Extend Your Skincare Investment: Advice From a (Not-So) Slightly Neurotic Mom

Last week’s post Does It Matter What We Put On Our Skin? took to task the lax U.S. standards for personal care products and recommended, for the benefit of our health and our children’s, investing in cleaner body care that adheres to the stricter European standards.

Transitioning to this safer body care can be pricey, especially when throwing out partially-used sunscreen, conditioner and cosmetics. But there are several ways to get that money back with smart and some oh-so-slightly-neurotic ways of extending those cleaner, healthier products:

• Use the right amount. Many of us are guilty (count me in!) of overusing personal care products. But oftentimes we don’t need a handful, or even a quarter-sized amount to do the job, especially if skin is oily. Try using, instead, a pea-sized amount of your facial moisturizer for glowing results. Remember, your skin can only absorb so much and using smaller amounts means those luxurious products will last even longer. [However, do not take this advice when using sunscreen. Slather that SPF on and do so frequently to reduce the risk of sunburn and skin cancer.] Check out these recommendations for how much skin and hair care to use: wellandgood.com and realsimple.com.

• Simplify your morning facial regiment. Opinion is mixed on this one, but try using just a splash of water to wash your face in the morning. Some say this is perfectly fine, others say don’t even do that. But both camps agree that too much cleansing strips the skin of protective, moisture-retaining natural oils and recommend leaving the cleansing and exfoliating to the evening, allowing skin stripped of dead cells to recover overnight and be ready to protect against bacteria and toxins the next day. Give a simple splash a try. Doing so will almost double the life of your facial-care regiment.

• Come to the neurotic side: we save money! Get yourself a Ginsu and get ready to be amazed. Those tubes and pump bottles you thought were empty? The ones you couldn’t squeeze any more product from if you tried? Do not, I repeat, do not toss them. The insides and bottom of these containers are coated with product, and not just a little. So when you just…can’t…squeeze…anymore or have pumped, pumped, pumped until you have early-onset carpal tunnel, cut open these tubes and bottles to reveal several days worth of your favorite (clean and safe!) facial cleanser, body lotion and sunscreen (etc.). Viola. Instant savings. Consider adding a slosh of water to that nearly-empty bottle of shampoo for a couple more washings. Get at that last bit of your favorite-but-discontinued lipstick color (“Peony,” I miss you already…) with your lip brush. I can’t tell you how often I’ve decapitated tubes to get at the last of my you-name-it and how every time I’m amazed at how many more applications I’ve eeked out.

With these few simple tips, making the change to clean personal care is even easier and even more economical. The investment upfront seems hefty, but in the long run you can make these products last for, well, an ultramarathon.

Make clean and green your routine.