Designer VS Drugstore

It’s easy to feel like you have to use designer brands to do a quality job, but ‘you get what you pay for’ doesn’t always apply in the makeup world. To this day, I still opt for many drugstore options because they perform the same as designer labels (if not better,) and you save a ton of money in the process. In the past week, I’ve worked with two professional makeup artists who agree that many high end products aren't worth shelling out the extra dough when given the option. 

Mascara: Go Drugstore

Drugstore brands tend to have tons of options for the exact effect you’re looking for (volume, length, shape) and IMO work much better than designer brands. The product lasts you a long time, and they exceed my expectations every time. For long and voluminous lashes you have to mix products anyway, so mascara price stays manageable when you go drugstore. So many drugstore mascara brands are kicking ass right now with their products, packaging, and marketing – it’s an amazing time for consumers right now!

Higher end products have the tendency to irritate your eyes, clump up your lashes, and dry out extremely fast. A designer mascara can easily run you anywhere from $20 - $50. For me, drugstore mascara is a no brainer.

Foundation: Go Pro

A wise woman builds her house upon a rock, right? Foundation is your rock: sturdy, reliable, & trusted. If you build your house upon the sand, aka cheap foundation, you may find yourself disappointed with the color match, coverage, skin reaction to the formula, and worst of all, you may have wasted your money because now you have a product you really can’t use. Oh and there’s the possibility doesn’t actually covering your blemishes, but just looking slapped on. Not cute!

Now hear me out - this is not to say that you have to spend a fortune on foundation. But you should definitely go to a store where you can sample the foundation, color match, test your skins reaction, and wear it for a day before purchasing. Places like Ulta, Sephora, and most department stores will even give you a free three day supply of foundation to test for a few days. AND they can help you pick which foundation will work best with your skin type. When you pick a random drugstore brand, you may end up disappointed with the color match, breaking out from the formula, and worst of all, you may have wasted your money because now you have a product you really can’t use. You can get away with just $20 for a good foundation. My favorite foundation (MAC Studio Scuplt in NW20) runs me $43.

I will say that lately, drugstore brands have stepped up their game in the foundation department. Maybelline FitMe and Loreal TrueMatch are helping consumers save money without losing too much quality. So tell me – have you found an amazing drugstore foundation?

Lipstick: It Depends

Lipstick is like shampoo. We’d all love to always use the super expensive shampoos, but most of us know deep down that a bottle of Herbal Essence will do the trick. Lipstick’s kinda the same way. I love my drugstore lipsticks almost as much as I love my MACs. Revlon lipsticks are always extremely impressive. I’m not a fan of Maybelline lipsticks because they are usually all shine and very little pigment.