Some recent budget beauty favourites all under €10/£10

I'm aware that I feature mainly mid to high end products on my blog most of the time but the truth is that I'm not a beauty snob and will just as happily use budget products once they work well for me. Over the summer, I have discovered some amazing budget beauty gems that I want to share with you today - there aren't any skincare products here but I do have hair, body and makeup goodies that I think you will love and are all €10/£10 and under so let's get started!

I'll start with haircare and the first product is a mask that smells like summer holidays! It's Maui Moisture Revive & Hydrate Shea Butter Hair Mask - it's a shea butter, coconut oil and macadamia oil mask, making it perfect for my dry hair. It's quite thick in texture so my advice is to use less product than you think you will need, but it rinses easily and doesn't weigh the hair down. This leaves my hair soft, smooth and hydrated. The 340g pot should last a few months and it's less than €10 in Boots.

A product that I have previously mentioned on the blog but I am still loving is John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7 Day In-Shower Treatment, which is a product that is used in every 3rd or 4th wash after shampooing and conditioning and left on the hair for 3-5 minutes before rinsing. It adds noticeable volume to the hair (not just at the roots), which lasts for around a week. It's affordable and works so what's not to love?!

Last month I was sent Pantene Micellar Water Shampoo, which I was really intrigued by as I haven't seen any haircare products containing micellar water before. Just as micellar water is used in skincare as a gentle way of cleansing the skin without stripping it, this shampoo does the same thing for hair. This shampoo deeply cleanses the hair, removing excess oils, product build-up and unwanted minerals and metals (hair is exposed to these due to environmental pollution) and leaves the hair thoroughly clean but not brittle and without stripping my hair colour. 

I tend to use Nivea body lotions the majority of the time but I am particularly hooked on their Rose & Argan Oil In Lotion. I love the scent, but also love how soft and nourished my skin is as a result of using this lotion. It absorbs quickly and easily so I don't need to hang around waiting to get dressed and it keeps my dry skin very comfortable. 

It's not that often that a budget foundation impresses me but Wet N Wild Photofocus Foundation really has. This little gem costs only €6.95 (available in Dunnes Stores and selected pharmacies) but performs like a high end product. It is housed in a glass bottle with a paddle applicator attached to the lid, which I really like because I can dot just the right amount of product on my face. It gives medium coverage and a demi-matte, very natural finish. I normally prefer dewy/glowy foundations but I can add some luminosity with one of setting sprays. The result is very polished looking skin that lasts a good 8 hours before I need to touch it up. One thing I must say is that my dry skin needs to be primed before using this foundation but I think normal or oily skins could skip that step.

My lovely friend Zoe recommended that I try NYX Micro Brow Pencil as her MUA daughter said it's a dupe for Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz so I bought it a few months ago and I love it. The very fine nib means that I can mimic brow hairs where I don't have them or where they are sparse, without looking unnatural. The product itself is neither too stiff nor too waxy so it stays put once applied and the spoolie doesn't get loose and fall off like it sometimes does on the Brow Wiz.

Finally, I have a mascara. I know that a lot of people say that drugstore mascaras perform just as well as high end ones but I have never found that to be the case, however when I began to read reviews comparing L'Oreal Paradise Extatic mascara to Too Faced Better Than Sex and Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir, which are two of my favourites, I had to try it. There's no doubt that this mascara is the best drugstore mascara I have tried in terms of adding volume but that can only be achieved through several coats. It adds some length but in my opinion, it adds more volume than length. It doesn't smudge, flake or transfer onto my lids. Is it as good as YSL Faux Cils or Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir? No, not quite but it is pretty damn close and at less than half the price, it is worth buying.

Have you used any of these products? What are your budget beauty favourites?

Thanks for reading! 

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All products are bought by me, unless otherwise stated. The Pantene and John Frieda products were sent to me. Opinion is always my own.