In the first part of our mini series we covered the makeup items you absolutely should splurge on (find it here), but there’re tons of products you can find at the drugstore that are great (and sometimes even greater than their high-end counterparts). See on which beauty items you can save on – here’s the best of drugstore makeup!
Makeup items to save on
Like I mentioned in the ‘splurge’ post, you can find great makeup items at both low-end and high-end brands. What I’m shooting for here, though, is to find product groups that are consistently good. Take highlighters, for example – I totally think that it’s possible to find a good one at the drugstore, but as a product group, I find the high-end ones more consistent in quality. Generally, I find it more convenient to get things from the drugstore that I need to replace often (and actually finish!) anyway – like mascara and setting powders. But let’s dive into makeup items you can save on, complete with product recommendations!
Eyeliner (pencils)
Let’s start with my favourite products from the drugstore! Especially ‘gel’-type pencils are my favourites, because they’re easy to smudge and then set like iron. You’ll get your basic black and brown, and a plethora of different colours to boot. Often drugstore makeup doesn’t offer truly outrageous colours, but across the range I think I’ve seen every colour that high-end brands also offer – often with a nicer quality! My favourite pencils come from Sephora’s house brand and Kiko, both technically not drugstore, but their pencils come in a wide range of colours, have great quality, and are cheap.
Favourite products: Rimmel ScandelEyes Waterproof Eyeliner, Essence Gel Eyeliner, Kiko Glamorous Eye Pencil, Etude House play 101 Pencil, Sephora Contour Eye Pencil waterproof
Translucent/setting powders
Hashtag keepingitreal – it’s mostly mica, talc or silica, no matter what brand you choose from. So why go for a high-end product when you can get the same for less money? The biggest difference will be the packaging. I’d be a bit choosier for coloured powders, loose or pressed, but otherwise? There’re a lot of great products to be found in the drugstore aisles all over the world.
Favourite products: Manhattan Pure Mat Loose Powder, Bourjois Healthy Mix Compact Powder, e.l.f. high definition powder
Mascara
I firmly believe that mascara is the one beauty item that depends the most on your personal taste (and your lashes). I must’ve tried hundreds of different mascaras over the time, and all I’ve learned is that my taste in mascara changes often. Too often for a 30€/30$ product. Also, remember that you should actually toss mascara after 3 month to minimize the risk of eye infections? Yeah. I’ll just use my 10€ mascaras and am able to bin them without weeping agonized tears because of the waste of money. Additionally, at least 50% of mascara’s magic depends on the wand. And all wands are created equal. Rubber wand, thick wand, short wand, slim wand, hourglass-shaped wand – and that’s it. High-end mascaras don’t have anything else to bring to the table wand-wise. What about the formulas, you might say? That’s where the aforementioned taste comes in. Without being able to scientifically and statistically backing this up, I rather doubt that formulas are all that different, though. Same goes for eyebrow gel, actually! (My fave is Essence make me brow.)
Favourite products: Bourjois Volume Glamour Max Definition waterproof, L’Oreal Miss Manga waterproof , essence Lash Princess
Concealer
I’ve only owned one high-end concealer in my life, and I don’t see the need to go out and splurge on them at all. Like mascaras, this is a product I use everyday and in close proximity to my eyes, so I’m not really comfortable in using them for longer than a few months and throw them away quite often. Plus, the quality is definitely there. I’ve also found a few favourites that I’m likely to buy again and again. You can also easily play around with different shades and textures for highlighting and contouring as well, while it won’t break the bank. Win!
Favourite products: Maybelline instant age rewind eraser, Maybelline fit me concealer, Bourjois healthy mix, Catrice Liquid Camouflage High Coverage Concealer (especially good for spot concealing)
Lipgloss/ tinted lipbalms
I’m not that much of a lipgloss girl, I’ve to admit – I like quite a bit of colour on my lips. But personal taste aside, there’s really no reason to splurge on lipgloss and lipbalms. After all, their properties are easy to reproduce – shine, bit of colour, a bit of hydration. Everybody can do it, and if they can’t – shame on them! Even if formulas differ, the look on your lips is very likely the same. A bit of tint and a bit of shine. And as lipgloss is often the entrance drug to the beauty world for millions of teenagers, it’s the one product the drugstore offers tons of it. More or less colour, glitter or no glitter, with staining properties or without – you’ll definitely find one you’ll like at the drugstore, promise!
Favourite products: Maybelline Color Elixir Lip Color, Maybelline Baby Lips Balm, Eos Lip Balm, Labello, Nyx Butter Gloss, Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss
Nail polish
I’m a nail polish fiend (you may have noticed that already). Sometimes, I get so bored with what the nail polish world has to offer that I mix my own. Yup, that crazy. And trust me, in my nail polish drawers are all colours or textures that can be found on this good earth. Yet, I own maybe a dozen high-end polishes. Why? Because everything they do, somebody else has already done or will do it after a short time, and mostly better. I can see no difference in quality between high-end and drugstore polishes, and the years when Chanel came out with innovative colours again and again are over. So why bother?
Favourite products: Essence colour & go, Essie nail polishes, Sally Hansen nail polishes, Kiko nail polishes, Orly nail polishes
