Need help changing over to budget skin care/make up and clothes!

[Onabudget2015]

Hi, this is my first post, I need some help with style and beauty! I have just finished my maternity leave after having twins and have decided to be a stay at home mum until they start school. Me and my husband have worked out after all our yearly expenses we will be left with £300 a month disposable income, so we will be using £100 a month on the twins clothes/swimming/ etc which leaves me and my husband with £100 each to spend as we please. The trouble is I am a beauty and clothes addict. I spend more than that a month on my hair.

Well so far so good, I have found a mobile hairdresser who has actually done a better job than the salon I normally go to, and I have worked out I only need to put aside £40 a month for highlights and a cut. So that leaves me with £60 for skin care, make up and clothes. Help! I currently use Estée Lauder skin care and make up, and clothes wise anything from designer to primark. What make up could I use instead? What skin care? I have had a look in my local charity shop for clothes but they seem to mostly sell primark at the same price as primark!! My underwear is wearing out, I need a new face powder, some maxi dresses for the summer, is this do able on £100 a month?? Especially when it gets to winter and I will need a new coat??

Aldi got an unbelievably good review for skincare products in the Times on Saturday last week. Very cheap indeed.

Re clothes I would buy basics such as Tshirts and the odd good thing from Primark. Decide per month on one item ie jeans, boots and shop around. Keep an eye on EBay but don't get carried away, use a sniper like Goofbid to give you best chance of winning within budget. Don't forget the supermarkets, too. For every 10 duds there is a find.

Finally,reduce your expectations by way of shopping, life has changed ( you may have noticed this) so clothing is more practical. However I applaud your wish to look good. Hair and makeup are the best basis for looking good IMO. After that a basic uniform works fine and presumably you have quite a stash from your buying days to fall back on?

Thank you, I will check aldi out. Unfortunately I am three dress sizes bigger since having the twins so none of my old clothes fit. I have a wardrobe I have cobbled together since being on maternity leave, but it's not enough to see me through :(

Have a look in Superdrug at makeup and skincare.

I love their own brand vitamin E range, it's cheap and works really well, plus all their own brand stuff is cruelty free.

I know next to nothing about makeup but I've just started getting into it a little and I've been using the MUA stuff superdrug sell. It's super cheap and seems to work fine for me.

I can't really comment on clothes as I've bought very little for me since my kids were born (4 and 2 years ago!) but I agree with the pp that supermarket stuff seems great. Virtually all my kids clothes come from ASDA and I can't fault it, they wash really well and feel soft, and the stuff is nice. I've had a few tops from there too and they've been great.

Asda and Tesco both have a lot of good clothes sales.

Ok, so hopefully shoes, boots and bags still fit?! Also, I'm sure more weight will fall away looking after two so I would get a capsule wardrobe together and buy slowly. But for the time being use the cheap options. I buy lots of bits from Primark etc because I'm not a clothes snob and if you buy carefully you cannot tell.

Actually I love Mint Velvet but maybe that's something to ask for when it's your birthday. Good on you for caring. When my two were small I wasn't on it at all and hate all photos as a result!

Supermarkets also often have make up and skin care products on offer.

I've always used Liz Earle but car insurance due same month everything ran out and I had a number of £5off no7 vouchers so bought hot cloth cleanser, day & night cream, micro dermabrasion scrub & oil face wash for £25! Chuffed with savings and skin is looking better than ever :-)

I love Aldi skincare too! I buy most of my clothes and accessories from car boot sales and charity shops, maybe I have been lucky but I have bought some great things with good labels at bargain prices, topped up with the odd find from TKMaxx and Sainsburys.

I have been through similar. Its doable and lots of budget things are better than the expensive version.

I get a good eye cream and fancy shampoo and conditioner and mascara for Christmas / birthdays. I haven't found good cheap alternatives for these.

The aldi lacura moisturiser is fab, vit e hot cloth cleanser from Superdrug is great. MUA make up from Superdrug usually on 3 for 2 is good, especially lipstick, eye shadow and blusher. I use Collection under eye highlighter and face powder, rimmel foundation.

Clothes wise, Sainsburys is fab, especially for children, quality is great and they regularly have 25% off days, I always keep my eye out for bargains and rarely pay full price for anything.

Join money supermarket and other deals websites for a heads up on who is offering what.

It can all be done on a budget, don't worry.

Learn to differentiate between "want" and "need". Do you really need a new coat and maxi dresses?

Firstly as a mother of twins too, congratulations! i feel your pain

Would agree with Super drug. MUA is great (do eye shadow palettes similar to Urban Decay) and they have a range called true something that has a brilliant Benetint copy. Boots Botanics do a great BB cream that has been recommended on here before.

Clothes wise - do you have a local FB selling page? I have got some lovely items. I also go to dress agencies quite often (Elite) and have picked up good quality brands (LK Bennett / Hobbs / Ted Baker) at a fraction of the cost. Also Ebay is good if you're choosy. Also consider buying things if they're cheap and paying for them to be altered.

And depending on whether you have wardrobes full of clothes that you'll never wear again, consider selling those to generate some additional income.

I second Aldi face care - really good. Especially their night oil. Have you seen the website 'everything's 5 pounds?' Yup everything! You do have to pay for delivery but in my last splurge I got 3 tops and 3 candies, and 2 jumper dresses for £46 including delivery. It takes a while to look through everything but honestly, the stuff is really nice. I have had loads of compliments - I tell people I bough them online (vague!)

Cardies not candies! They don't sell sweets!

If there's a 'nicer' town nearby, try their charity shops-a day out & cheap. Some charity shops seem to get loads of really good stuff. Practically all my children's clothes have come from charity shops too, (not practical if you happen to want to dress twins the same, so don't ;). Congratulations on the babies too.

Agree that you should get your fave luxuries for bday/Christmas. Also keep an eye on magazine freebies

I bought Wilko's eye make-up remover and it's pretty good - it's a dual phase and works almost as well as the Lancome one. And it's 95p compared to £21.50.
www.wilko.com/facial-cleansing/skin-therapy-dual-eye-make-up-remover-150ml/invt/0348864

I use to be an Estée Lauder double wear & advanced night repair! However I've learnt no.7 foundation is good and boots always have £5 off vouchers & 3 for 2 sometimes at the same, so great bargains to be had. I've just had a birthday & got the new facial oil from no.7 it's lovely and less than half the price of Estée Lauder ANR.

As for hair, I changed my hair colour back to near natural brown, I can now get away with every other month for colour & cut.

I love ebay for clothes, I sell all the things I've not worn for a year or that don't fit and then buy myself new bits and pieces. I even bought an M&S coat for £8 last winter and it was in great condition & I felt good in it. One dress I bought was £0.99 and I've never had so many compliments!

Good luck, my maternity leave is just coming up and so il have to find ways of cutting back a bit more, but not sure I can cope without things like monthly contact lenses! I'm too vain!

Aldi skincare and make up is very good. Sainsburys do great clothes, a little more expensive than adds or Tesco but better quality. They often do 25% off which is when I buy. Their jeans are fantastic.

Which foundation do you usually wear? Revlon Colorstay is meant to be as good as Doublewear. Or stalk the foundation threads on here for other cheaper dupes. I wear Bourjois Healthy Mix now I'm a sahm, rather than Chanel Vitalumiere.

Face oils are cheap and a nice skin treat - you can get big bottles of rose hip oil on the web cheaply. And make sure you use high SPF creams on your face as you will be outside in parks etc a lot - I wear boots Soltan Baby Sensitive SPF50 every single day under foundation and never burn or get sun damage.

Clothes wise - don't scrimp on footwear - good boots you love will last you all winter, and maybe some Havaianas and Birkies or something for the summer. In summer supermarket clothes are fine, tees are best bought cheap and often anyway. All the supermarkets do great summer dresses. Primark for skinny jeans. Stalk the charity shops and get to know the good ones, even if it means a special trip somewhere.

Good luck! I was a sahm for about 2 years before I cracked and got a part time job as I missed having an income to spend on clothes and now I'm off with a second on the way I'm still spending as though I have an income, I need to reign it in. I quite enjoyed it first time round though, the novelty of being frugal meant every purchase mattered more, so I was better at considered purchases and had a sort of capsule wardrobe.

And Uniqlo for knitwear. Not the cheapest in the world, but natural fibres at unbeatable prices, great classic and modern styles and just seem to last and last. Cheap knitwear is an utter waste of money. And often more expensive knitwear too if it contains viscose, acrylic, nylon etc. my Uniqlo merino jumpers (about £30 I think) have lasted 3 winters and good as new.

Another vote for Sainsbos clothes. Seem to wash better than Primark and Peacocks etc. Not sure if they do online if you're not near to one.

Second the rec for Boots Botanics BB cream, and it's often on offer. I got it for a fiver.

The Superdrug Natural Radiance skin care range is excellent - definitely as good as the Clarins stuff I used to use, and on offer almost permanently.

The MUA lipsticks are now v good and are only £1.

For clothes, I'd wait until the sales and buy a couple of items of decent quality, rather than buying lots of cheap stuff.

Hair - go for a lower maintenance style if it's going to cost £40 a month (that's nearly half your budget!!!).

Clothes - buy during the sale. Some shops like gap have frequent offers

Skincare - I used to use superdrug naturally radiant range and it seemed to go half price every 2 months, so old buy a couple of each product to see me though until the next offer.

Make up - I guess, try not to buy too many products. I think foundation is worth splashing out on though.

Home made beauty - I body brush, steam my face, drink lots of water, do my own pedicure etc to keep costs down.

I use Nivea skincare and it's great and always either half price or 3 for 2. I just recently bought dd some herbal essences shampoo and conditioner and prefer it to the posh stuff i got from the hairdresser. Trouble is, it may be trial and error finding a range that suits you.

clothes wise, look out for offers. Google or stalk these boards and there's almost always a discount code. I personally love gap jeans and only buy when there's a 30% off offer

Thank you for all the ideas! I will check out the aldi and also super drug skincare, I really need a good oil for my dry skin as mine has nearly run out. I think the thing that scares me most is cheap make up, I haven't used it since I was a teenager but the superdrug mua has been mentioned a lot so I will go and take a look. I'm a bit worried my budget won't even stretch to primark for clothes, as I will need so much come winter! I think a capsule wardrobe will be a good idea. That's what I've had since having the twins although everything is starting to look a bit well worn they have been washed so many times!

I've 'downgraded' from EL to No 7 and then to Superdrug Vit E. My skin looks and feels no different at all.
Wrt makeup I also went from EL DW to Revlon Colorstay for foundation, to Max Factor masterpiece mascara, Rimmel concealer, L'oreal lipstick and gloss.
I can't imagine buying the high end products again.
Check out reviews on makeup alley for slap, it'll give you a bit of confidence.
I echo the advice about understanding the difference between wanting and needing, and agree that you can get some great bargains at the supermarket for clothes etc.