By Lucia Santos

Your fave beauty guru posts a photo onto Instagram that literally screams perfection. As you hit that double tap, you notice that not only have they blessed your timeline with what could be the only saving grace of 2016, but it becomes a sad reality that these products are only available in a different country or, even worse, with a hefty price tag. However, fear not beauty lovers, there are some tips and hints out there that can help you to look just as good, without damaging your bank account. Here are some beauty hacks for all us broke girls out there!

Vaseline

The rumours are true about this statement item for your beauty bag, yes it really does have 101 purposes and they really do work. You can use Vaseline for chapped lips, from to putting it on your eyebrows and eyelash for growth, to using it as a base to hold glitter in place. Or how about making a matte lipstick glossy? Or using it to help pro long your fave perfume scent all day long. It really is a miracle worker and is cheap AF!

Multi-use your current products

If you have a really nice pink blush, what’s stopping you from using it for a killer pink eye shadow look? If your eyebrow pomade has amazing staying power, switch it up as an eyeliner gel. Or, use your favourite bronzer as a contour for your eye shadow. Or use a pigmented eyeshadow for a glowly highlight. As you can see, the list is pretty endless….

Conceal your wings!

Creating the perfect wing can be tough. However, no one wants to really put tape on their face every time they want to create a wing eyeliner look. Instead, draw your wing as you please, then when you finish use your concealer to clean it up. Your concealer will make the wing so sharp and pointed it will look instantly fabulous.

Make any lipstick matte

If you’re ready to finish a look that you know would look the bomb with matte lipstick, but you come to a realisation that you do not own one, fear not. Use either powder or translucent powder and tap a small amount on top of your glossy finished lipstick. You can place a tissue on top of the lips to do this or just go freestyle. Instantly made matte and gives your lipstick long-wearing powers. Ka’pow!

Use baby shampoo as your go to brush cleaner

Simply put some baby shampoo in the palm of your hand, run some water over the brush, then swish the brush around in the shampoo. It is super-efficient, cheap and most importantly will not cause you to break out. If you really do not want to spend any money, just use your own shampoo as an alternative!

Pencil to gel eyeliner

If your eye pencil looks pigmented on your hand, but pretty rubbish when you actually apply it to your eyes. Do not chuck it away or waste money (you do not have) on another gel liner. Simply heat up the tip of the pencil with a lighter or a match for a few seconds, wait for it to cool down, then apply. Super pigmented!

DIY Brow gel

If you have a skinny mascara wand, use this instead of spending money on a brow gel. Feather the wand slowly through your brows for an instant brow holder lasting all day. Or, if you have any sparse areas in your brows, put concealer in this area then pack on your brow powder. The concealer acts as a DIY brow gel, as well as a really strong base to hold the pigment.

Coconut oil

Along with Vaseline, coconut oil is a must have product. Use the natural product to take off any makeup, or use it as a highlight, or you can also use it as a really powerful hair mask! Cheap and cheerful, yet serves so many purposes!

Powder to cream eyeshadow

Put some water on your eyeshadow brush then dip this into your regular powder eyeshadow to create a cream eyeshadow. You can also use a setting spray to do this which is a bit more powerful, but we are broke so let’s go for the cheaper option eh…

Q-Tips

Not only do Q-Tips work wonders for cleaning up any mistakes from your eyeshadow, but you can also make a one into a blending brush. Simply pull on the head of the Q-Tip for the cotton to make a fluffy end, and there you have it, a blending brush to blend out your shadow!