Beauty
55 Easy, Clever Ways You Can Make Yourself Look Better for Less Than $30
Tips and tricks that’ll have you looking (and feeling) like your best self.

Confidence boosts don’t necessarily need to involve a full-on makeover or spa day. Oftentimes, it’s the smallest touches that can make the biggest impact — like picking a lipstick shade that’s just right, or ensuring every visible bit of skin (shoulders included) has a glowy sheen. With that in mind, you’ll find over 50 clever ways you can make yourself look better ahead. Every tip and trick is cheerfully cheap, easy to incorporate into your routine, and possible with the help of a single product from Amazon.
1Enhance Your Lashes By Combing Them After Applying Mascara
Even the best mascara can leave you with some clumping — especially if you’re generous with the amount of product you use. This mini comb uses dozens of teeny tiny prongs to separate lashes and brush through clumps for a more natural look. The comb’s teeth are stainless steel, so they’re easy to sanitize, and the tool comes with a cap to keep it clean in your makeup bag.
2Neutralize Unwanted Brassy Tones With A Purple Shampoo
To keep your blonde hair color looking its freshest in between salon appointments, you need a good toning product. This purple shampoo helps to neutralize brassiness in blonde (and gray) hair without any additional lengthy steps. Color-treated hair types will also love that the shampoo is formulated with moisturizing ingredients like panthenol, coconut oil, and marula seed oil to leave hair feeling nourished and soft.
3Prevent Neck & Chest Breakouts With This Salicylic Acid Body Serum
Fitted with a nozzle applicator for more precision, the acne-fighting body serum uses salicylic acid to deep clean pores and thereby reduce breakouts. The lower concentration of salicylic acid means you can use it frequently without drying your skin out, and the serum can also be used to help with reducing keratosis pilaris and ingrown hairs.
4Use A Ring Adjuster To Get The Perfect Fit
These clear strips of plastic don’t look like much, but it only takes one to keep your ring from slipping off your finger. The ring guards are a temporary way to ensure your jewelry fits just right, with adjustable loops that give you a customized fit every time. Each set comes with two types of adjusters — one for rings with a thinner band and the other better suited for keeping wider bands from slipping.
- Available options: 3
5Get A Brighter Smile With Purple Toothpaste
Just like purple pigments in your shampoo can neutralize brassy tones in blonde hair, they can cancel out yellowness in your teeth, too, when added to your toothpaste. This purple toothpaste helps to immediately brighten teeth, while also preventing surface stains and strengthening tooth enamel with fluoride.
6Spruce Up Dirty Sneakers With These Shoe-Cleaning Sponges
Make dirty sneakers look like new in just a few minutes with these sneaker-cleaning sponges. The double-sided sponges are made using patented technology, and work by scrubbing away scuffs, dirt, and other marks when activated with water. Each sponge was designed with portability in mind, as it slowly disintegrates as you scrub, so you can toss the sponge away once your sneakers are clean.
7Encourage Healthier Lashes & Brows With Castor Oil
Most lash and brow thickening serums contain ingredients like prostaglandin analogs, which can lead to irritating (and, in some cases, irreversible) side effects. This dual-purpose oil is free from those ingredients, using only cold-pressed, USDA-certified organic castor oil to strengthen and condition hair. The simple serum is made even more fuss-free with its double-sided applicator, which features a tiny brush for your lashes and a spoolie for your brows.
8Use A Necklace Clasp To Get The Perfect Layered Look (Sans Tangles)
If you’re tired of untangling all of your necklaces every time you go to take them off (or put them on!), try this separator clasp. You can attach multiple necklaces to the accessory, which is perfect for anyone who likes to create a layered jewelry look. It’s also a great solution for those who struggle with clasps, as you can place necklaces on the closures first, then secure them all in place around your neck with the separator’s magnetic column.
- Available options: 9
9Remove Smudges From Your Glasses With These Lens Wipes
These individually wrapped wipes are pre-moistened and ready to go when it comes to removing smudges, fingerprints, and makeup from your glasses and sunglasses. They’re small enough to keep multiple wipes in your bag at all times, and the scratch-free cloths can also be used to clean camera lenses, cell phones, and computer screens.
10Use A Peptide Serum To Encourage Firmer, Plumper Skin
To support firmer skin, peptides are a dermatologist-recommended ingredient that can encourage skin to produce more collagen and elastin fibers. This daily serum does just that, using a lab-created peptide that promotes elasticity while also being vegan. To assist the peptide in its skin-enhancing mission, the fast-absorbing serum is also packed with ceramides to support the skin barrier, green algae extract to moisturize, and a blend of fruit extracts to protect skin against environmental aggressors like pollution, UV rays, and blue light.
11Purify Your Pores With A Once-Weekly Mud Mask
This green clay mask (and its mini applicator brush) is exactly what comes to mind when you think of an at-home spa day. But when used consistently, the 10-minute mask can also help to give you clearer skin. Kaolin clay absorbs excess oil and clears pores of impurities, while moisturizing and soothing ingredients like sweet almond oil and aloe vera prevent your skin from feeling dried out after your rinse the mask off.
12Swap Your Conditioner For A More Nourishing Hair Mask
Good hair days don’t just happen by accident (even if it does sometimes feel that way). For hair that looks shiny and full of bounce, you need a better hair care routine. This in-shower mask can be used as a weekly treatment to deeply condition dry, dull strands with its blend of botanical oils and vitamins. It can even support a more volumized appearance, thanks to hydrolyzed rice protein.
13Overline Your Lips For A Fuller Pout
Faking fuller lips is as simple as tracing just past your natural lip line with a lip pencil. This cruelty-free lip liner comes in a range of neutral and bolder shades that can be used to create subtle definition or to fully line and fill your lips (the latter works best when you want to add some staying power to your lipstick). The liner includes ingredients like aloe vera and argan oil to help give it a creamy texture that makes it easier to apply, and it uses a retractable design, so you never have to worry about sharpening.
- Available shades: 9
14Get Baby-Soft Feet With These Skin-Shedding Foot Masks
If you’re squeamish, you may want to scroll past this one. But for everyone else trying to keep their feet sandal-ready year-round, these foot peeling masks are indispensable. The easy-to-use treatment starts out as disposable booties that are infused with an exfoliating solution. Long after you’ve tossed the masks, ingredients like salicylic acid and lactic acid continue to work, launching a two-week peeling process that literally has you shedding dry skin and calluses. The result? Baby-soft feet.
15Contour Your Face For A More Sculpted Appearance
An easier way to sculpt your facial features, this double-sided makeup stick has your contour and highlighter covered. Swipe the darker shade along your cheekbones and jawline for a more chiseled effect, then pop the shimmery highlighter along the high points of your face for a glow. Both makeup sticks are buildable in color and easy to blend in, and the formulas are vegan and cruelty-free.
- Available shades: 8
16Prevent Panty Lines With Seamless Thongs
Underwear lines can mess with your clothing silhouette by creating ridges and bunching. That’s where seamless underwear comes in. This set of thongs features laser-cut edges that lie flat against the skin and remain undetectable — whether you’re wearing yoga pants or a tight skirt.
- Available options: 9
- Available sizes: XS – XXL
17Use Bronzing Drops To Get An Instant Glow
Don’t have time for a self-tanner to set? These bronzing drops help to create an immediate glow that washes off at the end of the day. The serum-like formula was designed to be mixed in with your morning moisturizer, enhancing smoothness with ingredients like sunflower seed oil and vitamin E, while adding a sheer bronze tint that brings some warmth to your skin, even in the dead of winter.
- Available shades: 8
18Plump Up Your Skin With A Hyaluronic Acid Serum
Simple skin care doesn’t have to mean ineffective, as evidenced by this serum. Hyaluronic acid plumps up the skin by drawing in moisture, but it’s the mineral-rich water sourced from French volcanoes that helps repair the skin barrier. The fragrance-free serum is National Eczema Association-approved for its gentle formula, but it’s also a solid choice if you’re looking for something to counteract the drying effects of any active ingredients in your routine (think retinol or salicylic acid).
19Exfoliate Your Lips Before Applying Lipstick
Not only are flaky lips annoying to deal with, but they’re also interfering with your lipstick. Gently exfoliating with a scrub and/or this silicone brush will give you a smoother base that ensures more even, longer-lasting lip color. The colorful brushes are double-sided with textured silicone that’s easy to clean, and they come in a multi-pack so you’ll always have one on hand.
- Available options: 5
20Use Ice To Take Down Puffiness In Minutes
Reducing puffiness and inflammation in the skin when you wake up doesn’t actually require any fancy skin care products. Instead, keep one of these ice roller molds in your freezer to massage over your skin for a few minutes in the morning. The inexpensive tool immediately refreshes skin, but if you’re feeling more creative, you can get even more soothing benefits by making ice cubes out of milk or dandelion tea.
- Available colors: 7
21Fight Dandruff & Encourage Healthy Hair Growth With This Scalp Care Duo
Your shampoo might not be fully removing buildup if you frequently turn to products like dry shampoo and texturizing spray. To prevent a congested scalp, give this detox set a try after a week of loading up on the styling products. Before washing your hair, spend a few minutes massaging this clarifying tonic into your scalp. The exfoliating solution contains ingredients like glycolic acid and apple cider vinegar to remove pore-clogging debris with the help of the silicone brush that also boosts circulation.
22Get A Plumper Pout While You Sleep With A Lip Mask
Don’t leave your lips out of your evening skin care routine. For softer lips when you wake up, apply a layer of this gloss-like mask just before bed. The fragrance-free treatment pairs hyaluronic acid with petrolatum to seal moisture to your lips for longer lasting hydration.
23Use A Retinol Serum For Clearer, Brighter Skin
This retinol serum is a great way to ease into the vitamin A derivative before getting into the stronger, prescription-only retinoids. The fragrance-free formula uses encapsulated retinol and bakuchiol (a gentler, plant-derived alternative to the active ingredient) to speed up skin cell turnover for a brighter, more even complexion. But it also helps to minimize the risk of irritation with moisturizers like murumuru seed butter, sunflower seed oil, and hyaluronic acid.
24Apply Shimmery Oil To Your Collarbones & Legs
A body oil can help to replenish moisture for skin that naturally looks more radiant. But this tropical-scented body oil takes things a step further with a shimmer-infused formula that adds a warm, golden glow to skin. Ideal for highlighting the collarbones (or other visible bits of skin) ahead of a night out, the squalane- and kukui nut oil-rich formula also makes for a great all-over body moisturizer.
- Available scents: 3
25Use A Belt To Define & Cinch Your Waist
Whether you want to add a more polished finish to a fitted dress or help define your waist when wearing a flowy tunic, a belt is your best bet. This faux-leather belt features a thinner design and an interlocking metal buckle for an accessory that’s always on trend. Further making the belt a staple piece is its generous color range, which gives you nearly two dozen options to match with all your outfits.
- Available options: 23
- Available sizes: 3
26Roll Your Way To Less Puffy Under-Eyes
This genius little tool lets you perk up tired under-eyes both right away and over time. First, there’s the rollerball applicator, which gently depuffs with its cooling metal tip and massaging motion that helps improve circulation. Then, there’s the serum that disperses as you roll, which brightens unwanted dark circles and enhances the rollerball’s cooling effect with vitamin C, caffeine, and peppermint leaf extract.
27Dermaplane Your Skin For More Flawless-Looking Makeup
Want your makeup to sit more smoothly? Consider this face razor kit, which lets you remove peach fuzz and gently exfoliate right at home (a treatment known as dermaplaning, FYI). This Amazon set gives you 12 disposable face razors that use stainless steel, micro-guarded blades for precision shaving and come with a protective sleeve to make the razors more travel-friendly.
- Available colors: 4
28Finish Off Any Sporty Look With Some Slouchy Socks
These slouchy socks are a trendy way to complete any athleisure wear look, but they also work when paired with loafers and skirts. Every set comes with three pairs of socks, each one adjustable in length so that you can also wear them as shorter ankle socks or stretch them into knee highs.
- Available options: 4
29Conceal Signs Of Fatigue With An Under-Eye Brightener
When your usual concealer isn’t strong enough, it’s time to bring in the color corrector. The makeup artist-approved technique holds that tinted concealers (pink for lighter skin tones and orange for darker skin tones) will neutralize any blue and purple hues (like you tend to get with dark circles). This color-correcting concealer has a creamy, buildable formula that includes ingredients like hyaluronic acid and shea butter to prevent creasing — even if you add makeup on top.
- Available shades: 4
30Use This Best-Selling Treatment For Your Silkiest Blowout
This pre-styling spray is a beauty award-winner for its ability to give you glossy, frizz-free hair that lasts through multiple shampoos. All hair types can benefit from the vegan and cruelty-free spray, but it does require a blow dryer and brush to activate the polymers that leave you with salon-worthy hair. The styling spray even adds some heat protection to your hair to prevent frizz-causing damage from messing with your hair in the future.
31Enhance Your Lashes With A Curler (Even If You’re Not Putting On Mascara)
Whether you never leave the house without mascara or every day is a no-makeup day, curling your lashes is a small step that makes a major impact. This stainless steel lash curler is a classic beauty tool that works on all eye shapes. Three silicone lash pads accompany each curler, which ensure that skin never gets pinched and lash hairs don’t get pulled out.
- Available options: 7
32Cover Your Grays Without A Trip To The Salon
If you can’t get to the salon as often as you’d like, you can still cover up your grays without a complicated (or pricey) color treatment. This at-home tint kit lets you camouflage gray roots by depositing color without any damaging bleach. And it simplifies the application process with capsules of pre-measured color for coverage that lasts for up to six weeks per application. Pro tip: You can use it for brow tinting, too.
- Available shades: 5
33Upgrade Your Ponytail With A Satin Scarf
For a styling hack that’s completely effortless, add a scarf. This $10 set gives you multiple scarf patterns to choose from that you can use to wrap around the handles of your handbag, tie around your neck, or weave through a braided updo or ponytail.
- Available options: 19
34Conceal Damaged Or Discolored Nails With This Hybrid Treatment
When your nails are looking shabby, but you don’t have time for a proper manicure (or you’re just trying to give your nails a chance to breathe), this hybrid treatment is the perfect compromise. Part nail treatment, part polish, the concealer-like formula instantly brightens nails as it works to moisturize and encourage healthy regrowth with a blend of botanical ingredients like evening primrose oil and garlic extract. It also adds a sheer tint of color, so you can still get your nail polish fix.
- Available shades: 5
35Swap Your Jeans For A Goes-With-Everything Satin Skirt
If you feel like you’re in a style rut, this satin skirt offers you an easy way to switch things up. The midi length means the versatile piece can be worn regardless of season — just add stockings and your favorite boots for some added warmth in the winter. It also doesn’t require any complicated styling, as like your favorite pair of jeans, the skirt works well alongside simple T-shirts and oversized sweaters.
- Available colors: 36
- Available sizes: XS – XXL
36Reduce Redness With This Best-Selling CC Cream
From tiny blemishes to larger patches of rosacea, this CC cream uses green pigments to camouflage redness and blend right in with your skin. Centella asiatica, a K-beauty favorite for soothing irritation, further helps the CC cream reduce redness for a moisturizing base that can be used on its own or as a makeup primer. Plus, it contains SPF 25 for some additional protection from the sun.
37Use This Best-Selling Tanning Foam To Get A Beach-Worthy Glow
A fresh tan is an instant mood-booster, but it doesn’t have to require a trip to the beach. For a sun-kissed glow, minus the sun, there’s this best-selling self-tanner, which currently has more than 30,000 five-star ratings on Amazon. A tinted foam formula helps ensure you don’t miss any spots, and the full color develops (and is ready to be rinsed) after one hour. Just be sure to purchase an application mitt for a steak-free tan that doesn’t include stained palms.
- Available options: 4
38Apply A Caffeine Eye Serum To Reduce Signs Of Fatigue
This concentrated eye serum helps to immediately combat signs of fatigue without leaving behind a greasy or sticky residue. The lightweight formula counts caffeine as its hero ingredient, which reduces puffiness by constricting blood vessels and temporarily making skin look tighter. Ingredients like hyaluronic acid and EGCG, a compound found in green tea leaves, add to the serum’s efficacy with soothing, moisturizing, and brightening benefits.
39Dry Brush To Boost Circulation & Promote Smoother, Firmer Skin
Before your morning shower, double up on your energizing efforts with a few minutes of dry brushing. The ancient technique is also aesthetician-approved for its ability to stimulate circulation, exfoliate, and even promote collagen production with continued use for firmer skin in the long run. This round brush combines synthetic bristles that are vegan and cruelty-free with a bamboo handle that’s fitted with an elastic strap to secure over your hand.
40Go Bra-Free With These Sticky Push-Up Bra Pads
For strapless dresses or halter tops where a traditional bra won’t work, this sticky bra gives you everything you need to go braless with confidence. In addition to multiple sets of stick-on nipple covers, the set also includes a reusable, double-sided sticky bra that gives you coverage and lift.
- Available colors: 2
- Available sizes: M – XL
41Multitask With A Lip & Cheek Oil That Flatters All Skin Tones
Clinique’s Black Honey lipstick has amassed a cult following for its silky texture and wearable berry shade. Now, the brand’s universally flattering color is available in a tinted oil that can be used on both your lips and cheeks. Easy to blend in with your fingertips, the multipurpose oil contains moisturizing ingredients like jojoba seed oil and sunflower seed oil. And, if berry isn’t your go-to color, you’ll also find two other shades to try.
- Available shades: 3
42Extend The Life Of Your Blowout (& Make Hair Look Fuller) With A Tinted Dry Shampoo
Spray this dry shampoo through your hair just after a fresh blow dry to absorb excess oil before it messes with your blowout. The drugstore dry shampoo has a dark brown tint that was developed for brunettes to extend the time between wash days without leaving behind any noticeable residue. As the dry shampoo volumizes hair, the darker tint also creates the illusion of fuller hair by helping to conceal a visible scalp.
43Fake Multiple Piercings With This Illusion Hoop Set
There’s something effortlessly cool about a stack of dainty hoop earrings. But if you don’t actually have multiple piercings, these illusion earrings are a genius way to create the same effect. Each earring post has three different style huggie hoops attached. Shown here in a 14-karat gold-plated and cubic zirconia-embellished design, the earrings also come in several other colors and designs.
- Available styles: 13
44Bulk Up Sparse Brows With A Fine-Tip Pencil
Filling in sparse brows doesn’t get much easier than with the aid of this pencil. The double-sided tool features a retractable, triangular-tipped pencil on one end to define and bulk up brows with a few light strokes. Then, turn to the spoolie at the opposite side to blend the tinted pencil into your brows.
- Available shades: 10
45Keep Shoes Looking Like New With A Waterproof Spray
Protect your favorite pair of shoes from the elements with a few coats of this shoe spray. The invisible formula leaves a water- and stain-resistant coat over suede boots and canvas sneakers, shielding them from rain, snow, and dirt for up to four weeks.
46Reduce Split Ends With A Heat Protectant
There are multiple causes behind dry hair and split ends, but if you aren’t using a heat protectant with your curling wand or flat iron, your styling routine could be to blame. This thermal protectant gets misted through dry hair just before you style, helping to reduce damage when using hot styling tools up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The multipurpose spray also works to prevent frizz and give hair a boost of shine.
47Use A Balm Cleanser To Remove Waterproof Makeup With Ease
For heavy makeup and waterproof formulas, a makeup remover, followed by a double-cleanse, is usually the only way to get your face clean (and keep your towel free from makeup streaks). But if you can’t be bothered with all of those steps, this cleansing balm will get the job done. Massage the balm onto dry skin, and watch as papaya extract, sunflower seed oil, and a super greens blend melt away your most stubborn makeup and sunscreen — without stripping or drying out your skin in the process.
48Perfect Your Slicked-Back Updo With A Finishing Stick
Flyaways, frizz, and a bumpy texture are all getting in the way of your Bella Hadid-inspired slicked-back updo. For the sleekest ponytail or top knot, give your hair a few generous swipes of this hair wax stick. The smoothing stick helps to hold hair in place, creating a polished finish that’s also quite nourishing, thanks to nourishing ingredients like coconut oil and castor oil.
49Secure Straps & Hemlines In Place With Double-Sided Tape
When you don’t have the time or the budget for a tailor, this double-sided tape can save you from a fashion mishap. Designed with a hypoallergenic adhesive that’s gentle on your skin and clothing, the tape comes in pre-cut strips that can temporarily alter blouses, skirts, and pants. The tape is clear so it blends right in, and it comes packaged in a travel-friendly tin.
50Hide A Bad Hair Day With A Trendy Fur Hat
Sometimes, all of the styling products in the world can’t save you from a bad hair day. To hide greasy roots that even dry shampoo can’t help or to cover up a cowlick that appeared overnight, throw on a hat. This faux-fur hat is right on trend, and adds a luxe finish to any look while also keeping you warm.
- Available options: 12
51Get Rid Of Dry Cuticles With This Daily Oil
Dry cuticles and hangnails will never ruin another manicure again with this cuticle oil treatment in your arsenal. Use the rollerball applicator to dispense the beauty award-winning formula along your cuticles each day, then massage the rose-scented oil into your nails and skin. Horsetail leaf extract helps to fortify nails against breakage, while more than a dozen botanical oils deeply nourish dry skin.
52Prep Your Skin With A Glow-Enhancing Primer
This tinted, shimmery primer can be used on its own or as a smoothing base ahead of your makeup. Either way, the peptide-infused formula helps to blur imperfections and plump up skin for a soft glow that’s never greasy.
53Transform Dry, Dull Hair With A Glossing Mask
This at-home hair mask was inspired by in-salon glossing treatments, and works by imparting a glass-like shine to your hair in minutes. Designed to be combed through your hair just after you shampoo, the mask includes amino acids, panthenol, and a special ArganID technology to lock in moisture, prevent tangles, and leave hair feeling as silky as it looks.
54Make Your Eyes Pop With A Touch Of Champagne Shadow
To instantly make your eyes look more awake, dab this champagne-colored shadow at the inner corners of each eye. The soft color and shimmery finish have a brightening effect, which can further be enhanced when blended in under the brow bone. This eyeshadow has a creamy formula that blends well, but it’s water- and sweat-resistant, so it really lasts.
55Tame Unruly Brows With A Clear Gel
Get stubborn brow hairs to shape up with this clear gel formula. The residue-free gel was created to give you a laminated effect, keeping brows looking lifted and fuller for up to 24 hours. The gel is sweat-resistant, but it’s also lightweight and non-sticky.