The best budget beauty buys to get you through the cost of living crisis
Nothing over $20
If you live in Australia then you’re likely feeling the pressure that the nation’s cost of living crisis is creating.
Living is more expensive than ever before; Australia’s capital cities have experienced an 11 per cent rental increase and inflation has affected everything from petrol to food prices, and interest rates.
So while we don’t think we’re likely to ever give up on our beauty routines in the efforts of maintaining a modicum of self care amidst the chaos, we are making some smart swaps.
As beauty nerds we pride ourselves on our ability to thoroughly research the products we use — our brains are basically encyclopedias of beauty-based knowledge.
We know the bargain beauty buys celebrities swear by, the best drugstore primer, foundation, highlighter, mascara, liquid eyeliner, bronzer, concealer, cleanser, and serums.
We’ve located 12 peptide serums under $50 that are excellent Rhode Skin Peptide Glazing Fluid dupes.
We’ve also found drugstore dupes for all of our favourite luxury products like Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540, the Dyson Airwrap, and basically every skin care product from Drunk Elephant.
Come to think of it, with the help of TikTok, we’ve sussed out dupes for all of our favourite lip products too, like the Laneige lip mask, the Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil, and the Clinique Almost Lipstick Black Honey, just to name a few.
And as self-professed Charlotte Tilbury fans, we have a back-up list of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand dupes and Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter dupes (shout out to the viral e.l.f Halo Glow Liquid Filter), just in case.
Over the next few months we expect to lay some very exxy empties to rest (R.I.P). But we’re cutting our grieving period short to celebrate a routine refresh that includes some exciting drugstore finds.
The Best Budget Beauty Products Under $20 To Buy In Australia
Now that you’ve got your hands on some decent brushes, here are eight of the best budget-friendly eyeshadow palettes under $30.
Main image credit: @dixiedamelio
Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).
