistently. I’d also like to save more this year (hello, holidays!), hence why limiting my beauty purchases to $100 a month gets me into thinking about my spending habits more carefully.  So what were the purchases that fit into my monthly budget of $100? Let’s take a look! 🙂

So not a whoooole lot lol beauty products and toiletries tend be on the more expensive side in Australia, so I knew that I would have to be careful with my spending. Here is a breakdown of the products and how much they cost:

1. Reef After Sun Repair Gel – $10.00 (bought at Woolworths)

2. Reef Dry Sun Tan Oil SPF 30+ – $10.00 (bought at Woolworths)

3. Schick Intuition Razor Refills – $9.50 (bought at Priceline)

4. Blackmores Nails, Hair & Skin Supplements – $20 (bought at Priceline)

5. The Jojoba Company Hydrating Day Cream – $43 (bought online from www.thejojobacompany.com.au)

Total: $92.50

I only really started going to the beach this January and I needed to pick up some more sunscreen, so I went by my local supermarket to stock up! Reef is such an old school Australian brand and I just love their tanning oils. They have this traditional coconut scent, which reminds me of school holidays 🙂 The tanning oils are moisturising and give your skin the most gorgeous glow at the beach. Even if I use sunscreen religiously at the beach (which I do!) I find that I still pick up some colour regardless, and this tanning oil makes that tan more even in colour. They do have a version without sunscreen, but I would recommend that you always go for the SPF 15+ or 30+ version (30+ would be the beauty bee thing to do!). It is pretty oily and sand will no doubtebly stick to you, but I think this cheap as chips goodie is still worth it!

I also grabbed their After Sun Repair Gel for the first time, which is like your traditional aloe vera after sun gel, with the added benefits of menthol (to cool your skin instantly) and green tea (to help your skin repair). It sinks into the skin really well for a cheaper product and doesn’t leave a sticky film on top of your skin (so after applying, you can go to sleep without sticking to your bed sheets like glue!). It’s very cooling on the skin, so it gives your skin that instant relief. The scent in this after sun gel is rather strong (it smells like coconuts drenched in alcohol – this is what I assume pirates would smell like 😛 ) which is quite off putting once you’ve smothered yourself in the gel, so I don’t use in on my face or my chest area (I use the Ultraceuticals SunActive Face & Body Recovery Cream for those more sensitive and delicate areas).

At Priceline I was able to score myself two bargains – A pack of Schick Intuition razors (refills) and a bottle of Blackmores Nails, Hair & Skin supplements. When it comes to my Schick Intuition razor – I love it! If you are still using a separate razor and shaving cream, you really have got to get onto this stuff! The razor and shaving block in one make shaving so much easier, quicker and more comfortable. I’ve never cut myself using this razor either, so it’s worth the price. I usually pay around $13 at Woolworths for a pack of 3 razors, but they were on sale at Priceline for $9.50 – so a small but important win for Beauty Bee during this challenge! 😛 While I was at Priceline I also found a bottle of my Blackmores Nails, Hair & Skin supplements also on sale – this bottle contains 120 tablets and cost me $20, while I usually pick up a bottle of 60 tablets at Woolworths for about $15. I ain’t good at math, but even I know that’s a good deal! The extra smart thing would have been to buy at least two bottles of this stuff but alas, I didn’t think that far ahead :/ (even though I take two tablets daily and plan to for the coming months). It’s still a small win either way 🙂

Last but not least (and my most expensive purchase of the month) was my new Jojoba Company Hydrating Day Cream. I was coming to the end of my Dr Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Moisture Cushion which suited me perfectly during the hot and humid summer days, but I thought it would be a good idea to buy a moisturiser with a little more moisture and antioxidant power for the coming Autumnal days (I can’t believe I just wrote Autumn!).

The Dr Dennis Gross Hyaluronic Moisture Cushion is a gel moisturiser, PERFECT to use for normal to oily skin in the summer. I’m looking forward to the trying and using the Jojoba Company Moisturiser – and it comes with a pump dispenser! Yay! It’s still quite a light lotion, so if we have some hot days in February and March, this moisturiser shouldn’t feel to heavy. I’m also hoping that this moisturiser lasts a bit longer than the Dr Dennis Gross moisturiser, which seemed to only last me around 2 months (and I was only using it in the mornings). Maybe I have high expectations in this regard, as my old Dior Hydra Life moisturisers used to last me around 4-5 months (and I was also only using them in the mornings) I kid you not! A review of the Jojoba Company Moisturiser will be up once I have trialled it over a few weeks.

Now I do have to admit that I paid postage to get this cream delivered ($10 postage to be exact) so including the postage it would have put me over budget by $2.50 (my monthly beauty spend would then total $102.50). But that’s still a pretty darn good effort isn’t it? 😛

So what do you think of my efforts beauty bees? I’m going to try and be very sensible when it comes to my beauty purchases over the coming weeks – but in saying that, if you do splurge only once in a while, don’t feel toooo bad about it, as life is to short to worry!

Let me know what you think of my purchases beauty bees and whether or not your daily moisturisers only last you a couple of months and if its just me who thinks that they should last a little longer…

Catch ye next time!

Beauty Bee~

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