Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Drugstore Makeup Essentials

Many people look down on drugstore makeup because--well, it's makeup from the drugstore. A lot of people think that the ads boasting "super volume!" or "long lasting color!" at low prices are too good to be true, but I disagree. While there are some terribly sad products that you can find in the makeup aisle at your local CVS, the reality is that a lot of the products are decent to good, and at great prices. The trick is finding the good ones...

This is where I come in. I have bought makeup from the drugstore for as long as I can remember, and over half of my makeup has come from Target or CVS. Although I may not be the most makeup savvy person, I definitely know my way around a drugstore makeup aisle. So now what you've all been waiting for...

...drum roll please...

...the drugstore makeup essentials!
Drugstore Makeup Essentials


Essence of Beauty Makeup Brush Travel Kit
cvs.com

 This is the perfect little brush kit that I use for just about everything. Although to be honest, I only really use the eye shadow brushes and concealer brushes for shadow, and the brow brush for brows and liner. Not quite sure what to do with the other brushes, but for that price, just get it anyways. $9.99


LashBlast Length Water Resistant Mascara
covergirl.com

 Covergirl seriously makes the best lengthening mascaras. I've been using them for years now and even when they discontinued my old favorite, I switched to this one and am equally in love. My lashes look like they grow inches after putting this stuff on. It's amazing. I also always get it in waterproof because I'm always rubbing my eyes, and you never know when you'll be working out, cutting onions, falling really hard, reading a good book, watching a sad movie, or better yet, watching a movie in the presence of a cute guy, so it's always a good idea to have waterproof (and smudge-proof and run-proof) eye products, especially mascara. The only problem with this mascara is that it doesn't do much for the volume of my lashes, but that's what the next product addresses. If you have naturally volumptuous lashes though, you'll be good to go with this mascara. Also, know that I'm very jealous of you. $8.99

 Volum' Express the Mega Plush Mascara
maybelline.com


I needed a volumizing mascara to go with my favorite Covergirl Lengthening one, so I decided to take a risk and go for one of Maybelline's famous volumptuizing (yes, I know that's not a word; no, I don't really care) mascaras. There were so many and I didn't know how to choose, so basically I picked this one because it had pretty colors. Boy was I lucky I liked these colors. This mascara beautifully volumptuizes (I'm just a word making machine over here!) my lashes and perfectly compliments my lengthening mascara. My only recommendation is that if you're going waterproof like me, only get one of the mascaras waterproof, because otherwise it really dries your lashes out. Put the non-waterproof one on first, then layer the waterproof one on top for a flawlessly smudge-proof look that will last all day. $5.99


Smooth Finish Foundation
milanicosmetics.com

I'm generally not a big fan of liquid foundations, but sometimes powder just won't do when you need a little extra coverage. This cream-to-powder compact is just perfect! The formula provides a ton of coverage, but without the gross, cakey, liquid foundation texture. All you need is a light coat, and because of this it lasts a really long time. $7.99
Bronzer XL
milanicosmetics.com

I actually reviewed this bronzer in one of my first posts, Target Cosmetics Haul/Reviews, but I'll brief you one more time. I was really looking for a matte bronzer when I bought this, and although this has a little shimmer it really is very minimal. I love this bronzer SO much! It is perfect for contouring my face and cheeks and doesn't give you the sweaty mermaid look that a lot of sparkly/shimmery bronzers do. $9.99
I reviewed this lipstick/balm/gloss as well in Target Cosmetics Haul/Reviews, but since then I've gotten this in another color: Heavenly Berry. These are my favorite little lipsticks, because it gives a beautiful sheer color but is also super moisturizing. I wear both of these all of the time, and the Heavenly Berry gives the perfect pinkish tint while the Nourishing Nude beautifully evens out the color of your lips. These lipsticks are even better than most chap-sticks, so don't hesitate buying every color they have. That's what I plan on doing :). $5.99
This picture really does this miracle compact no justice. This is my ultimate go-to compact, and I've had it for an incredibly long time and it never fails to surprise me with how awesome it is. The colors are all matte, which is increasingly hard to find nowadays since everyone's obsessed with looking like a f@!%&#g fairy princess, but that's neither here nor there. The neutral matte colors compliment anyone's eyes, and do wonders for making them pop without looking too makeup-ey. With the perfect amount of balance, this compact can make your eyes look phenomenal and no one will be able to tell you're wearing eyeshadow. Really. Get this now. $7.15
I've found that felt-tip eyeliner works like a dream (in general). You can create super dark and intense lines, or barely-there thin and dainty lines all in the same little handy dandy pen. Whichever kind of line you're doing, it is strong, bold, and will stay all day. In the past I've recommended Milani's Eye Tech Liquid Liner, but I've found that it dries out quickly and the tip of the marker is really thin and gets annoying and flabby. Not this one though! The tip of this marker is very thin yet strong, so you can get a precise thin line that isn't all luck. It's also super dark and the color stays all day, which is another thing that you don't find in many other eyeliners. Best of all, I've had this pen for a while now and it has not yet shown signs of drying out! Yay for me!!!! Word from (for? I don't know this saying well enough to be using it) the wise: don't get it on your favorite denim swing skirt (which can be found here and purchased here). It won't come out. $7.99
I think Wet 'N Wild wins the award for "Highest Quality Cheap Eyeshadow." All of their shadows are so beautifully pigmented and beautifully priced...it just makes me so happy (wipes a solitary tear from her cheek). I especially love this palette because it's very close to my favorite, classic, brown on brown on brown, but with a sweet little touch of girlishness. As I said, their shadows are all sublimely pigmented, so that means (yay for me), I never have to buy the same WNW shadow twice! They last forever. $2.99
This shadow palette was my attempt into being adventurous and trying to get some fall colors into my makeup bag. Boy, am I glad I took a risk with this one. I was wary of the orange and yellow and super random purple, but the 5 colors allow for a lot of beautiful combinations, and the shadows are really nicely pigmented too. I was surprised how good the colors looked, seeing as I've seen bad things with orange and yellow shadow before. My personal favorite shade that I've worn almost everyday since I got it is the bronze-y shade in the middle. It has perfect red and purple undertones, and looks absolutely fabulous in my crease. $1.99
Sweet Mint Smooth Sphere Lip Balm
evolutionofsmooth.com

As you may (or may not, I doubt any of you read my blog when I last did a makeup post) know, I have quite a collection of EOS lip balms. They're pretty good lip balms, plus I love the scents and the cute shapes and colors. I have to say though, I think the sweet mint flavor is my favorite. Sometimes the floral-y scents of the other EOS flavors can be a bit overpowering, so I like the calming minty scent of this one. $3.29
Silk Finish Lipstick 545A Blushing Bali
wnwbeauty.com

 This is absolutely, positively, my favorite lipstick color. It's such a pretty shimmer-y, nude-y, pink-y (sorry for all of the -y's in this post! I think as I get more tired I start putting more -y's because I'm too tired to think of real adjectives or colors) color that looks amazing on my oddly pale Wasian skin. I have a bit of a fear of buying bad lip colors as a result of a phase where that's all that I would buy (in bulk) so after much research I decided that a coral-y (there I go again) color would look good. I bought this one as a kind of "tester" because of the price, figuring I would buy a better one if it worked, but I wasn't expecting this one to be so good! The color is absolutely gorgeous, and although it's not a lip stain, the color does last a while and doesn't do any weird clumping lumping thing. It is a lipstick though, so I always have to wear chap-stick underneath, but other than that, this lipstick is flawless! $0.99

 Thanks so much for reading guys! Feel free to comment below, and let me know if you liked this post or want more of this sort. You can always e-mail me or contact me on one of my various social media sites (which you are following me on...right?)

xoxo

Audrey

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