Under-$20 Beauty Products Celebrities Swear By for the Red Carpet

The red carpet might not seem like the most obvious place to get affordable makeup and beauty product recommendations. As one of Hollywood’s greatest traditions, red-carpet—or amid the pandemic, backyard—photos are when you can expect celebrities to really do it big. After all, we’re talking about awards shows that give away vouchers for $1,900 vampire breast lifts and luxury TP in their gift bags. So it’d be unsurprising if the beauty products too were accessible to only the 1%, right?

While that might be the case for “penis facials,” many of the hair, makeup, and skin-care products glam squads use on the awards circuit are refreshingly affordable. Brands often broker deals with makeup artists and hairstylists to use their newest launches for red-carpet looks. And why not? As the “who are you wearing?” question proves, celebrities on the red carpet are essentially walking billboards, even in the era of at-home awards shows.

Plus, this is good news for the rest of us. We might not be able to drop thousands on a designer gown, but $9 on the same eyeshadow Megan Thee Stallion wore to the Grammys? You bet we want—and can have—that. 

Ahead, keep tabs as we track the most affordable makeup and hair finds from this red carpet season. The best part? You can add it all to cart without going over budget.