CULT BUY: The $5.99 eyeliner our beauty editor can’t live without.

Psst, I’ll let you in on a little secret: you don’t have to spend the amount of an inner-city house deposit on beauty products to get great results.

Yes, some high-end products do the trick better than pharmacy versions ever could, I’ll own that. But a low price doesn’t necessarily equal low quality. In fact, the truth can be the complete opposite.

The skin care range five Mamamia writers are obsessed with.

Enter the first eyeliner I ever owned and recently fell in love with again: Designer Brands Kohl Eye Pencil in Black Brown. Yes yes it’s that el cheapo beauty brand you’ve seen displayed in pharmacies all around Australia. And yes, it’s not to be underestimated.

Image: Supplied.

At just $5.99 - which, think about it, is essentially the cost of a large double shot soy cappuccino these days - this product is everything you need in a hard-working eyeliner.

It distributes evenly and smooooothly so you don’t feel like you’re stabbing and dragging at your eyelid while attempting to get the colour on.

Plus, it has a gorgeous creamy consistency and strong pigment, like a lot of the fancy brands do.

After a full day of use there’s a little smudging going on but it doesn’t end up transferring under my eyebrows and it doesn’t bleed. Tick, tick.

Given that I often leave about 33 seconds to do my eye makeup in the mornings, I need an eyeliner that will last but isn’t so stoic that if I hastily draw an accidental exaggerated Adele-esque wing, I can easily smudge it into submission with my finger. (Post continues after gallery.)

Great for sensitive-skinned types, it contains cocoa and shea butter and is completely free from parabens and talcs.

I chose the Black Brown colour over Black because it just looks so much more natural than black ever could. For everyday use, brown eyeliner gives your eyes definition without looking like you’re about to order a vodka lime soda at da club. Spoken like a true almost-in-my-thirties, fun-loving human...

Another reason to support this option? It’s an Aussie brand that’s both vegan certified and cruelty-free. Very nice.

Four other brown eyeliners definitely worth your clams:

MAC Eye Pencil in Coffee, $29.

Witchery Wind Up Eyeliner in Brown, $9.95.

Clinique Quick Liner For Eyes Intense in Intense Chocolate, $34.

Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Liner Pencil in Sable Brown, $8.95.

To read more from Edwina Carr Barraclough, you can follow her on Facebook here.