Top 10 Budget Beauty Buys 2010

While not all of these ten products were released in 2010, they came to my attention and joined the ranks in my makeup kit in 2010. All of these little wonders are from the cheaper brands and represent great value for money as well as really performing well. In fact, these products behave as though they were from the premium brands. No inferiority complexes here. Nor should there be; these brands are jewels in the crown of the beauty industry and I urge you to try them out, you'll be happy, I promise!

Above you can see the Solar Powder by Soap and Glory. It is a two tone bronzer and highlighter in a fantastically light shade ( I am very averse to dark bronzers). You can use the darker side to contour under the cheek bones for definition and the lighter side on the high points of the face to add a glowy healthy colour. I got this product back in the Spring and I'm still using it every single day. It's available from Boots and Harvey Nichols.

The Velvet Touch liners by Danish brand GOSH are superb, I now use both the lip and eye pencils and they are quickly healing me of my obsession with the far more expensive liners by Armani. The shades are great, the texture is soft and the pigments are intense. I can't ask for more.
I posted about my discovery of these Smoky Eye sets by Essence recently and I am still delighted with it. It is a fool proof smoky eye; use the cream shadow all over the lid and press the shimmery shadow on top blending out the edges with your finger for softness. It's easy and at under €4, you can buy all the shades for the price of one MAC eye shadow!

Polish brand INGLOT was a complete revelation to me when I spent time exploring it in the new stand alone store in the Dundrum Centre. It is a huge range full of wonderful colours and textures. I am crazy about their lip products; each shade comes in a variety of finishes; matte, sheer, shimmer, gloss etc. Their kaleidescope of shades rivals MAC and the quality is superb. I'm hooked.

UNE is one of my favourite new releases of 2010. Made by Bourjois, it's ingredients are of 98% organic origin and it's shade range is super natural and muted. It's very easy on the eye with no brights or trend colours but a great option for a classic polished look at a low price. I love the Breezy Cheeks blush; it's a hybrid of cream and powder and can be applied with fingers or a brush for a softly glowing rosy look.

Rimmel 60 Seconds nail polish is not new, but it's new to me. I grabbed a bottle when I knew I had no time to wait for polish to dry ( on the way to the train for a night out actually!). I didn't have high expectations but the Deliciously Dark shade is now my current favourites and it really does dry quickly. Not quite 60 seconds for two coats but certainly under 5 minutes... One to note for Mums on the run who want to sort their nails!

Max Factor Second Skin is my current day time foundation of choice. It has a light to medium coverage and a gorgeous glowy finish that people have commented on time after time. Every time my Mum sees me in it she coos about good my skin looks. And it does! Even after sleepless nights with Lu. The creamy ivory shade matches my pale skin perfectly and I can see myself wearing this for some time to come.

I have nearly every shade of these Revlon matte shadows in my makeup kit and I use them all the time on clients. Up to now it was so hard to find good matte shades that were blendable, so I was thrilled when I found these! They feel like satin as they glide over the skin yet they give a deep and intense colour. They are a star product for anyone concerned with crepey skin on the eyes.

Another star foundation that came out in 2010 is this Healthy Mix foundation by Bourjois. Good pale tones ( I always judge a brand by their pale shades, as they are the hardest to get right), it has a good medium coverage and I love the radiant finish - your skin does indeed look healthier in this foundation. They don't have a huge shade extension as is the curse of the cheaper brands, but if you can get one to match, you're on to a winner for sure.

This is the False Lash Effect mascara by Essence. I picked this up two weeks ago from my box of yet to try products when I couldn't find my usual one (Lu tends to re-distribute my makeup all around the house!) I didn't expect much to be honest. Oh me of little faith owes an apology to Essence for ever doubting them as I love this mascara! It's not as 'false lashy' as the YSL False Lash, instead I find it to be a great lengthening product. I really like the brush and at under €4 I think it's a keeper.

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