Sephora is basically a beauty lover’s playground — and we all know it’s a little too easy to walk in there with plans to repurchase your go-to brow pencil and “accidentally” leave with $150 worth of products that you absolutely needed. However pricey the beauty behemoth is, there are plenty of affordable and highly effective products hidden among the La Mers and Augustinus Baders of the world — you just have to know where to look.
As a beauty writer, I’ve explored every facet of the industry’s price-point spectrum, from a $5 mascara with almost 230,000 reviews on Amazon to a $235 day cream that invokes the centuries-old healing properties of Eastern-European thermal water. Armed with a pretty good understanding of what makes a valuable beauty product, I rounded up 12 of my favorite under-$25 buys that are worth every penny. Whether you’re looking for a reasonably priced cleanser or life-changing eyelash curler, I’ve got you covered. From Sephora’s affordable in-house brands to pint-sized versions of luxe products that will still go a long way, there are plenty of ways to squeeze maximum bang out of products that clock in at minimal bucks.
