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The makeup montages in chick flicks are always so much fun, if decidedly implausible: Sandy in "Grease" pops out at the school fair with big ol’ sexy hair; Cady in "Mean Girls" piles on more lip gloss than a middle school cheerleading squad; Josie in "Never Been Kissed" learns how to use makeup and a brush for what appears to be the first time.
It doesn’t take a professional makeup crew to update a look, and it definitely doesn’t have to be as expensive; American women spend $7 billion a year on cosmetics. That breaks down to an average of $100 a month.
Beauty at Any Cost, a YWCA report from last summer, figured that saving $100 a month for five years could pay for a full year of college tuition.
Some local beauticians talked about how to save that money: which items to splurge on, where to cut back and the easiest way to update a look without breaking the piggy bank – just in time for the holidays.
Charlene Walker, owner, Spectrum Beauty Salon in Albion : Skin care, like a conditioning lotion and revitalizer, and good shampoo and conditioner.
"You got to take care of your skin. It’s the largest organ on the body, and your skin is there for life."
Cheryl Livingston, owner, The Loft: Lip products. The lips really make a more finished look.
"Even if you finish your face up with eye shadow and mascara and blush, and if you avoid lip, it just looks unfinished."
Annie Morgan, owner, AnMargo’s Salon in Decatur: Mascara and lipstick. Mascara can make someone who is tired look more awake, and lipstick makes someone feel put-together.
Stephen Lauterberg, spa technician and manager, The Forum Salon & Day Spa: Foundation. Mineral makeup is the best way to go for a more natural look, especially for more mature skin.
Jody Perdomo, stylist, A Nu U in Warsaw: Blow drying your hair or styling it differently.
Livingston: Update the colors in your makeup bag. Try a new eye shadow pallet to create smoky eyes, a nudge gloss and a deep red lipstick.
Morgan: Change up your hair color.
"If someone came in my chair and said, ‘What can you do to me to make me look different but not like someone else?’ I’d enhance what they already have with color or a little bang in their haircut. It’s amazing what you can do with color. It’s a wide variety from something really small to something totally drastic."
Lauterberg: Eye makeup. He points out that if you move to a more dramatic eye, you should tone down the lips, and vice versa.
Walker: Makeup. Over-the-counter products like Maybelline are less expensive than salon or higher-end brands, and the quality is good.
Perdomo: Perfume.
Livingston: Eyebrow pencil. Eye shadow can do double duty for the same job.
Lauterberg: Lipstick. They tend to be impulse buys anyway, and often women will purchase lipstick to go with a particular outfit.
Walker: Professional hair care products. "Your hair is so important," Walker says. "My hair is my personality. That’s what it is about a woman."
Perdomo: Professional products are considerably better than the kinds available in regular stores: they won’t damage hair, and they’re more pH balanced, which helps keep hair smooth.
Livingston: Foundation. Find one with antioxidants and a good moisturizer in it. This will help protect against sun damage and keep skin looking younger. Other helpful foundation moisturizers are vitamins C and D and green tea.
Lauterberg: Splurge on foundation and on mascara. Don’t fall for the gimmicks, like a special brush. Some over-the-counter mascaras will dry out the lashes and cause them to break and fall out. Look for high-quality mascaras.
Morgan: A good hair spray. "A little goes a long way, and it doesn’t look like helmet hair," Morgan says. "Your hair will blow in the wind, but it’ll still hold a style."
Walker: Concealer because it’s a great way to cover up skin imperfections or dark circles.
Perdomo: Hair spray to keep hair from getting too unruly.
Livingston: Bronzer. It gives the skin color during the winter, when skin is its palest.
Morgan: Lipstick.
Walker: Straighter hairstyles.
Perdomo: Bigger hair with lots of hair spray.
Livingston: Metallic makeup colors.
"It’s still going to look natural, but it’s going to look classic."
Colors like platinum and copper will be popular. Hair will evoke the 1980s, but with a "now" twist. Think the Farrah Fawcett cut, but with soft curls.
Morgan: Tone-on-tone hair color, Morgan says – for example, instead of a flat auburn, she would dye hair five different shades of auburn.
Lauterberg: Big eyelashes are popular now, including temporary eyelashes and eyelash extensions, which are more permanent than the temporary ones. "I think we’re still going to see the smoky eye," Lauterberg says. "I think we’re still going to see the reds and the pinks in lip color."
