Please recommend cheap toiletry and beauty products

[starfish4]

Money will be really tight for a while. Can anyone recommend any cheap toiletry or beauty products they genuinely feel are good. I'm mainly thinking of things like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, shower gel, body lotion, deodorant, feminine care, face cleanser and moisturizer, spot treatment for DD.

If you buy a mooncup it will save you lots of money long term as you won't be buying tampons, also much better for your body.
We were ridiculously skint for the last year and id agree withb the boots cucumber range, it smells really fresh too. Id treat myself to travel size "good" conditioner, its nice to have a treat sometimes.

Aldi roll on deoderent...I am a natural polecat and this keeps me smelling subtly fresh all day. Coconut oil as body lotion, hair treatment and face cleanser. Aldi own brand tampons and pads are fine and a fraction of the totally exorbitant price of branded products. I had several years of extreme belt tightening and resorted to washing self/hair/clothes and dishes in the same cheapest own brand washing up liquid...and my hair did not suffer.

I second alisons boots evening primrose moisturiser got as a spare when away still using it now. Could be a bit more moisturising but v good nonetheless and so cheap!

Fulham23fc and pinkisthenewpink - definitely going to get that cream now! :)

Also op do you ever home dye your hair? If you do, don't throw away the freebie conditioners. They're great for deep conditioning - meaning.you can get away with a cheaper everyday conditioner and if they're too heavy you can always use them if you shave your legs.

While my brain is switched on I've always found the treseme styling products good value (not keen on the shampoos tho) as they last forever and work

I also splurge on.Mama Bees (Burt Bees) vitamin e oil. It is a tenner but smells amazing and lasts 6mths plus. I use it instead of body moisturiser, as a face oil, because it's lemony it works as an insect repellent and a nice subtle smell on days you don't want to put perfume on and I've used it instead of aftersun.

Aldi q10 daily face cream (tube, red stripe, blue cap) and aldi handwash (molton brown rip off) are both excellent.

Schwarzkopf Gliss shampoo - smells gorgeous (the white bottle with orange label), leaves my hair soft and shiny, and is £1 a bottle from Supersavers.

I used to get our toiletries from poundland or home bargains if you have one. Will second whoever mentioned Alberto Balsam hair products and Aldis face cream is fantastic for the price.

I recommend Boots Curl Crème for curly-haired posters. I only finished mine this week after THREE YEARS. £1.49 when I bought it.

Astral cream is cheap but effective as full body and face moisturiser.
I buy men's disposable razors as they are much cheaper than the pink more delicate women's ones but do the same job.
Cutting open tubes of foundation etc when you can't squeeze any more out, there's often a weeks worth left inside the tube.
Also it's cheaper to buy a roll of baby cotton wool than use the cosmetic pads.

If there are any expensive make up products you enjoy it us worth googling to see if there are any good 'dupes', elf and mua do some good products that are copies of famous stuff. They are also cruelty free (which the original may not be!) - I am trying to do something similar to you coincidentally, but trying to go for not tested on animals. Realise this is probably low priority compared to affordability! Aldi, lidl, sainsburys, waitrose, Tesco and superdrug own brands are cheap and cruelty free as far as I can tell :)

I swear by Nivea soft for a moisturiser. I can use it all over my body, and it is a LOT cheaper than most moisturisers. It soaks right in, is not greasy, and when I buy it at somewhere like Home Bargains, it is very inexpensive.

Aldi do a nice shampoo that is a lot like Pantene, and it is only about a pound a bottle, I think. I love getting shampoos, cleaning stuff, toiletries, etc from Home Bargains. Poundland has some good deals, but the trouble is everything is a pound, even things that are less than a pound at other discount stores!

Poundland is great for this type of stuff. I get our toothpaste from there (usually Colgate or similar), antibacterial hand wash (big bottle), and bubble bath / shower gels for DH and DD. They sometimes have a 2 pack of dettol soap which is a personal favourite of mine because I love the smell but I'm a bit odd

For shampoo and conditioner I would go to superdrug. I think there stuff is completely under rated considering its cheap and cruelty free and BUAV approved. They do big bottles of coconut shampoo and conditioner and it's always on offer. Their basic vitamin e face cream is good and cheap, as are their makeup removal wipes.

For spot cream I would track down this stuff :

I bought it from savers a while back and it's getting harder to find. It smells but works really well and taking redness out of spots and clearing them quickly. It costs about £1 / £1.50 buy lasts ages as a little goes a long way.

I can't advise on sanitary products as been using a mooncup for years.

Forget shower gel and face cleanser. They are so expensive and have too much destructive packaging. Use Dove soap instead. Removes makeup and you can use it all over your body.

For feminine care, go for a menstrual cup. No waste, and you don't have to keep buying month after month.

I am also a mooncup devotee, you can get them at boots if you have any points saved?

Don't want to derail thread but re the mooncup ive been considering them too but what size do you get? I don't use tampons so does that make it harder to use a mooncup as youre not used to fiddling about there during AF?

there are 2 sizes of mooncup. one for over 30s or if you've delivered vaginally, the other for under 30s or those who have not delivered vaginally. Not sure which is size A and size B though

MUA make up from superdrug is really cheap but really good. I have ridiculously sensitive skin and haven't reacted to a single product in the range that I've tried. Eye shadow palettes are four pounds and have , i think, 10 or 12 colours and theres a few in the range.

I am now on the over 30's and birthed naturally one (A)

chart : mooncup chart

Waitrose shower gel/bubble bath/ soap
Superdrug vitamin e range esp glycolic peel
Aldi night cream

The superdrug naturally radiant range is 1/2 price at the minute. I got the hot cloth cleanser yesterday for £2.38 & it smells amazing.