Given I'm strapped for cash this month again, my budget for beauty products is pretty small. So I thought I'd see just how many essentials I can get for just £10. And to make it more challenging I went to Boots of all places.

It turns out that all I can do for £10 is get my body and hair clean.  Anything more elaborate needs an extra cash injection.  Still, I got some essentials and they weren't all Boots own brand.

For cleaning my hair ...

Even your everyday brands of shampoo like Pantene and Treseme tend to come it at £3-£4 a pop, so I had to rule them all out and give Boots own brand a try. Their Classic Care Provitamin shampoo and conditioner is just £1.99 per item for 400ml and there is a 2-4-1 deal on it at the moment.

I tried them both out last night. They smell nice, not unlike their branded cousins, and got my hair clean and comb-ready. My hair type is fine, straight, thick, long, which means that not all shampoos and conditioners work for me but this was fine. The only slight problem is that my hair is a bit too static today, which means I probably need to do some trial and error on the amount and placement of the conditioner.

For cleaning my body ...

Damn but did this stuff smell good. Radox Nourish Shower Cream has shea butter and ginger in it, a nice combination along with its creamy texture. For me, one budget shower gel/cream is much the same as another so it's the scent that really counts. No-one wants to smell cheap.

It's currently going for just 99p for 250ml. I might go back and stock up on some more!

To keep my skin soft ...

Finding a body moisturiser was a more tricky prospect.  There are of course some very cheap options, but you really get what you pay for. So I hunted for a bargain among the brands. I still had £7 to spend after all.

I finally settled on Dove Firming & Nourishing Lotion, the smaller 250ml bottle not the cost efficient larger size. It was £2.66 but I felt that with the firming element I was getting a bit more bang for my buck.  It felt very nice going on my skin after my shower and although I doubt it will make my skin firmer, it definitely felt softer.

For cleaning my face ...

To make this a realistic beauty shop I had to include a facial wash on my list and it had to be something that I would use daily not just a quick fix or something that would gather dust in my bathroom cabinet. So no foaming washes aimed at teenagers or boots own facial cleansing wipes, which is unfortunate since thoser were way cheaper!

I plumped for Olay Age-defying Milk which at £3.99 was my most expensive choice but of the various options also the best value for money I could see.  I've used this before and really like it - it's kind to my skin and leaves it feeling clean and moisturised.

For maintaining the illusion of being fresh and clean ...

Here is where I made a bit of an error. I didn't want to complete this shop without including a deodorant. But deodorants and antiperspirants are bloody expensive and the only way to get a cheaper one is to buy a mini-size. So I scanned the shelf for ages deliberating on what to do. I had less than a pound left after all. But should I risk a roll on or go with something that reminds me of my teenage years like Soft and Gentle? Or maybe a Boots own brand version?

Not smelling like a hobo is something that matters to me though, especially at work, so I couldn't bring myself to make that compromise. And then I thought I saw an anomaly and awesome bargain. The Nivea deodorants were all more than £2 but there was one label in amongst them that said £1. And with time growing short, I had to go for it. But when I got to the till the total came to just over £12 and I realised that all my careful planning had gone awry.

I'd bought the Nivea Calm and Care antiperspirant but it cost £2.15 not £1. Doh!

Epic Fail?

Even though I didn't manage to get this stuff for £10, the mitigating factor (and what hopefully made this more realistic) was that I did my shopping at a smallish branch of Boots. For true bargain hunting I should have gone to a large store with more options. 

For example, if I'd wanted Olay cleanser, I could have bought the Gentle Cleansers Conditioning Milk for £1.99 if I'd been at a larger store.  Or as a body moisturiser, Garnier do a lovely one - the Intensive 7 Days Body Lotion - which is on offer at just £2.09 at the moment.

And as for those essentials that were missing? Facial moisturiser, lip balm, handcream etc.  Well make I can eke out my purchases over 2 months and in March spend my £10 on those items instead.

RL xx

p.s. As a contrast I might do the same thing at Poundland next time and see if I can come back with any decent stuff!