The Best Prime Day Deals on Cosmetics Basics
Open up TikTok or Instagram and you’ll see that even the kids seem to have mastered the most complex makeup techniques, which can be frustrating if you’re still stuck on trying to find the right foundation shade, let alone figure out what kind of contour your face shape needs. Plus, cosmetics are expensive. It’s not easy to dabble in trial and error when the quality products cost so much. But Prime Day can be a chance to snatch up a few great basics at affordable prices, so you can use the good stuff all year round, no matter your skill level.
Here are the best deals we found on cosmetics basics.
A vanity mirror
Let’s start with an overlooked but important part of the makeup routine: A good mirror. You need lighting. You need a big space. You need the lighted Hansong Vanity Mirror, which is usually about $150 but will be $127.00 on the second day of Prime Day. The key to great glam is seeing what you’re doing, and while those little lighted desktop mirrors can help you up close, you need a bigger one so you create a cohesive look.
An organizer
Makeup is not only an expensive hobby, but a space-consuming one, too. You need quality organizational tools that can help you keep all your stuff straight and move it when you’re on the go. Try these, which range from around $20 to $30 for Prime Day. In a variety of sizes and colors, they have plenty of slots to hold all the other items you’re about to add to your cart, plus handles and zippers for mobility.
Farmacy moisturizer
Next, you need a good palette on which to create your art. Quality moisturizers—like the Farmacy Honey Halo Ceramide Face Moisturizer Cream—are expensive, but worth it. That one, though, is on sale for the second day of Prime Day, down to $59 from $74. Get it now so your skin can be perfect for your big makeup application.
Makeup brushes
If you’re just getting into makeup, you might be tempted to skip buying brushes. Most palettes and blushes come with little applicators, after all. Well, those suck. You need special brushes for everything—foundation application, blush, highlighter, contour, your brows, and everything you could ever imagine doing to your eyelids—so grab the 19-piece Docolor Makeup Brush Set, marked down over 50% to $20.42. (Depending on the aesthetic situation on your vanity counter, there are plenty of brushes on sale in other colors, too!)
Primer
Primer is a necessary first step if you want to wear the makeup for any sustained period of time. Try the much-loved NYX Marshmellow Smoothing Primer, which is marked way down to $11.55.
Simple foundation
Foundation application is the most basic of basics, but it’s also challenging. Getting it smooth, getting it blended, getting it matched, getting it evenly distributed—it’s all frustrating. Eliminate the hassle with spray-on foundation. The three-piece kit by Jerome Alexander is usually $45, but for the second day of Prime Day, it’s $36.
An all-in-one set
Finding eyeshadows that go with your highlighter and lipgloss can be a challenge. For some people, it’s a fun challenge. Others just want the work done for them. Try the Wet N Wild Crystal Cavern Collection, which is just $26.99 for Prime Day. It has eyeshadow, highlighter, gloss, setting spray, and even a perfume.
Note: All deals are subject to change.
Lindsey Ellefson is Lifehacker’s Features Editor. She currently covers study and productivity hacks, as well as household and digital decluttering, and oversees the freelancers on the sex and relationships beat. She spent most of her pre-Lifehacker career covering media and politics for outlets like Us Weekly, CNN, The Daily Dot, Mashable, Glamour, and InStyle. In recent years, her freelancing has focused on drug use and the overdose crisis, with pieces appearing in Vanity Fair, WIRED, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, and more. Her story for BuzzFeed News won the 2022 American Journalism Online award for Best Debunking of Fake News.
In addition to her journalism, Lindsey is a student at the NYU School of Global Public Health, where she is working toward her Master of Public Health and conducting research on media bias in reporting on substance use with the Opioid Policy Institute’s Reporting on Addiction initiative. She is also a Schwinn-certified spin class teacher. She won a 2023 Dunkin’ Donuts contest that earned her a year of free coffee. Lindsey lives in New York, NY.
