Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
Embarking on your makeup journey shouldn’t be a daunting task, especially for those on a budget. Discovering the perfect balance between affordability and quality is the key to building a basic makeup kit for beginners.
In this guide, we navigate the beauty aisles to curate a wallet-friendly selection of must-have products for novice makeup enthusiasts. Join us as we explore the essential elements of a basic makeup kit for beginners on a budget, ensuring that every brush stroke and dab of color brings joy without breaking the bank. Let’s dive into the world of beauty that doesn’t compromise on quality or your budget.
This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the link with no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases, thank you.
Essential Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
To build a basic makeup kit for beginners on a budget, you need the following essentials:
- You need a pack of brush set, it will be more expensive buying the brushes single, remember, the purpose of this post is to show you how to build a basic makeup kit for beginners on a BUDGET.
So it’s advisable to get a pack of brush set, you do not need a very expensive one, you can get this 10pcs Kabuki brush set and it will serve you just fine. You will also need:
| For The Eyes | For The Face | For The Lips |
| #1. Brown Pencil/ Brown Gel Liner | #6. moisturizer | #14. Pencil Lip Liner |
| #2. Highlighting Concealer | #7. Sunscreen | #15. Lip Balm |
| #3. Eyeshadow Primer | #8. Primer | #16. Lipstick |
| #4. Eyeshadow Palette | #9. Foundation | |
| #5. Eyeliner And Mascara | #10. Highlighting Concealer | |
| #11. Setting Powder | ||
| #12. Powder Palette | ||
| #13. Setting Spray |
Don’t feel overwhelmed by the numbers of products you see above, when you get the basic makeup kit, you will get to see that the numbers can be deceiving.
Your skin type can also determine if you should skip getting a particular product, for example, a dry skin may not necessarily need a setting powder and an oily skin may not necessarily need a moisturizer.
Now these are the beginner makeup essentials you need any day, anytime for work, party or travel.
That said, let’s create a short list to help you build your basic makeup kit on a tight BUDGET.
| Eyebrow pencil | e.l.f instant lift brow pencil | $3.00 |
| Concealer Palette | Makeup Revolution Concealer Palette | $10.00 |
| Eyeshadow Palette | Beauty Searcher Eyeshadow Palette | $7 |
| Mascara | Wet n Wild Mascara | $5.99 |
| Eyeliner | Wet n Wild Liquid Eyeliner | $6.49 |
| Primer | Rimmel Mattifying Primer | $6.99 |
| Foundation | Revlon Liquid Foundation | $10.99 |
| Concealer | e.l.f 16HR Camo Concealer | $7.00 |
| Powder Palette | L.A. Colors Powder Palette | $7.00 |
| Setting Spray | e.l.f Matte Magic Mist & Set | $6.00 |
| Lipstick | Wet n Wild | $0.98 |
| Total | $71.44 |
Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget (Not included)
The following products are not included in the list because you do not necessarily need them but if you have the money to splurge, why not?
- Bronzer
- Eyelashes
- Blush
- Lip Gloss
- Beauty Blender
Must-have Products In A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
Now, let’s take an in-depth look at how to build a makeup kit for beginners:
1. Best Eyebrow Pencil For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After cleansing the face, I always recommend any beginner start with the eye makeup first so that any mistake done can be corrected.
For this process, you need a brown eyebrow pencil or any eyebrow pencil that is not too dark.
A brown gel eyeliner can also be used in place of a pencil if you wear makeup for a very long time, an eyebrow gel helps to keep your brows in place and prevent it from smudging or getting oily.
But an eyebrow pencil is the best for any beginner and I personally recommend the e.l.f dual-sided instant lift brow pencil, it’s great for any skin tone and perfect for any beginner.
The e.l.f dual sided brow pencil is all you need for a perfect eyebrows when putting together your basic makeup kit for beginners on a budget, it’s a neutral-brown color brow pencil which gives a natural and long-lasting effect.
Pros Of e.l.f Instant Brow Pencil
- If you love cruelty free and vegan makeup products, this e.l.f pencil is one
- It’s a dual-purpose pencil because it also has a spool for brush and styling the brows
- Perfect for over 60 eyebrows
- Long lasting coverage
- Thousands of reviews and still counting
Cons Of e.l.f Instant Brow Pencil
- With time, the pencil loses its tiny tip which makes it harder to draw a natural-looking eyebrows
- It can’t be sharpened so you will need to get a new one with time
Apart from these, the pencil is absolutely the best in quality and price.
2. Best Concealer Palette For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After drawing the eyebrows, you need a concealer to highlight or clean the eyebrows and our best pick is the Makeup Revolution Concealer Palette, it contains several concealer colors which can serve any skin tone for several purposes.
The Makeup Revolution Concealer Palette is one of the best concealer palette you can get on a low price in the market.
It contains varieties of concealer colors which you can use as an eyebrow, eye and face concealer, it’s creamy and gives a full coverage, it’s cruelty free and gives an effortless blending.
You can use the concealers as an eyeshadow primer, cream contour, eyebrow highlighter and facial concealer.
Cons Of The Makeup Revolution Concealer Palette
- It has a slight reddish undertone
- The contour colors may not be so great for very dark skin.
3. Best Eyeshadow Palette For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After drawing and cleaning the brows, the next thing is your eye makeup, as mentioned above, you can use a concealer as an eyeshadow primer or get an eyeshadow primer here.
One of my favorite eyeshadow to use is the Beauty Searcher 60 colored eyeshadow palette which is one of the best eyeshadow palette out there for beginners on a budget, its colors covers for all your needs when it comes to creating any eyeshadow look for any occasion.
It’s a combination of highly pigmented matte and shimmer eyeshadow which allows you to create any look from classy to playful.
Its powder is so smooth, it makes it easy to blend even for a beginner.
Cons Of Beauty Searcher Eyeshadow Palette
Most people who have used the palette are all satisfied only very very very few complained of how difficult it was to apply but I see no problem with this palette plus the price is amazing!
4. Best mascara For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After eyeshadow application, mascara is the next thing to put on the eyes and the best affordable mascara out there is the Wet n Wild Mascara.
This mascara has hundreds of positive reviews to it and it’s very very affordable.
Cons Of Wet n Wild Mascara
People love this mascara, the only complaint is that it comes dry.
5. Best Eyeliner For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After applying eyeshadow and mascara, you will need an eyeliner, for beginners, I always recommend a pencil liquid eyeliner such as the Wet n wild pencil liquid eyeliner.
A pencil liquid eyeliner helps to keep your hands steady when drawing an eyeliner, with this pencil liquid eyeliner, you are in control of how you want your eyeliner drawn.
The Wet n Wild Mascara is 100% cruelty free and its thin brush tip allows you to create any look, from thin lines to bold cat eye look.
It is not only safe and easy for a beginner to use, it is also a smudge proof, flake proof and waterproof eyeliner.
Cons Of Wet n Wild Pencil Eyeliner
This eyeliner has hundreds of positive feedback but some people complained the eyeliner came dried out.
6. Best Primer For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After the eye makeup, you start your skin prep before starting the facial makeup, skin prep is very important, it helps your makeup products appear beautiful and smoothly on the face.
For skin prep, you need to cleanse your face first with a facial cleanser or facial wipes or baby wipes, after cleaning, you apply sunscreen, moisturizer and primer.
Remember that you can skip the moisturizing part if you have an oily skin or large pores, but if you need a moisturizer and can’t buy one, I have a DIY moisturizer recipe above that you can check out.
The best primer out there for a basic makeup kit for beginners on a budget is the Rimmel Mattifying Primer it’s a great primer for controlling oily skin and large pores, if you have dry skin, you can opt for a moisturizing primer such as the e.l.f Hydrating Face primer, if you have an acne-prone skin, the e.l.f Blemish Control Primer is the best for you.
The Rimmel mattifying primer is lightweight and controls shine on the face for up to 8 hours.
Cons Of Rimmel Mattifying Primer
The primer has thousands of positive feedback but the downside of it is that it leaves a white cast on the face after application.
7. Best Foundation For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On a Budget
After skin prep, the next thing to apply is a foundation, of course, there are different skin types and so, different foundations.
It’s very important to know your skin type and tone before picking a foundation, foundations comes in liquid, creamy or powder form, so there’s a foundation for everyone.
For dry skin, the Revlon Liquid Foundation is best for you.
For oily and combination skin, the Rimmel Stay Matte Foundation is best for you.
For acne prone skin. the Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation is best for you.
The best foundation for mature skin is the COVERGIRL+OLAY Simply Ageless 3-in-1 Foundation, it reduces fine line and wrinkles.
Would you like some help choosing your perfect shades?
Knowing the perfect shade of foundation for your skin can be difficult sometimes but a very easy method to check if a foundation fit you skin tone is to take a small amount of that foundation and rub on your neck or chin, if it’s fit perfectly to your neck and face then it is the perfect foundation for your skin tone.
Picking the perfect foundation for the skin tone is vast but this is the basic step to picking your foundation shade.
As simple as this may sound, it can also be difficult to get a foundation that fits your skin tone, sometimes, mixing two different colors of foundation can also help you get the perfect foundation for your skin.
8. Best Highlighting Concealer For A Basic makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After foundation, the next thing to apply is a highlighting concealer to cover up under-eye dark circles and make your eye makeup pop.
I know I said you can use your concealer palette to highlight your face but the concealers in a palette are usually creamy concealers and this can be difficult to blend if you are just starting out.
If you are not fast enough to blend out this type of concealer, it will cause a cakey under-eye make for you which you don’t want.
Now to avoid this entirely, you need a liquid concealer to highlight, mind you, you can still get a cakey under-eye if you don’t blend the liquid concealer properly.
One of the best liquid concealer to get is e.l.f 16HR Camo Concealer, it gives a full-coverage and a 16HR wear makeup.
Cons Of e.l.f 16hr Camo Concealer
The concealer dries out quickly so it’s important you blend it on time, aside that, this is the best concealer for a basic makeup kit for beginners on a budget.
9. Best Powder Palette For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
After highlighting, you will need to set the highlight, contour and blend all over your face, for these you will need a setting powder, contour powder and your skin tone powder but a powder palette can also do all of these jobs for you.
If using a powder palette, you can use a lighter color of powder to set the concealer or a color that is you skin tone if you want a natural under-eye look.
To contour use a powder two shades darker than you to contour, then lastly to blend your overall face, use a powder that matches your skin tone.
Judging by the three process above, you can tell that buying each of these products separately will cost you more, that is why I recommend getting a powder palette, it will not only save you some cost, it will also give you variety of choices.
One of the best powder palette to get is L.A. Colors I Heart Contour Palette for medium to dark skin tone, For a medium to light skin tone, you can get the e.l.f 4 Shades Powder Palette.
10. Best Setting Spray For A Basic Makeup Kit For beginners On A Budget
Nobody likes their hard work to go down the drain, after spending hours doing your makeup, all you want is to enjoy the beauty of it and for that to happen, you need to protect it from heat, smearing and any form of liquid but all these are not possible right? I mean common, after all you are human and you must sweat when you go out, so how do you stop your makeup from getting ruined?
The solution: Makeup Setting Spray
A good setting spray helps to keep your makeup longer and gives you a natural finish and one good setting spray is the e.l.f Matte Magic Mist & Set, it’s one of the setting spray I swear by and you can get it at any drugstore store near you.
11. Best Lipstick For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
Lastly you need a lipstick to compliment your look, I would recommend a lipstick palette such as the NYX Professional Makeup Lipstick if you can get one because it’s going to give you variety of choices of lipstick and can also serve as a cream blush and concealer.
But if you prefer to get a single lipstick, you can get the Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick, it’s highly pigmented and gives a long-lasting effect.
Best Makeup Brushes For A Basic Makeup Kit For Beginners On A Budget
No makeup can be done without makeup brushes, don’t you agree? There are lot of makeup brush set out there that can very expensive but this BS-MALL Kabuki 11pcs Brush Set Is all you need to start up. It contains all the essential brush type you will need as a beginner
Buying your makeup brushes single can cost you a lot of money trust me, that’s why it’s always best to buy brushes as a set.
How To Use A Products For Multipurpose Uses And Save Cost
Because you are on a budget, you may not have the money to buy all the products I have listed above, but I have already promised you that I was going to show you how to buy your basic makeup kit on a budget even if it’s a very tight budget
Below are some products you can use for more than one purposes:
- Eyeshadow palette: you can use an eyeshadow palette as a blush, lipstick and bronzer.
- Concealer Palette: you can use a concealer palette as an eyebrow highlighter, facial highlighter, eyeshadow primer and cream contour.
- Powder palette: you can use a powder palette as a setting powder, contour and overall facial powder.
So what do I do now?
Investing a bit in quality makeup products is essential to avoid ending up with items that may never see the light of day. However, fear not! This guide, along with the featured budget-friendly products, empowers you to construct your basic makeup collection without straining your wallet. Feel free to drop any additional questions in the comment section; I’m here and eager to address them all!
SHARING is caring!! Pin this image for later.
What a great post! I used to be a makeup geek, it I’ve fallen off that as I’ve gotten older. This is the perfect guide to rebuilding my own kit for work! Thanks. ☺️
I’m glad it helped.
I usually only wear eyeshadow and mascara, but when I wear full makeup, I think I am missing the primer and setting spray. Maybe that is why my makeup doesn’t seem to last very long. I’ll need to pick those up. Thanks.
Yes, primer and setting spray helps to keep your makeup in place.
Oh, wow. This is probably the most informational makeup guide I’ve come across that’s perfect for beginners. Will bookmark to read again later. Thanks!
Great! I’m glad it helped.