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Back-to-school season is almost upon us, but it doesn’t have to be all bad.

To stave off thoughts of school work, tests and stress, why not shop the best of beauty? In the spirit of procrastination, we’ve compiled a list of user-friendly and affordable tried-and-true beauty products you can shop now at Ulta Beauty, Sephora, Target and Glossier. The best part? These products are all less than $50.

From hydrating lip balms and brightening eye masks to skin tints, this list features user-friendly items that’ll have you looking good, even during the most arduous all-nighters and lengthy study halls. Keep reading to shop till you drop.

Milk Makeup Balmade Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm with Electrolytes in Juiced

$18

Buy Now at ulta

A hydrating tinted lip balm formulated with electrolytes.

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Subtly tinted and full of hydration, this Milk Makeup Balmade Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm will get you through those nail-biting exams and then some. Retailing for $18, the balm currently comes in seven shades on Ulta Beauty’s website, but Juiced is our favorite. The key ingredient in this product is electrolytes.

While the minerals are best known for quenching your thirst in products such as Gatorade or Liquid IV, the ingredient can also be used to help retain moisture as it relates to lip products. Thanks to those nifty electrolytes, the sheer pink balm is smooth, non-sticky and hydrating, offering the lips a glassy-looking sheen. You’ve also got ingredients such as banana juice, which helps retain hydration, and a mix of coconut and aloe extracts that visibly smooths texture and conditions.

Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen Stick SPF 40 Invisible Sun Protection

$32

Buy Now at sephora

A stick of SPF 40 sunscreen.

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When you’re busy studying and heading to class, the last thing on your mind is suncare. Enter Supergoop!’s Unseen Sunscreen Stick with SPF 40, an easy-to-use stick sunscreen formula that you can apply on the go. Much like a deodorant, the product is a twist-up in a solid block that easily glides onto the skin, leaving no white cast or residue. Beyond its sun protection capabilities, the product is also blurring thanks to the silica powders found in the ingredients list. This leaves the skin mattified and free of oils. The product also includes meadowfoam estolide, a naturally derived emollient known for its moisturizing capabilities.

Summer Fridays Jet Lag™ Eye Patches

$24

Buy Now at sephora

Hydrating and brightening eye patches.

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Pulled too many all-nighters? Not to worry: Summer Fridays Jet Lag™ Eye Patches are here to save the day. Retailing for $24, these patches will both brighten and hydrate the undereyes, evening the skin and hydrating for a smoother finish. The hydration boost comes from a humectant blend, while a mix of niacinamide, cucumber extract and panthenol works to soothe the under eyes. Caffeine, an ingredient that can often be found in eye patches, works to depuff, giving you that “I slept eight hours” look.

E.l.f. Power Grip Primer

$10

Buy Now at target

A sticky primer in a pump bottle.

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E.l.f.’s Power Grip Primer is a sticky primer that’ll have your makeup lasting longer than your long-distance college relationships. It’s also a dead ringer for Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip Primer (but we didn’t tell you that). Retailing for $10, the gel-based clear primer moisturizes while leaving a tacky base to put makeup on top. The sticky finish works kind of like Velcro, allowing whatever makeup you layer on over it to not budge. Some key players in the ingredient list include hyaluronic acid, a hydrating agent, and niacinamide, which improves the overall look of your skin by reducing inflammation and texture. It’s also non-comedogenic, meaning it won’t clog your pores.

Merit Flush Balm Cream Blush in Stockholm

$30

Buy Now at sephora

A stick blush that can be swiped on.

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If you do want to wear makeup when heading back to school, ease of use is a must. When you’ve got your head in the books and a busy course load ahead of you, the least you can do for yourself is get easy-to-use makeup. This Merit Flush Balm Cream Blush is not only easy to apply, but it’s also affordable too. Retailing for $30, this blush is a cream formula that comes in 12 unique shades. The cream formula melts into the skin, building up and blending in easily. Cream blushes offer a more natural finish in contrast to their powder counterpart.

Glossier Perfecting Skin Tint in G2 Very Deep Warm

$28

Buy Now at glossier

A watery skin tint with a buildable coverage.

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As we’ve mentioned, easy and affordable products are the key to a successful makeup look, especially as a student. It’s not about creating the perfect cut-crease or spending on fancy products with claims they can’t back. Glossier’s Perfecting Skin Tint is affordable and easy to use, so easy, in fact, that you can apply it with your hands, if that’s your thing. Retailing for $28, the tint comes in 12 shades and offers the skin a light wash of coverage that can be built up. The tint is water-based, meaning it is more fluid and sheer. You’re not going to get a full-coverage moment from this product. Keep that in mind before adding to cart.

Pixi by Petra On-The-Glow Super Glow in Natural Lustre

$18

Buy Now at target

A stick highlighter.

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If you’re a broke college student, you’re probably not going to drop $50 to $60 on some of these fancy highlighters. If you’re living on an instant ramen diet but you still want to shine, we’ve included Pixi’s On-The-Glow Super Glow highlighter stick. Affordable and pigmented? Sign us up. Retailing for $18, the stick product glides on with ease, leaving a subtle shine to the skin. You’ve got four shades — Natural Lustre, Gilded Gold, Ice Pearl and Petal Dew — each with unique undertones perfect for an array of skin tones. We recommend applying this stick highlighter to the cheekbones, Cupid’s bow and the bridge of the nose for a dewy finish.

Tower 28 Beauty MakeWaves Lengthening + Volumizing Mascara in Drift

$20

Buy Now at sephora

A brown mascara.

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This one is for those who want to add a little something to their look without looking like they applied a full face prior to class. If natural is your prerogative, Tower 28 Beauty MakeWaves Lengthening + Volumizing Mascara in Drift is right for you. The mascara comes in a brown hue, offering a much subtler look than classic black. The special wand is lengthy with a curved construction that marries to the natural curvature of the eye, coating each and every lash while promoting length and volume.

YNW Melly’s double murder trial has been postponed yet again, this time until January 2027 — nearly eight years after he was first arrested.

Melly has sat in jail for years awaiting trial on first-degree murder charges over accusations that he and another YNW rapper shot and killed Anthony “YNW Sakchaser” Williams and Christopher “YNW Juvy” Thomas Jr. in 2018.

Now, the wait will go on even longer. A trial had been set to kick off Sept. 10, but on Friday (Aug. 8), Judge Martin S. Fein postponed it until January 2027, prosecutors confirmed to Billboard. That will be almost eight years after Melly was arrested in February 2019.

The delay is due to ongoing appeals lodged by both sides over what evidence will be admitted in the trial. Last week, an appeals court granted a “stay” ordering Judge Fein to halt all proceedings until after that appeal is resolved. Both prosecutors and Melly’s defense team had asked for such a delay.

Prosecutors say Melly (Jamell Demons) carried out the October 2018 killings of friends Williams and Thomas after a recording session in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Rapper and Melly associate YNW Bortlen (Cortland Henry) then allegedly faked a drive-by shooting to cover up the murder; Henry is charged as an accomplice and will face a separate trial.

A trial was initially scheduled to start in April 2022, but was called off at the last minute. After a long appeal over whether Melly could face the death penalty, the trial finally kicked off in June 2023. But following weeks of testimony and days of deliberation, it ended in a mistrial after the deadlocked jury was unable to reach a verdict.

The case was set for re-trial in October 2023, but was postponed amid disputes over evidence. With the case finally set to be re-heard in September, Judge Martin S. Fein urged prosecutors earlier this year to stick to that date.

“Mr. Demons has now been in custody for 2,202 days, and if one state attorney is not available, maybe one of the other two assigned to this case can stand in, and if all three are not available, maybe one of the 150 state attorneys upstairs might sit in,” the judge said, according to NBC 6 Miami.

But with both sides pursuing appeals over evidentiary issues, they once again asked for the trial to be pushed back. When Judge Fein denied that request, both sides asked Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal to grant a stay ordering such a freeze.

“Simply, without a stay, the state loses its ability to prosecute a serious case on its full merits,” prosecutors told the appeals court last month. “This error cannot be corrected once it is inflicted.”

Melly’s defense attorneys similarly urged a delay until the appeal is resolved: “Appellee cannot adequately prepare for trial,” they wrote in their own filing. “Appellee’s due process rights will obviously be violated and he will be denied a fair trial if he is not afforded an opportunity to complete discovery.”

Oral arguments in the appeal are scheduled for next month.

Sitting on a couch her Midtown Nashville apartment, Alexandra Kay makes a bold prediction: She’s going to reach No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart. 

“I truly believe my song ‘Straight for the Heart’ will be my first No. 1 at country radio,” she tells Billboard’s Behind the Setlist podcast. “And I have no problem saying that, and I say it on stage all the time.”

Long before she was named to Pandora’s 2025 Artist to Watch: Country and CMT’s 2025 Next Women of Country lists, Kay built a career as an independent artist. After getting dropped by a label in 2019, she poured herself into social media and amassed 8.5 million social media followers with the help of her “coffee covers” videos in which she sings a cover of a familiar country song — “Everybody loves ‘90s country,” she notes — while preparing a coffee drink. 

She boosted her original music by leveraging the popularity of her coffee videos. After a cover song gave her “a lift in the algorithm,” Kay would immediately post an original song. “That’s how I ended up getting millions and millions of streams of my original music,” she explains.

Even though she built an online following and toured as an independent artist, Kay needed help hurdling the next obstacle: country radio. BMG’s BBR Music Group/Wheelhouse Records will release her second album, Second Wind, on Oct. 24, and she’s betting the label group, home to Jelly Roll and Lainey Wilson, can take her career to the next level. BMG, she says, has “one of the best country radio teams in the game right now.”

Country radio, though, is dominated by men. Women account for just seven of the 60 songs on the current Billboard Country Airplay chart (eight if you include Tate McRae, a guest on Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want”). The top female track on the chart, Wilson’s “Somewhere Over Laredo,” is No. 17. 

Kay is undeterred. “I really don’t let that bother me at all, and I don’t let it slow me down,” she says. “Because my experience is going to be what God intends for me, and I know for sure that I’m not going to have my foot off the gas.”

Listen to the entire interview with Alexandra Kay, which covers the opening of her coffee store in her hometown, her non-stop social media prowess, her relationship with her fans and the trick to writing a song everybody can relate to. Use the embedded Spotify player below, or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeart, Podbean or Everand. 

Sabrina Carpenter has one last cover variant for new album Man’s Best Friend up her sleeve, and this time, it features an exclusive bonus track.

The pop star unveiled the fourth and final edition of the LP in an Instagram post on Friday (Aug. 8), three weeks before the project drops on streaming services. The artwork shows Carpenter holding court at a dinner table, looking glamorous in a sparkling blue gown as she commands five tuxedoed men surrounding her.

“the final alternate cover for Man’s Best Friend features such a special bonus track called ‘Such A Funny Way’ available only on vinyl,” the Grammy winner wrote. “pre order now + a limited number of signed vinyl.”

Carpenter also noted the short amount of time before her seventh studio album, which fans have been waiting for since she first announced the project in June. “3 weeks left!!!” she added. “can’t wait for it to be yours x.”

The Man’s Best Friend cover art has been a quintessential part of the album’s rollout so far, whether or not Carpenter intended it to be. When she first debuted the original artwork — a risqué photo of herself down on all fours, held in place by a man grabbing her by the hair — discourse erupted online over whether the image was empowering or regressive for women, a topic that even made it’s way to The View.

Since then, the Girl Meets World alum has released multiple variations of the artwork, including a black-and-white photo of herself leaning on a man’s shoulder as well as a colorful snap of Carpenter basking in a room filled with flower bouquets sent by admirers. All four versions of Man’s Best Friend are available for purchase on the singer’s website.

The additional cover comes just a few days after Carpenter finally unveiled the Man’s Best Friend tracklist, which features 12 songs including Billboard Hot 100-topping lead single “Manchild.” At her headlining Lollapalooza set this past weekend, the star played the track for fans in Chicago as well as duetted with special guest Earth, Wind & Fire.

See Carpenter’s fourth and final Man’s Best Friend variant below.