With summer soon approaching most of us like to change our make-up and beauty products to fit the season which can end up being quite costly but the good news is that there are a whole bunch of budget friendly beauty buys out there, you just need to know what to look for.
With this in mind I thought I would offer up a short list of what my favourite 'budget friendly' beauty products that are currently getting well loved. Its great to mix more high end luxury products with low cost ones so you can experiment with different looks and see what works best for you.
1. Sleek Contour Palette here
£6.49/$10/€7.88
This duo mirrored compact contains a matte contour powder to contour your cheekbones & face and a shimmer highlighter to illuminate giving you that perfect flawless face. It comes in 3 shades (light/medium/dark) depending on your skin tone. Its fantastic, the powder is so easy to blend and stays put all day and the highlighter gives the most beautiful look to your skin when it hits the light without being glittery or too shimmery. This wins hands down over any high end contour palette for me as I use this daily and rest assured that this shall last you a lifetime as it never seems to go down. A worthy buy if you were not born with amazing cheekbones, as this shall give you them at long last so cheap at half the price!
2. Tresemme Keratin Smooth Heat Spray here
£5.99/$10/€7
This is a fantastic Heat Protectant & Shine Spray which is infused with Keratin to help reduce frizz and smooth your hair when heat styling. I have tried so many heat protectants and found that mostly all of them made my hair feel sticky or like it was full of product but this one is different and invisible in the hair and better still its the cheapest too! You can use it on both wet and dry hair before any heat and it really refreshes your hair also but most of all it protects it from heat damage as we all love our hair stylers too much to quit using them altogether.
A full coverage concealer thats conceals imperfections for up to 16 hours, water resistant and transfer proof. I have mentioned this before in other blog posts as this is a holy grail of concealers as with this in your makeup bag no flaw, blemish, redness shall ever be seen. I avoid around my eyes as I personally find it too heavy but you can use it under the eyes if you like to, but on all areas of the face it well and truly conceals without being too drying, or cakey and blends so easily with a brush or you finger tip. I have gone though many a tube of this and for the cost you can afford to stock up as this always sells out fast as it is that good!
4. Ardell Lashes, Demi-Wispies here
£5.49/$3/€6
Ardell Demi-Wispies are my all time favourite high street eyelashes to wear and anyone who has asked me what lashes I have on then its normally these ones. The reason I like the demi-wispies in particular is because they don't look too fake and being shorter from the inner corner graduating outwards, they give you a lovely winged out eye look whilst adding volume and length. Also being wispy the lashes look more natural and blend with own eyelashes better. The band is invisible so you can wear these day or night and no liner is needed to disguise the band if you wanted them to be more natural. Super affordable, glamorous and also reusable don't forget!
5. Topshop Lipsticks, Macaroon here
£8/$10/€10
Topshop makeup is really good and the lipsticks especially are a real favourite of mine and they have a velvet finish to smooth, moisturise and nourish your lips and the colour payoff is really pigmented. The shade macaroon is one that I love to wear in the daytime as its a pinky/coral thats bright but not too bright for a more natural spring/summer look. They aren't the longest wearing lipstick but the texture and colours are really good and worth checking out if your looking for something new to try. The only thing I dislike about these Topshop lipsticks is that the packaging gets really scratched after a few days in your makeup bag making them look a bit tatty but for the price the colour is worth the money.
Price varies but around £5/$3/€5
Tea tree oil is a little beauty gem we forget about it as it has so many uses and one thing I use it for is a spot treatment for those spots that like to jump out when we least want them too, no matter how old we get they still appear. Just dab a little of this onto the area before bed and it shall work its magic to get rid of the bacteria, minimise the pore so when you wake up the spot shall be much improved if not gone. Another great beauty use for tea tree oil is add a little to your shampoo to help combat dry scalp and dandruff. Such a great multi-use product to have in your bathroom cupboard.
7. Soap & Glory Hand Food here
£5/$8/€6
This sweet smelling, luxurious hand cream contains shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow to really moisturise and soften the skin and smells just like Miss Dior Cherie perfume which I love! I am a big Soap & Glory fan as their products really do feel very luxurious whilst still being affordable and are also fun, girly and quirky too. I keep the miniature size of this in my handbag and also in my bathroom as its such a good hand cream with no greasy feel so you can apply it and still use your hands afterwards unlike some other ones that need an hour to absorb!
8. Cocoa Brown 1 Hour Tan here
£7.99/€9
I love this product so much that I recently wrote a blog post all about it here. This express, instant self tan mousse develops into a natural golden looking tan in just one hour! The best thing is that it is free from that nasty 'self tan biscuit smell' and with no hint of orange at all. Good self tans are very pricey these days and its best to invest in a good one so you avoid that orange, fake, oompah oomph look which no ones wants but make sure it comes with lots of skincare benefits too and this one is all that and still super affordable so we can all be golden in no time with Cocoa Brown. Amen.
£4/$7/€5
This is MUA's best selling make up palette from their collection due to the fact that its the perfect dupe for the famous Urban Decay Naked Palette and ideal for anyone on a beauty budget (can you believe its only £4!!!!). The palette contains 12 shades that are all very blendable and the perfect weapon for creating any look you like from a natural daytime look to a sultry, glamorous party look. So now a fabulous looking smokey eye cannot come any cheaper than this!
10. Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder here
£7/$10/€8
This Chocolate Bronzing Powder smells not only sweet like chocolate (sold!) but its subtle iridescent, soft formulation with small flecks of gold gives a gorgeous radiant look to your skin thats not shiny or shimmery. It comes in 2 shades that are suited to many skin tones as it is very subtle and perfect for those who are fair or just want a hint of bronze. I love it and always keep one in my make-up kit as its so universal and great for bronzing all over the body too and it lasts a long time! The way that this bronzer is packaged and because of its baked formula makes this very hard to break if you accidentally drop it on your floor which we all know results in disaster, so a safer option if your a 'dropper'!
So as you can see from these 10 products buying new beauty items can be possible whatever your budget and I hope you try out some of my recommendations - please let me know if you do!
