RM50, depending on how you look a it, can take you far (I could eat for a week on RM50!) or it isn’t very much. RM50 at today’s exchange rate is roughly S$20, £10, US$16 or €13. Yeah, once we do the math, it looks pretty pathetic LOL! 😛
Yet, RM50 can buy me some of my favourite beauty items or pick me ups, with change to boot! I know I talk a lot about department store brands and pricier (ok, expensive!) products on my blog. What can I say? Its a personal preference! 😉 But there are some affordable budget buys that I like too, and I thought I’d share them with you. I think RM50 is a nice budget friendly amount. Not hard on the wallet for most, and if you have a small budget or are a student it should be a good threshold.
I will pick up a group of items from time to time to tell you about the budget items I like that you could quite easily pick up without hurting your wallet too much. All items featured will cost RM50 or under. Take a look and chip in if you think there’s a budget buy I should be taking a look at 🙂
My first 10 was easy to pick out. I literally picked up everything from my dresser or stash within 5 minutes of thinking up this idea. In fact, there was more than 10 items so you can expect the second installment to come up in the near future 🙂
- Silkygirl QuikClean Gentle nail polish remover(RM7.90) – it claims to be acetone free and it has that terrible smell that nail polish removers have but it does a very quick job at cleaning off polish. My nails don’t feel too dry thereafter either. It must be said that I don’t paint my nails often and when I do, this does a good job at clean up.
- Silkygirl Blushing Trio blush (RM29.90) (review) – Cute to look at, and nice to use. Comes in 3 easy to use shades.
- L’Oreal Touche Magique illuminating concealer pen (RM19.90) (review) – It isn’t the best but it does a fair enough job at the price. One of my first concealers and one I still use now and again. Problem is that it always gets hard to find! Look in the bottom shelf of the L’Oreal display counter. They always store it there out of sight. I never quite understood why.
- 3M Nexcare Acne patch (RM14.90 for the bigger pack) (review) – Excellent stuff for shrinking painful cystic acne or for getting acne to go away after you’ve popped your spot. The person who invented this deserves some form of award.
- Maybelline The Falsies mascara (RM42.90) (review) – I like this for a natural yet volumized lash effect. Its not the cheapest mascara in the pharmacy but it does a good job on my lashes.
- Canmake Lasting Creamy Liner Pencil (RM38.90) (review) – I reviewed it in brown but I eventually picked one up in black. Its not a product you hear of often but it works well for lining and it stays incredibly long on my lash line. Enough to give my Guerlain Kohl liner a bit of competition.
- Revlon Colorburst Lipsticks (RM39) (review) – I like the creamy texture of these lipsticks and the good opaque colour you get with a nice light texture on lips. My favourite that I wear most often is True Red featured here and here.
- Hada Labo Super Hyaluronic Acid Moisturizing Lotion (RM40.90) (review) – I don’t think this needs introduction. Out of the Hada Labo range of products, it is only one of two I still voluntarily go back to. The other is the sunscreen that I used quite a lot of once but have not for a while.
- Garnier BB Cream Light (RM19.90) (review) – My favourite BB cream of them all. If I never used another BB cream, this is the one I would voluntarily purchase and use over and over. The texture is light, there’s a nice brightening effect, it is comfortable on my skin and overall, is just perfect. On good skin days I sometimes wear this on a workday, with some powder and concealer. On weekends, I sometimes just wear this alone.
- Inglot eyeshadows (RM30/eyeshadow) (review) – When I reviewed them a year ago, they were RM28 each which I thought very affordable. They’re now RM30 each (not RM36 as I said before). I do think the Inglot shadows are of better quality and colour compared to MAC – just sayin’. A pan of shadow is affordable and the colours are good and pigmented. Not sure I’d get anymore myself but you can pick one up a month if you like and not feel it too much.
Are you in agreement with any of my budget beauty choices? Do you have beauty budget buys under RM50 that you’d like to share or that you think I might take a look at next time?
You could pick up a couple of them and still get change from your RM50 or better yet, if they are on sale, you could even pick up more! I’ll collate another set and post another post some other time 🙂
xx Paris B
All prices are correct as at time of writing. Prices may fluctuate. All products listed can be purchased at most major pharmacies, supermarkets or Sasa stores
Eh I’m also loving some of your choices, namely the Silkygirl nail polish remover, the 3M patches and the Hada Labo lotion! 🙂 Have you tried the Neutrogena sheet masks before? They are RM49.90 – RM59.90 per box at retail but they go on sale often… and I LOVE them to bits! 😀
I must try out that Garnier BB cream… been hearing so many good things about it! 😀
I used to use Neutrogena masks a long time ago Jenn – you just reminded me of them LOL! They weren’t bad I remember but I just forgot about them because I still have LOADS of sheet masks. I should do a mask a day 😛
Great choices, especially the Inglot e/s. I think they’re still RM30/singles, RM36 for the rainbows – I could be wrong, so I need to check it out. My personal favorites under RM50 are Hada Labo’s AHA/BHA cleanser, Johnson & Johnson’s baby shower gels, and prescription Rectanyl/Retin-A, which I purchase at RM30+. Probably doesn’t count as a beauty item but it does a mad good job on zits. Oh and the brushes I bought from Lash Bar, which aren’t half bad.
Thanks Dom, I corrected them – singles are RM30 and gotta admit they are very good quality for the price 🙂
Yvonnechow87 where did u get the retin a gel??
The Inglot singles are now RM 36? *cries in despair* I thought they were RM 30?
My personal faves under RM 50:
Rimmel lipsticks
Revlon Colorstay Liquid Foundation (when on offer)
Maybelline’s Volum’Express mascaras
Generic 10 pair per box “handmade” falsies found in the Lash Bar. I got my first box at RM 10, am planning to get more “natural” ones at RM 20ish.
Where is Lash Bar?
The top floor of Sunway Pyramid in Asian Avenue. There’s a stall in MidValley near Ireland Potato. Does anyone know anywhere else?
Mmm I couldn’t get past the scent of Rimmel lipsticks but they are otherwise very nice! p/s I made a mistake – the single Inglot shadows are still RM30 🙂
Great choices! Yay on the Garnier BB cream. Best I’ve tried so far. I’m keen on trying the Silkygirl blush now. Will add that to my to-buy list when I’m back 🙂
RM50 can stretch a lot in terms of good kopitiam food, but I find it very little when it comes to buying groceries. Whenever I go grocery-shopping with Mum, RM50 is never enough. Standard of living sure is increasing in Malaysia 🙁
Yes! I’m not sure if its LE but I’m always happy to pick one up for you 😉 I think for groceries it depends on what one is shopping for. I can feed myself and maybe 1 other person on RM50 worth of fresh food discounting things like cookies and soap powder or milo LOL Its actually cheaper to buy and cook than to eat out (and much healthier!)
I love those 3M patches! They aren’t available in the US so I’ve stocked up on several boxes here in Malaysia. I’ve got to say that I’m also impressed with cheapie drugstore products like Nixoderm for blemishes, the Garnier BB cream you mentioned (the US version is total rubbish), and the Himalaya Naturals neem face pack. Great post, Paris!
Yay for the 3M patches! I don’t know if the US Garnier BB Cream is the same as the Europe one but if it is, yes its totally rubbish 😛 Oh you reminded me about the Himalaya Naturals neem pack too! I shall have to review that soon 😀
My favourite must be the mascara! Another you might want to try (or already tried) is the Biore makeup remover range. They are all awesome and wallet friendly!
Thanks for the Biore rec Lily – will take a look!
it’s getting harder & harder to find beauty products for less than SGD20 in the drugstores nowadays, even mascaras are SGD20++, for example Majolica Majorca’s lash king is SGD24.50.
I think Maybelline’s BB cream and Hypersharp eyeliner are good, and they are around SGD19++. I really like the eyeliner.
Erm that’s pretty pricey for the Maybelline BB Cream and Hypersharp liner (both of which I like too!) because they are about RM20 or so here :O Prices sure are high in SGD
Would you believe that I actually went out and grabbed a tube of Garnier’s BB Cream right after reading this post? And it was on sale, only RM15.90, yahoo! Fingers crossed it’d work as well as for me too!
Eeps! I do hope it works for you although at RM15.90 (I need a backup, thanks!) it won’t be too expensive a mistake if it doesn’t 😉 Let me know if it works!
Loving it so far, though a friend said it makes her look like a corpse lol! There’s no one BB cream/foundation/lipstick fits all. I think we just has to experiment until one finds a makeup that suits us. I would like to add one item to your list of 10-things-under-RM50: the Canmake cream blush. Pretty pricey at RM43++ but it sweeps on smoothly and has a youthful pink glow (the operative word being youthful hehe).
Good to know it works for you 🙂 I love the Canmake cream blushes too. I’m not into cream blush but it’s the only one I’d use 🙂
Great choices for under RM50 products there.
My personal faves are:
1) Biore Cleansing Oil
2) Biore Eye & Lip Makeup Remover
3) NYX Sheer Gloss (not sheer at all but doesn’t taste waxy or disgusting)
4) J&J PH5.5 Shower Gel
I could go on and on LOL. Love all the cheap stuff which works. 😀
Good choices Sharon 🙂 I love cheap stuff that work too!
Where do you get Inglot in Malaysia? We don’t have it yet. T_T
There is an Inglot counter in JB I believe. Here in KL its at MidValley Megamall and Sunway Pyramid 🙂
I passed by Inglot several times and dare not walk in. It looks too posh for my wallet. Anyone been to Sunway piramid branch? Am asking to see if the salesgirls will follow you around or are we left to browse on our own?
I haven’t been to the Sunway one for a while (only been once!) but the items for the most part aren’t too expensive and even if the sales people approach, you could always tell them that you’re just looking 🙂
Oooh! I’ll say the Biore facial cleansing oil. I think it wasn’t too expensive when I bought it. It’s not the best but it’s really close to what some of the high end oils do. Yay for cheapies but goodies!
Oh yes loads of people love the Biore cleansing oil and its definitely under RM50 but it breaks me out something awful 🙁
my favorite from your stash is the 3M acne patch!
and true that i can get quite some items from the pharmacy with just rm50. my favorite is also…maybeline mascara and biore makeup remover 😀
Yay for great minds and for loving the 3M patch!
Ooh Paris–I just caught up on your review of that Nexcare patch for acne and I WANT!!! I don’t understand at all how it’s supposed to work–and honestly, I don’t care, as long as it actually works! 😛 Wish we had these here
I don’t understand how it works either but it does and that’s all that matters. I think you can find it on ebay or on Sasa.com 😀
Garnier bb cream is RM19.90 and Maybelline mascara is RM42 ?? Oh my god, now I got really curious about money conversion, RM1 is equal to how many dollars Paris?
Erm at today’s exchange rate, RM1 is about US0.32
oooh Inglot is available in Malaysia! seems like i’ve gotta make a trip when i reach KL in september 😀 and i keep forgetting to buy the canmake liner whenever there’s 20% off at Watsons :p agree with your Revlon choice, they make excellent lippies! there’s not a lot we can buy in Singapore with S$20 – the hada labo lotion costs around S$23.
for other budget buys, i’m not sure if nyx is available in Malaysia, but i recently discovered their matte lip creams and they’re great for the price of around S$12 (barring a very strong vanilla scent). also, topshop makeup products aren’t strictly drugstore, but i’m liking their lip marker and blusher (both under S$20) 🙂
Yep, its been around for about a year 🙂 You can find them at MidValley Megamall now if you’ll be in KL 🙂 I guess for your version of a budget buy you might have to do a S$50 instead because it won’t be fair to be basing it on $20 LOL That said, we can get quite a lot of stuff here for $20 huh? 😉 We dont’ get NYX here unless we buy through online retailers (which I discounted because I wanted something easy to find in store) and thanks for reminding me about Topshop! I should take a look at their stuff.
Great budget beauty list. I think we are on similar blog wavelengths or something… because I was thinking of creating a budget beauty post yesterday…and had a few similar items like Garnier BB and Hada Labo…and then I was thinking how much I love Hada Labo lotion & started using it again a couple of days ago to alleviate a dry patch….and then there was time we were trialling that Olay cream…and…I am rambling!!!! Sorry! 😛
Haha blog twins? 😀 Do do a list too Ling. Its always nice to know of good stuff to buy from pharmacies. I love shopping at pharmacies and maybe if I go down to Australia, I can bring your list along 😀
I am loving revlon’s lash grow mascara! It does make my lower lashes seem thicker after using for awhile. 🙂
Ooh I love Grow Lash too – I didn’t notice any lengthening but its a very nice mascara that gives me nice fluttery lashes 🙂
There are some gems in the pharmacy. My budget beauty consists of St Ives face scrub, bio-essence face cleanser, Maybelline make-up remover, etc. I don’t exactly remember the prices, but they are under RM50.
Thanks for sharing your budget buy choices Mira! I used to use the St. Ives scrub too – one of the first scrubs I ever used and it really helped my skin because I Was using the medicated one with the salycilic acid. Good stuff!
Love this post…You can get pretty decent products for RM50 😉 I think the best bang for your buck would be an Inglot eyeshadow…I’m really surprised you have good things to say about the much maligned Garnier BB Cream. Either the Asia edition is diff from the Western one or it really depends on skin type…
Oh yes! The Garnier BB Cream is really good, for me anyway. The Asian and European versions are different though. I tried the European version and it really sucks – heavy, oily and poor colour match (for me). I haven’t found the words to post a review just that LOL!
I also love Revlon’s lipstick and Inglot’s eye shadows.
Good taste, Marina! I got interested in Inglot thanks to you 🙂