The Best Budget Beauty Products

Finding budget beauty buys that are every bit as good as the expensive, glitzy, throw-financial-caution-to-the-wind type beauty buys is one of the absolute joys of my professional life. I’ve been testing and writing about beauty for fifteen years (at the end of February, actually, happy anniversary to me!) and I have to say that not a lot compares to the thrill of finding a cheap-as-chips cream blusher that is virtually identical to one that costs five - or even ten - times as much.

I think it’s the excitement of knowing you’re about to be the person who comes bearing good news. Not only have you found a product that has faultless performance, and that is of superb quality, you’ve discovered something that won’t make people visibly deflate when you tell them the price.

You’re not about to describe a holy grail moisturiser that genuinely makes your skin feel the dewiest and plumpiest it has ever felt (every face cream from Tatcha, basically) and then reveal the fact that it costs the same as doing the big shop at Tesco.

Here’s a roundup I did of my current favourite budget beauty buys for Get The Gloss - you can read the full article here.

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Head & Shoulders Bare Soothing Hydration Anti-Dandruff Shampoo, £4.99*

I’ve repurchased this more times than I can count, now. A very good, clear shampoo that cleanses the scalp thoroughly and helps with itchiness and flaking. It’s absolutely one of those products that is completely practical, but they’ve managed to sex it up and make it very aesthetically pleasing with its pale green packaging and lovely scent.

Top stuff.

Find it at Boots, currently £4.99 here*.

Revolution Skincare x Sali Hughes Placid Daily Exfoliant, £9.65*

There are a couple of really easy things you can tweak in a skincare routine that have a huge impact. One is proper cleansing in the evening, with a cream or a balm or an oil, another is gentle exfoliation.

When it comes to cleansing, if you do it well - a bit of massaging-in, getting the grime and sunscreen and foundation out of all of the facial nooks and crevices you might miss with a face-wash, using a warm flannel to thoroughly remove it all - then you will absolutely see the difference to the quality of your skin within weeks, if not days. If not instantly. Assuming you weren’t cleansing well before.

Same with exfoliation. Once you start regularly removing all of the dead skin cells and debris, you’ll notice a new smoothness and glow start to creep in. But we’re talking about really gentle exfoliation here. You don’t need to be melting your face off with the world’s strongest glycolic acid peel when there are such clever, untraumatic formulations out there. The Placid Daily Exfoliant from Revolution x Sali Hughes is a clever blend of a number of different acids that are non-aggressive yet still manage to brighten and clarify and it’s usually on offer, somewhere or another, for less than a tenner.

A sweep of this every morning, or in the evening if you prefer (I do morning because I like to use my LED mask in the evening and I try to streamline things) keeps skin looking fresh and glowy. I like to apply twenty minutes or so before moisturising and doing makeup, give it time to do its thing.

Placid Daily Exfoliant is currently £9.65 here*.

Hada Labo Tokyo Super Hyaluronic Acid Super Hydrator Lotion, £17.99*

I included this serum in my roundup for Get The Gloss because it’s such a brilliantly potent hydrating serum - it’s almost up there with the SkinCeuticals one, in my opinion, yet it’s £17.99 for 150ml. Serums usually come in 30ml or 50ml bottles, so you can see instantly how this is a complete bargain.

Layer beneath your moisturiser to lock in hydration. It’s a simple step, but really gives you skin that feels fuller and smoother to the touch. My version has collagen and retinol in the formula too, apparently - I can’t believe I’ve only just noticed that!

Find it online here*

L’Oreal Paris Telescopic Mascara, £9.59*

Easily my most-used mascara of all time; it’s been years of continuous use, now, and I still haven’t found anything I love more. And I think I get to try pretty much everything that gets launched onto the market.

It’s the fine, rubbery wand that I like. It gets right to the root of the lashes without splotching all over my eyelids. I get lash length, separation and the jet-black colour and that is all I need.

Find it online here* - it’s £9.59 but depends on the day. Sometimes it’s six quid and then I bulk buy!

Elf Holy Hydration Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm, £11*

I mentioned the importance of good, proper cleansing: this balm from e.l.f. cosmetics is a fine place to start if you want to see what cleansing balms are all about without splurging fifty-odd quid on a luxury one. Does it smell lush? No. Does it do precisely the same job as most of the others? Yes.

Massage onto dry skin, even over lashes and eyelids, then add a little water and massage again before removing, along with all of the broken-down makeup and grime, with a warm flannel.

Makeup Melting Cleansing Balm is £11 at Boots here*

Ceravé Skin Renewing Vitamin C Serum, £29*

A good vitamin C serum is the staple of my morning skincare routine, adding that extra bit of protection against the elements and vastly helping with keeping skin bright and glowy. (I did a post on my skincare routine here.)

There’s always about a 50/50 chance that a new vitamin c serum will make my skin itch in an unbearable way for hours after application: no such issue with this one. It would be well-priced at thirty quid but it’s quite often less. It’s currently £18.45 at Amazon here* if you fancy giving it a go.

Aveeno Calm + Restore Oat Rich Balm, £9.74*

I was an ambassador for Aveeno for a while and got to try all of the new stuff way before it came out. I remember being hugely excited for the launch of this, the Oat Rich Balm, because the products that had preceded it had been beautifully lightweight and soothing but hadn’t quite had the heft I wanted for that totally cocooning sort of feel, especially in the colder months.

This balm is gloriously rich, instantly calming and deserving of a spot in any bathroom cabinet. If you have dry, sensitive skin, this is an especially good find. Get it at Boots here*.

Isle of Paradise Face Self-Tanning Drops, £10*

If ever you just look at your face in the mirror and think Crikey, there has to be SOMETHING easy I can do so that I don’t wake up looking like a turnip then this is it: self-tanning face drops. So easy (just mix into moisturiser) and so foolproof (they’re gradual, so it’s not as though you wake up suddenly looking like David Dickinson), the bronzing effects of tanning drops are so excellent you can often skip foundation altogether.

Isle of Paradise ones are really good and also a tenner. At Boots here*.

Elf Halo Glow Contour Beauty Wand in Medium Tan, £7.39*

Another e.l.f. buy: the Contour Wand. You draw this on underneath your cheekbones and it looks absurd - truly absurd. But then you blend it in with a big-ish brush (I use the Jones Road blusher one) and suddenly you look like Cher. Cheekbones that look laser-cut, instant glamour.

I use shade Medium/Tan and use this contour wand (which has a spongey bit at the end, don’t let that put you off) multiple times a week despite owning at least a half a dozen samples of very expensive versions from other brands.

Find it here online*.

Weleda Skin Food, £5.96*

Ah, where have all the fragrant skin treats gone? Darphin is no more, Decleor has disappeared, I miss those little bottles of oil that transported your mind to a parallel universe. It was important to be able to escape from my own existence when I was modelling - read my book if you need to know why! - and I still love a good, sensorial facial product decades later.

Hurrah for Weleda. Just so happens that their Skin Food moisturiser is one of the richest face creams out there. Not for those with oiliness problems, this is strictly “dry skin territory” only because it’s almost as fatty as lard. Smells incredible, isn’t expensive, makes skin feel and look as though it has been basted, ready for the oven.

Find it here*.

Hildun Silk to Set Kajal Eye Pencil, £16

Hildun Silk to Set Kajal is the softest eyeliner to apply, but once it’s set it doesn’t budge. The colours are rich and beautiful. I just don’t think you can go far wrong - I can see this liner being a runaway success. Find it here.

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