Stretch Your Beauty Dollar

Bag These Beauty Bargains

Great cosmetics don't have to break the bank. These seven essentials -- case included -- cost less than $40.

1. Sephora Signature Clear Stripe Bag, $7, sephora.com

Easy-to-clean vinyl, dressed up with punchy pink stripes, lets you find what you need quickly -- and in style.

2. Sonia Kashuk Eye Shadow Quad, $9.99, target.com

Color lids with any of these four shades or use them wet as liner along the lash line.

3. CoverGirl Exact Eyelights Mascara, $8.95, drugstores

Light-reflecting colored minerals spike this black mascara, acting like mirrors to accentuate your eye hue.

4. Maybelline New York Dream Liquid Mousse Foundation, $9.79, drugstores

The light-as-air formula goes on smoothly, making skin appear near-flawless.

5. N.Y.C. New York Color Cover Stick, $1.99, drugstores

Packed with antioxidant vitamins A and E, this stick makes dark circles, freckly spots, and pimples disappear.

6. Sally Girl Lip Gloss, 99 cents, sallybeauty.com

The moisturizing lacquer never feels sticky or tacky.

7. E.L.F. Shimmering Facial Whip, $1, eyeslipsface.com

The ultimate multitasker, this cream (in six shades) tints cheeks, eyes, and lips.

Originally published in FITNESS magazine, March 2009.