The beauty world is ever-expanding, so understandably there are new products coming out every week claiming to help with various situations – which is great, but why do they charge a fortune when you can just use things that you’ve probably already got in your drawer?!

Hair Donut
This is something I’ve used for such a long time now and it’s so effective. I’ve found that any kind of makeup brush cleaner costs more than what it’s actually worth and there are dry brush cleaners pretty much everywhere nowadays, but a hair donut works so well in helping to remove shadow from eye brushes! All you have to do is swirl your brush over the donut and it catches all of the colour, leaving you able to switch colours within seconds. When I found out about this all I had to do was fish out the donut in my beauty box but even if you don’t have a hair donut already they’re pretty inexpensive so it’s definitely a cheaper alternative! It can save you a lot of time cleaning loads of brushes too as you don’t need half as many brushes using this – always a bonus!

Tape Straight Liner
This is a pretty well-known one now but it’s a beauty hack none the less! I’ve had around 8 years of practice now when it comes to eyeliner but of course I have the occasional off-day and need a little hand getting that precise line! All you literally have to do is get some tape (any kind but I wouldn’t recommend anything too tough) and stick it across your under eye so that you have a slant ready for your liner, and start doing your liner without the worry of it messing up! The only issue with this would be making sure the tape on each eye is at the same kind of angle so that your flicks are symmetrical – but unless you’re going all out with massive wings, it’s not a huge issue if they’re not identical!

Get Your Money’s Worth
I’m a cheapskate and I’m not ashamed of it. There’s nothing that annoys me more than knowing I’ve paid for a product and I’m not getting my money’s worth from it! Granted, it’s not always the most expensive of products, but you’re not throwing away product that you’ve paid for. This one only really works for products that come in tubes, but when you think about it, that can be pretty much anything. BB Creams, moisturisers, toothpaste, primers, the list is endless. All you have to do is cut the tube in half – that’s it! You can squeeze as much out of it as you want but I can guarantee there will still be plenty of product left when you cut it in half! I tend to cut it straight down the middle, so that you can still keep the top half and fit it over the bottom to keep it fresh, what’s the point in cutting it in half for more product if you’re going to let it dry out within a day? Such a simple hack, but it’ll save you money in the long run!

White Liner
So. Many. Uses.  If you don’t have a white liner in your beauty routine, then what the heck are you doing?! It’s the perfect product because you can do so much with it, and it’s fairly cheap too! When I wake up in the morning looking like death, it’s the first thing I reach for. You just simply use it in the corner of your eye or on your waterline to make your eyes brighter instantly and make you look more awake – perfect for early mornings and hangovers! You can also use it as an eyeshadow base too, just by simply colouring it over your lids. A white base for your eyeshadow makes the colour a lot brighter and more vivid – as a result your look will be more effective and it’ll stay longer!

Light-up Mirror
I recently got a light-up mirror for my dressing table and it’s improved my morning makeup routine by a mile! I was having an issue with baking my face in the mornings because it’s so dark I couldn’t see if it had all blended out properly (it hadn’t, I looked horrendous at work with mountains of white powder under my eyes) so I figured a light up mirror couldn’t hurt. I use it every day now and it’s almost like a white light so you won’t come out of it looking orange or unnatural!