With regard to personal grooming, there are about as many ways to be femme as there are femmes. Some of us are product junkies, some of us aren’t. Some of us are extremely high maintenance, some are quite low maintenance. I’m somewhere in between.

Before we get started, butches and tweeners are more welcome to use all the ideas and products that I talk about. I know you won’t but one can only hope.

Even medium maintenance can be expensive. All the lotions and potions, products and what-have-you. There are ways to do it less expensively. I am, as it happens, something of an expert. As The Ex can testify, I have probably spent $20,000 over the last 10 years or so. I have been peeled and scrubbed, I have lotioned and serumed and who knows what all else.

Since I am obsessed with skincare myself, we’ll start there.
I’ve used damned near every brand of skincare products known to man – from La Mer (the ridiculously expensive) to Mary Kay and everything in between. I *want* to use an organic, all-natural line but, thus far, all of them that I have used have made me break out. Sadly. I had high hopes for the newish Burt’s Bees anti-acne line but it didn’t work for me.

I tell you all that to demonstrate the irony of what I’m about to tell you. The best thing I’ve ever used to wash my face with is so ridiculously cheap and you can get it at Target. It is …

The experts say that facial cleanser doesn’t need to be expensive because it doesn’t stay on the skin long enough for any of the special ingredients to be effective. For example, you likely don’t need an alpha-hydroxy acid cleanser since the acids won’t have time to work.
Scrubs can cost an arm, a leg and your right kidney but don’t buy those. The best scrub I’ve ever used is baking soda. Yes, baking soda. You can either mix it with your Purpose or just add a bit of water to it to make a paste and use it like any scrub.

Lotions can cost hundreds of dollars and those can be worth it. However, if you can’t spend your money that way, then I’d recommend this:

This lotion feels really good, does a good job of moisturizing and doesn’t clog pores. I have pretty oily skin and this works well for me. I try out other things but I always come back to Aveeno, especially after something makes me break out. Another good thing about Aveeno is that you can use it on your entire body. It’s affordable and works well. If you have very dry skin, this might not be moisturizing enough.

There are different lotions for nearly every body part. For example, you don’t need a separate eye cream. Your regular facial moisturizer will work just fine. If you want a special eye cream, and you can afford it, there’s no reason not to use one. It’s just not, strictly speaking, necessary.

Of course, one could argue that none of this is, strictly speaking, necessary. I know people who have gorgeous skin who don’t do a damned thing. Those people need to shut the hell up. Just sayin’.

In upcoming posts, I’ll write about other ways you can do femme on a budget. More products, for sure, but also clothes and other things. What do you spend too much money on? Where would you like to save?

And I need a better name than “Femme on a Budget.” Got any ideas?