I had a reader email me once to ask me how to buy makeup if she only had RM200 to RM250 to spend on makeup. Well, the point to note here is that good or at least decent makeup doesn’t have to be expensive. You can get some items that are of pretty decent quality at the pharmacy or drugstore and once applied, no one will be any wiser. I’m not kidding!
The nice thing about budget makeup is that it is cheap and often go on sale. So, if you are in the need of a pick-me-up and don’t want to blow a lot of money, just pop along to a pharmacy and pick up a lipstick. You’d be surprised at how much a new lipstick can do to brighten up your day.
I will be doing my personal recommendations for budget makeup over 2 parts so it doesn’t get too long. These brands I mention are easily found in most pharmacies including Guardian, Watson’s, Caring etc and if you have a Sasa, look in there too.
I will start with the Face – foundation and blush.
These are my budget foundations of choice:
- L’oreal True Match liquid foundation
- Kanebo Media 2-way foundation powder
- Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse foundation
- Za 2-way foundation powder
- Silkygirl 2-way foundation powder
- Kanebo Media UV make up base.
All the foundations above range from between RM25 to RM60 with Silkygirl being the cheapest and L’oreal True Match being the most expensive. The Kanebo Media UV Make Up Base (RM27.90) is useful for helping your foundation stay on longer but it is an optional item.
These are my budget blush of choice:
- L’oreal Blush Delice
- Silkygirl powder blush
It isn’t easy to find cheap blushes that work well because cheaper blushes tend to be less pigmented or have really boring colours like rose and pink which don’t really suit people. The best I have found is the L’oreal Blush Delice (RM36) and on a cheaper note Silkygirl blushes.
My personal recommendation is the L’oreal blush delice blush. It has the right amount of pigment and shimmer and there are some nice colours available. You definitely will not regret getting this one – trust a blush addict!
At this point, you would have spent about RM60 – RM90 depending on your choice of products. Now, onto budget eyeshadows and lipsticks in Part 2!
Note: I have not included brands like Elianto, TheFaceShop or Skinfood etc because I have not tried them. Only the tried and tested have been recommended here.
Elianto’s shadows are about 5 bucks per pop… would u dare put stuff that costs 5 bucks near your eye area? u only have one pair of eyes for one lifetime. hehe
PB says: To be fair to Elianto, I’ve actually tested (not actually used) their eyeshadows and they feel and look pretty good pigment and colourwise. The only reason I didn’t buy them is because I didn’t want to add to my growing collection heh…
I’ve tried Elianto’s eyeliner and they’re great.
costed only like about 15 bucks the first time but not sure if the price has increase. their glitter eyeliner is superb!
PB says: That’s useful to know if I ever need a cheap glitter liner
Bodyshop is not too bad too.. It works wonders for me, especially the eyeliner.. and not forgetting the eyeshadows too.. affordable 🙂
PB says: I don’t really classify Body Shop as cheap which is why they aren’t featured. That said, I used to use their 2way face powder until the reformulation when the colour was changed, but the eyeshadows never really grabbed me.
I have no problem using Elianto e/s. Nor does other people. I haven’t heard anyone complaining about irritation. Even my make-up teacher use Elianto e/s sometimes. So I think their e/s is fine. I agree that Elianto’s liquid liner is great, one of my fav liner.
Hi Paris, just wondering how good is the Kanebo Media two-way foundation. 🙂 I’ve been using ZA True White Foundation, was thinking of changing to Kate, but reading your post makes me tempted to get the Media one instead. Could you make a review of it? 🙂 Btw, I’m your silent reader. Really love your blog, very informative.
PB says: Thank you for your feedback on Elianto and for your kind words. I’ll try to do a review on Media powder but its been a while since I used it. In short, its smooth and silky with medium coverage and its a very good colour match for me. I use OC-B or OC-C depending on how tanned I am.
oh, I LOVE this article! I’m all for cheap cosmetics that work great. I personally have a hard time finding blusher that doesn’t turn dark orange on me. I’ve tried MAC, Estee Lauder, even Chanel, and guess what? The only pale pink blush that stays pale pink on my skin is Silkygirl in Dune Rose (okay, it’s really peachy-pink). For spending $$$ on all that expensive stuff when I could have just spent $, I wanna kick myself. I’ve also tried their Moisture Gloss and the Funky-something eye pencil. Word to the wise: Silkygirl is beginning to rock my world.
I am currently only using concealer and compact powder…i do not use liquid foundation, and the compact powder that i love is Maybelline 2 way foundation, but maybe that can be considered as foundation too as it can be applied on wet or dry, but i usually just apply it on dry. Usually there is only 2 colours available, 13 (slightly pink toned), 22/21 (light yellow toned) and 24 (yellow toned). Most of the time i use 24 as it blends into my skin well, but i have tested 13 and it looks ok on me, but 22/21 is too light, eventhough i can be considered as relatively fair.
The RM 5 Elianto eyeshadows does not irritate at all and has colours that pop. I use no 27-Kiwi, which is (Bright Green) and no 10-Ocean Wave, which is (Sky Blue). Usually if i apply eyeshadows using brush it won’t show up well on me, so i tend to use fingers to have a more intense colour. Silkygirl’s eyeshadows are great and i particularly love the dark brown, light brown combination. Most of the time i use the light brown only. Wish they have singles…
Hello dear beauty blogger
I’m French, and ZA cosmetics are absolutely NOT available in my country…even though I’m desperately looking for the 2 Way Foundation BLUE CASE.
REALLY WANT TO HAVE THAT BLUE CASE !!!! I’ve been looking for it for 2 years !!!! (cannot order online, and none on e-bay)
Could you help me please ? Do you know any way to get it ?
You see, I’m really desperate, haha !!!!
Thank you for your help, sorry for my bad english.
M-R
You might try ebay.com