Monday, March 3, 2008

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

It’s been brought to my attention that my last post lacked the joie de vie (I hope I spelled that correctly, I don’t actually speak French) that you’ve come to expect from Cheap But Not Easy. My bad. To make it up to you, here is a happy little post about a beauty product. Because really, what’s happier than inexpensive beauty products?

Tip Of The Day: Frugality meets laziness in my new favorite cleanser.

Tip For Tomorrow: It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day. An explanation of my week of crankiness (ladies, I’m sure you can guess what it is!), and cheap solutions for it.

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: It’s truly sad what a lazy slacker I am. At times, it even threatens to override my innate cheapness.

For example, I know it’s more frugal to fill a bucket with bleach and hot water, don a pair of rubber gloves, grab a rag, and wipe down the hard surfaces of my house. But UGH. That’s, like, FOUR WHOLE STEPS.

So instead, I buy those Target-brand wipes (the ones that are a knock-off of Clorox or Lysol) and clean my house with them. They’re easier, more portable and less time consuming. Not to mention, cheap.

I know I should do the same thing with my face. No, not wash it with bleach and water. That would sting. Also, the bleach fumes would knock me on my can. But I digress.

I should pull back my hair, grab whatever cleanser I have, lather up my face, rinse, and pat dry. But ugh, that’s FIVE whole steps. I’d rather take a nap.

That’s why I’m in love with Pond’s Clean Sweep Cleansing and Make-up Remover Towelettes. They take off your make-up, clean your skin without drying it out, and come pre-moistened so you don’t even need a sink. All you do is whip a wipe out of the packet, rub it all over your face, and then throw it away. You don’t even need to rinse your face. That’s only THREE steps! Hooray.

Now, I know these wipes are not the most environmentally sound products in the world, and that somewhere, Al Gore is mad at me. Sorry Al. I still think you’re cute, though.

On the plus side, the towelettes are completely portable, so you can wash your face anywhere. For example, in your car, after exercising. Just don’t leave them in your vehicle in the dead of winter – they will freeze. HaC and I learned that one the hard way.

The towelettes come in a variety of configurations and price points. I buy the five-wipe packs for 99 cents at Target (20 cents per wipe!) and throw one pack in my purse and one in my main bathroom. You can also buy the 30-wipe container for $5.99 at Target, which gives you a month’s worth of laziness.

While researching this post, I came across one writer’s recommendation to use inexpensive baby wipes instead of the high-end facial wipes like Pond’s. I’ve tried this tip before, only to have my face both dry out AND break out. At the same time. NOT CUTE. But, if you don’t have sensitive skin, you can give the baby wipes a try.

One last tip – one I’m sure you’ve heard before – don’t go to sleep with your make-up on. It does all sorts of icky things to your face. Make sure you take it all off before bedtime, and your skin will thank you in the morning. Figuratively, of course.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that whole freezing thing can be unpleasant when it comes to baby wipes as well. The baby certainly thinks so.

You know what is an even better 1-step option towards cleaning your house? A cleaning lady! But not very cheap. UNLESS you barter with them for sewing services...

Incidentally, Neutrogena makes a great cleanser for those of us with very sensitive skin. Dr. Bonner's makes one for even MORE delicate skin. Both available at your local Fresh & Natural grocery.

Lastly - there are baby wipes without alcohol, and that are quite nice for removing make-up. Check the organic baby section at your grocery store. SO there.

The Material Girl said...

Another cheap tip is to rip your cleansing cloths in half - I never need the whole thing, so I get double with each (of my Mary Kay ones, thank you very much, Cheap Chick!).

Michelle said...

I'll have to try the Pond's wipes. I hate removing make-up. Ugh. I usually end up with mak-up remover in my eye, so the wipes might prevent that. Thanks for the great tip! :)

Madwoman of Preserve Path said...

Why not use the cheapest "wipes" of all? Your own wash cloth and good ol' Ponds cold cream? Gets makeup off nicely, moisturizes at the same time. I dunno. It worked great for Mom.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, I love your posts! :) You just crack me up!!

Great review too. I haven't tried these, but maybe I'll give them a shot on my next trip. They'd seem to be pretty handy for that. or maybe road trips too.

I know I've said it before but thank you for this wonderful blog. It's one of my must-reads.

Jami

Anonymous said...

joie de vivre

Close enough for government work.