Anna Powell shows you how to look fabulous for less...
Don't worry - this isn't going to be another article that tells you to save money by buying a £15 mascara that doubles as a blusher. Instead, I'm going to tell you some top tips to help you get the things you'd buy anyway either free, or at a serious discount.
Hair cut price cut
There are two kinds of bargain hair cut, both involving student stylists.
In the first instance, you're a model for a pre-defined cut that the stylist wants to practise - e.g. a bob. This is usually free and I've had good results this way (but then I have straight, fine hair, and not much of it - I'd be more worried if I had curly hair, for example).
If you're interested in doing this, Gumtree is a good place to look (search for 'free haircut'), or simply ring local salons and ask them if they need models.
Alternatively, in larger, dedicated training salons - such as the Toni & Guy Academy - the stylists should let you choose the style you want.
Just bear in mind that any student haircut will take a long time (three hours isn't unusual). Take a book, your phone, and a bottle of water. And check that a senior stylist will oversee the result.
Personally, I've often found that the best way to get a good, cheap hair cut is to go to a village salon. Unlike high-street chains with high turnovers, rural hairdressers have to be good, or their clients won't return. And as a bonus, you usually get to hear the local gossip too!
Bargain beauty treatments
Once again, training colleges are top hunting grounds for cheap beauty therapy treatments. In London, the London College of Beauty Therapy has a salon off Regent Street, next door to Liberty's department store. It's the only dedicated beauty college in the UK, and the largest beauty salon in London.
The prices are amazing, particularly given the location - £20 for a 60-minute massage or a 60-minute facial. A mini-manicure is £5 and a full French polish £12. They do waxing, eyelash and eyebrow treatments, and even men's beauty treatments.
The London College of Fashion runs a Beauty Therapy and Health course, and its final-year students also take models to practise their treatments. In this case, your treatment depends on what the students are learning at the time. The college is currently closed for the summer holidays, but courses restart in early October.
That's London covered, but there are beauty colleges all over the country. If Google doesn't help, look for beauty courses on Floodlight to find course providers near you. Get a reputable one - it might be wise to book in for a mini-manicure first to check them out, before going for anything more serious.
Finally, deals on spa and beauty treatments are sold alongside the holidays at Lastminute.com - and as you'd expect they have some good offers. Current deals include a range of 2 for 1 vouchers at spas around the country, spa days at Bannatyne for £25, and mini-treatments at Beauty Group salons (with 50 branches nationwide) for £7.50.
Blagging bloggers
Blogs like OolaMoola and Bare Budget Beauty can be great resources for anyone attempting beauty on a budget, as well as Frugal Friday, lovemoney.com's very own blog where we round up the best beauty bargains every week.
As we all know, department stores are good hunting grounds for free samples - depending on how brazen you are. (Personally, I'm shameless and will ask anyone for anything, which horrifies my friends.)
Recently, a couple of the OolaMoola girls went on a mission to see how much free product they could score in one day in London. They found Clarins were the best company for free products, along with Biotherm and Kiehl's.
Personally, I've found Aveda good too - I was once given eight free miniature tubes of hand cream at their counter in one go, by a particularly enthusiastic saleswoman in Selfridges. I was the most popular person in the office that day!
The Body Shop is another good place for freebie hunters, with generous free samples, and free makeovers. The Dermalogica flagship store in Kensington is another place offering free treatments.
Show interest, but be prepared for the hard sell - say you'd like to try the product at home for a few days. Carry an expensive carrier bag. Compliment the assistants. And say that one of the company's products didn't work for you - they'll give you free products in an effort to get you back on side.
Online
If you're prepared to trawl online forums, companies often give away free samples of their new products. The best place to check is Bob's Free Stuff, which has a dedicated 'personal grooming freebies' forum.
Savvy shoppers also know about price comparison sites. These are useful if you know what you want already: try Google Product Search. And specialist online make-up stores often have sales: I like the deals at LookFantastic (although we risk entering the territory of 'bargains that make you spend more' here).
Finally, it'd be remiss of me not to mention an interesting online phenomenon - the swap shop. The swap shop does pretty much what it says on the tin: if you have products you don't use, this is an excellent way to get stuff for free. Check out Beautyswapshop to get swapping!
Another good website to check out is Swapz where you can swap all kinds of beauty products - including perfume!
That's it - happy bargain hunting!
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