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We hope you love our recommendations! Some may have been sent as samples, but all were independently selected by our editors. Just FYI, BuzzFeed and its publishing partners may collect a share of sales and/or other compensation from the links on this page.
Are you a professional makeup artist? Or did you just get one of these?
Promising review: "I was having so much trouble finding my perfect primer until this showed up! It instantly smooths my pores and keeps my foundation on for hours. I recommend buying it in bulk when it's available. It lasts me about a month. Honestly can't imagine using another primer ever again." —Oreagano
Get it from Sephora for $18 or from Amazon for $13.95 (cruelty-free and vegan).
Promising review: "I've been using the NYX Wonder Pencil for years, and I was so disappointed to learn it had been discontinued. I couldn't find another product quite like it in stores. These were cheap, so I thought I'd give them a try. I am very happy with them! I bought the 02 shade and it's a very close match to the NYX pencil in medium. The formula goes on smooth and creamy and since they can be sharpened they are perfect for very small spot concealing. The wear is good as well. Totally recommend!" —Morgen Weatherly
Get the set of three from Amazon for $8.98 (available in three shades).
Promising review: "I hate washing my brushes, I've always done it by hand and it's always caused the big fluffy powder brushes to feel rougher or become matted no matter how hard I try to reshape them. I got this solution and I couldn't BELIEVE how amazing my brushes were afterward! I also have insanely sensitive skin and most any soap I put on a brush will cause me to breakout when I use it later, no matter how well I typically rinse it. But I really think that this cleaner worked great and I haven't had any sensitive bumps on my skin since using it." —Chelsea
Get it from Amazon for $5.99 (also available in wipes, cruelty-free and vegan).
Promising review: "After using Lights, Camera, Lashes by Tarte for the past year, I got tired of breaking the bank over mascara. My sister suggested Essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect and I IMMEDIATELY fell in love. It provides dramatic length and great volume. I can honestly say I can’t stop looking at my eyelashes in the mirror every single day because of how awesome they look. Also, it is very long-wearing. I go from an eight-hour workday right to the gym and sweat like crazy...and this stuff doesn’t budge! I love it!!" —Carrie E Miller
Get it from Amazon for $4.99 (cruelty-free).
It's also 100% vegetarian, gluten-, cruelty-, petrochemical-, paraben-, artificial color-, GMO-, phthalate-, and silicone-free.
Promising review: "I’ve used Nars blush sticks for years now. Fluctuated between the peachy color Portifino and pinky color Malibu. This Han color is absolutely perfect — no sparkle but enough highlighter look. Very natural when you blend it in. When you first put it on its a bright peach but I use a blender blush and it’s magnificent. For the price, compared to Nars, I’ll never buy Nars again. I spray tan so my skin is usually sunkissed bronze and this color matches perfectly." —Lauren shaw
Get it from Amazon for $16 (available in eight shades). `
Promising review: "I never write reviews but I could not pass this one up. I have been fighting with my skin for years! After my last pregnancy, I started developing cystic acne, my skin was congested with oil, whiteheads, blackheads, you name it. All those years of desperately doing my own extractions, trying every mask, cleanser, device, my skin was left scarred and discolored — I hated the texture of my skin. I impulsively bought this and tried it the day it was delivered. I was amazed at how well it extracted all the gunk I could and couldn't see lurking under my skin. I use it every night to cleanse, then apply my serum and moisturizer. I took the first set of photos on 5/27 and still didn't love how my skin looked under makeup. I could tell it was doing something though so I stuck with it. Three days later, I woke up in shock! Took the second set of photos wearing the same makeup (but needed much less). I am finally happy with the way my skin looks and posted a selfie without a filter for the first time since I can remember! Just try it! (All photos were taken in natural light. Must've gotten some cloud cover in the last one. No filters on ANY of them! I'm still in shock!)" —Marlena H.
Get it from Amazon for $24.99.
Promising review: "This primer is amazing. I have extremely oily skin and alopecia, so both drawing on my eyebrows and keeping them on can be a challenge. Most primers basically get chunky-looking and melt off my face. But not this one. I bought my first tube about two years ago. The tube lasted OVER A YEAR. That is freaking crazy. I do my makeup/use this primer daily, and it lasted a year! I bought my second bottle 'too early' and ended up not opening it for about four months. It works wonderfully as an eyelid primer and a brow primer. It makes my eyebrows go from lasting about two to three hours to lasting 24–28 hours without any shine or accidental rubbing off. I joke that it’s magic in a bottle — but in all honesty, it’s not really a joke. The photo provided is after about 20–22 hours of wearing the primer (on both eyelids and brows). I would highly recommend giving this a shot. Especially if you have oily skin like mine!" —Kennedi Grace
Get it from Amazon for $13.48 (cruelty-free).
Promising review: "This is the only clear liner that I have used that works 100% to keep my lipstick from feathering and 'leaking' outside of my lips. I love it!" —Cherry Kelln
Get it from Amazon for $5.59 (available in 15 shades).
Promising review: "I was skeptical of these, but now I'm pretty sure they're what Mulan's outfit was made of when she wiped her makeup off on her sleeve in the movie. Even totally dry they're pretty impressive about taking all of my makeup (including waterproof eyeliner and mascara) in a couple of swipes. I like to use a little micellar water to make my skin feel a little cleaner. It's nice not to burn through so many cotton pads." —RachelM
Get a pack of three from Amazon for $4.49.
Promising review: "I love this shade so much. I love reds and this is a nice dark one that is still vibrant. I love the texture and how easy it is to glide on too. My only other experience with liquid lipstick was from NARS and that one was too drying and would dry clumpy, I began thinking my application was the problem but that kept happening. That almost scared me from liquid lipsticks but this was the exact opposite and just amazing!! I will be buying more." —Daisy
Get it from Vive Cosmetics for $20 (vegan and cruelty-free).
Promising review: "I admit I was skeptical about this product but my desperation to regain my soft lips made me click the BUY button. I just had a baby and between all the milk I was pumping for the baby and caffeine drinking my body was dried out and dehydrated. My lips took a hit and were dried, cracked, and even bleeding — very painful. Even my tried and true expensive-as-heck lip moisturizer I use couldn't help. Having this lip brush did the trick and made all the difference. The exfoliation must have allowed my lip moisturizer to get better absorbed. I was able to see results in just a couple of days. Now I have soft and supple lips again. I tried using a toothbrush and I would not recommend it. First, the toothbrush doesn't feel as good and second, it will waste whatever product you are using with it because the product will settle deep in the bristles so you have to use a lot more of it, and third it's also hard to clean. This silicone lip brush feels so good and since the 'bristles' or 'bumps' are shallow, I just needed to use a little bit of my expensive lip moisturizer and it was so easy to clean the brush afterward. Where has this thing been all my life? I don't think I can live without it now." —Double-J
Get it from Amazon for $7.99 (available in three colors). And you might want to consider pairing it with this effective little lip scrub, if you're in the market.
Promising review: "I’ve been using this for a while, but finally needed to write a review. This morning, I put my makeup on and did some generous sprays of this setting spray. Then, I went into the 100+ degree heat and demonstrated a short workout at an outdoor event. Despite drinking as much water as I could handle, I overheated quickly and EMS had to come to my rescue. Between my boyfriend and EMS, there was a small crowd around me: literally pouring ice water on me; mopping my face and neck with cold towels; pressing ice packs on me. This continued for a while and I was sure that my makeup was gone, but this spray kept my face mostly intact! If this spray can keep my makeup on through an encounter with EMS and being essentially submerged in ice water, it can keep yours on through your (hopefully less eventful) day!" —Bugaboo
Get it from Amazon for $8.49 (cruelty-free).
Promising review: "I suck at doing my eyeliner and no amount of YouTube makeup tutorials can help me. But now that I have these handy little erasers, I don’t look like a failed smokey eye every day. You might be thinking, why not just use a makeup wipe instead? Or why not just soak and tip in remover? Well, because that doesn’t work as well. Trust me, I tried that too. These are great because they have a very fine pointed tip so the accuracy is great. Plus they are sturdy. These are awesome." —Faith Foster
Get a pack of 50 on Amazon for $5.84.
Promising review: "I am totally blown away by this product! I have consistently been using Laura Mercier's Translucent Loose Setting Powder for about six months and was dissatisfied with the fact that my skin appeared greasy/oily by the end of the workday. I also live in a warm climate and have oily skin. By the end of my workday using this powder, my face is still very matte! I am THRILLED! This way outperforms the Laura Mercier powder and is 13% of the cost. Can't believe it. Never going back." —AlexisJulian
Get it from Amazon for $7.79+ (available in six shades).
Promising review: "I recently discovered how to properly apply glitter nail polish and Second Skin Liquid Latex Barrier is perfect to keep my skin clear while I'm sponging on the glitter. A little goes a long way, which is great. But I think my frequency of use (weekly) will have me either buying more frequently. My next adventure is to try ombre on my nails." —Ace Harrin
Get it from Amazon for $8.99.
Promising review: "I love 💕 these little razors for all that peach 🍑 fuzz. My face looks so smooth now!!! They’re really easy to use. I had no idea there was such a product! My esthetician used something similar on my face and I thought 💭 I can do that!! So glad I found it!" —Patti16
Get a pack of three from Amazon for $4.99.
Promising review: "Very soft brushes! I love them! The rose gold color is perfect for my setup too! 🤗🤗 I’ve used each brush and they apply makeup very well and evenly." —Monique Lenzi
Get the 14-piece from Amazon for $8.99+ (available in five colors).
Promising review: "So pretty, soft, and awesome. Super budget-friendly in comparison to other brands! Here's a comparison shot of it next to a dry sponge." —Sunshine Bear
Get the pack of five sponges from Amazon for $8.99.
Promising review: "I travel often for work, and it’s so much easier to pack a few pocket palettes than tote my regular makeup — they’re super carry-on bag/airport friendly! I love my Lancôme but I’d much rather not tote around heavy glass bottles, so I keep a palette at the ready for the gym, in my purse, at my desk at work, etc. — they’re that convenient. For the makeup itself, the quality of the BB cream is great. It’s light, feels and looks natural, you can get at least two full uses out of the quantity. The lip/cheek color amount is also generous. I personally go for a darker lip generally, but this is good for blush and will last me a while. I love how handy the mascara applicator is, so fun-sized. For someone on the go, who isn't soooo makeup savvy that I'm contouring all the time, this product is really practical!" —Maureen
Get a pack of three from Amazon for $11.99+ (available in two shades).
Promising review: "My family made fun of me for this purchase but I LOVE it! It's great for lip gloss and cream highlighters that come with the sponge wand things. The stick is flexible but has some heft to it. Buy it!" —BMLarson
Get them from Amazon: the lip gloss spatula for $5.49 and the foundation spatula for $4.94
Promising review: "I love how long this lip gloss lasts and it really does keep my lips looking good. I keep reordering this brand of lip gloss because it is definitely my favorite. It keeps my lips glossed for hours!" —Candace Marie
Get it from Amazon for $3.97 (available in 41 shades).
Promising review (for Hermosa): "This is super soft to the touch and incredibly bright, I highly recommend it!" —dominick mata
Get it from Amazon for $15 (available in nine shades).
Promising review: "These things are like magic. I have been wearing prominent eyeliner for most of my makeup-wearing career and I had accepted as a part of life that it would always be a pain to remove. I've tried a lot of different products that people lauded as being awesome for eye makeup removal, and while some worked a lot better than others nothing really made the process 'easy.' Now I have found these and they are a game-changer. I used them for the first time last night and I could not believe it: 90% of the makeup came off with the first swipe and the rest came off with the next. Nothing smeared. I am still incredulous this morning. From now on this will definitely be my go-to product." —Elana
Get a pack of 120 from Amazon for $6.57.
Get it from Vive Cosmetics for $23.
Promising review: "It was frustrating and beyond annoying to have to use Beautyblender packaging or a hairspray bottle cap to organize and dry my Beautyblender sponges. It looked awful on my makeup counter and was totally dysfunctional. This acrylic organizer is absolutely perfect! It’s very well made and works perfectly for all sponge sizes. LOVE and would highly recommend!" —Th-4
Get it from Amazon for $12.47.
Promising review: "I normally use the gentle skin cleanser, but was going on a trip and thought I would take these instead so I wouldn't worry about going over the liquid limit in my carry-on (or worry about finding washcloths in European hotels). Now I think I'll be switching to these all the time. They do a great job of cleansing and refreshing the skin (perfect for on the plane), and remove my eye makeup better than actual eye makeup remover! Plus it's way less work than the whole wet-lather-rinse-dry routine when you're tired." —Kailia L.
Get a pack of 25 wipes from Amazon for $5.59.
Promising review: "Wow!! I love this product! It has been a lifesaver when it comes to making sure my eyeshadow doesn't end up on the rest of my face or my clothes. It sticks to my skin even when I've already applied under eye concealer. I've been able to create beautiful smokey eyes! I've purchased it twice and will continue to do so." —Esperanza
Get a box of 30 from Amazon for $8.99.
The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.