Beauty on a budget is absolutely possible and a lot of the time many of the over-priced and over-hyped products on the market are just that- over-priced and over-hyped. Most of my all-time favorite beauty products are very inexpensive and can be found at most drugstores for under $12 (and I could probably even find products for lower than that.) Beauty on a budget is all about experimenting, finding what products work best for you and doing a little research on the latest and greatest deals! Looking fabulous and saving money CAN be done and to give you a head start, The Talko has curated a list of the 12 best beauty products under $12 dollars to add to your collection ASAP.
12 Batiste Dry Shampoo (in Fruity and Cheeky Cherry) $8.99
If you’ve never used a dry shampoo before, you’re absolutely missing out. Go out and grab one right this second and then come right back to me (I’ll wait.)
Got it? Great!
Dry Shampoo helps to soak up the oil that your scalp naturally produces. The great thing about dry shampoo as opposed to normal shampoo is that dry shampoo keeps the natural oils on your head, but it removes that greasy, unwanted shine whilst regular shampoo completely strips the oils and can actually damage your hair. With the help of dry shampoo, I only have to wash my hair once every 1-2 weeks which has helped my hair grow significantly longer and stronger! I’ve tried a number of different dry shampoos but I always come back to Batiste, it’s a high quality product for a seriously affordable cost.
11 Mario Badescu Facial Spray $7.00
Rosewater is my everything (and it should be yours too.) Rosewater is great for a number of reasons- rosewater reduces both redness and puffiness, softens skin, creates a flawless makeup base, removes makeup, tones skin, prevents irritation, and is the prefect aromatherapy ingredient. While I could go on and on about the benefits and uses of rosewater, let’s just get down to business and discuss my absolute favorite brand! Mario Badescu is a highly respected brand in the beauty industry and his products are used by many influential beauty bloggers. The thing that I like most about this particular facial spray is that it contains rosewater as well as aloe and other herbal extracts to further benefit and hydrate your skin. I love to spritz my face first thing in the morning, right before I go to bed, throughout a crazy workday and even on the airplane! At only $7.00, you just can’t go wrong!
10 e.l.f. Studio Tone Correcting Powder $5.82
e.l.f. has been one of my favorite affordable makeup brands for many years now. Some of you may associate e.l.f. with the giant makeup kits of 250 eyeshadows that you received for Christmas in your middle school years, but e.l.f. has some seriously great beauty products for an even better price. I’m blessed to have great skin, but I do struggle with a bit of an uneven skin tone! This powder helps to neutralize and balance your skin tone while creating a flawless base for the rest of your makeup. The thing I like most about this product is that it’s incredibly lightweight but is still a full-coverage product. If you’re a little put off by the collection of pastels, let me ease your worries- blue neutralizes orange tones, green neutralizes red tones, pink neutralizes grey tones and yellow brightens your skin and also reduces redness. This little compact is great because you can spot treat problem areas with individual colors, or you can mix all of the colors together (creating a white powder) to set your whole face.
9 e.l.f. Studio Baked Highlighter $3.00
Instead of going to a specialty beauty store and spending a minimum of $30 dollars on a flawless highlighter you can spend a fraction of the price for an equal quality product at e.l.f. Glow-y skin will always be on trend and this is the perfect product to create that flawless look. With 3 color options, you’re guaranteed to find a color that will suit your skin tone! Blush Gems is a rose gold color, moonlight pearls (my favorite) is a gorgeous yellow champagne shade and pink diamonds literally looks like pink diamonds. This product can be applied wet or dry along your cheekbones, upper lip, the bridge and tip of your nose and a little on your forehead on chin. This product is a shimmer, NOT a glitter so you won’t be stuck looking like a fairy on Halloween. This product also contains Vitamin E, Jojoba, Sunflower, Apricot and Grape to hydrate your skin and create a glow from the inside out.
8 NYX Cosmetics Eyebrow Cake Powder $5.99
This top-selling product by NYX is no disappointment! The compact comes with a wax, a mini spoolie, an angled brush and two brow powders (a lighter shade and a darker shade) to help you achieve flawless brow! This eyebrow kit comes in 6 different shades- Auburn/Red, Black/Gray, Blonde, Brunette, Dark Brown/Brown and Taupe/Ash (quick tip for blondes- the Taupe/Ash looks more natural than the actual Blonde shade.) This kit helps to achieve a perfectly shaped and sculpted brow whilst remaining to look natural and not so drawn-on!
7 NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Cream $5.99
Matte is back and I’m not hating it. These NYX matte lip creams come in a variety of colors (and I may or may not own every single one of them.) These liquid lipsticks dry completely matte and silky and aren’t at all drying or flaky. The NYX Cosmetics Soft Matte Lip Creams are long-lasting and very pigmented only requiring one coat (however you can layer it as well.) Right now, I’m layering Stockholm and Abu Dhabi and I’m LOVING the color combo.
6 L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Original Mascara (in Carbon Black) $5.84
This L’Oreal mascara is my absolute favorite mascara of all time and always will be. This mascara leaves your eyelashes both long AND voluminous and is an all-around great product. This product is long-lasting and never clumps or flakes which is a huge bonus, especially when a product is so dark and makes your lashes so long and thick. I’ve even fallen asleep with this mascara on and have woken up looking the same as I did the night before! The L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Original Mascara is ophthalmologist-tested and allergy-tested and is suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers.
5 Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray $8.19
Every girl on the planet wants to achieve those gorgeous Victoria’s Secret bombshell waves and sometimes a little styling product is what you need to do just that! A curling iron can only do so much without an amazing product to back it up. Spritz the product all over your hair after styling and shake it out! This texturizing sea salt spray adds both texture (obviously) and volume to your hair allowing your beach waves to look sexy and perfectly messy!
4 Essence Lip Liner $1.49
These lip liners are by far the best lip products I’ve ever used (and coincidentally they’re the least expensive as well.) My 3 favorite shades are In The Nude 11 which is a perfect brown-nude, Femme Fatale 14- a bright orange-red and the best seller Satin Mauve 06- I’ve gotten pretty much everyone I know hooked on this one! These liners apply super smoothly and are long-lasting. I first line my lips and then fill in my entire lip with the same pencil for a perfectly smooth and matte lip! For $1.49 I’ll take 54 of them please!
3 Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer $7.99
While I don’t have major dark circles- I am a highlight and contour ADDICT. This concealer is by far the most amazing liquid highlighter ever. I’ve seen quite a few YouTube beauty gurus use this product and decided to try it myself about a month ago and have since went through an entire tube (it’s on my shopping list for tomorrow, actually!) I apply this product over my foundation in an upside down triangle shape below my eyes, between my brows/on my forehead, down the bridge of my nose and on my chin. I then blend it all out with a beauty blender and set it all with my Tone Correcting Powder (as mentioned above.)
2 Maybelline New York Cover Stick (in Green) $4.49
This is another product that I’ve been using for years! As I mentioned above, I do sometimes struggle with a bit of redness, usually on the lower part of my cheeks. This product applies smoothly, blends perfectly and seriously melts into your face making it the perfect full coverage product! This waterproof formula lasts for hours and never slides or fades. I apply this product pre-foundation to create a perfectly even base. This product also comes in a variety of skin-toned colors and also in yellow to correct dark circles.
1 Hask Argan Oil Repairing Shine Spray $5.99
Hask products are by far some of my favorite hair-care products on the market. I have naturally curly and VERY dry hair so I do need to take care of it more than others might (especially when I throw in some fresh blonde highlights… WOOPS.) Hask products were the first I started using when I really committed to helping my hair be the healthiest it can be. I love their masks, their shampoos and conditioners and their hair oils but this product is by far my favorite. This product repairs, strengthens and restores damaged hair making your hair healthier from the inside out while the shine oil makes your hair appear healthier immediately by creating shine and adding extra hydration.
