Picture this: You are strolling down the walkway of your local mall, perusing the various shops and boutiques when you pass a Sephora. Immediately thoughts of the newest Nars lipgloss, aisles of moisturizers in an irresistible Vanilla Cookie scent, and the latest limited edition deluxe sets of eyeshadows are infused into your impressionable mind. You try your hardest to pull yourself away but the powerful magnetic force that is the almighty Sephora snatches you back in and steers you to the door. Once inside you are bombarded with smells of vanilla and white musk and images of stunning models exhibiting the latest fake tan and flawless eyeliner applications. As you prepare to make your first move, little beads of sweat trickle down your face and for a split second, you debate making a beeline for the front door. But as quickly as the thought appeared, it is overtaken by the sight of Urban Decay's newest Lip Love Honey-Infused Lip Therapy line. Before you brace yourself for the stomach crawling, vomit inducing feeling you are about to experience as you prepare to cash in that hard earned pay check on a $16 lipgloss, a moment of clarity passes over you. Do I really need to spend this much cash to get a high-quality makeup product that truly works?!! Well I'm here to tell you that there are certain products out there that it pays to spend more on. But there are also plenty of products that deliver superior results at a third of the price. I'm going to go over what cosmetic products I believe you can save on by purchasing drugstore brands and what products are worth splurging on to get unsurpassed results. I present to you: Save vs. Splurge........
SAVE~
Eyeliner-Drugstore eyeliners deliver perfect results! For pencils, I love Prestige. They have a huge selection of colors and they always glide on smoothly. They also come in a waterproof formula for all you criers out there. If you love liquid eyeliner, Almay makes a great one. The applicator is easy to use and makes applying tricky liquid eyeliner less complicated. I usually find that with liquid eyeliner, the problem usually lies with the applicator it comes with instead of the formula. If you just can't get the precise results you strive for with the built-in applicator, purchase an angled eyeliner brush like this one from Sephora and use that to apply the liquid eyeliner. I promise flawless results every time (ok maybe with a little practice). For gel liner, just splurge for everyone's favorite Mac Fluidline Eyeliner in Blacktrack. It's unrivaled.
Lipstick/Lipgloss- There are tons of drugstore lipsticks and lipglosses that not only provide an array of beautiful shades but offer conditioning benefits, yummy scents, and long lasting options. You don't need to drop all your hard earned cash to find the formula you are searching for. L'Oreal's new Colour Riche collection is one of my favorites. Not only does it moisturize and provide rich, vibrant color, it also contains Anti-Aging serum to fill lines and make lips appear bigger. At $8.95, you can't beat it. Some of my other favorites include:
Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in Candy Pink
L'Oreal Infallible Le Rouge in Unending Kiss
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss in Pink Pop-Love layering this over my lipstick for a sexy, glossy finish!
Lip Liner-You definitely don't need an expensive lip liner to get the job done. I believe you can get away with just buying one lip liner pencil in a neutral shade close to your natural lip color. Rimmel Lip Liners are great and offer a nice array of colors.
Daytime moisturizer-Don't splurge on moisturizers that you are going to put on during the day. They don't need to penetrate your skin so you don't need to splurge to get all those fancy ingredients. Daytime moisturizers just sit on the surface and prevent moisture loss. I've always been a big Oil of Olay fan and Olay's Active Hydrating Beauty Fluid is one of my absolute favorites. It has that sort of old lady smell that I actually find comforting cuz it reminds me of putting on my nana's moisturizer when I was little.
Toner-Just as long as it is an alcohol-free formula, there are plenty of inexpensive toners on the market.
Foundation-Honestly I'm a little torn on this one because my all-time favorite foundation is the Make Up For Ever HD Foundation which at $40 is a bit pricey. But there are plenty of drug store brand foundations out there that deliver exceptional results if your on a budget. One of the greatest upsides, though, of purchasing department store foundations is that you can test out the shades before you purchase. And Sephora is great at letting you return products with no questions asked if you aren't satisfied. Although, the newest drugstore brands on the market offer a great selection of shades and blend seamlessly into your skin, making finding the right color a walk in the park. My two favorites are:
L'Oreal True Match Foundation
Mascara-Definitely the best item to save on!! There are so many great drugstore mascaras that deliver impeccable results. You don't need to spend $28 to get those thick, sexy lashes you so badly desire. I love my volume so my two favorites are L'Oreal Voluminous and Covergirl LashBlast Volume. I always buy the waterproof version because otherwise it flakes and leaves traces of mascara on my skin. The waterproof also holds my curl perfectly.
SPLURGE~
Concealer-This product is so essential and though there are plenty of drugstore brands, I find that none of them deliver results comparable to the more expensive department store brands. Especially when dealing with under-eye concealer, the color is essential to getting perfect results and the more expensive brands tend to have a better selection. Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer is my all time favorite. It glides on super smooth, provides full coverage with little product needed and comes in a great array of colors. Worth every penny!
Primers-Both face and eyelid primers are better left to the department stores. As of right now, there are very few drugstore brand primers on the market. And Smashbox and Make Up For Ever have both perfected their formulas so I will be sticking with them for a while. That is, until Revlon or Maybelline step up their game.
Eyelash Curler-Shu Uemura. There is a reason this is the go-to item for all professional makeup artists to achieve that perfectly rounded curl. Buy it. You'll never go back.
Tweezers-Splurge on a great pair of tweezers and they will last you a lifetime. Tweezerman's Slant Tweezer blows all other tweezers out of the water. It perfectly grips every hair giving you the control you need to create flawlessly sculpted brows.
Nighttime Moisturizers, Eye Creams, and Serums-These are the skin care products to splurge on since they deeply penetrate the skin and deliver all those fancy age-fighting ingredients that we all can't seem to get enough of. Do your research though to discover what ingredients will deliver the most effective results for your specific skin issues. You wanna make sure your hard earned money is going to get you as close to that baby smooth skin as possible. Just don't sell your precious jewelry to buy a face cream. There are plenty of great products available that don't require you to rob a bank to get great results.
Bronzers-It is my opinion that department store bronzers provide better, more natural colors as well as more pigmented formulas. I feel like the drugstore ones don't look as nice on the skin. But if you know of a great drugstore one, please let me know! I've been searching for one. But in the meantime, I'm sticking with my favorite Cargo bronzer in Medium. I also love all the pretty packaging that the more expensive brands use. They always look so glamorous and just remind me of being in the Caribbean.
Blush-I also believe that department store powder blushes have a much better color selection as well as being a lot more pigmented. I love all of Nars and Bobbie Brown blushes. And if your looking for a cream blush, I'm obsessed with Make Up For Ever HD Blush in #5. But I must say I'm actually pretty impressed with Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush and I own it in several colors.
Eyeshadow-Department store eyeshadows are going to give you an unparalleled selection of colors. They also are super pigmented and will always look much more vibrant and stay on much longer than their drugstore rivals. Yes, drugstore eyeshadows have improved over the years and expanded their color selection to meet the high demands of a more hip demographic.......but they will never live up to the standards set by Smashbox, Nars, Mac, Make Up For Ever, etc. etc. I'm sorry but everytime I try out a drugstore shadow, I'm always left disappointed. It always requires me to put on like 20 layers before the color really pops and by 3 o'clock, its already halfway off my eyelid. No thanks.
(Tip: If funds are super low and eyeshadow is a must, apply the drugstore brand eyeshadow wet to give it more of a punch)
Hopefully this helps in deciding when to spend that extra buck to get a better product and when to save by visiting your local Target or drugstore.
Let me know if there are any other products you are questioning whether or not to spend the extra money on.
Thanks for reading!! :)
xo Courtney
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