If you’re a beauty junkie or if you’re a total newbie just dipping your toes into the waters of the makeup world, the question everybody wants answers to is which beauty products to splurge on and on which products you can save your hard earned money. After being a beauty enthusiast for 15+ years I want to share with you what I’ve learned from experience, complete with some brand and product recommendations.
Beauty items to splurge on – the fine print
I’m totally aware that your experiences maybe won’t match mine, and there’re exceptions to every rule. So, you and I both can probably come up with a product from the drugstore that is cheap as chips and super awesome, and something you’ve splurged on that was totally crap. Yup, it happens. What I’m shooting for in this post is something different, though – consistency. I’m not looking for a single great product, but high-end products that I found to generally perform better than their cheaper counterpart from the drugstore.
Foundation
I’m usually not a fan of drugstore foundations. That has two reasons – colour range and ease of application/longevity. Usually, drugstore foundations have a limited colour range that doesn’t match the fair and dark skintones at the end of the spectrum, plus a limited range of foundation undertones. I’m quite fair and struggle to find a good foundation match at the drugstore. Also, the quality of high-end foundations tends to be better and has often a more innovative texture. Of course luxury brands often spend a lot of money on research and innovation. Serum foundations, for example, aren’t found often at the drugstore, but have become quite common at the various high-end brands. I also like that you’ll often have an SA at the counter who’s happy to help you finding your perfect match.
Favourite foundation brands: MAC, Armani, Dior, Nars, Estée Lauder, Lancome
Bronzers and contour powders
One word – orange. (Eeeeeeek!) It’s much easier to find both bronzing and contour powders that don’t veer into the dreaded orange territory at high-end brands. High-end brand formulations also don’t apply patchy easily and it’s actually possible to find a bronzer that’s not glittery. Drugstore powders for contouring are often much too warm to be proper contouring shades, so I tend to buy high-end products (pretty embossed powders are my weakness anyway). Longevity may be an issue, too, so you’re safer on the more luxurious side of things.
Favourite bronzing powder brands: Guerlain, Nars, Dior, Chanel, Urban Decay
Favourite contouring powder brands: MAC, Kevin Aucoin, Charlotte Tilbury, Kat von D
Highlighters
If you don’t want to look like a disco ball or Edward in the sun, it’s safe to say to skip highlighters from the drugstore with their chunky glitter. You want to glow, not to sparkle. (If you want to actually sparkle, shine on you crazy diamond! My pores and I salute you!) Also, migrating glitter on your face hasn’t ever looked cute. And oh, all those beautiful looking powders with their artful designs make me veer over to luxury counters all the time (did I mention that prettily embossed powders are my weakness?!). You’ll also see highlighters with different tones to compliment your skintone – do you want a silvery, goldish or maybe peachy highlight to grace your cheekbones? Don’t worry, the following brands have you covered! (Other reasons I buy high end highlighters are the same as above – longevity and ease of application – that ‘creamy powder texture’.)
Favourite highlighter brands (too many): Chanel, Burberry, Guerlain, Becca, Urban Decay, MAC, Kevin Aucoin, Charlotte Tilbury, theBalm, MUFE, Hourglass (I could go on.)
Tools
Ever bought one of the innumerable beautyblender dupes, kinda liked it and then it started to disintegrate after a short time of using it? Yeah? Same thing happened to me. Until I caved and bought the real Beautyblender. It retains its form for a long time, and I don’t have any problems with it. I wasn’t unhappy about the performance of the various dupes I tested but about their short life. Same with other tools from the drugstore like brushes which shed and literally disintegrated after some washes. So, it doesn’t have to be Tom Ford or Hakuhodo brushes, but these are your tools you work with every day. Do you want good quality and performance from them? Thought so. Invest.
Best brands for tools: Beautyblender, MAC
Eye shadow primers
It’s still hard to find decent primers at the drugstore, and I haven’t had any luck with them. Weird texture, weird smell, shadows creased on top of them, hard to work with, shadows were impossible to blend – you want to avoid that. Products like Urban Decay’s Eyeshadow Base and Nars Smudge-Proof Primer are classics for a reason. You can’t go wrong with them.
Best primer brands: MAC, Urban Decay, Nars, Too Faced
Eye shadows
I don’t deny that you can find great eyeshadows at the drugstore. Mostly, though, the eyeshadows in questions are manufactured by one of the huge cosmetics corporations like L’Oreal that has a lot of brands under their umbrella and new textures and formulas trickle slowly down from their luxe to their cheaper brands. But you’ll very likely see innovative textures at the high-end brands (case in point: Armani Eye Tints). Even if you’re like ‘innovation? I don’t care! Give me a nice powder eye shadow!’ you won’t find the best ones at the drugstore. It’s not only the question of saturation, blendability and longevity, but also one of complexity. The greatest eye shadows have complex colours, and their shimmer is complex as well. Urban Decay’s Moondust Eyeshadows at the drugstore? Impossible.
Favourite eye shadow Brands: Nars, MAC, Urban Decay, Chanel, Armani
Lipsticks
A lipstick is not just a lipstick. A lipstick can make you feel great, powerful, and last but not least beautiful. Lipsticks are often the entrance drug of the beauty addict, and it’s easy to see why: A lipstick can change your face and your mood. The famous Lipstick Index exists for a reason – if you want to treat yourself to a luxury item, a lipstick is easily accessible. No money for a Chanel bag? A Chanel lipstick will have a similar glamour. There’s the satisfying click of the heavy casing, there’s that lipstick scent, and then, there’s the feeling of a well-made lipstick on your lips. It’s the essence of what a beauty item can be. And it’s the reason why I haven’t bought or worn a drugstore lipstick in ages. Yup, maybe they’re deliver colour- or texture-wise from time to time, but where’s the pleasure in that? When it comes to lipsticks, I want the whole package.
Best lipstick brands: Chanel, Guerlain, Armani, Tom Ford
