I have loved makeup ever since I can remember, in fact I have boxes of it tucked all over the place. When I first started buying makeup I thought the only makeup you should buy was M.A.C or other high end products with a huge price tag attached. As the years went on I learned a thing or 2 about getting quality makeup (if not better) without having to pay a fortune. My friends all ask me to take them to the drug store to help them find products that are not only good quality but also at an affordable cost.
For starters, your base product that usually costs the most is your foundation/cover-up. This staple item can cost anywhere from $20-$70 at a high end retailer. To me this is a complete rip-off unless you have a very specific skin type and you require a specific brand. If your someone who doesn't require a specific brand for your skin then in my opinion you are much better off shopping for this at the Drug Store, there are so many different brands, and consistencies out there you are bound to find something that you like.
Blushes and bronzers are the simplest products to buy on a budget. In fact after I realized how similar blushes are from one store to the next (other than color selection) they all work exactly the same way and serve the same purpose. The ingredients are not that intricate enough to make it a product to spend a tonne of money on in my opinion. I personally feel that wet n' wild makes some great blushes and bronzers for around $1-$3 each! They have a great selection and they work just as good as anything else on the market.
*I know it doesn't look fancy but trust me it works like a dream*
Eyeshadows are a main staple for most of us, I know for me I like to have a wide selection as I like to try new eyeshadow looks and they usually require several different shades. I used to buy empty palettes at M.A.C and fill them up with the eyeshadow pot inserts, it cost me a small fortune and to be honest I use my standby way more than those. I personally love my 88 color palette I bought off EBAY, you can buy them almost anymore now if you do a quick search. They are highly pigmented(even more so than M.A.C!) and they last all day and night. I have two 88 color palettes, one is a shimmer palette(with a wide range of mainly shimmers, a few mattes), and the other is a matte palette with all matte colors. I like to use mainly matte colors as I am not into too much glitter these days, but they both are very useful and I brag about them to everyone who asks. They have a great color selection and can be used in the same way as any other shadow. They contain all the same ingredients are other shadows and after having them for 4+ years, no one has had any adverse reactions. If you are not sure where to buy, here is a online store that sells them from the States. They are quick and have great customer service! There called CoastalScents.
Here is a sample of what a few of the colors look like on the skin, pretty vivid wouldn't you agree?
As for lipstick that is usually more of a personal choice when it comes to these, however if you want my opinion I treat lipstick like I treat blush; mainly all of them have the same ingredients, just different shades to choose from. Most people like to have a large selection to look at when they are looking for lipstick and have more difficulty when there in a drug store as there all spread out, in their packaging and most lines only offer about 10-15 shade selections, where as department stores have near 100! I actually brought some of my expensive lipsticks into the drug store and found exact matches! Its incredible that what you can buy at one store for $2 can cost near $20 at another, when its the same thing! There are actually many sites that will give you drug store versions of expensive brands if you do a search on the Internet.
Here is a M.A.C lipstick called Modesty and a Maybelline version found at the drugstore called Warm Me Up.
Pretty similar wouldn't you say?!
The only thing I tell people to spend a bit more attention to is their brushes. If you take care of them and wash them once a month or more with a mild shampoo they will last forever. I see some of my friends brushes and get so grossed out by how filthy they are, thats how bacteria spreads. Makeup brushes are no different than any other artists brushes, they need to be well kept and of high quality, trust me it makes a huge difference. If you want to save $ on them I recommend picking out some brushes at Michael's craft store. I actually have found exact dupes of brushes from M.A.C there, and if you use a 40% off coupon that they have every week you will save even more.
This is almost an exact version of the M.A.C 239, its a Loew-Cornell's version 3/8" you can find at Michael's Craft Store for about $3-$4, even less with the coupon. I actually prefer this one as the handle is a bit longer and thinner.
Here are a few of my drugstore favorites:
1. Foundations: "L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup, and Cover Girl's Queen Collection Oil Free Liquid Makeup for darker skin tones
2. Tinted Moisturizers: Quo's
3. Concealers: Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer
4. Loose Powder: Revlon's Bare It All Lustrous Powder, Cover Girl's TruBlend Powder with Minerals
5. Pressed Powder: Physician's Formula Powders, L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder
6. Corrective Products (rosacea, blemish and scar marks): Physician's Formula, Quo's Bags Away or Colour Corrector Camouflage
7. Blush (powder, cream, or stain): Quo, L'oreal, Cover Girl's Cheekers Blush, Revlon's Limited Edition Pinch Me cheek stain, Wet n' Wild Twist Up Blush Sticks, Revlon's Cream Blush
8. Eyeshadows: 88 Color Palette, NYX eyeshadows.
9. Eyeliners (pencil, liquid, cream): NYC Liquid Eyeliner, NYC's "Miss Sparkle" Highlighter Pencil, Physician's Formula's Eye Definer Felt Tip Eye Marker, Cover Girl's CG Smoothers Eyeliner
10. Mascara:
Natural - Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
Volume - Maybelline Volum Express Turbo Boost Waterproof
Lengthening - L'oreal's Lash Out Mascara
11. Lipstick: L'oreal's Colour Riche, Cover Girl TruShine Lip Color for a sheer finish, Wet n Wild Precious Metals
12. Lip Gloss: High shine/sheer colour - Wet n Wild's Glassy Gloss Lip Gel, L'oreal's ColourJuice Gloss, Maybelline's Shiny-licious Lip Gloss, Stain: Revlon's Limited Edition Just Bitten Lip Stain
13. Lip Liners: Wet n Wild Creme Lip Liner Pencils
14. Bronzers: Physicians Formula has a variety of bronzers to choose from, NYC Bronzing Face Gel, Bonnebell's Gel Bronze, L'oreal Glam Bronze Bronzing Powder
15. Highlighters and Body Shimmers: Revlon's Limited Edition Bare it All Lustrous Lotion, Wet n Wild's Mega Pump Shimmer
Tools: Quo has an assortment of tools that I love, great quality, and Revlon has a variety of tweezers and eye lash curlers
Lastly there are several coupons out there for Cover Girl products, in fact they come out pretty regularly as well as for L'oreal.
This is getting to be a long entry so if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them for you.
For starters, your base product that usually costs the most is your foundation/cover-up. This staple item can cost anywhere from $20-$70 at a high end retailer. To me this is a complete rip-off unless you have a very specific skin type and you require a specific brand. If your someone who doesn't require a specific brand for your skin then in my opinion you are much better off shopping for this at the Drug Store, there are so many different brands, and consistencies out there you are bound to find something that you like.
Blushes and bronzers are the simplest products to buy on a budget. In fact after I realized how similar blushes are from one store to the next (other than color selection) they all work exactly the same way and serve the same purpose. The ingredients are not that intricate enough to make it a product to spend a tonne of money on in my opinion. I personally feel that wet n' wild makes some great blushes and bronzers for around $1-$3 each! They have a great selection and they work just as good as anything else on the market.
Eyeshadows are a main staple for most of us, I know for me I like to have a wide selection as I like to try new eyeshadow looks and they usually require several different shades. I used to buy empty palettes at M.A.C and fill them up with the eyeshadow pot inserts, it cost me a small fortune and to be honest I use my standby way more than those. I personally love my 88 color palette I bought off EBAY, you can buy them almost anymore now if you do a quick search. They are highly pigmented(even more so than M.A.C!) and they last all day and night. I have two 88 color palettes, one is a shimmer palette(with a wide range of mainly shimmers, a few mattes), and the other is a matte palette with all matte colors. I like to use mainly matte colors as I am not into too much glitter these days, but they both are very useful and I brag about them to everyone who asks. They have a great color selection and can be used in the same way as any other shadow. They contain all the same ingredients are other shadows and after having them for 4+ years, no one has had any adverse reactions. If you are not sure where to buy, here is a online store that sells them from the States. They are quick and have great customer service! There called CoastalScents.
Here is a sample of what a few of the colors look like on the skin, pretty vivid wouldn't you agree?
As for lipstick that is usually more of a personal choice when it comes to these, however if you want my opinion I treat lipstick like I treat blush; mainly all of them have the same ingredients, just different shades to choose from. Most people like to have a large selection to look at when they are looking for lipstick and have more difficulty when there in a drug store as there all spread out, in their packaging and most lines only offer about 10-15 shade selections, where as department stores have near 100! I actually brought some of my expensive lipsticks into the drug store and found exact matches! Its incredible that what you can buy at one store for $2 can cost near $20 at another, when its the same thing! There are actually many sites that will give you drug store versions of expensive brands if you do a search on the Internet.
The only thing I tell people to spend a bit more attention to is their brushes. If you take care of them and wash them once a month or more with a mild shampoo they will last forever. I see some of my friends brushes and get so grossed out by how filthy they are, thats how bacteria spreads. Makeup brushes are no different than any other artists brushes, they need to be well kept and of high quality, trust me it makes a huge difference. If you want to save $ on them I recommend picking out some brushes at Michael's craft store. I actually have found exact dupes of brushes from M.A.C there, and if you use a 40% off coupon that they have every week you will save even more.
Here are a few of my drugstore favorites:
1. Foundations: "L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup, and Cover Girl's Queen Collection Oil Free Liquid Makeup for darker skin tones
2. Tinted Moisturizers: Quo's
3. Concealers: Maybelline's Instant Age Rewind Under Eye Concealer
4. Loose Powder: Revlon's Bare It All Lustrous Powder, Cover Girl's TruBlend Powder with Minerals
5. Pressed Powder: Physician's Formula Powders, L'oreal True Match Super Blendable Powder
6. Corrective Products (rosacea, blemish and scar marks): Physician's Formula, Quo's Bags Away or Colour Corrector Camouflage
7. Blush (powder, cream, or stain): Quo, L'oreal, Cover Girl's Cheekers Blush, Revlon's Limited Edition Pinch Me cheek stain, Wet n' Wild Twist Up Blush Sticks, Revlon's Cream Blush
8. Eyeshadows: 88 Color Palette, NYX eyeshadows.
9. Eyeliners (pencil, liquid, cream): NYC Liquid Eyeliner, NYC's "Miss Sparkle" Highlighter Pencil, Physician's Formula's Eye Definer Felt Tip Eye Marker, Cover Girl's CG Smoothers Eyeliner
10. Mascara:
Natural - Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
Volume - Maybelline Volum Express Turbo Boost Waterproof
Lengthening - L'oreal's Lash Out Mascara
11. Lipstick: L'oreal's Colour Riche, Cover Girl TruShine Lip Color for a sheer finish, Wet n Wild Precious Metals
12. Lip Gloss: High shine/sheer colour - Wet n Wild's Glassy Gloss Lip Gel, L'oreal's ColourJuice Gloss, Maybelline's Shiny-licious Lip Gloss, Stain: Revlon's Limited Edition Just Bitten Lip Stain
13. Lip Liners: Wet n Wild Creme Lip Liner Pencils
14. Bronzers: Physicians Formula has a variety of bronzers to choose from, NYC Bronzing Face Gel, Bonnebell's Gel Bronze, L'oreal Glam Bronze Bronzing Powder
15. Highlighters and Body Shimmers: Revlon's Limited Edition Bare it All Lustrous Lotion, Wet n Wild's Mega Pump Shimmer
Tools: Quo has an assortment of tools that I love, great quality, and Revlon has a variety of tweezers and eye lash curlers
Lastly there are several coupons out there for Cover Girl products, in fact they come out pretty regularly as well as for L'oreal.
This is getting to be a long entry so if you have any questions I would be happy to answer them for you.
wow lipsticks are very similar :D
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