Whether you’re a beauty buff or keep a small arsenal of skincare and makeup in your bathroom, one thing remains the same — products are expensive. With that in mind, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth out of each and every item. Fortunately, there are some pretty genius beauty hacks to help you achieve even the most basic of personal care goals.
For example, try as I might, I will never be the person who can justify the cost of a regular professional manicure. I try to stretch that buff and polish out as long as I possibly can, but chips are inevitable. Well, guess what? There are beauty hacks for that.
Keep reading to find the answers to some basic beauty conundrums, whether that be skin, hair, makeup, or nails. And to make sure you get the best deals on beauty products, download The Krazy Coupon Lady app to get the latest savings strategies sent straight to your phone.
1. Cover a chipped or overgrown manicure with glitter nail polish.
Well, well, well, if it isn’t a manicure that is past its prime. No worries; just keep a glitter polish on hand. Paint the glitter polish over that section of bare nail as an instant cover-up. This trick also works to fill in chipped polish.
2. Apply vaseline to your skin before perfume to make the scent last longer.
This is one of those TikTok beauty hacks that you may as well try because most of us have a jar of Vaseline laying around. It’s believed that by dabbing a bit of petroleum jelly on your pulse points, it will provide a moisture lock for your perfume.
3. Use white eyeliner on your bottom lid to look more awake.
Either white eyeliner or a flesh-toned eyeliner will work for this trick. Take the pencil and line only the bottom of your lid to add instant brightness to your eyes. You may not feel awake, but you’ll look it.
4. Blot the shiny areas of your face with a coffee filter to remove excess oils.
If you feel like powder cakes on your face instead of absorbing oil, this is among the most useful beauty hacks. Coffee filters are the perfect household item to blot excess oil from your face, reducing shine. No need to buy special blotting papers.
5. Exfoliate chapped lips with an old mascara wand and lip balm before putting on lipstick.
If your lips are feeling a bit flaky, slough off the dry stuff gently. Coat your lips with a bit of lip balm or petroleum jelly. Next, take an old (but clean) mascara wand or spoolie and lightly brush away the flakes in a circular motion. Wipe away any excess balm and debris.
6. Coat the skin around nails with Vaseline to keep polish where it should be.
If your nail painting skills veer towards the messy side, outline your nail beds with a bit of Vaseline using a cotton swab. This will prevent polish from spilling outside the lines.
7. Spray hairspray onto bobby pins to keep them from slipping in your hair.
Bobby pins come in handy when you’re trying to secure an updo, but if you have fine hair, they can easily slip out. Mist them with a bit of hairspray to give bobby pins a bit more staying power for a secure hairstyle.
Related: The 10 Best Drugstore Shampoo Deals for All Types of Hair
8. Glide a light pink matte pencil under your brow and blend well to make your arch appear higher.
Brows provide a frame for your face, so accentuate them with easy beauty hacks like this one. Use a light pink eye pencil (or a highlighter stick in a similar hue) and run it beneath your entire brow. Use your finger or a beauty sponge to blend it in.
9. Spray dry shampoo on your hair before going to bed for more volume the next day.
Add a little oomph to your follicles by spraying roots with dry shampoo before you hit the hay. The product essentially helps your hair stand up a little bit at the root, giving it more height and a little bit of texture.
10. Apply concealer in triangles — not dots — to better cover dark under-eye circles.
It isn’t just that applying concealer in an inverted triangle shape covers under-eye circles better, it also provides a bit of lift to your cheeks. Apply your concealer in such a way that the “triangle” spans the length of your nose, then blend upwards. It acts as both coverage for dark circles and a highlighter.
11. Heat a dried-out gel eyeliner pot in the microwave for 10 seconds to get more use out of it.
When you want to get the very last bit of a beloved gel eyeliner, it’s the microwave to the rescue. Just by warming it for 10 seconds (no longer than that, and make sure you are on standby) It will loosen the product remains enough for a couple of last uses. Beauty hacks that help us get the most value from our purchase? Yes, please.
12. Add a bit of cornstarch to glossy nail polish to create a matte look.
For this beauty hack you’ll want to put equal parts nail polish and corn starch in a small bowl. So for example, if you’re using two teaspoons of polish, you need two teaspoons of corn starch. Mix the concoction together to produce the shade in a chic matte finish for your nails.
13. Create more volume and life with this hairspray hack.
If you’ve just curled your hair, stack strands top of your head. Mist the bottom with hairspray and then let your hair loose. The result will be a more lifted, voluminous finish.
14. Stretch the last few drops of a perfume by adding it to unscented body lotion.
Waste not, want not — and that includes a beloved perfume. Pour those last few drops of a fragrance into a bottle of unscented body lotion. You’ll get a little more life out of your favorite scent, all while hydrating your limbs at the same time.
15. Fix a broken makeup palette.
If you’ve ever found your eyeshadow has cracked into a powdery mess, this is for you. First, scoop the broken makeup out of the palette and put it in a small bowl. Next, clean the segment where that makeup was living with some makeup remover. Make sure this area dries completely. Now, mash the broken makeup up into a fine powder using a fork. Add a few drops of rubbing alcohol to create a paste. Take the paste and add it back to its original slot in the palette. Cover it with a paper towel and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Allow the mixture to dry completely before you close up the palette. It should be good as new!
16. Use contact solution to revive dried-up mascara.
Sometimes beauty hacks are necessary for bringing a formerly good product back to life. If you find that your mascara (which has been open less than three months) has become dried up, you can give it new life and eek out a few more swipes for your lashes. Add one to two drops of contact solution to the mascara tube (any more than that could create a gloopy mess). Secure the top back on the tube and shake enough that the solution circulates. This simple step should be just enough to make your mascara useable again.
17. Use cold spoons to aid puffy eyes.
Under-eye puffiness happens, and it is super annoying. One quick and easy way to decrease it is by placing two cold teaspoons underneath your eyes. Keep them in place until the spoons feel warm to the touch. You can either keep these spoons in the fridge for a quick fix or put them in the freezer to chill them fast.