In a Pinch: 16 Great Beauty Product Substitutes

I’m all about getting creative with your beauty routine, and on those days when you’ve forgotten to slip the one cosmetics product you must have right now in your makeup bag, knowing what to use as the perfect pinch hitter counts.

Check out my list of sixteen beauty product substitutes for those MacGyver moments:

1. No cuticle oil in your repertoire? Switch in olive oil, lip balm, or petroleum jelly.
2. If you left your mascara at home, use black liquid eyeliner instead. Simply swish the brush over the bottoms of your top lashes, then dab off the excess with a cotton ball or tissue.
3. Forgot the liner instead? Use the mascara on a small eyeshadow sponge or Q-tip to dot color carefully right on top of the lash line.
4. Any facial moisturizers, night creams, eye creams or other moisture-infusing wonders translate to softening the rest of your bod and work just fine when used as foot cream, hand cream, etc. (Note: this does not go both directions. Body moisturizers tend to gunk up your pores when used on your face.)
5. Need to fix some drippy self-tanner or just add some shadow to a puffy-looking jawline? Use last summer’s too-dark foundation.
6. In the absence of lipstick, use your cream blush to tint lips.
7. Got lipstick, but no cheek color? Warm the lipstick with hot breath or by rubbing it between your fingers, then rub on cheeks for an instant glow. This one’s a classic!
8. If you’ve run out of toner, lemon juice works as a natural astringent.
9. Use a brown eyeshadow to fill in wimpy brows without brow powder.
10. What’s that? No eyeshadow? Use the brow powder on your lids, or even your cream blush.
11. Almost everyone knows that hair conditioner makes a great shaving cream in a pinch. Try it and check out your supersoft legs!
12. A smidgen of moisturizer defrizzes hair almost as well as Frizz-Ease.
13. Forgotten to cover up? Pressed powder blended with moisturizer is a great stand-in for concealer.
14. A little shine serum doubles as a light brow gel.
15. No bath salts in sight? Epsom salt or baking soda will work just fine. (Add a little essential oil in your favorite fragrance to the mix if it’s not girly enough for you.)
16. Your hubby’s or dad’s old tackle box will make a fine train case – and maybe he’ll stop fishing.