These affordable, all-star products are among the top pro picks for effectiveness and truly stellar results. (Amazon)
Over-the-top expensive beauty products can seem covetable and glamorous — there's something supremely indulgent about slathering your face in a luxury cream that costs as much as an average mortgage payment, an investment that's only practical for the wealthiest among us. But eventually, like any decadent habit, if you're a practical person with an actual budget, you start to feel a little duped by these stupid-pricey items. I test makeup and skin care for a living and what I can tell you after years of trying luxury beauty is that most of it is not significantly more effective than drugstore picks. In fact, some dermatologist-recommended budget formulas are superior in all ways to those from bougie brands. This is often doubly true for makeup — I've tested enough concealers, mascaras and lip stains (and talked to enough celebrity makeup artist) to know you rarely need to spend $60 for an item when you can buy one of equal quality for $5.
Below, I've rounded up 10 deeply vetted, in-the-know products that have come highly recommended by beauty experts and that I've had on my own personal radar for years. I've tested most of them myself — a few are even currently in my cart for a restock.
Join the thousands of shoppers who bought a tub this month and give it a try for yourself.
Aquafor's dermatologist-recommended repair balm is clinically proven to relieve dryness and soothe the most chapped, cracked lips. Because it contains potent sunscreen (broad-spectrum SPF 30), it's an essential beauty product for summer.
In 2022, Regimen Lab, a peer-reviewed skin-care brand, shared a video comparing Nivea Creme with the ultra-pricey luxury brand La Mer and found that the two products use the exact same base ingredients. The biggest difference? La Mer costs hundreds of dollars, and Nivea is just $9.99. This is perhaps my greatest skin-care secret! It's the ideal everyday face moisturizer for winter, and it makes an excellent night cream too.
Retinol is a must for preventing and treating issues like wrinkles, but it can be a bit harsh on dry winter faces. But this gentle, beginner's retinol cream contains both retinol and bakuchiol. While both ingredients help increase collagen production, bakuchiol has fewer side effects and tends to be less irritating. Bakuchiol and retinol work well together — really well. In fact, research shows that bakuchiol can enhance the effectiveness of retinol while helping stabilize it.
At a .1% retinol concentration, and with the addition of high-quality skin-nourishing ingredients like grape seed oil, this affordable cream is an ideal skin-firming agent for the cold-weather months.
Can 25,000 5-star reviewers be wrong? Maybe! But in this case, Essence's $5 in-the-know Lash Princess mascara happens to be worth the hype. The formula is super smooth and effectively lengthens and volumizes (though you will have to deal with minimal smudging and scant flaking). This is all due to the clever cylindrical wand design — it looks like a cone — which makes coating even the hardest-to-reach lashes a breeze.
In warm weather, I often switch to the waterproof version, which is equally as good.
This creamy, dreamy formula is easy to apply, and it's small enough to carry in even the tiniest of purses. Over 40,000 five-star Amazon reviewers are just as excited about this affordable find as I am. "It blends very easily and I always feel younger and fresher with this on. I've never had any breakouts or other issues and use these every day," said one.
If you're in the market for a complexion-brightening exfoliant, I've had several dermatologists recommend this lactic acid chemical version for skin-cell turnover and to help clear pores of oily gunk. It quickly gets the exfoliating job done as well as (though somewhat less gently and luxuriously!) its closest comparative product — Sunday Riley's Good Genes, which costs more than 10 times as much.
With all the saltwater, chlorine and beating-down sun, hair needs extra hydration in late summer, and this TikTok-famous repairing treatment can render even the driest, most straw-like mop into silky strands. You work it into your hair after shampooing and, after 5-15 minutes, the before-and-after is seriously profound. After using this, my thin, dry, longtime dyed-blonde mane was bouncy, soft and smooth as a satin sheet. Best of all, it didn't feel weighed down.
Though it does make your hair slightly greasier than normal, the conditioning impact is worth it — my results lasted for weeks.
NYX's wallet-friendly eye pencil is a favorite of in-the-know pros and celebrities alike, including Real Housewives alum and J.Crew royalty Jenna Lyons. It's frequently used by top makeup artists because it's smudge-proof, and the creamy, non-crumbly formula lends itself to precise lines — truly among the best eyeliners we've ever tried.
This easy-glide detangling brush is often recommended by stylists as a tool for those with fine, thin or thinning hair, which tends to tangle more intensely than thicker 'dos. While regular brushes can actually add to thinning or shedding by tearing and damaging whatever strands you have left, this wildly smooth and effective brush is a breeze to use on wet or dry hair and gentle enough for even those of us who are balding a bit.
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