Makeup On a Budget – Part 1

Hello everyone!

Last week I did a skincare on a budget blog post, this week I will be doing a makeup on a budget blog post! Same rules apply, all products will be $20 and under! I have decided to split this into two because it was way too long haha. Part one will feature:

• Brows
• Foundation
• Setting products
• Blush
• Bronzer

Part two will feature:

• Highlighter
• Eyeliner
• Eyeshadow
• Mascara

Brows:

Brows are so important these days! If I am not wearing a full face, I at least always have my brows on. There are so many brow products on the market these days, but I just want to share some of my favourites:

• Savvy by DB Brow Liner ($6.99) – I have raved about this brow pencil for ages so I will keep this short. Comes with a spoolie and it is a triangular tip, I prefer this over my more expensive brow products because it’s so affordable and gets the job done!
• Essence Make Me Brow Gel ($5) – Great product to just fill in the brows nice and easy. Not sure if it’s getting discontinued or anything because I’ve seen less of it around, so maybe try your luck in stores if online doesn’t have your shade!
• Revolution Brow Tint ($12.50) – Another product I have talked enough about, click here for my review!

Foundation/concealer:

Again, so many options available, so many finishes. Picking a foundation and a concealer is hard, sometimes brands make a matching concealer to the foundation, which makes it a little easier. Since this is more of a personal choice, I’ll just list some great affordable options below!

Foundation:

• Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation ($18.95) – This has a pretty decent shade range compared to other drugstore foundations. It claims to be a perfect match for most skin tones and is quite affordable as well! To be honest, when I was looking for affordable foundations, it was pretty hard because most were about $25 and above. Thank goodness Rimmel has some fairly affordable ones! / This also comes in a matching concealer, Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer ($13.95) – the shades aren’t as extensive though.
• Australis Fresh and Flawless Foundation ($19.95) – Personally not a huge fan of this formula, but it is quite well received on Instagram. They have repackaged their F & F range and included a liquid foundation. This isn’t too bad for the price, and the shade range is quite extensive as well…well for drugstore at least. / It also has an accompanying concealer, Australis Fresh and Flawless Concealer ($13.95) – shades also aren’t too extensive here.
• Revolution Conceal and Define Foundation ($18) – I quite like this formula, and they have a great shade range. This comes in a doe foot applicator, so trying it in store may be a bit difficult/not the most hygienic. It’s not too bad for the price, I am quite a fan of Revolution products. / It also comes with two matching concealers, Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer ($8) and Revolution Conceal & Define Supersize Concealer ($14) – The formula is similar to the foundation, and it also comes in many shades!

Concealers:

• Maybelline Fit Me Concealer ($15.95) – This is highly talked about in the beauty community for the past few years and it always been compared to the Nars concealer, though I haven’t tried the Nars one so I can’t compare. The formula is alright, not a favourite, but not the worst either. There are 9 shades, though I’ve seen only about 6 in most stores. To be honest, most of the shades are pretty beige, and doesn’t go very deep/not a good variety. I feel this works better for brightening, rather than trying to find a concealer that matches your foundation. That being said, there is a matching foundation and I didn’t include it because it’s not $20 or under.
• Maybelline Instant Age Rewind ($19.95) – I’m sure you’ve all heard of this one! Really popular product for concealing dark under eyes, though the only down fall is the shade range. I actually haven’t tried this before because the lighter shades are too pink for me. One of my friends has used this before and she swears by it!
• Loreal True Match Concealer ($19.95) – Has a matching foundation that’s $30, so I didn’t include it above. The formula is easy to work with and it’s medium coverage. It gives a kind of natural finish and there is an alright amount of shades available, though still it’s mostly in the beiges.

Setting products:

There are either powders or sprays used to set makeup. Powders are usually preferred by those with oily skin because they prefer something mattifying, that takes away the shine. However, there are also sprays, which give a dewy kind of look to your makeup. That being said, there are also mattifying setting sprays! Here are some of my favourites:

• Australis Translucent Loose Setting Powder ($16.95) – This is a really fine loose translucent setting powder. It’s pretty decent for the price! There aren’t a lot of drugstore setting powders that I’m a huge fan of, but this one is good!
• Models Prefer Finishing Powder ($14.99) – Similar to the Australis one, super fine and sets makeup well!
• Rimmel Transparent Loose Powder ($15.95) – One of my favourites, before trying the loose powder, I tried the Stay Matte pressed powder, which unfortunately shattered before its time. This is so good and I have managed to hook 3 other people on it! Really good for the price and often goes on sale too 🙂

Now onto the setting sprays, I don’t really use them much anymore. My recommendations:

• NYX Makeup Setting Spray Matte ($14.95) – Also available in a dewy version, this is probably one of the top affordable setting sprays in the beauty community. I remember a time when these just flew off the shelf! I prefer a matte setting spray (if I had to choose), over the dewy, because I get pretty oily throughout the day and I don’t want people to mistake my dewy makeup for a sweaty makeup look haha. Hopefully one day I can pull off the dewy look!
• Natio Makeup Setting Spray ($16.95) – This is really fine and helps refresh my skin. It’s also good for using between powders to just make your face less powdery (is that even a thing). I use it sometimes just to prep my skin as well, a little hydration doesn’t hurt!

Blush:

I love blush and I have converted a few friends onto using blush, they used to think it wasn’t necessary, but I think it really ties the look together! Who doesn’t love a natural looking flush of colour! There are liquid, stick, powder and stamp blushes…though I definitely feel like there are more and more these days on the market! Some of my favourites are:

• Nude By Nature Virgin Blush ($19.95) – This is a loose powder blush that claims to be flattering on every skin tone. It’s kind of rosy with a bit of glimmer. It can get a bit messy when using it, so best start off by using as little as possible, then slowly build up if needed.
• Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush ($20) – These are so cute, available in a few different shades and are perfect for those who do their makeup on the go. The compact comes with a little brush and a mirror, not to mention it has like a magnetic lock so you can easily snap it close!
• Savvy Classic Blush – ($6.99) – A super affordable, pigmented, decent sized blush. The pan is quite large compared to most blushes and you get a whole lot for so cheap! I like most of these shades because they go well with most skin tones!

Bronzer:

To be honest, I’m not an avid bronzer, I only use bronzer when I’m going out out – i.e. I don’t wear it to work when I wear makeup to work. It helps to ‘warm’ up the face a bit, though I find blush ties my makeup look a lot better. Bronzer, as with contour, can be a bit tricky because if you add too much, it looks muddy and then you might mess up your makeup. Try to use little by little and build up how bronzed you want to look!

• W7 Very Vegan Bronzer ($4.99) – I briefly reviewed this here, it’s a pretty decent bronzer at a great price point. The colour is quite good and it’s pretty pigmented and buildable as well. It’s matte as well, if you prefer matte bronzers. As I mentioned in the blog post, the packaging is a bit bulky, compared to most other bronzers on the market where they are flatter.
• Maybelline Face Studio City Bronze Powder ($16.95) – This is a great bronzer because there are different shades, though I wish more bronzers on the market extended to cater for those with deeper skin tones. Off topic, but I saw a video a few months back where a woman used BLACK EYELINER to contour (it looked amazing BTW), just because there wasn’t a dark enough contour available that suited her skin tone.
• Rimmel Kate Sculpting Kit Bronzing Palette ($16.95) – This is a more shimmery kind of bronzer. In the palette there are three different bronzers to suit whatever needs you may have. The colours are quite pigmented as well with this one!

Stay tuned for part two, coming next week!

What’s some of your favourite makeup products on a budget?

With love,