My favorite budget (and a few not-so-budget) makeup products

Well, I already did a post about my favorite budget (and a few not-so-budget) beauty products. But the piece was pretty long, so I decided to do a separate one for makeup.

Primer

A primer helps create a smooth surface for makeup application, and it helps your makeup stay on longer. Some people say they don’t see a difference, so you can be the judge. But it’s not a step I personally recommend skipping.

Face primer

Personally, I really like tarte Cosmetics’s Poreless Primer. It has a silicon base, so it glides on well and makes your skin smooth, but it doesn’t feel heavy.

That said, it’s freakin’ $32. (I wait for sales or, lately, just as for Sephora gift cards for birthdays/holidays.) In its defense, a bottle lasts me at least six months (probably longer) even using it three to four times a week.

But if you want a more affordable product, I was also happy with the e.l.f. putty primer for about $8. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for orders through my links.)

While this doesn’t give the glide of a silicon primer, it does help cover up pores and (according to some reviews I saw) fine lines. Looked at in the container, you’d think it’s going to be heavy or gloppy. But rest assured, it actually goes on quite smooth and light.

If you prefer a silicon primer without the tarte price, I’d recommend L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Base. It has the same glide but for about $13 (and usually there are coupons or sales). That said, I feel like it went faster the tarte primer.

Eye primer

I also used the putty for an eye primer too, and it seemed to work fine. Though it didn’t do as impressive a job as reviews said in covering up fine lines.

That said, I prefer Urban Decay’s Primer Potion. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links.) I feel like I used less of it than I did the putty, and since the skin around my eyes gets more delicate as I get older, I feel like the Potion just sits a bit better.

Admittedly it’s $25 retail, though only about $19 on Amazon and generally on sale at Macy’s, Ulta or somewhere similar. So maybe you can make do with the putty.

Foundation

I’ve stuck to drugstore-brand foundation for a number of years now. I just don’t notice enough of a difference to make the cost of higher-end brands’ foundation worth it.

At some point in your 30s, products start to sit more heavily on your skin. It’s more apparent that you’re wearing things like foundation, especially if you use full-coverage foundation.

So my advice to anyone over 30 is to start choosing light coverage foundation. If you need more than just a light coverage, that’s fine. You can build it up as you go. Multiple layers of light-coverage foundation still sits better than full-coverage foundation.

My absolute favorite is a newish product: L’Oreal True Match Hyaluronic Tinted serum. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for orders placed through my site.) The company doesn’t market it as a foundation, but that’s exactly how it acts. It evens out skin tone, which is all you really need a foundation to do.

This is even more lightweight than light coverage foundations, and it spreads really well. As a result, I can use less.

Also notable is that it’s the first line to have a foundation that completely matches my skin tone. Usually it’s just a teeny bit too light or slightly too dark. Not enough to be terribly noticeable but annoying nonetheless. But Rosy Light is just about perfect.

This is me with only half of my face covered. Pretty much perfect.

This product is a little more expensive than the average drugstore foundation at $19.99 retail. But it’s about $15ish on Amazon plus 20% off the first order with Subscribe ‘n Save. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links.)

Or you can hit drugstore sales. I’ve been able to get it for about $12-15 just shopping Walgreens/CVS sales.

(Incidentally, in case anyone desperately needs to know, the product is on the left half of my face in that image.)

If that line doesn’t suit you, my two other recommendations would be the regular True Match foundation and Maybelline’s Fit Me. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for orders through my links.)

True Match has 45 different shades because it actually addresses skin undertones. There are three version of each shade, depending on whether your skin has warm, cool or neutral undertones. There are three version of each shade of concealer too.

Fit Me is slightly more lightweight than True Match, which is why I switched to it. Also, it had a shade that was a slightly better match (though still slightly too light) than True Match’s options.

As a note for application, I know some people love their brushes, and that’s fine. But I get way better results with a makeup sponge. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links.)

To be clear: It doesn’t have to be an official Beauty Blender. While I have that for my main sponge (there was a sale that made it $10 and I thought “Eh, why not?”), I have generic brand ones for contouring. As long as the sponge isn’t super dense, it’s fine.

Be sure to dampen your sponges about 20 to 30 minutes before using them.

Since the sponge is slightly damp, it doesn’t absorb too much of the foundation, but still blots up any excess. Plus I find that it just gives a smoother application than a brush.

Highlighting/contouring

Contouring is all about minimizing the appearance of certain facial features by creating the appearance of shadows. Highlighting is about using lighter colors to accentuate features.

How you contour should depend on your face shape. But for the shadows, you generally use a brown color, and for highlighting you generally need a product about one shade lighter than your skin.

So what do I use?

Caveat: As I’m melanin-deficient, I can only speak to what works for people with a Caucasian complexion, but there are a ton of makeup tutorials that will surely be more inclusive.

Brown

You’re gonna laugh but… I strongly recommend the Wet ‘n Wild contouring sticks.

There are a lot of contouring palettes — some are even drugstore brand, so not too pricey — but you really can’t beat the $4 cost of Wet ‘N Wild Megaglo Makeup sticks. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases through my links.) And unlike a lot of palettes, these are a cream, which tends to blend better with, as they call it, “mature” skin. Powders can sit on top of your skin and be more noticeable.

The line does have a “highlighter” but unfortunately it’s pretty light. So it’s great for a shimmer at the end of the makeup routine — allegedly that gives our skin a slight dewy look like we had when we were young — but I didn’t find it very helpful for under eyes or actual contouring.

For the rest of the highlighting, I use concealer.

Highlighter

As I said, you can go with a contouring palette, but I just use concealer.

I’m currently using Maybelline Instant Age Rewind. (As an Amazon affiliate, I’m credited for purchases made through my links.)

I like this because it’s definitely the most lightweight concealer I’ve used but is still effective. It’s about $7.50 on Amazon (plus 20% off the first order with Subscribe ‘n Save) or about $10 in stores.

In the past, I’ve used L’Oreal True Match concealer, since it’s also pretty lightweight. It’s about $10 in stores or $4.77 on Amazon. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links.)

Oh and if you’re prone to redness, be sure to get some green concealer. I use NYX HD Concealer. It’s effective and very affordable: around $4.50 on Amazon and about $5 in stores. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases through my links.)

Eyeshadow

I… may be addicted to palettes. As in, after the last purchase at some point in 2021, I told myself that I’m not allowed to buy any more for a while and that I have all of the colors I could possibly need.

I have two companies’ palettes in my makeup case: tarte and e.l.f. Which are on pretty different ends of the price spectrum.

The small tarte palettes start at $21, but the regular-sized ones are $42. Of course, I don’t think I’ve paid full price for any of mine. The company has a lot of sales — often after having already marked down some of their products. But they still ain’t cheap.

The company’s eyeshadow colors are really lovely and saturated, by which I mean that you generally only need to pat on color once for the hue to be visible and even vibrant. Also, I really like that the site always has a shot of three women’s forearms (each one a different skin tone), with all of the colors in a row on each one so you can see about what it will look like on your skin.

Conversely, e.l.f. palettes top out at $10. And there’s quite a range of hues. So I’m guessing you can find the most of tarte’s colors in e.l.f. palettes.

The only thing about e.l.f. is that admittedly you have to pack on the color, applying it two to three times to get the full effect. But… $10, amiright? It also has frequent sales, so you’ll probably get them for less than that.

Blush

Currently, I use Smashbox O Glow intuitive cheek color. Which seems to have been discontinued. It really did get my perfect shade, but honestlythe price point was higher than it should’ve been.

Since I like the contouring sticks so much, I think the next blush I’ll try is Wet ‘n Wild’s blush Megaglo sticks. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for purchases made through my links.) I liked some of the shades I saw, and for $4, I can afford to experiment a bit.

In the past I used bareMinerals blush, which did a good job. But again, these days I try to stay away from powders (except for eyeshadow, obviously).

Eyeliner

I have an essential tremor, so I gave up on eyeliner ages ago because I couldn’t get a straight line to save my life. Though lately I’ve been using some on the waterline of my eyes, which is a good compromise.

I just use e.l.f. No Budge eyeliner, which is a retractable cream liner. (As an Amazon affiliate, I’m compensated for orders through my links.)

In the past, I’ve used the Stila Stay All Day liner, which has a (flexible) pointed brush tip. If I could’ve drawn a straight line, it would’ve been great. That said, it looks like drugstore brands have caught up and offer similar style liners. So you might want to start there.

Mascara

I gave up on mascara.

No matter how many reviewers swore up and down that a particular mascara wouldn’t leave marks under or above my eye… The product left marks under and/or above my eye. And yes, I tried waterproof. Same result.

So I decided that my black lashes will just have to work on their own.

The couple times I did end up using mascara recently (for costumes), I used a sample size Yes, They’re Real by Benefit, which came in a Sephora birthday gift set. (As an Amazon affiliate, I’m compensated for purchases made through my links.) I used mascara then because the eye makeup was dark enough that the marks weren’t very obvious. But they were there.

The product did have a very nice effect on my my lashes. I didn’t have camera worthy results, but it was definitely a good mascara — no clumping, very defined, etc.

That said, to the best of my recollection, Maybelline’s Great Lash did almost a good a job. (As an Amazon affiliate, I’m compensated for orders placed through my links.) And at $8, Great Lash is less than a third of what Benefit’s mascara costs.

Lipstick

I discovered L’Oreal Paris Makeup Rouge lip stain in 2019. (As an Amazon affiliate, I am compensated for orders placed through my links.) And I almost exclusively used two colors since.

For me, the “I Empower” color is the perfect low-key pink where it looked better than my normal color, but looked more or less like I wasn’t wearing lip color at all. Sort of a “What? No my lips are just the perfect color” situation.

Meanwhile, the “I Rule” shade was a really nice understated color. Peachy, I guess? Definitely not red but not brown either. So I could look nice without looking too dressy. Or so I could play up my eyes and not have my lips distract from that.

The lipsticks in this line about $12 in store or about $9 on Amazon.

When I did want red lips, I used a Stila lip stain, which has unfortunately has been discontinued. But it was admittedly a terrible delivery system — you had to crank the bottom and wait (and wait) for the color to come through a soft-pointed brush applicator — so I get why they finally scrapped it.

Recently, though, my friend turned me onto the Provacalips line from Rimmel.

I. Love. It. So. Much.

The shades are saturated and lovely — and the color really does stay put.

One day, I put on a bright red color. Seven hours later — having eaten a wrap and had a fair amount of water (from my water bottle, from a disposable bottle of water and from a Styrofoam cup — all with no transfer) — it still looked like this:

The shades I love:

* Playing with Fire — the red in the picture

* Heartbreaker — a more subtle red, still vivid but maybe a teeny bit of a brown tint to calm down the color

* Berry Seductive — the perfect berry color

* Firecracker — a very deep, almost goth-like red or red-purple

I also have Wish Upon a Berry, which is pinker than I usually go, so I’m trying it out, but it may just not be for me.

I’m also on the fence about Lazy Days is a very pretty plum color but maybe more purple than I can pull off.

(All of the above are Amazon affiliate links, and I am compensated for purchases made through those.)

They’re only about $6 in store and on Amazon, so I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a long-wearing lipstick.

Be frugal with dupes

I also just want to remind everyone out there that, if you have a favorite but pricey makeup product, you may be able to get it more cheaply by checking out makeup dupe sites.

I did a whole post about them that will give you more information, but essentially makeup dupe sites help you find a match for your favorite high-end brands’ shades of foundation, lipstick and eyeshadow in lower-price products.

The matches aren’t always perfect, and there isn’t a result for every product. But these lists are very extensive. So if you have a product whose results you love but whose price you hate, check out dupe sites.

What are your favorite makeup products? What’s your secret splurge or best steal for a product?