Makeup Reviews

As an aspiring makeup artist, you know that there’s a certain financial investment that needs to go into your professional makeup kit. But what if you’re on a budget? Furthermore, what if the world happens to be in the middle of a pandemic (ahem), and money’s a bit tighter than usual?

Does that mean you’re SOL and can’t be a proper MUA? Not at all! The truth is, there are tons of options at your disposal that will allow you to purchase awesome products for your professional makeup kit – without going broke in the process!

In the past, we’ve looked at drugstore makeup products that are just as good as their pricier counterparts. We’ve also broken down 5 useless items that you surprisingly don’t even need at all. This time, we’re instead going to look at 5 makeup brands that are not only of excellent quality, but also affordable for most budgets!

1. NYX Cosmetics

True story: when I first discovered NYX at a local shopping mall, I practically lost my mind with excitement. A friend described it to me as “Sephora, but without the crazy high dollar signs”. Not to knock on Sephora (heck, I’m obsessed with Sephora), but it turned out to be true.

If there’s a product you’re looking for, NYX is more than likely to have it. Case in point, I was looking for a bold, blue liquid lipstick, and found it for less than $20.00 CAD. (And it was awesome, by the way.) Because their products are much more affordable than competing brands, this is a wonderful place to start for aspiring MUAs.

You can take advantage of their lower prices in order to play around with different makeup products, and learn which ones you like, versus which ones you don’t. That way, if the time comes that you want to switch over to more luxurious brands, you already know exactly what you’re looking for.

2. Black Radiance

As a makeup artist, you need experience working with all sorts of different skin tones. Similarly, your professional makeup kit needs to offer products for ALL skin tones (or as close as you can realistically get). The last thing you want to do is make a client feel ostracized because you carry every shade except hers.

There are plenty of makeup brands out there that boast about their mindfulness of diversity, only to offer products that go no darker than a mild tan. In reality, there are so many different, darker skin tones out there, and they are all beautiful and worthy of inclusion.

Black Radiance is an affordable brand that actually lives up to what they promise!

While there is a vast range in the types of products they offer, Black Radiance is primarily geared towards darker skin tones. That being said, there’s something for everybody in their cosmetic line, such as:

• Color correctives
• Foundations, concealers, primers, and powders
• Bronzers, blushes, highlighters, and contours
• Eye makeup
• Lip products
• And so much more!

The best part? The majority of their products can be purchased for LESS than $10.00 USD!

3. Australis

A leading name in the cosmetics industry, this Aussie-based makeup brand is not only high-quality and affordable, it’s vegan and cruelty-free, too! On average, their products range anywhere from $8.00 AUS to $30.00 AUS. Especially for how great these products are, this is an absolute steal!

On top of the individual makeup items they offer, one of our favorite things about Australis’s website is that they have an entire section devoted to collections and bundle offers. There’s also a separate, easy-to-find section that lists all of their current sale items.

Australis definitely makes it effortless to get the most out of your buck! If you happen to live outside of Australia, don’t worry! This company also ships internationally to the United States, Canada, and the UK.

4. Revolution Beauty

Don’t let their low prices fool you – this UK makeup brand is wildly popular, and used by professional makeup artists all over the world! Like Australis, their items are all cruelty-free. Many of them are also vegan.

One of the things Revolution is known for is their insane pigments. (Seriously, just take a look at their eyeshadows if you don’t believe me.) One of the very first things you’ll notice about their products is that they provide extensive palettes for a super low cost. To illustrate:

• Many of their eyeshadow palettes offer 20+ pigments, for less than €20.00!
• Their 5-piece lipstick collections each cost a mere €7.99!
• Even their highest-priced brush sets are less than € 25.00!
• The MOST you’ll spend on foundation is € 11.99 per product (and many of these products are even cheaper)!

In addition, Revolution also offers a wide array of skincare products as well! While they’re currently limiting international shipping due to the current COVID-19 crisis, they do typically provide international shipping all around the world.

5. Maybelline

This is definitely a brand you’ve at least seen once, if you’ve ever stepped inside a drugstore. But as a whole, Maybelline has climbed the ranks of the cosmetic industry to become a world-wide name. It’s definitely easy to understand why!

For starters, you’ll be able to purchase the majority of their cosmetics for anywhere between $2.50 USD and $32.00 USD. On top of that, they have just about any product you can possibly think of (including a wide variety of foundations and concealers for different skin tones)!

But the real pièce de résistance worth mentioning are the virtual services offered on their website.

Not only does Maybelline’s business site provide color matching services, they also offer what they call “Virtual Try-On”. With this technology, you can upload a photo to their platform, and then let you see what their various products would look like on that person – before even buying anything!

For up-and-coming makeup artists, this would allow you to get the best possible idea of the cosmetics you want to stock in your professional makeup kit before spending any money. Then, once you know exactly what you want, you can buy them at a super cheap price.

Could there be anything better? We doubt it!

What other cheap makeup brands would YOU recommend for an MUA’s professional makeup kit? Let us know in the comments!

Want another way to stock up on high-quality makeup at an affordable price? Enroll in QC’s leading Master Makeup Artistry Course, and receive our 14-piece Elite Makeup Kit as part of your tuition!

As an MUA, your clients expect the products in your professional makeup kit to be top quality. Importantly, your kit should also possess enough diversity that you can adjust to your client based on their skin’s needs. Common examples of this would be working with a client who has particular skin conditions, issues, allergies, etc. The most efficient way to ensure that your makeup won’t cause harm to your client’s skin is to invest in vegan, cruelty-free products.

What are vegan, cruelty-free makeup products?

A makeup product is vegan if it does not contain any animal products or by-products. This includes ingredients such as beeswax, collagen, gelatin and many more. A product is considered cruelty-free when it has not been tested on animals. While not always the case, a “vegan” product tends to also be “cruelty free” the majority of the time.

For an in-depth look at what vegan makeup is made of and what ingredients it tends to avoid, please refer to our article, Vegan Makeup 101.

Why go vegan?

For starters, using vegan, cruelty-free products in your professional makeup kit adds an ethical component to your business that’s very beneficial. Morally, there are very few disadvantages to offering clients vegan, cruelty-free products. In today’s day and age, mistreatment of animals is highly frowned upon (for good reason!), and vegan lifestyles are only becoming more and more popular. Vegan products are also proven to have less of a carbon footprint, thereby being better for the environment!

From a business perspective, it can be argued to be a very smart move, capable of bringing in more clientele. Providing products that align with these modern (and popular) beliefs and lifestyles increases the chances of your MUA business being favorably received by Millennials and Gen X’ers alike.

Vegan, cruelty-free makeup products we recommend for your professional makeup kit…

1. The Icon Palette – Charlotte Tilbury ($65.00 USD)

It’s tough to choose between the eyeshadows and the lip products when it comes to iconic vegan line, Charlotte Tilbury, but ‘The Icon Palette’ deserves all the praise it can get. With a nice range of pigments – ranging from cream all the way to jet black – this 12-shade palette of glittery hues offers eyeshadow options for every occasion. Day, night, diva, and even disco – there’s something for everybody!

Personally, my favorite shade in the palette is the bold royal blue. Which shade do YOU like best?

2. Matcha Cleanser – Milk Makeup ($28 USD)

In addition to being vegan and cruelty-free, Milk Makeup also prides themselves on being paraben-free in all their products. As if that weren’t enough, this cleanser is also microbead-free – an ingredient known for:

1. Being impossible to recycle, and
2. Being ridiculously toxic for marine creatures

We strongly maintain that a strong skincare routine is just as – if not more – important than the makeup routine itself. Healthy skin means a clean and healthy canvas for the makeup to go on in the first place. So finding a cleanser that not only works, but is as safe for the skin as can be? How can you go wrong!

Pro tip: Milk Makeup recommends pairing this product with their ‘Vegan Milk Moisturizer’ in order to best lock in your skin’s moisture.

3. – Day to Night Lipstick Duo – E.l.f. Cosmetics ($5.00 USD)

Like Milk Makeup, E.l.f. Cosmetics is a cosmetic company proudly vegan, cruelty-free, and paraben-free. Let’s be real here: most of us are already familiar with E.l.f.’s makeup, and we know it seriously rocks. Their variety of different products and their amazing pigments are to die for, on top of being environmentally-friendly and good for your client’s skin!

But in particular, their lip products are our favorite. Specifically, we feel the Day to Night Lipstick Duo deserves a shout-out. Firstly, it’s insanely cheap, and you get TWO lipsticks and colors for the price of one! We don’t think we need to explain why this is seriously awesome for any MUA and her professional makeup kit.

This lipstick comes with 4 different duo shade options:

1. ‘The Best Berries’
2. ‘Need It Nudes’
3. ‘Red Hots Reds’
4. ‘I Love Pink’

No matter which color set you pick, you’re guaranteed a sleek and sexy shade not just for your everyday wear, but for when you’re ready to have a night on the town!

4. Total Cover Cream Foundation – Cover FX ($55.00 CAD)

With all makeup products known for being 100% vegan and cruelty-free, Cover FX is one of the leading competitors for tattoo-concealing products. While they have many other items that are worth looking into, what we’re interested in is its ability to build enough coverage to successfully cover any tattoo your client may want to hide on their big day.

As someone with their fair share of tattoos, I’ve tried many different products, and never found any that worked as well as Cover FX! Here, we’re specifically recommending their ‘Total Cream Cover Foundation’, because it’s awesome and provides great coverage – specifically for normal to dry skin types.

But it’s worth noting that alongside this product, you can use Cover FX’s ‘Cream Concealer’ and ‘Matte Setting Powder’ to magically hide tattoos. Very handy for SFX makeup, brides who wish to conceal their tattoo(s) on their wedding day, etc.!

5. Jojoba Color Correctors – Everyday Minerals ($9.00 USD each)

If you aren’t familiar with what color correcting is and why it’s so fundamental that you incorporate this practice into technique, we strongly suggest checking out the Color Correcting webinar hosted by QC’s executive MUA and instructor, Nathan Johnson.

Trust us: as you’ll quickly understand by checking out Nathan’s webinar, you should definitely carry some sort of color correcting products in your professional makeup kit. The odds are higher of working with a client who has some sort of skin blemish, condition, discoloration, etc. If you aren’t prepared, you won’t be able to do the best job for her as you possibly can – which is not only limiting you, but your business’s reputation!

Everyday Minerals is globally known for strictly using all-natural ingredients in their products. When it comes to their color correctors, you can’t go wrong. For starters, Jojoba is a wonderful ingredient in general for cosmetic products, namely due to:

1. Its organic ability to mimic the skin’s natural oils, and
2. Its ability to help prevent acne breakouts, thanks to how it absorbs into the skin (rather than sitting directly on the surface and clogging your client’s pores)
3. Its “softening, moisturizing, and conditioning properties” for the skin

There are for Color Correcting colors you can choose from:

• Brighten Jojoba Color Corrector (soft pink)
• Mint Jojoba Color Corrector (mint green)
• Cover Jojoba Color Corrector (light salmon)
• Sunlight Jojoba Color Corrector (cream, with the faintest hint of yellow)

Personally, we recommend arming your professional makeup kit with each and every one of these all-natural correctors! In fact, while you absolutely do not need any of the above recommendation, we DO strongly suggest doing research of your own, and trying out some vegan, cruelty-free makeup products. There may be a ton of incredible products you haven’t discovered yet!

Want to add more zero-waste beauty products to your professional makeup kit, too? Keep reading!