the B. spot

It may sound superficial but in a downward economy, beauty plays a more important role than ever.  The majority of us are at the top of our game when we feel our best.  Personally, my confidence is off the chart when I know my stuff (professionally speaking) and I look good walking into any situation (from industry conferences to cocktail parties).  It’s hard to deny that confidence attracts opportunities!  When going in for a job interview, although we don’t like to admit it, statistics tell us that the person who is better groomed and more attractive tends to get the job (I know it sucks but thus is life…).

The good news is, regardless of your skin concerns, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on beauty products to get your skin to look its best.  Here are some tips to help you stretch your beauty dollars:

1. Multi-task:  We are expected to work harder for less, expect nothing less from your skin care products!

Aquafina Advanced Hydration RX Under Eye Cream ($12.44, Walmart)

If your eyes could use a bit of restoration to reduce signs of stress and fatigue, look no further than Advanced Hydration RX!  It helps reduce puffy eyes and dark circles providing much needed moisture as only Aquafina can! Powered by QuSomes, a delivery system for increasing the efficacy of specialized ingredients, it helps drive the ingredients into the upper layers of the skin to optimize the performance.  In this case, they are using ingredients that help calm your skin.

Ambi Clear & Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 ($11.99, select drug stores or drugstore.com)

Wearing sunscreen is a must to help prevent hyperpigmentation.  Make life easier and treat dark spots while preventing future occurrences in one step. J&J have done extensive research on using soy to even skin tone but beware, not all products that contain soy will do the same thing- J&J have patents on the use of soy for this purpose so sometimes, it’s best to stick with the originators (if you like the soy story).

1. Ditch & Switch to splurge elsewhere: Try store brands that offer generic benefits (like cleansing) and spend the bigger bucks on treatment products.

Ditch- Neutrogena Acne Wash Oil Free ($6.29 at CVS) (I love Neutrogena products but in a pinch sometimes a girls gotta do…)

Switch- CVS Oil Free Acne Wash ($4.29)

Both have the same active ingredient, salicylic acid, at the same level.  In fact the ingredients are identical- so why pay more for the same thing?  This is a case where you are not going to sacrifice efficacy or the experience when trading down to a more cost effective (to say it’s cheaper sounds so degrading so I opt for “cost effective”:-)

1. Try Before You Buy: Check the web sites of some of your favorite brands and see if they have a sampling program.

Olay.com- Join Club Olay for information on new products, coupon offers and free samples.

Ambiskincare.com- Offers on this site vary from coupons to free samples. Join the mailing list to be kept up to date.

Sephora Stores- If you want to try out a product before spending your hard earned dollars, Sephora will give you a small- very small- sample to take home and evaluate.  There are stations and testers set up within the store so you can try before you buy.

Best,

Ni’Kita