Skin Care Tips

How to Get the Most Out of Your Cosmetic and Skin Care Purchases

If you don't follow these tips, you're throwing away 20% on average of those expensive potions you purchase - without even knowing it.

Skin Care Tip #1: Plastic Bottles and Tubes

Don't you just know there's more cream or lotion left in those bottles and tubes, but can't figure out how to get at it?

So you toss them, right? You'll be amazed to find out how much you've been throwing away.

Let the tube or bottle sit for at least a day, so that the remaining product collects in the bottom. Take a serrated knife and cut the container in half. Be careful!

Depending on the type of plastic, you may be able to start the cut with a knife and then finish with a (safer) large pair of scissors.

How much you find depends on the type of container as well as the consistency of the product. Squeeze bottles are the worst for hiding valuable lotion. There's just no way you can squeeze hard enough to extract all of it.

Manufacturers have little incentive to correct this. I always find at least another week's worth of the thinner, more viscous products, and up to two months of the thicker, stickier ones.

A month ago, I sliced open a squeeze bottle of creamy hair conditioner to find a full one-third of the product still left! I figure it will last me another month.

SkinCare Tip #2: Products You're Just Not Thrilled With

So you've bought this revolutionary face cream that's supposed to do all kinds of wonderful things for your skin. Trouble is, you just don't like the feel of it on your face. Maybe it's thick and gooey or has a slimy feel.

Before you toss it, think about whether you can put it to another use. I bought a face cream with wonderful moisturizers, good sun protection and alpha-hydroxy acids all in one. Great, I thought. This will save me time in the morning.

But it was so gooey, it was hard to apply makeup smoothly over it. Plus I just didn't like the way my face felt. Yet I thought the product was very good. So I decided to use it on other areas that get a lot of sun exposure and needed exfoliation just like my face: shoulders, hands and forearms. I'm delighted with the results.

Another time, I bought this brand new shampoo and conditioner because they promised to make my curly hair shimmery and manageable. The conditioner I loved, the shampoo just didn't cut it. Though it was good, it wasn't as good as my previous brand.

Fortunately I have two miniature poodles. Guess who's getting salon quality shampoos and smelling sweet as daisies these days. If I didn't have these cute little dogs, I would have tried it as a hand soap or for washing lingerie. Use your imagination.