My Cheap Favorites: the best bath, body, and hair products for $10 and under

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It's been over a year since I wrote my last cheap favorites master post! I still stand by my choices there, and I don't think I'd change any of them now if I had to do it over. I've had in mind to write this additional post all along, but since I'm admittedly not that picky about products in this category, it hasn't felt so pressing. Still, maybe there's something here for you to discover (or something you can suggest to me!).

Favorite Body Washes: I don't really take baths, so all I've got here are shower products. My criteria for a good body wash or shower gel are simple: gets me clean, doesn't dry out my skin, smells good. There are lots of affordable options that check all of those boxes. I love almond fragrance when it's done well, and Tree Hut Almond and Honey Body Wash does it well. It's also very moisturizing and has a lovely texture. Luxurious, even. I like this so much that I haven't tried any of the other scents, though I suppose I should. The Almond variety is a bit difficult to find in stores. I got this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond for $6.

Empties, empties, empties

I'm keeping track of what I've finished so I can remember whether it's worth ever using again. Plus, posts like this give me more motivation to use what I have instead of buying anything new - though I haven't bought much of anything in the last few months, other than the couple of things I've written about. That must mean it's working (?).

These particular photos were taken in mid-June, so I'm a bit behind in posting them, I guess. That's really besides the point, in my opinion. It's not meant to be a real-time diary.

I've been collecting all these bottles for months now, and since not all of this stuff can be recycled by my municipal program, my plan is to request a label from TerraCycle and send it in there (other than the foil packets, of course). Has anyone else done that?

As always, foils and shampoo/conditioner don't get comments unless there's something remarkable about them.

Makeup

Paula's Choice foundation samples: I wasn't super impressed with any of these. Swatched and reviewed here.

Milani Brow Tint Pen: It finally dried up. Decent product, especially for tinting light brow hairs (rather than filling in sparse patches). Swatched and reviewed here.

Joe Fresh Lip Stain in Tangerine: I'm pretty sure that these have been discontinued. I bought it on sale at Superstore when I was visiting my family in Canada a couple of years ago. I was planning to include it in my original quest for coral post, but I found that it had dried up. No big loss - it barely showed up on my lips anyway.

Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara: This was a serviceable mascara, but I don't know that there was anything particularly bold about it. It made my eyelashes darker, a little thicker, and a little longer. It didn't smear or flake too badly. That's about the minimum I can ask in a mascara. The main problem I had with it was that when I pulled the brush out of the tube, it always had huge globs of mascara all over it, so to use it I had to wipe it off on a kleenex every time. That's too much of a hassle (and a waste). I've never been wowed by a Revlon mascara, and generally people don't seem to talk much about their mascaras. Not the strong suit of the brand, I think.

Make Up Forever Smoky Lash Mascara: This was part of last year's Sephora birthday gift (I'm really looking forward to picking up this year's next month: Nars lip crayons!). I actually really liked the formula of the mascara. It made my lashes look great. But the brush was not a good fit for my eyes. It's shaped like a pine tree: pointy on the end and huge at the bottom. I couldn't get the lashes at the corners of my eyes with either end of the brush without making a mess. I think you have to have big eyes and lashes to make this work properly.

(Cut in case you're not into the empties thing and want to scroll on past - this is going to get long.)

The most moisturizing body wash I've found yet (Tree Hut Shea Moisturizing Shower Wash in Almond & Honey)

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links.
I have never in my life had as dry skin as I've had this winter. In addition to the extreme cold and wind, the heat in my apartment is always cranked up to 90, and I have no control over it. My skin, all of it, all over my body, is tight and flaky and itchy.

I bought some of this Tree Hut Shea Moisturizing body wash in the Almond and Honey scent pretty much on a whim. I like almond scented things, and that was really the only criteria I had for choosing it. It turns out that it's great.

It cleans your skin thoroughly, unlike some body washes I've used that are advertised as moisturizing, but seem to be mostly just diluted. It doesn't leave a film or anything on your skin; it just leaves it feeling nice after you've dried off. It's pretty much the only body wash/soap I've been able to use this winter that lets me get away with not slathering my entire body in lotion immediately after getting out of the shower. My boyfriend has been using it too, and he's even drier than I am. He's been trying to find an actually moisturizing body wash (or shower gel or whatever they tell dudes these things are called) for much longer than I have. According to him, this is the best ever.

I really like the scent, though I kind of wish it was just almond without the honey. Only because I don't really like honey. It's fairly sweet and smells great while you use it, but doesn't leave a strong scent on your skin after you rinse it off. That works for me.

If you're dry and scaly this time of year too, this stuff is worth trying. It only costs about $5-7. If you don't like almond scents, they have other versions that also have shea butter, but none of them is quite as highly rated as this one on Amazon - and I haven't tried the others myself to compare. Note that the ingredients list on Amazon is not accurate. Drugstore.com has the correct ingredients (though it's a little more expensive there, which is why I included the Amazon link above). The addition of the almond oil, which is higher on the list (i.e. there's more of it) than the shea butter, might be what makes the difference. Most of the other ingredients are the same between the various scents, but with a different oil substituted for the almond.

In case you or any of your readers are in to Bath and Body Works/Victoria's Secret body products - they're both having ridiculous sales right now! Like, 4 dollars and under/75% off kind of sales.

 barbryallen

Thanks! That is very useful information. I think The Body Shop also has a huge sale on now, and Philosophy has deeply discounted its holiday stuff on its website.