Hunting for Beauty Bargains on Campus

The majority of college students live within the gloomy confines of a limited budget. I’m not justifying the amount of cheap Ramen Noodles that are consumed by my peers, but even I feel the constraints of a small wallet. I especially struggle with how to balance beauty product buys.

Sure, my parents are no longer paying the highest tuition in the nation since I transferred from NYU, but I’m still not showered with allowance, particularly not for frivolous luxury items (though who says Chanel lipstick is not a necessity?). Coming from a school surrounded by over 250 Duane Reade convenience stores, though, I now consider myself somewhat of an expert on beauty bargain buys.

I have yet to see a Duane Reade, but I have already stumbled upon a multitude of other great stores with worthy products at Ramen Noodle prices. Several of them are even on campus! Rejoice those of you who are car-less (or inexplicably loathe the TCAT). It gets even better, though. Most of us, as students, have Cornell cards that feature Big Red Bucks; these imaginary dollars can translate into big time bargain bonuses in most of the on-campus stores.

Next time you feel like working out (how does one ever feel like working out?), check out Jansen’s Market. It is located on the first floor of Noye’s Community Center on West Campus. It features shower soaps, lip balms, various minor medical remedies; you also may reward yourself with a Yolato frozen-yogurt from their fro-yo machine, since you are saving so much money on self-maintenance. The Robert Purcell Community Center on North Campus also houses Bear Necessities (fondly referred to as Nasties), which, like Jansen’s, sells shampoos, lip balms, soaps and scrubs. You really have no excuse not to check it out whenever you’re lacking in beauty aids, snacks, and, most importantly, dollar bills.

On Central Campus, the Campus Store is a great and convenient resource. Of course, you’ve shopped with your mom and dad and humored them as they bought everything from fine China to bumper stickers bearing corny slogans, but you may not know about the convenience store located on the lower level. There are, like the stores on North and West Campus, a variety of necessary beauty aids and products, as well as the equally necessary candy bars, frozen foods and drinks. So stop in into the Cornell Store, grab another souvenir tee for mom, then head downstairs for a restock on Burt’s Bees, Cobalt gum (an absolute essential in every girl’s purse) and a Naked smoothie, because the fridge does have delicious healthy products, too. 

In addition to the amazing campus convenience options, there are a multitude of cheap, reliable, everything stores located within a four mile radius of campus. So, yes, I am telling it to you straight: you have no reason to be going broke on beauty during your time at Cornell. If you really can’t find what your hair needs on campus, spend $4.99 for a 14 ounce bottle of Head and Shoulders at your local Target (which is less than 10 minutes away). You may feel awkward wondering if your room-mate suspects you have dandruff, but no other shampoo gets your hair cleaner, and that price is unbeatable.

To the Cornell fashionistas and drama-queens, you can look dark and sophisticated this fall on the quad (or for an evening in Collegetown) wearing $6.50 CoverGirl Lip-Perfection lipstick, available for purchase at CVS, which is a mere five minutes away. This, along with other Covergirl products, was used in the Viktor and Rolf Fall 2012 Runway show [3]! Bargain beauty is everywhere, in all places convenient to the Cornellian on campus.