How much it costs to look like a celeb without makeup
Even though makeup is having a moment right now, pretty much the coolest thing a girl can do right now is not wear any. Which is bad news for those of us that didn’t win the genetic lottery.
Despite magazines urging us to wear makeup since before we hit puberty, it seems celebs are most praised when they go without. And if a celebrity posts a no makeup selfie without makeup or does a makeup-free magazine cover? Forget about it. Media outlets absolutely LOSE THEIR SHIT over this kind of thing.
The real reason is that we can’t believe celebs could really look that amazing without makeup. But guess what? There are a lot of sneaky ways you can make yourself look hotter without wearing makeup.
Unfortunately though, most of them cost way more than just makeup and require you to put in a lot more effort.
1. Eyebrow Microblading
Even though in general we think it’s time for Instagram eyebrows to die, nobody wants to walk around looking like they’re balding up there.
Enter microblading: a semi-permanent process where a tattoo artist carefully fills your crow line with thin strokes that look a lot like individual hair follicles—just ask Bella Thorne.
While this is super helpful for people with little to no eyebrow hair who don’t want to waste hours of their life filling in their brows every day, be warned: unless you’re making Bella Thorne-type cash, this purchase will hurt you.
Microblading typically costs between $700 and $800.
On the plus side, it will last you about three years, which breaks down to roughly $22 a month, which is probably less than you spend on coffee and mani pedis.
2. Eyelash Extensions
No matter how many eyelashes curlers or tubes of elongating mascara you buy, the only way to make it look like you have long Kardashian-like eyelashes is to actually get fake eyelashes.
I should know. In college, this was my ultimate party trick.
I wore fake eyelashes to every single party I attended, and without fail, people would come up to me, compliment my lashes and then proceed to ask me if they were real.
Most of the time, I would lie, because I was really insecure and this was the only time I would receive regular compliments from the people I went to school with. These were obviously the best years of my life, and I look back on them with fondness.
But whereas the fake eyelashes I used were the kind you have to apply yourself that end up falling off somewhere around 2 a.m., if you really want to treat yourself, go to a professional.
Your lashes will look realer than anything you buy in CVS, they’ll last for 60-90 days, and most importantly, you don’t have to worry about putting them on yourself and jacking up your face.
Plus, they’re relatively inexpensive (they typically cost between $10 and $150) and almost every salon you live near offers them.
3. Eyelash and Brow Tinting
If you’re super blonde or just super bald up there, eyelash and brow tinting may be the best non-makeup fix for you.
Results only last two to four weeks and the whole thing only costs you about $20, even from the super classy places. Of course, it’s not exactly FDA approved, but since when has a little illegality ever stopped you from having a good time anyway?
4. Lip scrubs
The biggest problem with our current obsession with lip stick and lip gloss is that shit dries out your lips faster than you can say, “Holy shit, my bank account’s empty again.”
While taking a break from lipstick and just sticking to lip balm is obviously one way to avoid this problem, another is to start encorperating a lip scrub into your everyday routine. The essential oils will make your lips smooth and give them a little xtra shine all for the low, low price of $13.
Unbeatable.
5. Lip balm
You can get classic cherry chapstick or you can kind of cheat and buy the tinted kind.
It doesn’t matter. You’re moisturizing your lips and making them look shiny and only spending like $2-$8.
6. Spray Tans
Tans are magical. They make your face glow and cover up a whole variety of tiny imperfections.
While some of us who live in places like LA or have the money to fly to Mexico to soak up the sun whenever we start getting a little pasty, for the rest of us, there’s spray tans.
They’re relatively cheap (most tans cost between $25-$50), they’ll make you feel like a suburban teenager again, and so long as you don’t go to a jenky operation, you’ll leave without looking like Donald Trump.
7. Clay masks
Face masks in general are a girl’s best friend, and recently beauty companies everywhere have embraced the extra-purifying qualities of clay masks.
AKA you can get them for as little as $9 at such classy establishments as Target, Walgreens, and Amazon.
8. Microdermabrasion
All facials are a no-brainer way to make your skin look amazing without makeup, but microdermabrasion is the creme de la crop.
Basically, you pay some highly-trained technician to use a diamond or crystal-tipped wand to suck all the crud out of your pores making your skin look like it just got sanded down.
At $200, it’s a very expensive gift to give to yourself, but c’mon, like L’Oreal tells us every day, you’re worth it.
9. Plastic surgery
None of us were born yesterday, so we all realize that pretty much every celebrity has had some work done, right?
Be it a nose job, some tasteful fillers, or laser treatments, they all get something done to make them look more “naturally” beautiful.
And for thousands of dollars, you can give yourself the celeb treatment too!
10. Retinol Cremes
Retinol is just a fancy name for Vitamin A, but it’s a game-changer when it comes to fixing all those tiny facial imperfections that literally only you can see.
It helps tighten your skin, improves your overall tone, plus it only costs like $15.
Sure, you can make your dermatologist prescribe you a super fancy retinol cream that’ll make your face look like you’re wearing Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s skin, but like why do that when you can just roll up to your local cheap-o drug store and see results?
11. Drinking water and sleeping more
We know you’re really tired of hearing this one but you know why every single celebrity says their secret to good skin is drinking water and getting 8 hours of sleep a night?
Because it fucking works.
Seriously, even if you can just pick one day a week to get all your beauty rest and drink 2-3 liters of water, when you wake up in the morning and look at your face, you will look better.
You won’t look perfect, but you’ll look a hell of a lot better than you do most mornings after getting 4 hours of sleep and barely squeezing in a glass of water between all the coffee and alcohol.
Honestly, it’s easier and cheaper to just suck it up and buy some makeup.
Following all these no makeup tricks will cost you anywhere from between $2,994 to infinity a year, which is just out of the question unless you have rich parents, a sugar daddy, or one of those high-paying jobs I’ve read about in books and seen on the TV.
Even when you’re not wearing makeup, beauty is still a pain.
Sorry about it.
