Life can be pretty tough if you are a fashionista on a budget! At one end you have to maintain the high fashion standards that you set for yourself, while at the other end, you have to combat the sky high prices of cosmetics. When you have no additional cash flow and the cosmetic brands mercilessly inflate the prices of their products, you have no choice but to explore other options.

Cheap makeup products can come to your rescue, if you find yourself in such a situation. Nope, we are not talking about those fake or foreign makeup products which you get at dirt cheap prices. We are talking about inexpensive, yet genuine products that are comparable with your favorite brands. So, here are some ideas on how to make cheap makeup look good, so that nobody knows you are wearing a cheap makeup!

Step 1

If you need to use cheap makeup it doesn’t have to look cheap. All you need is an extra step or two. The first item at hand is foundation. Cover girl foundation is the best cheap makeup I have found. It’s hard to apply smoothly if you don’t know how to make it glide. This is what I do before I apply foundation. If you have face moisturizer that will do. However, if you have oily skin it’s not a good option. I use water.

All you do is take a damp cloth, moisten the face lightly then immediately begin to apply foundation. If the face starts to dry out dampen it again with the cloth and keep doing this throughout the process, this way foundation will glide easier over the skin and result in great coverage.

Step 2

The next item is eye shadow. To prepare the eyes for cheap makeup you need to cover the eyelid with a powder base of some sort. I use cover girl pressed powder. It’s the color of my skin and works great. Additionally, buy powder eye shadow not cream, it creases horribly.

Another tip is good applicators. When you buy cheap eye shadow they give you cheap applicators. To apply well you need quality ones, so I go to one of the more upscale stores and they give you quality sponge eye shadow applicators free! I throw away the cheap one and use the good one. In addition, use cheap eye shadow sparingly, less is better in this case.

Step 3

Another good cheap makeup is Maybelline mascara in the green and pink tube. This stuff is great! I can make one tube last for months just by adding water to it each morning. Don’t pour water in the tube, but on the brush then put it back in the tube and pump it around. Then place the tube with the applicator in it in a cup of hot water to make sure the mascara is not clumpy. If it’s cold it will be clumpy!

One last crazy tip for you is to separate the eyelashes with a toothpick, a sharp one. You have to be careful with this technique or else you will poke the eye. I have done it and it hurts! However, I haven’t found anything that separates lashes as nicely as a toothpick.

Step 4

The other two members of the cheap makeup family are blush and lipstick. To ensure cheap blush doesn’t look like two balls sitting on your face use powder with a big soft brush to blend. It’s better to use cheap blush sparingly and buy powder not cream, it’s hard to remove and sometimes stains the skin.

Even when I could afford it I didn’t buy expensive lipstick. Cheap lipstick works pretty good and stays on just as well. However, the difference is in the texture. Cheap lipstick tends to be dry not moist, so I buy two tubes. One for glossy and one for color, apply the glossy first so that the other glides on smoothly.

Now you know how to use cheap makeup and be no worse for the wear!