In an effort to trim the fat from my spending budget during January, I’ve made it my mission to try less expensive versions of my everyday essentials.

I was on a mission to find a new, inexpensive body lotion the other day and stumbled across a brand called Pure Innosense, which caught my eye mainly because it had the bargain price tag of $2.

Unfortunately I accidentally picked up the gradual tanner body lotion instead of the straight formulation (unfortunate because I’ve sworn off all forms of self-tanning). I gave it a go this morning anyway because I figure if I exfoliate everyday, then I won’t suffer any gradual tanning.

I’m pretty pleased with the results. My skin feels suitably moisturised and the smell is quite inoffensive. If there are no adverse effects from prolonged use, I may have a new favourite here. Of course next time I will invest my $2 in the lotion WITHOUT self-tanner in it.

Plus, some good news for anyone who is into natural products - this New Zealand brand only uses plant-derived ingredients, essential oils and extracts. That means no parabens, artificial colourings and other nasties that most supermarket brands have in them.

By Caroline Warnes

Trying to blow your last $20 before pay day? I advise investing your money in one of these smart beauty buys…

1. Maybelline XXL Curl Power mascara, $15.99 at Chemist Warehouse: As mentioned earlier this week, the new Maybelline mascara looks to be a beauty - and it’s already on sale at various discount pharmacies. Save $4 at your nearest Chemist Warehouse.

2. Dove Summer Glow body lotion, $5.75 at Cincotta Chemist: This body lotion-cum-gradual tanner will give you soft skin as well as gradually add a touch of natural-looking tan to your skin. The fragrance is quite pleasant, too.

3. Elizabeth Arden Sunflowers EDT, $12.99 at My Chemist: It may not be quite in the same calibre as Chanel or Dior fragrances, but at $12.99 you can’t go wrong with this sweet-smelling fragrance for everyday use.

4. Hamilton Everyday Face SPF 30+ moisturiser, $9.99 at Amcal: This is a great price for this combined tinted moisturiser and sunscreen, which is light and non-greasy on delicate facial skin.

5. Vaseline Treatment hand cream, $3.95 at Cincotta Chemist: If it was good enough for our mothers to cure dry skin on the hands, then it’s good enough for me. And so cheap. I use it every night before bed.

6. Organic coconut oil, under $20 at health food stores: Organic coconut oil is a miracle product that I use to moisturise dry hair and skin, though there are thousands of others uses as well. One tub will last you forever as you don’t need much of it to get results.

7. Fish oil capsules, $12.99 at Chemist Warehouse and My Chemist: A couple of fish oil capsules a day will supply all kinds of oily fish goodness to your skin and hair, as well as help with aches and pains in the joints. I already have arthritis, no joke, and this helps.

8. Bio-Oil, $11.99 at Amcal: Many women swear by this inexpensive beauty buy for fading scars and stretchmarks, as well as for its general moisturising properties.

9. Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, under $10 at most pharmacies: An inexpensive moisturiser for the body that has the added bonus of making you smell like a mug of hot chocolate, if that’s your thing.

10. Simmons Paw Paw salve, under $10 at most health food stores: My all time favourite beauty product. This can be used for everything from dry elbows to dry feet to nappy rash… well, I can’t swear by the nappy rash thing but I’ve heard this is the case from a lot of mums. I prefer the Simmons brand of paw paw ointment as it contains no petroleum.

By Caroline Warnes

Johnson’s Holiday Skin was the first gradual tanner-cum-body moisturiser to hit supermarkets back in 2005, and it created a sensation when first released.

It was revolutionary for its sub-$10 price tag, its ease of application and the fact that you could build a tan graudally as well as keep your skin moisturised at the same time (the product is essentially moisturiser with a little fake tan included).

In fact, Holiday Skin quickly sold out soon after its arrival in supermarkets and was difficult to get hold of for a couple of months.

But then competitors quickly followed suit and Holiday Skin lost market share, largely due to the fact that several of the newer formulations were considered slightly better.

I originally gave up on Holiday Skin because of the strong smell of the product, the slightly orange tinge after a few days and the fact that the cream was a little runny. Dove Summer Glow proved to be a better option on all fronts.

The other day I couldn’t get hold of any Dove so decided to give Holiday Skin another go. The product has been reformulated since it was first release and overall, there has definitely been improvement.

The colour is much better now - the normal to dark formulation gave me nice and even brown coverage. In fact, Holiday Skin may slightly outperform Dove Summer Glow in this respect. But the cream is still fairly runny, which I don’t like, and my God, the smell - I think it’s gotten worse.

One caveat with fake tans and smell: just like perfumes, different lotions smell different on everyone so it’s best to test it out for yourself. For me, Dove still comes out on top.

Click here to find offers on Johnson’s products from retailers near you.

By Caroline Warnes

Frankly anyone who still persists in sunbaking with all we know about the harmful effects of UV on the skin has to have rocks in their head.

And as if the fact that sunbaking can kill you isn’t bad enough, there’s also the premature ageing factor. Who really wants to look like a leather handbag before the age of 40?

If you do like a bit of colour on your skin, the best (and in my opinion only) way to go about it is with fake tan. Even though some tanning lotions do have a funny smell or streak, it’s still far preferable to ending up with cancers all over your skin. And luckily these days tanning formulas are improving every year.

Napoleon Perdis has just announced that next month another product will be added to its range of sunless tanners. The Summer Sun Self Tanning Spray is described as a blend of “colour-enhancing botanicals, moisturising agents and enriching vitamins”. The formula also includes chicory extract, Vitamin E and aloe vera to moisturise and revitalise the skin.

It comes in an aerosol spray to help wtih an even distribution, though I’ve found in the past that these aerosol products still need to be smoothed out by hand. It will retail for $35.

Napoleon Perdis also has some other nice self-tanning products, including Self Tan Mousse and Tan Enhancer (both RRP $40).

By Caroline Warnes

Beige. White. Taupe. Pale. And even translucent are all part of my winter forecast for the season’s latest “it” colours…for your skin, that is.

I know I’m not the only one with a complexion complex. In a bottle, on the beach, or in a bed, the fake bake has become a staple for the everyday woman and Hollywood heavyweights alike.

But recreating the Oompa-Loompa faces of Victoria Beckham or Donatella Versace? I’m over it. Tanorexics need not read forward.

It is officially time to release your perma-tan and go au naturel like porcelain beauties Dita Von Teese, Nicole Kidman and Marcia Cross.

Fellow light-skinned lady, Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts has just released a makeup collection to meet the needs of the fairest of them all. The UK popstar found that cosmetic counters weren’t offering any options to these ivory angels. So she created a product that would flatter even the whitest of skin tones. Dainty Doll collection for Jelly Pong Pong is a fresh new line that caters strictly to those with milky-makeup needs.

The line features foundation, concealer, cheekbone enhancer, eye shadow, and lip gloss each with a pale and flawless finish. The foundation had me instantly scrubbing off the last layers of my spray tan.As an added bonus, the price won?t have you turning red in the face. It retails for $13 - $25 AUD. Dainty Doll is obtainable online at www.jellypongpong.com.

So this winter, as the sun and warm weather fade away, accept that your tan will probably fade too. And try to value your newfound pale luminosity. I’m going to.

Dainty Doll Must Haves:

Foundation - The pale tones of this mouse with a matte finish keep light skin feeling luminous and moisturized. Available in Porcelain, Ivory and White $25.

Concealer - Thick, heavily pigmented concealer covers those imperfections and dark circles that accompany a lighter skin tone. Available in Fair and Natural $17.

Blush & Contour ? A soft blush and shadow enhancer to give you a touch of colour without looking too fierce. Available in Blossom and Bloom $21.

By Christie Kiely

Yesterday I received the latest issue of Shop Til You Drop magazine in the mail and after looking at the cover, I found myself irrationally angered by the cover image of Lindsay Lohan.

Now don’t get me wrong, STYD is a good magazine with some great shopping tips in it, and I don’t usually fly into a rage over their choice of cover star. It was just this particular photo of Ms Lohan really triggered something in me.

I am so sick of Lindsay Lohan and I don’t understand why anyone is interested in seeing or hearing about her anymore, let alone reading about her style in a shopping magazine. Because let’s face it, she has none.

I am not just referring to her well-documented bad behaviour, though that is a big part of it. Multiple trips to rehab, drink driving incidents, drug scandals and sex tapes, all before she reached the age of 21 - definitely not stylish. However add to that the fact that her look is just - well - tired, and I am seriously having issues wondering why anyone would go out and buy something in a magazine just because La Lohan wore it.

A few reasons why I am sick of Lindsay Lohan:

1. I am not the first person to note that she has barely been seen out of a pair of leggings in the past 12 months. I am not a big fan of leggings at the best of times, but wearing them every day is beyond ridiculous. One has to wonder, does she have a whole wardrobe full of black leggings, or is it the same pair? Does she ever take them off? Are they chemically fused to her legs? If she was in a car accident would they need to be cut off with surgical instruments? Note to Lindsay Lohan: at least put on a skirt over your leggings. They’re not pants. They’re leggings. Hence the name.

2. The infamous Lohan dirty face. I really want to grab a face washer and clean it for her. Another note to Lindsay Lohan: if you’re going to put fake tan on your face, you should also scrub off some of the layers occasionally. It makes you look at least twice your age.

3. That insipid blonde-coloured hair she insists on getting around with. It’s all a bit last decade, really. In fact I’m almost sure she took in a photo of the entire cast of Models,Inc to her hairdresser last time for a copycat colour and cut. She used to have a really lovely natural auburn colour. Why not embrace it?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that it’s time for the media to realise that celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and the like no longer have a place on our fashion and shopping pages - if we must hear about them at all, let’s save it for the gossip rags where we can all experience a healthy dose of schadenfreude as we read about their latest personal misfortunes.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

By Caroline Warnes

Gradual tanning moisturisers have become all the rage for the past few years.

They’re a fantastic way to get a gradual, subtle tan affordably and easily - all you have to do is apply every morning as you would a regular body moisturiser, and by the second or third day your skin will look slightly tanned. Most tanning moisturisers are sold in supermarkets and chemists for under $10.

I’ve tried most of the supermarket brands in my time and so far the benchmark for me has been Dove Summer Glow - it looks natural, doesn’t smell strongly of fake tan and is a nice consistency.

However I was excited to hear that Palmer’s was coming out with a tanning moisturiser - I have loved Palmer’s body moisturisers with cocoa butter for years. They’re great value and cocoa butter is so moisturising.

I do love this product’s colour when initially applied, however it does start to become patchy when it wears off. The smell can also be a little overpowering - it leaves a rich chocolatey smell, which isn’t unpleasant but can be distracting throughout the course of the day. Also on the plus side for this product is the pump pack, which makes it convenient to apply.

Overall, Dove Summer Glow is still my preferred tanning moisturiser, however the Palmer’s also rates very highly.

Click here to find offers on Palmer’s products near you.

By Caroline Warnes

Fake tan is the only way to achieve a healthy colour without exposing yourself to the sun and doing irreparable damage to your skin.

Dove Summer Glow is one of the more affordable fake tan options around. It mixes a small amount of self-tanning agent with a luscious moisturiser to give you soft skin with a hint of colour.

The lotion can be applied daily to build your tan gradually and is available in two varieties: one for fair to normal skin, and one for normal to darker skin. The colour looks extremely natural and doesn’t streak like some other self-tanners tend to.

Another bonus is that there is no fake tan smell - some other tanning products on the market have a distinctive smell that lingers throughout the day.

Dove Summer Glow won’t rub off on your sheets or clothes, and best of all it’s an extremely affordable way to get a healthy summer tan all year around. It’s my favourite of all the gradual moisturisers.

Click here to find offers on Dove products near you.

By Caroline Warnes