Beauty secrets for nurses (at a pretty price!)

The model who used to proclaim “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” should have also added: “And it sure ain’t cheap to be beautiful.”

As anyone who has a drawer full of cosmetics and a bathroom filled with lotions and potions knows, we spend a ton of money (more than $160 billion a year) on what we believe will make us look younger and more beautiful. But we’re all looking for ways to stay looking great but maybe for less money.

The good news: There are a lot of ways to cut down on costly products that often work just as well as some quick, easy and cheap products. If you’re looking for ways to maximize your hard-earned nurse salary and still look gorgeous, try these:

1. Multi-tasking. You often do more than one thing at a time, so why can’t your makeup products? If your gray is peeking through at the roots, you can do a quick and easy touch up with black or brown mascara. The wand allows you to put on a thin layer, just where you need it.

If your eyebrows are thinning a bit (something we enjoy as we get older), use brown eye shadow to fill in the gaps. It looks more natural than drawing them in with a pencil. And baby powder can be used as face powder: Just dip your powder brush in, blow off the excess and you’ve got a face powder that smells baby fresh!

2. Looking in the kitchen. Mixing baking soda, or sugar, with olive oil or a product like Cetaphil provides a great exfoliator without over drying the skin. In fact, you can also use your homemade product on rough feet, hands and elbows.

3. Taming expensive hair products. These days, hair products promise to do everything but the laundry, and some can be quite expensive. To calm frizzies, rub lotion on your hands, and when almost absorbed, lightly smooth your hair with your hands. This is a great trick when you’re on the go and can’t carry hair products with you.

Or put olive oil in your hair, don a plastic shower cap and sit in the sun for 15 minutes. The heat and oil will provide a deep conditioning treatment for pennies. Then wash and style as usual.

4. Targeting rough hands. One of the areas that most reveals age is our hands. Forget expensive manicures! To give hands a smoother look, put on Aquaphor before bedtime (making sure to concentrate on dry cuticles) and then wear plastic or cotton gloves to bed.

When applying sunscreen, don’t finish by wasting leftover product and wiping your hands on a towel, but by making sure your hands are equally covered. This will help keep your hands moisturized and prevent future sun damage.