WFH Beauty Staples We Couldn’t Live Without (Under $30)

This time last year we could have barely comprehended that we’d be spending much of our next year working from home. A year later, and we can honestly say we’ve got our WFH routine on lockdown (no pun intended). We’ve mastered the home workout (sometimes) and we finally committed to a chic desk chair. As for our beauty routine, we’re masking around the clock and have conquered skinimalism.

If your beauty routine needs an upgrade, check out our fave WFH beauty picks, from the tinted moisturizer that keeps us looking fresh on Zoom calls to the pimple stickers that tackles our maskne breakouts!

1. LYS Beauty Triple Fix Serum Foundation, $22

LYS Beauty is currently making waves as the first Black-Owned clean beauty brand sold at Sephora, and this serum should be at the top of your shopping list. The lightweight serum offers light to medium buildable coverage with a stunning healthy-skin finish. The product is also enriched with glow-getting ingredients like turmeric, hydrating hero hyaluronic acid, and ashwagandha to soothe the skin. It’s the ultimate WFH foundation.

2. Rimmel Wonder’full 24HR Brow Mascara, $6

Our daily makeup routine has simplified A LOT since WFH, but one product we couldn’t live without is a brow mascara. This Rimmel Wonder’full 24HR Brow Mascara, $13, sets our brow hairs in place all day without feeling sticky. The creamy, pigmented formula glides onto your brows with a blend of argan maracuja, marula, and camellia oil to soften and hydrate the hair, while the addition of tiny fibers and pigment creates a natural yet fuller-looking brow in seconds.

3. L’Oreal Skin Paradise Water-Infused Tinted Moisturizer, $17

We’ve been obsessed with this tinted moisturizer since it launched last year. The 70% water-based formula provides light to medium coverage and is enriched with a blend of hydrating ingredients to quench your skin for a healthy glow. With just one layer, it evens out skin tone and cancels out redness. It also wears well throughout the day, ideal for those late night Zoom calls. Read our full review here.

4. Milani Cheek Kiss Cream Blush, $9

This product recommendation came from Savannah Rae St. Jean, a makeup artist who specializes in bridal and editorial makeup. She said, “I have been a longtime fan of cream blushes for their ability to melt into the skin and give a natural-looking flush to the skin. This blush also contains ingredients to help blur imperfections and it is buildable to give you a customized wash of color.” We love it as it gives your skin a healthy glow, blends seamlessly into the skin, and is available in four rich colors.

5. WISHFUL Thirst Trap Cocoon Mask, $9

By the time we sign off and finish our 1,000^th Zoom call, we schedule in some me-time, which most days means a face mask while watching Sex and The City. The WISHFUL Thirst Trap Cocoon Mask, $9, is our go-to as it immediately soothes dry skin and leaves us with a radiant glow. The unique, double-layer-fiber technology allows it to hold more of the vitamin-rich essence than a conventional sheet mask. The serum itself is just as praiseworthy; formulated with rose, aloe vera, and sodium hyaluronate, it’ll plump and replenish your skin like no other!

6. Maybelline Nudes of New York Palette, $14

This Maybelline Nudes of New York Palette is the ideal, everyday eyeshadow palette. Featuring nine buttery mattes and seven shimmer textures, you can create a wide array of looks from a subtle wash of color to a smokey eye. The neutral shades are also universally flattering from the rich brown tones to the soft pink and copper shimmer. All this for $14? We’re sold.

7. Bread Hair-Mask, $28

One of the benefits of working from home is treating your tresses to masks throughout the day, and this Bread Hair-Mask, $28, for type 3 to type 4 curls is the real deal. The lightweight emulsion is packed with super fruit oils including Australian Kakadu Plum and Starflower Oil to hydrate and add definition to the thirstiest curls. The velvet buttery texture also feels super luxurious and smells divine!

8. Star Face Hydro Stars, $15

If a cheeky pimple has come to play, slap on one of these Hydro Stars and by the time your workday comes to a close, your pimple will be less red and inflamed. The hydrocolloid pimple-protectors are clinically proven to absorb fluid, shield spots from outside bacteria, and prevent skin picking. Plus, they look hella-cute and never fail to brighten up our day!

9. Huda Beauty Silk Balm Hydra-plumping Lip Balm, $21

This will forever be our desk staple, whether we’re WFH or in the office. It’s the perfect gloss-balm hybrid and leaves your lips feeling soft and looking juicy. The formula is infused with a blend of hyaluronic filling spheres, and soybean and licorice extract that migrates into fine lines for an instant plumping effect without any irritation. It also layers beautifully over other lipstick formulas.

10. Covergirl Lash Blast Clean Volume Mascara, $8

We’ve always liked the Covergirl Lash Blast, but they’ve recently upgraded the formula and we’re in love. Covergirl reformulated the volumizing mascara and made it cleaner and greener, it’s also cruelty-free, which is rare with drugstore mascaras. Even the packaging is made from 80% recycled paper sourced from well-managed forests.

We love the affordable formula as it adds volume and length without clumping or flaking, as the brush applicator separates and defines each lash. It’s also available in brown, which is perfect for a skinimalism makeup look.

What are your WFH staple products? Let us know in the comments.