Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
How to make and save money by making your own beauty products
Nadia Krige
23rd Aug 2018
As far as retail therapy is concerned, there are few purchases as thrilling as a couple of beauty products to fix up whatever we feel is ‘wrong’ with our appearance at any given time.
Of course, this little pick-me-up habit can have a rather devastating effect on your pocket. Especially if you don’t keep it under control.
Apart from setting up a monthly budget to limit your purchase of beauty products, we have another suggestion to help you save: make your own!
Not only will you be saving money, but it could also be the start of an exciting new business venture. Let’s take a look:
- How much we actually spend on beauty products
- 3 beauty products that are surprisingly easy to make at home
- What you’ll need to start making your own beauty products
- Making money from your own beauty products
· How much we actually spend on beauty products
Over the past year or so, there have been a number of surveys aimed at uncovering the truth about the average amount women spend on beauty products in the UK every year.
According to Glamour, a survey conducted by Fragrance Direct among 1000 women revealed that the average spend on beauty products was £482.51 per year. It also showed that 16-24-year-olds spend the most on beauty products, using an average of 16 a day, worth £153 in total.
Independent writes that a similar survey by Groupon found women spend an average of £53.87 on their face products per month. Among these women, 20 per cent spent between £10 and £19.99 and 14 per cent between £20 and £60 on anti-ageing products alone each month. The average amount spent on make-up is £13.10 a month.
Finally, Marie Claire published findings of a survey conducted by TotallyMoney.com that showed an average spend of £4,454 on beauty products per year. Most interestingly, they also offered a break down of the average amount women in different cities spent. Leeds girls were in the lead (how appropriate), spending an average of £7,000 per year, followed by London and Coventry where the average spend is £6,300. Women in Aberdeen prove to be the most modest, spending only £2,700 on beauty products per year.
While the amounts in these surveys may differ slightly from one another, the overall results are conclusive: women in the UK spend a lot on beauty products. A lot!
· 3 beauty products that are surprisingly easy to make at home
What none of these surveys got to the bottom of, however, is just how many of these beauty products women actually like enough to continue using. And how many just sit on the shelf gathering dust.
I’m going to hazard a guess that more than half of the money you’re spending on looking good, tends to be wasted on products that simply don’t live up to your expectations. Or, even worse, don’t work for you at all!
If this sounds like a familiar problem, have you ever considered making your own products suited to your specific needs?
Now, I know this may sound like a crazy idea, but hear me out! Making your own beauty products is a great way of avoiding any ingredients that may be toxic to your skin in the long run. It’s also bound to save you quite a bit of money every month. Plus, it’s a fun hobby to have!
To get started, you may want to try a few easy beauty products first:
– Lip balm
All you will need to make your own lip balm is:
– A carrier oil – coconut or almond normally work well
– Some beeswax beads
– Essential oils of your choice
– A syringe
– Small jars to keep it in
There are loads of recipes online that will take you 5 minutes or less to make. Why not check out this simple one by One Little Project?
– Anti-ageing cream
There are thousands of beauty products out there that claim to contain the secret ingredient to everlasting youth. Well, this is highly unlikely and chances are you’re throwing your money at something that just won’t work.
And if this is the case, you might as well experiment with creating an anti-aging cream of your own at home.
Ingredients you may need, include:
– Avocado oil
– Rosehip oil
– Vitamin E oil
– Frankincense oil
– Emulsifying wax or beeswax
– Honey
– A natural preservative of your choice
– Small jars to keep it in
Try this recipe by Alluring Soul or these by Savvy Homemade.
– Perfume
Who knew that making your own perfume was as easy as blending together a few drops of various essential oils and adding them to a carrier oil?
There are, of course, a few rules to keep in mind, certain scents that work well together and others that don’t. If you want a quick guide to DIY perfume-making, read this post by Karen Gilbert.
To ease into this new hobby, you could also invest in a perfume-making starter kit that contains basic essential oils, test strips and vials. Take a look at this one by Plush Folly and don’t forget that Etsy can be a great resource for DIY beauty products.
· What you’ll need to start making your own beauty products
Now that you have a few beauty products you’d be keen to try making, you’d need the following basics in place to get started:
– A clean space to work
Since you will be creating products that you will be using on your very own sensitive skin, you’ll want to keep things as hygienic as possible.
The kitchen could be a great place for this, as long as you ensure all the surfaces have been thoroughly scrubbed and that no food residue remains.
– Dedicated utensils
Similarly, you’re going to want to use a separate set of pots, bowls, jars and measuring spoons/jugs. You don’t want to infect your beauty products with food-borne bacteria and, let’s be honest, you don’t want your pasta tasting like beeswax.
– A few hours set aside every week
While many of these recipes only take a few minutes to make, you may want to set aside an hour or two to prep your products for the coming week.
It would be best if you could do this at a relaxed pace without any distractions.
· Making money from your own beauty products
Now that you’ve been making your own products for a while and seen the benefits, why not share the magic with others?
You can start by giving specially crafted products to friends and family for special occasions. Because everyone’s skin is so different, you may want to start with general products, like bath salts, body lotions and essential oil perfumes.
Once you start getting serious about peddling your beauty products there are a few things to have in place:
Conduct safety tests and Obtain a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR)
In order to conduct your business legally, you have to prove that your products are manufactured in a hygienic environment and safe to use.
There are various tests they will have to go through, conducted by a qualified safety assessor.
You can contact the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association (CTPA) to set up an assessment for you.
Compile a Product Information File (PIF)
Each cosmetic product must have its own Product Information File (PIF) containing a great deal of information about the product. This is a legal requirement and the files are open to inspection by the competent authorities.
The PIF must include the product description, the CPSR, details of methods of manufacture in accordance with good manufacturing practice and, where justified, proof of the effect claimed.
Keep a manufacturing log
This will assist you in labelling your products correctly each time. Also, remember to give each product a unique batch code.
Register with the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP)
Before you can start marketing your products, you have to register with the CPNP.
These are the basic requirements to have in place, but we suggest getting in touch with the CTPA to familiarise yourself with all the necessary requirements to put your homemade beauty products on the market.
Finally, read our article on making money from homemade beauty treatments for more recipes and tips.
I think it would be a money saver to make your own beauty products and you know exactly what the ingredients are.