I am really trying to save all my sheckles at the moment so am trying my very best not to buy all the things but am regularly failing. So to keep myself on track I thought I would share some my favourite budget buys to inspire me. I’m going to start with makeup. Here are some of the budget buys that I love!

Kiko Intense Colour Long Lasting Eyeliner (€7.50) – I would like to apologise for my Kiko eyeliner not being in the photos. I was at a hen party last weekend and my clutch bag fell open. A load of my stuff fell out and I thought I’d gotten everything back but in my slightly tipsy state I missed two items – my bank card – and my new Kiko eyeliner. I’m not ashamed to admit that I am more upset about the eyeliner! I can’t get Kiko here so will have to order online. This eyeliner is fab and I think I like it better than my *gasp* Urban Decay 24/7 liners and that’s saying something. It glides on and doesn’t budge all day, which is difficult with my watery allergy prone eyes. A total winner and a bargain!

Penneys Mini Makeup Sponges (€2) – Aww just look at them, they’re so dinky! I picked these up given my recent Beauty Blender obsession. There are three little sponges in slightly different shapes in the pack. They’re not as good as the Beauty Blender but as they’re only designed for concealer they do a good job of getting coverage under the eyes and around the nose. And they’re too cute!

Botanics Radiance Balm (€8.49) – Ok I know everyone and their mother bought this last year when it gained fame but I only got around to buying it a few weeks ago. It’s a gorgeous sheeny liquid that I find quite cooling and moisturising on the skin. It reminds me a little of the Benefit That Gal primer. It leaves a lovely highlight that I can definitely still see once I’ve applied my foundation. Botanics is a little Gem of a brand I tell ya.

Makeup Revolution Iconic 2 palette (€6) – Ok so no secret that I’m a Makeup Revolution fan but it’s started to bug me that they copy other products so much. I much prefer when I see them release palettes that are just theirs, they’re edgy and cool anyways. One of their original releases were the dupes of the Naked palettes. I picked up this Naked 2 dupe a while ago but have been using it quite regularly lately. There’s no arguing that these palettes aren’t original but they are very good quality for the price. They’re not Urban Decay quality in terms of wear time and pigment but they give decent colour payoff.

Catrice Liquid Camouflage Concealer (€3.99)  - You can’t beat Catrice for a budget buy, there isn’t much they do wrong that I’ve tried. When this concealer was launched many people compared it to the classic Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer (another great budget buy). It doesn’t give as quite high coverage but is also less drying that the Collection one. I have dry skin so this one works a bit better for me especially under the eye area. I own the palest shade and it’s really pale so would suit really fair skins.

NYX Butter Glosses (€7) – Well these are a bit of a classic beauty buy but it’s a lot easier to get them now that NYX counters are popping up in some of the larger Boots. The counters I’ve seen so far in Dundrum and Jervis are massive so you are spoilt for choice with the full range of Butter Glosses. I love these as they’re high colour with a glossy finish without being sticky. I also find they last longer than normal glosses. They’re like my type of Pokemon – ‘Gotta catch em all’ – bonus points for working Pokemon into this post!

So that’s just a handful of my favourite budget buys. Do you have a special budget pick that you’d add to the list?

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Clinique Moisture Surge Gel Cream (€29) - I LOVE this moisturiser it does a brilliant job at moisturising my skin without feeling sticky and heavy. I just ran out of my last pot before I headed on hols. I saved €16 by buying this in Tenrerife as its about €45 at home.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Light (€25) - this is my foundation of choice at the moment. It gives great coverage and a lovely not too matte finish. This was a bit of a bargain as it’s normally €38 here so I saved €12. You can see a before and after of this foundation in this post.

Kiko Skin Trainer CC Blur Primer (€19) - the sales assistant in Kiko persuaded me to buy this one but I’m kind of regretting it as I’m normally disappointed with primers in general. It’s a silicone type tinted primer designed to even skin tone and leave a slightly matte base for makeup. It feels like a nice consistency but I’ll let you know how I get on with this.

Kiko Water Eyeshadow 342 (€8.90) - I already own one of these in a great burgundy shade here. They’re really highly pigmented and last ages once you have them on. I decided to go a bit bolder and get his orange gold shade which I think will be nice for the summer blended out with some bronze shades.

Kiko Dark Circle Tone Eraser (€8.90) - in hindsight I think this might turn into one of those products that I always forget to use. I have quite a dark under eye area and find it hard to conceal it properly. I liked the consistency of this yellow toned primer when I tried this. It feels quite moisturising while offering decent coverage, I’ll let you know how I get on with it!

Kiko Nail Polish 805 (€1.50) - Their regular nail polishes were all on offer so I couldn’t pass them by!

Kiko Luxurious Lashes Waterproof Mascara (€3.75) - all of the Kiko mascaras were heavily discounted in the store so they must be repackaging or reformulating them. I can only wear waterproof mascaras as I wear lenses and any other mascara will smudge badly. This mascara is huge, I’m not sure why they make the tube so big. I am liking this one so far though.

Kiko Intense Colour Long Lasting eyeliner (€5.20) - they have a huge selection of eyeliners but I opted for the super pigmented one. I’m hoping this one might compare to my favourite Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Smog, I’ll keep you posted.

I think I was quite reserved with my purchases as there was so much more I could have bought! Do you spot anything here that you like? I really wish there was a Kiko store here but it’s probably better for my bank balance that there’s not!

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Estee Lauder Double Wear Light – I know lots of Double Wear devotees out there but it’s one that’s just a tiny but too heavy for me but I love the light version. I had this foundation years ago but never replaced it. I usually wear Revlon Colorstay but I find lately probably with stress it’s been a bit drying on my skin. So I spontaneously bought this one again and I’ve been loving it. It’s a medium coverage with not too matte a finish and just lasts really well on my skin without drying it out. I wear the lightest shade 1.0 so this probably wouldn’t work for super pale ladies.

No7 Pop & Glow Cream Blush and Mango Sorbet – I love a coral toned blush and this cream version from No7 is just perfection for spring with its bright coral colour. What I really like about this one is how long it lasts. I’ve worn this to work for the last few weeks and I definitely see evidence of the blush at the end of the day. This isn’t usually the case for me as I’ve such dry skin. The quality of this has also made me curious to try their contour and highlight versions of these.

Soap and Glory Kick Ass Concealer – Ok funny one here, I’m not overly fussed about the concealers in this, they’re fine but are a bit too creamy and the tones are slightly off for my skin . What I really love in this set is the concealer setting powder. The powder really reminds me of the Makeup Forever HD powder in terms of the blurred finish it leaves on your skin and it’s also the white colour. It really mattifies skin and blurs pores without feeling heavy. Soap & Glory have just brought out a translucent version of their Kick Ass pressed powder and I hope it’s the same as this one as it’s fab!

Beauty Blender - I sing Rhianna to myself when I think of this one ‘Where have you been all my liiiiiiiiiiiiiiife……..’ In case you missed my glowing review last week here, I absolutely frickin love my Beauty Blender. It’s just perfect for my dry skin and quite simply my foundation has never looked so good. I like it so much I had a dream the other night that I got loads more of these, clearly I need help!

So there you have a quick peek of some of my favourite products at the moment. Let me know if you’re a fan of any of these!

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With the Beauty Blender you dampen the sponge a little bit and use it to press foundation onto the skin. It’s kind of fun to use, It reminds me of painting as a kid or something. I like that the sponge doesn’t absorb too much foundation but just the right amount to apply it onto skin. The sponge gives great coverage without feeling too heavy. It also works perfectly for my dry skin as the sponge is slightly damp it leaves a lovely feeling on the skin.

I’ve definitely noticed a much better finish to my foundation and it lasts much longer than usual. I’ve noticed by 4pm in work that my foundation is still looking pretty good and hasn’t sunk into pores as much as it would if I had used a foundation brush. You can see the lovely finish it gives below using my current favourite Estee Lauder Double Wear Light foundation. I’m not wearing any other concealers or products in the photo below so you can see the Beauty Blender helps to give really good coverage on my redness and dark circles.

The only slight issue I have with the Beauty Blender is around cleaning it. I’ve only had it two weeks now and have been trying to figure out the best way to clean it. I read the best way is to soak it in soapy water overnight. I did that and was surprised at the amount of dye that came out of the sponge. I was also surprised that the overnight soak didn’t get rid of all the foundation stains. I tried using a bit of oil cleanser but even that didn’t remove the stubborn foundation. This just concerns me that the Beauty Blender may not be super hygienic but I’ve since read that ideally you should clean it after every use which I’m going to do. Still I’d imagine you’d need to replace this every few months or so.

Having said all that I really love the finish that the Beauty Blender gives to my foundation, I can’t see me switching back to my brushes any time soon. I’ll just be trying to keep it super clean and will replace it regularly enough. The Beauty Blender isn’t the cheapest at €24 but given the results I would happily pay that for it again! Love it! You can buy the Beauty Blender in Space NK on Grafton St in Dublin.

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