3 Beauty Editor-Approved Budget Beauty Buys Under $30
Sadaf Razi is Adore Beauty's Senior Beauty Editor.
She's a former fashion editor (who worked at various glossy mags) and stylist-turned digital beauty and lifestyle writer. She has been in the lifestyle/media industry for over 10 years and her work has also been featured on international covers like Elle France and Vanity Fair Mexico.
Some of her fave Adore Beauty products include Cicaplast B5, CeraVe Cleansing Oil and Lancôme Renergie Triple Serum.
I've said it before, and I’ll say it again—few things in life rival the sheer joy of discovering a beauty product you adore for under $50. But finding three for under $30?
Even better.
And that’s what I love about working in beauty; trying a bunch of products and discovering that some of the most high-performing beauty products are also some of the most affordable.
Recently, I put three beauty finds under $30 to the test that I LOVED and must share with you all.
From a fast-drying makeup setting spray to a highlighter-blush hybrid that delivers the dreamiest glow, these budget-friendly beauty buys prove that great beauty doesn’t have to come with a hefty price tag.
Here are the three under $30 beauty products I haven’t stopped reaching for…
1. NYX Professional Makeup The Brow Glue.
I first used this Nyx brow glue for this article, and it instantly wowed me because I’ve never previously used a tinted brow gel that I've actually liked. So the fact that this one impressed me and I actually wanted to keep using it says a lot.
A lot of tinted brow gels (even the fancier ones) often feel or apply gluggy and leave weird pigmented patches.
Not this one.
My go- to brow gel is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze Gel and that will NEVER change (I love it too much), but if I want a similar effect and don't want to use my more exxy ABH one daily, this is the one I've been using. I will say, it doesn't have the same stronghold when I brush my hairs up but comes pretty close.
When I need to do my brows in a jiffy and race out the door, this Nyx brow glue always does the trick. It’s so good for the price (but honestly, most Nyx products are).
It also holds true to its “non-sticky” and “flake-proof” claims too.
2. Maybelline New York Sunkisser Liquid Blush.
This is another under-$30 budget beauty buy that was love at first use.
I was kindly gifted a few of the shades of this affordable liquid blush that feels more like a blush/bronzer/highlighter in one and honestly loved every. single. shade. They ALL worked on my skin tone which rarely happens.
Most cheaper liquid blushes tend to leave a gleamy, foil-like sheen, but again, this is one of those budget beauty products that performs as well as its more expensive counterparts.
The one I use and love most though is the more reddish, coppery shade 'City Sizzle' - but have a look at the images of the models on the product page when you click through to this product - INSANE. The glow, the shades - obsessed.
3. L'Oréal Paris Infallible 3-Second Setting Spray Mist.
To find a setting spray that doesn't spritz into a bunch of uneven splotches on my face or shoot out like a water gun, often catching an eyeball, is a rare find. Then finding a setting spray under $50 that SPREADS EVENLY (like an actual mist?!) - GIVE ME TEN.
This Loreal 3-second setting mist has been keeping my base intact for 90% of my day—and I truly appreciate that kind of legwork.
The micro-fine mist applies evenly, dries almost instantly (no flapping your hand in your face), and is also transfer-proof and sweat-proof.
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