Do you love catwalk makeup looks and designer beauty products, but have a more, er, modest budget? You’ve come to the right place, gorgeous! It’s time to refresh that makeup bag for the new season.

There’s a whole lotta SS17 cheap and chic cosmetics coming up in this latest series of articles – expect plenty of bargain buys, top performers and a few designer dupes thrown in for good measure.

Read on for some of the hottest high fashion Spring Summer 2017 makeup trends, translated into more affordable high street prices. Let’s get started with the first of four luxe-looks-for-less, the glossy new Fresh Face natural look, followed by Colour Wash Eyes, The Bold Lip Look and Feline Flick Eyes.

The fresh faced look

Yes, the ‘barely there’ natural look makeup thing is back for SS17, this time with almost-nude and glowing skin, light shades of blush, nude or sand coloured eye shadow, and lightly tinted lips (see main picture above).

You’re supposed to look healthy, glossy and glowing, which is definitely not a no-makeup look. Fortunately the good news is that you can definitely do this on a budget and still look fab.

STEP 1: Pick a light coverage illuminating foundation or BB cream, apply sparingly. 

Base: From left to right, above. Bourjois has some of the best light and bright drugstore foundations for this look, including City Radiance with SPF 30 for £9.99, or Healthy Mix Serum Foundation (£10.99). Or try a BB cream:

• Boots Seventeen BB Blemish Balm with SPF25, £6.99 and often included in special offers
• Rimmel #Instaflawless Perfecting Radiant Skin Tint with SPF15, £6.99, which can be worn alone or under a light foundation
• The CC and BB creams at Sleek, widest range of shades, both with SPF and priced £8.99

Depending on your skin type, you might also want to apply some powder to set your base and stop the T-zone from getting too shiny such as Collection Sheer Loose Powder, £2.99, or for pressed powder try NYX HD finishing powder in Translucent, £8.00.

STEP 2: Add a little concealer and blend, blend, blend. Now add a wash of sheer colour to your eyes with an eyeshadow that’s a couple of shades darker than your natural skintone.

Eyes: From left to right, above. Use a light reflective concealer such as Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch, £6.99, Bourjois Radiance Reveal Concealer, £7.99, or NYX HD Studio Photogenic Concealer, £6.00, to hide any dark shadows.  Pick a designer-inspired eyeshadow palette in natural shades such as MUA’s £4 bargain Undressed, Undress Me Too or Heaven And Earth collections. Keep brows simple and natural with an Essence Brow Gel Mascara, a designer-dupe bargain at £2.50.

Other palettes: From left, above. If you’re fed up of the high street’s direct Urban Decay copies, there are some decent quality alternatives: MUA 6-shadow Natural Essentials palette, £3.50, Sleek i-Divine in A New Day, £8.99, Maybelline’s The Blushed Nudes palette, £7.99, I Love Makeup Naked Chocolate palette, £7.99, and NYX Nude on Nude mini palette, £10 (9 shadows and 2 lip colours).

To make eyes sparkle, use a light amount of matte or satin nude shadow over the lid, add some shimmer in a similar colour the middle of the lid, and finish with a pale highlight colour on the inner corner.

Most palettes perform better with an eyeshadow primer underneath, such as Models Own Eye Base Eyeshadow Primer & Brighten, £5.99, or Freedom Pro Eye Primer, £2.50.

Step 3: Add little mascara for defined lashes

Lashes are glossy but low key, so don’t pile on the mascara. Opt for one that looks natural and gently defines without clumping, such as:

• Boots Seventeen Doll’d Up Mascara, £6.29
• Barry M’s Showgirl Extra Lengthening Mascara, or designer dupe That’s How I Roll mascara, both £4.99

Step 4: Add a tiny amount of blusher or light bronzer, then add some glow.

Cheeks & Glow: From left to right, above. Get glowy, lightly-tinted cheeks with multi-tasking products that make your money stretch further. Try a catwalk-inspired colour and highlighter duo such as I Heart Makeup’s I Heart Chocolate Bronze and Glow, or I Heart Chocolate Light and Glow, both £6.00. Alternatively, use something for both cheeks and lips such as a few light dabs of NYX Whipped Cheek & Lip Souffle, £5.00, or Models Own Hint Of Tint Cheek & Lip Tint, for £4.99 – some SS2017 catwalk makeup had lipstick being used on both cheeks and lips.

It’s not easy to find decent high street /drugstore glow products that are soft and subtle, dewy and not full of glitter. The best ones out there by miles are the Freedom Pro Highlight powders, £3, and offerings from Makeup Revolution including Highlighter in Peach Lights, £3.00 and the Radiance Radiant Light Palette, £8.00. No grit, no glitter, just a gentle glow.

Other dewy glow products:

• MUA Luxe such as Set & Reflect Finishing Kit or Strobe & Glow kits, £5.00
• NYX Born To Glow liquid illuminator for £7.00
• GOSH Lumi Drops, £7.99
• Primark’s in-store makeup (Contour & Glow, £2.50, Pro Illuminating Primer, £5, and the Precious Metals range from £2.00)
• Essence Satin Touch Blush in Coral 10 or Love 20 – amazingly good quality dewy-look blusher for only £1, and if you can only afford one cheek product, this is the one to pick

Step 5: Finish the look with a tinted moisturising lip product

Lip oils & balms: From left to right, above. For lips, you could keep it simple with an Essence Prettifying Lip Oil (£2.00, the tint isn’t really visible) for light glossing on the go. For the same nourishing oils but with more obvious colour try a Rimmel Oh My Gloss Oil Tint, £5.99, or the lovely new ELF Studio Tinted Lip Oils for creating a healthy look with decent pigmentation, £7.50. You might also like one of the designer-y Boots No 7 BB Lips shades, £9.00 (SPF15 and currently in a 3-for-2 offer).

If you prefer balm sticks to gloss or oils, get some subtle colour and moisture from the tinted lip balms from Burt’s Bees, £5.99, or a Sleek Candy Tint lip balm SPF15, £6.49. My current favourite is Next’s dinky Make Me Beautiful Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm in Sheer Rose, £6.00, also available in a soft toffee nude shade.

There’s also Vaseline Rosy Lips, and all kinds of tinted offerings from Nivea, Blistex and Carmex.

Lipsticks: Above, left to right. There are some nice summer hybrid lip products around too, half way between a lipstick and a balm, such as NYX Plush Gel Lipstick, £6.50, and Models Own Hipstick Lip Sheen (£4.99 but currently on offer at Superdrug), both are pigmented so look for the more natural, muted shades. Avoid full-on matte finishes and look for a sheer and moisturising lipstick such as a Rimmel Moisture Renew Sheer & Shine lipstick SPF20, £6.49, a hint-of-a-tint Essence Sheer & Shine Lipstick, £2.00, or one of the four flattering nude designer-esque shades of ELF Satin Lipstick, £6.00.

So there we go, everything you need for a fresh, chic and glowing face. All without hammering that credit card into oblivion.

For more inspiration, I’ve also created some cheap and chic £15 Face Challenge looks for The Fresh Face Look / Natural Look to show how you can put together some really beautiful on trend looks on a tight budget – have a peek!

If you enjoyed this article, you might be interested in the other posts in this series: Colour Wash Eyes, The Bold Lip Look, and Feline Flick Eyes.

Are you updating the contents of your makeup bag this season? What do you have your eyes on? Any favourite products, or tips of your own?