Ruby Sew Sew's Budget Beauty Box

RubySewSew

I'll be upfront - I don't have a plan! But I am sat here alone on a Friday night in my early (nearly mid!) thirties - the boys have gone to their Dad's and I am feeling, well... not very beautiful.

I am overweight (3 stone), pudgy and unfit. My hair, despite being freshly cut is a fluffy washed out mess. My skin is terrible and my make up is... tired. I am a size 16 although tend to need dresses in an 18 in order to accommodate my 34GG chest. I pride myself on always wearing fantastic underwear but due to budget constraints this has taken a battering. I have very little in my wardrobe - I have a big stash of lovely size 14 clothes and quite a lot of other stuff that is in my sewing pile. I have two wearable pairs of summer shoes, 1 pair of sports trainers, some dressy shoes and literally nothing else to put on my feet. I used to, many, many years ago, make and alter most of my own clothes.

So... how to fix this? I have literally no money. None. I am on a budget from the CCCS and don't even have enough disposable income for a debt management plan. However, I cannot be the only one in this position. I have other resources - a sewing machine, a make up box stuffed full of products, bits and pieces that I don't really use. Perhaps there is a community of like minded people I could swap with?

So, my first task. To do a beauty audit. I'll let you know!

ooh, and if you have any ideas let me know. I'll be poring through the threads here for ideas and know how and I'll let you know how my budget beauty journey goes!

ItchyFeet

Hi Ruby,

I'm looking forward to hearing how you get on. I'm 36, overweight and somewhat lacking in the style department! I have been forced to buy a few new clothes recently as i literally had 2 pairs of trousers and about 4 tops that fit me and all were really tatty. I'm concentrating on trying to lose a bit of weight so i can fit into my old (thinner) clothes so that i don't have to buy anymore new ones.

I am also trying to wear makeup every day for work which i haven't always done in the past because i don't have enough time in the mornings to get ready (i like sleeping in). I have also recently been trying to keep my nails painted and tidy. This has actually made me feel much more glamourous! There's a nice thread i like to follow on this board - i think it's called 'Frugal Frump to Fab'. Try it if you haven't already.

Good luck! x

maman

I love 'frump to fab' as well. It's a load of lovely, chatty people making a big effort to eat well, take care with their make up, dress well, eat well, exercise etc. etc. All designed to feel better about themselves. Do pop in RubySewSew.

I'm also doing Slimming World and have managed to lose 3st since October. Obviously you can't afford the classes/books at the moment but there's also a thread about that. The SW website gives you a sample menu for a week and the thread tells you the sort of things that people eat day to day to fit in with it. Itchy and Ruby, why don't you try giving that a go, more friendly people that are only too willing to share.

Good Luck!

Mags30

If you go to the "no buying toiletries" thread they have a swap group. It's on Facebook I think because sharing of personal details like addresses isn't allowed/encouraged here.

Aldi face cream is the cheapest out there and really good, always coming up in beauty awards.

Do surveys for Amazon vouchers. Use amazon vouchers to buy shoes

The Frump to fab thread is so lovely but it moves really fast so I just dip in and out.

Ask for samples at make-up counters, just don't tell them you have no money to buy the stuff they recommend!

RubySewSew

Today has been a deeply relaxing and blissful day about me. I slept in until gone 12 and started the day with a cup of tea and magazine in bed. I have a challenging relationship with magazines because instead of fuelling my creativity and inspiring me on to greater things they tend to make my self esteem plummet and make me feel greedy and materialistic for all the beautiful and expensive things I can't have. I come away with an impossible shopping list. A good find has been Essentials - my friend works on it and has been telling me for ages that it is aimed at me. I found this insulting for a really long time because I just thought it was a mumsy mag! Whoops! Not true! It's a gorgeous monthly which is filled with beautiful things and ideas and all sourced really realistically and balanced well towards the lower end of the budget, not to mention loads of 'makes' that are actually achievable. I come away feeling 'I can do that' rather than 'I'll never have that'.

So, mostly I've been pottering but on the beauty front I have:
dyed my hair a beautiful copper colour. Already had the dye so - cost £0
drank loads of water - cost £0
blow dryed my hair using curl creme and serum to make it bouncy and soft rather than fluffy and rank. All the product was already lying around so - cost £0
Took time and care with my make up. I really looked at my skin (blotchy, red, open pores and spots). Plucked my eyebrows. Started with a dark metallic green eyeshadow - just a little to line my upper lid. Then usual black mascara and brown brow colouring. One of the problems I have is that my eyebrows are really scant and blonde so if I don't colour them they are non existent and if I do I risk looking really severe. I decided to put lipstick on for once even though I'm home alone. Lip liner and beautiful dark red, properly applied. Always puts me in 2 minds - I look in the mirror and think, wow. yes! And then later I'll catch sight of myself in the mirror or a photo and feel like a drag queen or a little girl trying to play at being a proper big glamorous grown up. Sigh... Not sure what the truth of this is - reality or self esteem?
I had another really close look at my skin and then applied a cream foundation on all the blotchy spotty bits which turned out to be my whole face!! Stood back to take it all in. Looking in the mirror I was pretty pleased, tried to take a photo but felt, well, see above...
Next, nails. Filed quickly and painted green. I like green with red hair. And I always get compliments when I wear this nail varnish (practically never!) because it is so unusual.
So to getting dressed. I audited my wardrobe and I own 4 dresses and 3 skirts. That's it. No trousers, no jeans. No dressy stuff, no school stuff (I work in school!). My skirts are worn like a uniform with black vest, leggings and a cutesy cardigan. But that is it! That's my whole wardrobe! Held off from having a tantrum (didn't want to spoil my make up!) and based outfit around a black v-neck jumper I picked up in a charity shop forever ago. nothing special but very 1950's when worn with a full circle skirt so... pulled out a trusty favourite, my pin up girl skirt. I wear this all the time so forget to feel special in it but it is pretty unique. Decided on a polka dot belt to pull my waste in a bit and complete the 50's shape. Big old pink corsage on the left hand lapel and it comes together quite nicely. Haven't dug through my jewellery yet which is what this outfit needs.

So I have managed to give myself a bit of an overhaul (for today at least) for a bit of time and no money. I feel better for it, a bit like the old me. I remember when I separated from my ex-h 4 years ago and suddenly noticed that men (and women) were looking at me, taking an interest and complimenting me for no other reason than I had made an effort. Today made me realise that I can recreate that - I've just got complacent.

So, white wine spritzer in hand, I need to decide whether to call the bf (it's complicated at the moment) or go out dancing with a friend from school (I have no money...) or stay in and carry on with my goodwork.

Mags30

Wow, I really enjoyed that update. You won't believe this but I'm jealous of how few clothes you own. Clothes are a huge source of clutter in my house.

RubySewSew

Mags that is easily solved!!

WartimeScrapingofMarmite

Your outfit sounds lovely RubySewSew!

I too am very jealous that you own so few clothes - I am constantly attempting to downsize my wardrobe, particularly since we are moving to a smaller house soon where our living room will also be our bedroom at night and will therefore lose my current beloved walk-in wardrobe:(!


It sounds like you have exactly the right attitude - We are currently living on a very tight budget as we are trying to pay off our debts before beginning to save for a deposit so we can hopefully clamber back onto the housing ladder (hence the need to move to a smaller house to free up more money to pay off said debts!). I am looking forward to reading your updates!

Buffythedebtslayer

Hello Ruby,

I am 35 (mid thirties already ) and 40 pounds over weight, my wardrobe consists of many things I am too fat for and a lot of black tops and skirts.

I love the sound of your outfit, am also jealous! and will be reading with interest

xxx

RubySewSew

Marmite, Buffy and Mags. I have a project for you (said with a devilish wink )

Step 1: Treat yourself to some lovely vintage print laundry bags. You know the kind I mean, they used to be a ginghamy check and beloved of the launderette in Eastenders but now come in lots of pretty prints - polka dot, butterfly, Cath Kidstonesque type loveliness. Don't actually buy the Cath Kidston ones, that would not be very MSE, but the ones from the pound shop or local drug store. You will also need some luggage tags/postcards/envelopes and a nice pen.

Step 2: Now you need to start sorting. I suggest the following categories:

• too small/too big - if this comes in loads of different sizes then label a bag for each size. My too small are pretty much all 14's so they all go in together.
• seasonal - as we are in summer you need to put away stuff that you don't need until autumn/winter. Honestly, I know this seems a faff but it is so lovely once the weather turns to get this bag down and remember all the lovely things that you have stashed away.

This should leave you with 'clothes you actually wear, now this season and that fit' oh and did I mention? - these should make you feel good about yourself. If you're not sure about the feeling good about yourself bit or this is a step too far just now then you can do this as a separate audit later when you are feeling good about yourself (see below).

From what is left you should probably have - 'stuff that needs fixing' and 'everything else'. Unless I have got my calculations wrong the everything else pile is stuff that you don't actually want. So...
stuff that needs fixing - go through it and ask yourself if you like it enough to actually fix it. If not, in the recycling pile. If so, in the sewing pile with a diary note to throw out in 6 months if not fixed!

Step 3 - dealing with everything else. You will probably have 3 categories - charity shop, recycling and too good for charity shop. Now, you can trust it to the universe to provide and just have two categories (the former) or you can go the MSE route and make some cash from the 'too good'!

Brief pause just to tell you that my computer just hibernated itself and I thought I had lost everything!! Big breath and smile, thank you universe for saving my work! :T:T

You've got the following options left depending on how much kit you've got left:

• ebay - good for top end high street labels, designer and vintage. Not great for masses of stuff.
• dress agencies - see above, less hassle than ebay but more fussy.
• clothes swapping party - great if you've got quite a lot of stuff to get rid of, have friends a similar size to you and with quality tastes! I tried this and got rid of everything but didn't actually get anything new myself.
• clothes selling party - a friend of mine did this for commission for a client who had expensive tastes and had ranged in size from 8-18! This was great as a buyer - I got so much stuff including a Karen Millen cardigan (£3), Whistles cardigan (£3), Reiss dress (£3) - can you see the pattern?! There is no way I could have got clothes this quality any other way - The pricing structure was based on the sheer volume of stuff to be got rid of - the leftovers went on ebay and to the charity shop.

You should be left with a neatly trimmed wardrobe, and some bags for charity and for recycling - put these straight in your car! And don't forget to make pretty labels for anything in storage. I know it is daft but I have a stamp set with butterflies on that I use to pretty up notes to myself around the house. It just cheers me up to look at.The stuff for storage could go on top of the wardrobe, in the loft, under the bed - it depends where you've got space. It is worth going through this stuff every 6 months to reassess things like if you're ever going to fit back in it - and if it will still be in fashion when you do.

I will post more on organising your wardrobe and on how to audit your clothes so that everything you own makes you feel good.

Oh, and last thing, a little tip, don't forget to save back an old pair of jeans and top for painting, gardening etc (I have ruined so many nice clothes by forgetting this step!) and I also keep back a warm but ugly woolly for camping, campfires etc. Good luck budget beauty money savers!

RubySewSew

Writing that was a pertinent reminder that budget beauty (decorating, gardening etc etc) is making the most of what you've already got. I have a house full of beautiful things that you can't see because they are drowning in clutter and mess. A good, free, tidy up is much more effective than buying something else to add to it.

For the aforementioned 7 items of clothing, 4 come from Get Cutie..

http://www.getcutie.co.uk/home/index.html

Now, I always moan that this shop is too expensive, the stuff isn't that well made etc etc but what I do buy from there I wear to death. And then I sew it back up and wear it some more. And god forbid when something actually does fall apart beyond repair I have lovely fabric for making household goodies. And the proof of the pudding is that more than half of my clothes come from here. And I feel fantastic whenever I wear something cutie. And they make dresses for girlies with big boobies and really big boobies!

Experimented with make up today. Didn't want full make up as planned to go swimming. Put on some mascara (an essential) and then applied lip stick, blotted it right back to stain and put clear lip balm over the top. It looked lovely and I reckon it would be suitable for when I go back to school.