Reddit users find creative ways to repurpose skincare stashes as tariffs hike prices on popular beauty brands.
As tariffs on imported skincare products begin to hit consumers, Redditors are rallying to use everything they’ve bought and abandoned. In a post on the r/30PlusSkinCare subreddit, u/greengirl213 asked, “How to use up your unloved skincare products?” The question led to an influx of thrifty beauty and cleaning hacks. She shared some of her own, such as using unusable deodorant as a solid perfume or face wash to clean makeup brushes.
With trade tensions between the U.S. and several Asian countries escalating, many skincare lovers now face higher prices on their favorite brands. Earlier this year, new tariffs on Chinese and Korean goods sent prices climbing, forcing consumers to reevaluate their spending.
Check out 26 ways Redditors recommend repurposing old or unloved beauty products in creative ways:
1.
“Face Cream/Serum: Use it as a body/hand/foot cream. I had a big tub of the First Aid Beauty cream that just didn’t work for my face. It sat in my cabinet until I ran out of my hand cream and decided to use the FAB cream as a replacement. Works perfectly.”
—u/greengirl213
2.
“Suncreen: Use it on your body/extremities. I have a couple sunscreens I didn’t love on my face for whatever reason, I toss them in my beach bag and use them on my hands, neck, ears, feet.”
—u/greengirl213
3.
“Exfoliants: Use to exfoliate your feet or your elbows/ankles before self tanning. I use cotton rounds to apply any liquid exfoliants.”
—u/greengirl213
4.
“Perfume/Body Spray: If you really don’t like a scent, this won’t work, but I’ve had a few scents that clashed with my body chemistry but that I enjoyed otherwise. I use these sometimes as a room spray/sheet spray in my bedroom.”
5.
“It sounds weird, but any acid-based chemical exfoliants you don’t like on your face can be used on your underarms. Removing the dead skin cuts down on odors (the dead skin is food for bacteria). Just don’t use it after you’ve recently shaved!
“I’m also super pale and get those weird dark marks on my legs from slightly ingrown hairs – chemical exfoliants also work great to prevent that.”—u/Treat_Choself
6.
7.
“I use a cleansing oil I didn’t love to get rid of deodorant build up before I shave my armpits. I was finding that when I shaved the deodorant would get all caked in the razor blades. So now, I rub some of the cleansing oil under my arms before I get in the shower to remove the build up before I shave!”—u/greengirl213
8.
“This may be a stupidly narrow use case, but I used the cleansing balm i don’t love to remove an impossible to get off paper sticker from some plastic packaging I wanted to reuse. […] Had to wash it about four times after to get all the oil off, but it totally worked as well as goo gone without having to go buy some goo gone! Cleansing oil should work the same, if not even better!”—u/Treat_Choself
9.
“Any skincare that doesn’t work for my face gets used on the rest of my body. Except cleansers – I use cleansers to clean my makeup brushes/sponges.”—u/privatecaboosey
10.
“I used an oil serum that made me break out as a hair treatment!”—u/International_Pie776
11.
“Not necessarily skin care…I love foam soap pumpers. We have soften water so we need less soap and those foamers are just watered down soap. I fill the bottle about 1/8th full with real liquid soap and the rest with water. […] This works in the kitchen with dish soap, too.”—u/sparklebuttduh
12.
13.
“They also go really fast on Buy Nothing groups. I was also in grad school forever & living poor makes you frugal, but putting stuff out there into the universe before it goes bad is good for you, and the Buy Nothing groups may also help you sometimes.”—u/Beth_Bee2
14.
“[M]ake convenience kits of extras products and leave them in lots of locations that you use regularly. I have a makeup and skincare kit in my car, another one in my purse, one in my pool/gym bag, and another one in my office. […] Each kit has concealer, deodorant, sunscreen, blush, perfume, Altoids, tampons, lotion, lip balm, and lipstick at a minimum.”—u/mellowmadre
15.
“Love the ideas! Try using a peppermint or mentholated shampoo on your underarms and underboobs! It helps keep you fresh all day, and no deodorant is needed if your underarm skin is sensitive.”—u/rmr22
16.
17.
“I use facial mists I didn’t love as linen sprays. Makes my room smell spa-like for free lol.”—u/MotorbikeKing28
18.
“I use my non-fav moisturizers as body cream and it’s very effective in putting everything to good use! Helps deplete my bottles before their expiry date”—u/AlwaysOnTheGO88
19.
20.
“Body wash – most of body washes are drying so I only use Dove but i do try new things on occasion and it never works out
. So I just mix two washes together Dove + the other one.”—u/Hope5577
21.
22.
“I use the ordinary glycolic acid for my scalp. Where I live, we have hard water and even though I use a clarifying shampoo, it just doesn’t get all the minerals out and I get dandruff. So it’s nice to use it when I remember, usually 1,2 times a month and it’s really worked wonders.”—u/o0meow0o
23.
“You can also use conditioner if you accidentally shrink a sweater or something, hand wash it, rub some conditioner on it, stretch it gently back out and finish washing and drying like normal.”—u/cremecrulee
24.
“I saw a video recently of someone hosting a ‘fallen soldiers party’ with their girlfriends. Everyone brings their unused products and trades them! Sounded like a cool idea”—u/jlane2952
25.
26.
“Generally I use it up on my body in some way here are some examples…
- Cleansers I don’t like get used up as hand or body wash
- moisturizers I don’t like get used on my body
- Any exfoliant/active/serum/treatment I don’t like for my face gets used up all over by body. I do this with acids, retinoids, hydrating serums, etc.
- Shampoo that doesn’t work for my hair as body wash, conditioner as shaving cream
- sunscreens that don’t work for my face become body sunscreens… or I keep one in my purse to use on my hands when I’m out.”—u/la_louve_capetienne
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