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    7 Cheap Beauty Products That Are Worth Knowing About

    Pocket-friendly and animal-friendly.

    by
    Tolani Shoneye
    by Tolani Shoneye

    BuzzFeed Staff, UK

    ,
    Emma Cooke
    by Emma Cooke

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    We hope you love the products we recommend! Just so you know, BuzzFeed may collect a share of sales from the links on this page.

    Hey hey, guys! It’s Tolani and Emma here and we're back with another beauty review. This time we are trying out products that are cruelty-free.

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    Cruelty-free cosmetics are products that are not tested on animals. If you want to find out more about cruelty-free beauty products, this post is a good place to start.

    Oh and we're posing like this because the lipsticks make us feel so badass!

    Sadly it took some work to find products that are both cruelty-free and affordable, but we managed it. So YAY to these brands.

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    1. Makeup Revolution Ultra Cover and Conceal Palette, £6

    2. NYX Concealer Jar, £5.50

    3. The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops, £10

    4. Pixi LipLift Max, £12

    5. Barry M Showgirl Extra Lengthening Mascara and Barry M Showgirl Extra Volumising Mascara, £4.99

    6. NYX Wicked Lippies, £5.50

    7. Lush T'EO Solid Deodorant, £5.50

    First up Emma tried the Makeup Revolution Ultra Cover and Conceal Palette.

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    The Revolution concealer palette comes in light, light to medium, and medium to dark. There are eight shades in one palette, which is pretty impressive.

    So in the first picture, Emma has no makeup on and in the second she has the concealer on.

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    Emma tried the palette in the light shade, and when she says it's OK, she means it wasn't very good.

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    She found that it left her skin a little oily, and that it didn't actually give her great coverage.

    Staying with concealers I (Tolani) tried the NYX Concealer Jar.

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    The product is called Above & Beyond Full Coverage Concealer, so I am expecting it to be bloody amazing.

    In the first picture I have no makeup on, and I am running on three hours' sleep. In the second picture I have applied the concealer, and I love it so much.

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    Yeah, this shit is magical – just compare the before and after. I went from looking tired and stressed to looking pretty good, if I say so myself.

    No doubt about it, this is one of the best concealers I have ever used.

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    I am so upset that I have been spending £17.50 on the Benefit Boi-ing concealer when this £5.50 gem exists. I am wearing the nutmeg shade and it is the perfect shade for me. It conceals very well, it doesn't feel heavy, and it's just so good. A little tip: It seems to apply better when dabbed on with a fingertip rather than a sponge.

    I (Tolani) then tried the The Body Shop Shade Adjusting Drops.

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    The drops are meant to help take any foundation you have and adjust it to your correct shade. So I decided to try the lightening drops with a foundation I have that is too dark for me (it's my post-holiday foundation).

    Does it work? Yes!

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    The drops work, and that is the only positive thing I have to say. Just one drop of it made the foundation shade a lot lighter, but with that it took away all the black and red pigments I need for my skin.

    This product just wasn't made for me, or anyone with my skin tone.

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    You might not be able to see it in the picture but this product made my skin look grey and ashy, which is never a good look. I had a look at a few reviews and it seems like other people felt the exact same. So yeah, maybe avoid this product if you are not going for the grey look.

    After this unfortunate incident, we both tried the Pixi LipLift Max. These lip glosses are meant to leave your lips with a glossy finish and also add a little volume.

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    The range comes in three shades.

    We both love this so much. It's £12, so it's a little expensive, but totally worth it. I (Tolani) tried the Sheer Rose shade and Emma tried the Honey Sheen shade.

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    Tolani: I am really into lip gloss and this might be my new favourite. It is has a hint of colour, it's silky, and it's not at all sticky. I love it so much. I have naturally big, luscious lips so I don't actually think the plumping did anything for me. But either way YAASSS to this product. I want one in every colour.

    Emma: I liked this a lot, though for some reason it made me feel very '90s. Not that that’s a bad thing. I do think it made my lips look bigger though, and the colour is pretty!

    Amazing! Take all our money.

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    We then tried the Barry M Showgirl Mascara. I (Tolani) tried the Barry M Showgirl Extra Lengthening Mascara and Emma tried the Barry M Showgirl Extra Volumising Mascara.

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    This mascara promises to take your lashes to another dimension. *rolls eyes*

    So, erm…I (Tolani) hate this so much, and Emma really likes it.

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    Tolani: I really was not into this. The formula is dry and it feels like I'm using old mascara. Plus you have to look really close to see the difference between my eye with mascara and no mascara. It did not take my lashes to any new dimensions and I am really disappointed.

    Emma: I LOVE THIS. It feels very odd when you’re putting it on, like you’re actually not putting any mascara on as it’s not a very wet formula, but holy shit it works. It looked like I was wearing false eyelashes after this. Plus my favourite mascara is, like, £20, and this does just as good a job for £5. WIN.

    We then tried on the NYX Wicked Lippies, because we both love a good lip colour. I (Tolani) tried the Risque shade and Emma tried the Envy shade.

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    The range comes in 12 different shades, all as bold as each other.

    It’s a £5.50 lipstick and it's actually really good. We are both unsure about the colours because they're so out of our comfort zones, but the formula is amazing. It glides along your lips smoothly and stays on all day.

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    Tolani: NYX lipsticks are always really good, and this range is just as good as all the others. The formula is EVERYTHING. I just don't think I can get away with this colour.

    Emma: OK, so colour aside, the formula is great. It slipped on really well, the colour payoff was good, I liked it a lot. Also, the more I wore the blue lipstick, the more I liked it. I don’t think I can pull off super bright/unusual lipstick colours, but this made me feel like maybe I could! Looking back at the pictures though, I think the jury’s still out.

    What do you think? Can we get away with these colours?

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    Moving on from makeup, I (Tolani) tried the Lush T'EO Solid Deodorant.

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    I am a little picky when it comes to deodorant – I have been using Soft & Gentle anti-perspirant deodorants since I was about 14 and I have never tried anything else. I like to spray my deodorant and go. I can't even use roll-on deodorant. I just don't like it.

    So trying this solid deodorant bar made me feel a little uncomfortable. It was mainly the applying part that I didn't like. Rubbing the dry, powdery bar on my armpit just didn't feel right. But that aside, this is a really good deodorant – like, ridiculously good. It contains bicarbonate of soda, which helps soak up sweat, and smells really good. My armpits stayed sweetly scented and sweat-free all day.

    That’s all for now, but comment below and tell us what we should review next!