MetaChat - Please forgive me while I briefly revel in the joys of (inexpensive) consumerism.

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29 May 2008

Please forgive me while I briefly revel in the joys of (inexpensive) consumerism. →[More:]
1) Neutrogena Sun Fresh Foam. I am really pale (as Woody Allen says, I don't burn, I stroke), and the glare off my SUPER!WHITE! legs in the summertime has been known to cause car accidents. Because I care about the safety of the general citizenry, I have long attempted to cut down on the glare with a little sunless tanning action. Unfortunately, this has almost uniformly resulted in legs that appear to be streaked with pale brown dirt. Plus? The smell, ye gods, THE SMELL of fake tan!

All this has changed: I am in love with the Neutrogena sunless foam, because A) it goes on evenly and makes my legs look a nice light golden tone, and B) smells like grapefruit. The drivers of Los Angeles are safe once again! (cost: $7 at Target)

2) Lumiere mineral cosmetics, which I tried on the basis of the recommendation in the metachat thread awhile back about mineral makeup. LOVE IT. I have *finally* found the right shade/tone (not only am I really pale, but my undertone is pretty warm -- hard to find in most pale shades of makeup, which are usually more on the pinky/neutral alabaster side) and it stays on all day. Ever since I started wearing it, I keep getting compliments about how well-rested I look. Which? Is often a lie, but now no one knows! (cost: $8 online.)

3) Jojoba oil. Switched to the oil-cleansing method often referred to in various AskMe skin care threads, and OMG IT'S SO GREAT. My skin is softer AND my pores are less clogged. Woo! (cost: $6 at Trader Joe's)

What other cheap products are making you happy these days?

post by: scody at: 16:11 | 15 comments

I bought some Covergirl mascara in the orange tube that they showed on Oprah not too long ago. It's good. I think it was around six or seven bucks on sale.

I love that they sell Tweezerman tweeers at CVS now. They original size are still pricey (20 dollars) but they have a mini version for around 11 bucks. They work just as well and they come in a little case.

I might just buy Sun Fresh Foam that smells like grapefruit! What a good name Sun Fresh Foam is.

posted by LoriFLA 29 May | 16:21

Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser For Normal to Oily Skin. I can't buy it in the UK, but stock up when I'm in the US. It's about $8 in the drugstore. I'm still using the one I bought last June, it lasts forever in a pump dispenser, and I have an unopened one stashed away.

I have skin that tends to sensitivity/dryness but with a T-zone. This cleanser doesn't dry out the dry parts but keeps the T-zone clear. It also removes makeup. Fabulous.

I also bought some Waitrose Baby Bottom Butter the other day. It was impossible to buy for weeks, thanks to newspaper hype, but has now reappeared. It's too heavy for the face, but is lovely as a body butter and it smells of vanilla. £2.49 well spent.

I'm also a fan of Lidl skin care. Lidl is a German supermarket chain which is at the very budget end of the UK market. But it has some great bargains, including its skincare range, Iseree, which is made by Nivea. It's also part of the Aldi group, which sells the same skin care range under the Siana name, and which has come out top in various surveys. The Lidl Q10 night cream is identical to the Nivea product and is £1.89 to Nivea's £12. If you have an Aldi near you in the US I'd recommend checking to see if it sells the Siana skin care range.

posted by essexjan 29 May | 16:40

Half a fried chicken and french fries at the local Chinese take-out -- $4.

Mmmm-mmmm-good!

posted by jason's_planet 29 May | 16:47

I bought some Colgate shaving cream. It, uh, worked nicely. Oh, and it was lime scented.

Is that the sort of thing you're looking for?

posted by bmarkey 29 May | 17:00

Good Grief, men.

But in his defence, jason's_planet did brave the cosmetics counters of Bloomingdale's for me recently to get some Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Complex for me (it's half the price it is in England, and it is the elixir of eternal life). That's a real man for you.

posted by essexjan 29 May | 17:22

Hmm, and i thought we might have to worry with Clooney and Macca free again.

posted by ethylene 29 May | 17:23

I also bought Unaccustomed Earth today at Target for 17.50. It is 15.00 on Amaon, but I never just buy one book from Amazon. You can read the part of the first story here. Chapter One (Washington Post).

some Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Complex for me

I will remember you essexjan. Sometimes I get the bonuses from Estee Lauder and never use the Advanced Night Repair. I will send them to you.

posted by LoriFLA 29 May | 17:23

Try it Lori. It's amazing, truly incredible stuff. Just dab a little of the serum over your face at night, then follow it up once it's dried with your usual night cream or moisturiser.

My other great skincare secret is ... fresh pineapple. Whenever I have pineapple I always cut up the skin into chunks and store them in the fridge in a ziploc bag. Every night I rub the fleshy side over my face, let it dry and then rinse it off. The enzymes in the pineapple make the skin amazingly soft. They are different from the AHA fruit acids, which kill my skin.

The Body Shop used to do a pineapple facial wash but stopped making it some years ago. The only one available now is Kiehl's Pineapple and Papaya facial scrub (which isn't really a scrub, but the fruit enzymes make your skin feel as if it's got a new layer of baby skin).

posted by essexjan 29 May | 17:31

Lean Cuisine. I've been taking their frozen entrees to work every day for lunch, and MAN is it cheaper than buying lunch in the cafeteria. I can eat for a whole week for only a little more than what I used to pay for a single meal. And, they're surprisingly edible.

posted by BoringPostcards 29 May | 18:07

But in his defence, jason's_planet did brave the cosmetics counters of Bloomingdale's for me recently to get some Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Complex for me (it's half the price it is in England, and it is the elixir of eternal life). That's a real man for you.

*blushes*

I was a source of great amusement to the counter staff at Bloomingdale's because it was clear that i didn't have the first fucking clue what this advanced night whatsis stuff was. So I pointed at the picture I had printed out and just said "This, please."

posted by jason's_planet 29 May | 18:28

I'll be ~~stealing some ideas~~ paying homage to you all by using some of these ideas, in particular the pineapple rind, Jan.

I second the Cetaphil cleanser. Since the landmark mineral makeup thread, I've started exfoliating gently by mixing a bit of baking soda in with my Cetaphil. Works like a dream. In a similar vein, I've been using turbinado sugar and olive oil as a body scrub. It leaves me all smooth and luscious. It does require immediate post-shower clean-up, though.

And, after buying four or five different products promising to restore my gray-white hair's luster and softness, I tried plain old baby shampoo. It's not a miracle, but it certainly leaves it soft and a tiny bit shinier.

posted by Elsa 29 May | 18:43

I'm in love with a natural bristle bath brush. I got it at my supermarket, for some low price ($5.99?), and I now prefer it to my bath puff. I love the way it scrubs my skin; makes it feel alive and tingly.

posted by redvixen 29 May | 19:49

Ah, I love cheap things. Haven't had a quality buy in some time. Hopefully I'll get some good stuff when I go to Florida next week.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 29 May | 21:01

I had to choose between Red Devil and Dap spackle this afternoon. . .I stood there for, like, EVER, trying to decide, based on zero experience.

I chose the Red Devil.

posted by danf 29 May | 22:14

I was a source of great amusement to the counter staff at Bloomingdale's because it was clear that i didn't have the first fucking clue what this advanced night whatsis stuff was. So I pointed at the picture I had printed out and just said "This, please."

I know, but there are lots of men who wouldn't even have bothered. That he was willing to do it makes him a hero in my eyes. Jason was given a very detailed product specification including a picture, because it's easy to confuse the Advanced Night Repair Complex with the Advanced Night Repair Concentrate, which is in a very similar bottle. Women can differentiate the bottles at 100 paces.

I can spend, literally, hours in a large WalGreen's or CVS, just wandering up and down the aisles, looking at the stuff. Some of it's the same as at home (Pantene, Olay, etc.) but some of it is sooo different (for example, Physician's Formula, which I love. And vaginal douches do not exist in the UK. WTF are they for? The vagina is self-cleansing and is not intended to smell of tropical fruit outside of fruity sex play).

A large branch of Boots or Superdrug (UK chains) is almost as intoxicating. We did have one branch of Sephora over here, at Bluewater Shopping Mall, but it's closed now :-( Our high-end store is SpaceNK, which has only the most esoteric and expensive brands, but they do have lots of testers and if I go into my local one in Loughton on a quiet day, they'll sometimes give me free samples and once even a makeover.

posted by essexjan 30 May | 02:18

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