CHEAP TRICKS FOR BEAUTY\Even if you're tapped out from the holidays, with a bit imagination\- and a visit to some off-price stores - you can get a new look\for very little.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Staff Writer

New year, new you.

It sounds good. But if you're cash-poor from the holidays or you've maxed out your plastic, a trip to the spa, the hair salon or even your favorite cosmetic counter may be off limits.

Conjure up some cheap beauty tricks. At drugstores and other off-price spots such as Kmart, Target and beauty suppliers, you can get a new look for very little.

Instead of a massage, soothe away stress with dime store aromatherapy products in the tub, then buff yourself to perfection with exfoliating bathtub gloves made by Tranquility Bay. Their rough fiber rubs off dead skin cells, and at $4 a pair, they're cheaper than a professional facial or a tube of exfoliating cream. But do it gently with soapy hands.

After you've scrubbed all that dead skin off, this is the time to slather on some quick-tanning lotions, which Coppertone and Revlon now make for about $8, about half the price of designer labels such as Clarins.

Fashion magazines are pushing blue eye shadow. But why pay $20 for a novelty shade you'll wear two, three times max, before you start feeling like a bad girl from the '60s.

At the drugstore you can buy a bright blue eyeliner pencil for 99 cents and simply line your eyes for the designer look, or smudge a bit on your finger and rub on lids for brighter eyes.

Other nostalgic beauty tricks making a comeback are Max Factor's PanStick makeup for $6.95, Bonne Bell's gel blush for $3.89, and orange nail polish from Wet 'n' Wild, Revlon and others for as little as $1.29. If you buy your orange polish on the cheap, use your good base coat and top coat to keep it from chipping off. And for that fresh face you've been hearing about, try Revlon's new tinted moisturizer for $7.49 without a dusting of translucent powder (matte faces are out), then add a tad of lip gloss, like the Juicy Watermelon shade from the new Jane collection or the old Lip Smackers. In a pinch, mash and mix a bit of old lipstick with Vaseline for shiny lips.

While you're looking at the cosmetics, check out those little applicator wands with the foam pads. They're meant for eye shadows, but they work really well as eyeliner brushes to give a soft, smudged finish. Then use a fat round brush, about the diameter of your thumb, to sweep color across your eyelids. You can find them for about $1, and they work much better than any of the applicators or brushes sold with eye shadows, especially if you use your liquid foundation over your eyes first.

If you get a stiff brow brush with a slanted end you can brush color onto your brows instead of drawing them in with a pencil, which creates a harsh look. Then blend the color with one of those little lash-brow combs, brushing the hairs up and trimming any strays with manicure scissors.

Barrettes and headbands also are back for that ladylike look of the mid-'60s, and they're very cool on slightly flipped hair. Sure, wide bands are best, but if you'll settle for a narrower model, you can get the latest look for about $3. When looking at barrettes, go right past the suede and plastic kiddie colors and pick the mock tortoise or pearl-trimmed styles. These babies are about $2, compared with similar styles sold for $15 at department stores.

Don't think all hair ornaments are in. Those big barrettes worn on low ponytails are out, and so are those big clippies and the fabric-covered elastic ponytail holders kids wear on their wrists.

Whether it's barrettes or bands, you'll want to try the new flip that looks like the 'do worn by Mary Tyler Moore as early Mary Richards on Nick at Nite. To see how you like it without spending a fortune at the salon, invest in some colorful Velcro rollers modeled after the orange juice cans used in the '60s. They come in different sizes for about $3 per package. The rule of thumb is the longer your hair, the bigger the roller, but don't expect the crisp curl you get with a curling iron, as these rollers are meant to give just a little curl to the ends.

Another style to save money on by practicing at home is the French twist and top knot associated with Audrey Hepburn, whose retro style is looking new again.

To learn how, there's a new gadget called Hairdini - about $17 in beauty-supply stores - that includes a wired foam cushion that you roll your hair over to create a perfect twist or other upswept 'do. All-thumbs types will get extra help with the video that's enclosed. For cheaper versions without the instruction guide, check out the old-fashioned wire forms for about $4 that look like doughnuts and wedges.

Now, about those little crows' feet around the eyes. Plastic surgeons can perform magic, but the rest of us will have to rely on eight glasses of water a day, cucumber slices to relieve puffiness, creams with alpha hydroxy ingredients to minimize the lines and a light dusting of matte white eye shadow under the brows and eyes to give the illusion of youthful eyes.

When you're feeling flush again, you may want to try the newest magic potion called Osmotics, which are transdermal patches of vitamin C that you place under your eyes to slowly remove wrinkles. A two-week supply of these little "derms" costs $48 at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.

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Photo (1--Color) Freshen up for the new year with a pair of Tranquility Bay Bath Gloves, $3.99, to exfoliate dead skin cells and stimulate circulation, then top off a new 'do with a spring green headband by Kids, $3.99. (2--Color) To get that sleek, flipped 'do, roll towel-dried hair in big rollers by Goody, $3.19, from Target, Kmart, Sav-On and Thrifty stores. (3--Color) Designer looks for less include tortoise-shell-style barrettes, priced at 99 cents for three, and pearl-trimmed barrettes, two for $2.99. Both styles by Philips at Target stores. (4--Color) New beauty tricks include Revlon's skin-tone moisturizer Tinted Face Cream for $7.99; a lash and brow groomer by Tranquility Bay for $1.29 to blend brow color and stray hairs for a finished look; a touch of blue with a Wet 'n' Wild eyeliner pencil, 99 cents, that's smudged with Mon Image eye makeup applicators, 99 cents for six. To keep your hair out of your face while applying makeup, try colorful Pin-Ups at $1.09 for a package of 36 hair pins. John McCoy/Daily News