Cosmetics on a budget

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Hey everyone.  I haven't got a fortune to spend on makeup so I was wondering what are some of the best cheap cosmetic lines out there?  I wear concealer to hide under eye dark circles (and powder to set it), mascara, and eye shadow.  I am 27 years old with a light complexion and pink undertones.  My skin type is combination / oily.  Right now I've got my eye on Rimmel, any thoughts on that line?  In a mascara I am mostly concerned about lash fullness.  Any input is much appreciated.  Thank you much.  :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
MerriCat, Rimmel is a good brand in my opinion. Their Wake Me Up concealer works really well for the under eye area and they definitely have some shades that should work with your complexion. I have seen some people on YouTube use their eyeshadow palettes and have amazing results with them, however you may need a primer and I am not sure that they make one. Wet and Wild makes a good eye primer and it is less than $5 I believe. Rimmel's Stay Matte powder is great for a setting powder. I am not sure if you would want to use it on the under eye area but ELF makes a good under eye setting powder and I know that sells for $3. I have used the Rimmel Scandal Eyes mascara and found that the brush was just much too big for me to control it but, I have smaller eyes so perhaps it will work for you. Hope this was helpful :)

 
For drug store brands, I love revlon. My favorite revlon mascara as of late is lash potion. Lots of volume. For drugstore eyeshadows, the loreal infallible line is excellent. 

 
I dont mind any of the cheaper nail polishes because with the exception of zoya all my "higher " end polishes chip in a couple days any way even with a good base and topcoat. I also love the simple eye makeup remover it is very good for sensitive eyes . Wet and wild mega last lipsticks are great too. I just got 2 for $3 but they were free with my cvs extra bucks. Good luck finding what works for you

 
Eyeshadow: Maybelline Color Tatoo (not the pigment ones, they suck) and the Eye Studio Color Plush quads, L'Oreal Infallible, Wet n' Wild eyeshadows

these are so far the best I've tried :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Other products, I recommend watching emilynoel83 from youtube, she is known for honest reviews on drugstore products :D /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
I definitely recommend Wet n' Wild eyeshadows. They are really pigmented and easy to work with. Clump Crusher is a decent mascara. It's black and gives me volume, but I kinda think mascara is a personal thing. I absolutely hate some mascaras that people say are their HG and love some that others really dislike. Concealer is something I'm still experimenting with to find the perfect one for concealing my massive darkness under my eyes. For setting it though, I use the Wet n' Wild shadow in brulee. It's cheap and works to brighten up the under eye area quite a bit without reflecting as too pale in photos. 

 
I don't know if you have Jordana where your at but I love their lash volume mascara. It comes in a black tube with a neon green cap. I also like the Jordana eyeshadow crayons, I just bought a really cool jewel tone teal.

Wet -n-wild is my favorite eyeshadow trio drugstore brand. Try walking on egg shells for a neutral eyeshadow look and sweet as candy if you like pinks and browns. They also have nice eyeliner pencils. First of all they are really long about the size of one and a half regular eyeliner pencils, they are about 69 cents and work great if you warm them up on your hand first, they become really creamy and nice.

I love Rimmel lipsticks the Kate ones in the red tube.. they also smell really nice. I also like their BB cream and original primer. Rimmel also has my favorite eye-shadow pencils in their emphasieyes line. Rimmel's stay matte power is wonderful. I just gave mine to my mom because she needed a nice powder. She has oilier skin than I do, I do love that powder though and plan on buying it again when I need a new powder.

I'm in love with maybelline's color tattoos ... barely branded and bad to the bronze are 2 of my favorite colors. I recently found a really nice eyebrow pencil with colored brow gel from Revlon. It's called Revlon brow fantasy. Another great thing from Revlon is their 16 hour color-stay eye shadows.

Maybelline's baby lips are nice lip balms. I use the one in the line green tube, it's peppermint and just a clear balm with SPF 15.

One last suggestion are the cover girl nail polishes. They are amazing. Covergirl outlast stay brilliant nail gloss. They have at least 30 shades and are amazing.. seriously! Not only do they come in a great number of colors but they are so cheap. This week I bought 2 from Walgreens, they were buy one for $3.99 get one free, and then I had a dollar off coupon from the Sunday newspaper. So I got 2 polishes for $1.50 each.

That's another tip, the Sunday paper ALWAYS has coupons for drugstore makeup. I currently have coupons for Rimmel, Revlon, Wet-N-Wild, Physican's Formula, Neutrogena, Cover-Girl, & Maybelline. Loreal coupons are harder to find, they usually put coupons out for their creams and hair products.

Good Luck and Have fun!!



I attached a picture of Golden Opportunity- by: CoverGirl

 
I'm going to third the Wet'n'Wild eyeshadows and second the Walking on Eggshells trio. The color pay out is really good and they look almost as good at the end of the day as they did when I applied them in the morning. (I always use eye primer as my lids guarantee heavy creasing with any shadow.)

 
NYX has some good stuff and you can use those Ulta coupons to get it really cheap. I like Flower which is available at Walmart. Sephora has a big sale going on right now and they carry some amazing holiday sets if you were interested in trying some high end stuff you can really stretch your money. Sampling services are good too, you won't get exactly what you want but you will get to try new things and they can be a good value. Last month I was about to buy a brow pencil and nail base coat and both things came in my boxes, it doesn't always work out like that but it did save me $30 I would've spent on those things.

 
The biggest advice I can give you is to wait for drugstore sales. www.NouveauCheap.blogspot.com puts in a lot of effort to break them down for her readers every weekend. It's so sweet of her!

 
Bonnebell eye liners tend to be really good. Soft and easy to glide, but really pigmented. I've been playing around and trying some NYC foundations and Hard Candy mascaras because they are super cheap at my Walmart.

 
I believe in DS and HE, but many of my HG's are DS

concealer: Rimmel Match Perfection Concealer ( wear instead of foundation)

powder: Physician's Formula loose powders

Blush: L'Oreal True Match blushes, they last all day

eyeliner: Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof liner

mascaras: Maybelline Illegal lengths or Voluminous False Fiber lash

shadows:  Maybelline Color Tattoo Cream Shadows (last all day, amazing), an ELF eyeshadows are very pigmented and long lasting as well.

Victoria's Secret setting spray isn't a ds product but not exactly HG about 14 bucks I think, but its a total HG I've tried more expensive brands but this stuff is worth it. It'll make all your stuff last until you wash it off.

 
Temptalia has a section especially for reviewing budget beauty products:

http://www.temptalia.com/category/features/budget-beauty-products

LOL hopefully everyone will forgive me for being a snob, but as you can see there are a lot of misses. But she also does a wonderful job at highlighting the hits like Maybelline's Color Sensational Vivids collection which I adore. L'Oreal and Maybelline both have a great eyeshadow collection as well. 

 
On another note, this is just MY OPINION but

Personally, I don't actually feel like budget beauty is so "budget" these days in terms of drugstores. Mascaras are a good thing to get from drugstore since you have to go through them quickly. But for stuff like eyeshadow, they're already like $7-9 a pop (even with BOGO50%, that's two for $12 so $6/ea). In that case, instead of spending $36 to get 6 eyeshadows which you're not sure about the quality of, it's worth it more to invest in a high end travel palette like the mini UD shadow box which is still on sale for $10 at a lot of places:

http://www.sephora.com/deluxe-shadow-box-P194718?skuId=1037373

Or just invest in a Stila in the light palette (which occassionally -- but rarely will go on sale on Stila's sight).

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2233181&productId=xlsImpprod3540013&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045%20cat940003%20cat260010

Or pick up the Anastasia catwalk palette:

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2261577&productId=xlsImpprod5430007&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045

There's this really great quote I (re)read recently by Terry Prachet:

Quote: The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.


So to me, buying cosmetics on a "budget" is better spent buying a few more expensive items or items you know are excellent quality, than wasting a bunch of money on things you're not 100% sure on the quality of. But again, that's just my opinion.

 
On another note, this is just MY OPINION but Personally, I don't actually feel like budget beauty is so "budget" these days in terms of drugstores. Mascaras are a good thing to get from drugstore since you have to go through them quickly. But for stuff like eyeshadow, they're already like $7-9 a pop (even with BOGO50%, that's two for $12 so $6/ea). In that case, instead of spending $36 to get 6 eyeshadows which you're not sure about the quality of, it's worth it more to invest in a high end travel palette like the mini UD shadow box which is still on sale for $10 at a lot of places: http://www.sephora.com/deluxe-shadow-box-P194718?skuId=1037373 Or just invest in a Stila in the light palette (which occassionally -- but rarely will go on sale on Stila's sight). http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2233181&productId=xlsImpprod3540013&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045%20cat940003%20cat260010 Or pick up the Anastasia catwalk palette: http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2261577&productId=xlsImpprod5430007&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045 There's this really great quote I (re)read recently by Terry Prachet:
The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that'd still be keeping his feet dry in ten years' time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.
So to me, buying cosmetics on a "budget" is better spent buying a few more expensive items or items you know are excellent quality, than wasting a bunch of money on things you're not 100% sure on the quality of. But again, that's just my opinion.
Great point! I have stopped buying eyeshadows unless its clearanced UD or pigment samples from independent sellers like GDE. Makeup is worth investing because good quality can last a long time. (Also, awesome quote! I <3 Terry Pratchett, Good Omens is my all-time fave book)
 
Originally Posted by Kyuu /img/forum/go_quote.gif

On another note, this is just MY OPINION but

Personally, I don't actually feel like budget beauty is so "budget" these days in terms of drugstores. Mascaras are a good thing to get from drugstore since you have to go through them quickly. But for stuff like eyeshadow, they're already like $7-9 a pop (even with BOGO50%, that's two for $12 so $6/ea). In that case, instead of spending $36 to get 6 eyeshadows which you're not sure about the quality of, it's worth it more to invest in a high end travel palette like the mini UD shadow box which is still on sale for $10 at a lot of places:

http://www.sephora.com/deluxe-shadow-box-P194718?skuId=1037373

Or just invest in a Stila in the light palette (which occassionally -- but rarely will go on sale on Stila's sight).

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2233181&productId=xlsImpprod3540013&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045%20cat940003%20cat260010

Or pick up the Anastasia catwalk palette:

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2261577&productId=xlsImpprod5430007&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045

There's this really great quote I (re)read recently by Terry Prachet:

So to me, buying cosmetics on a "budget" is better spent buying a few more expensive items or items you know are excellent quality, than wasting a bunch of money on things you're not 100% sure on the quality of. But again, that's just my opinion.
I agree 100%. There are some great deals at the drugstore but I prefer to buy "high end" eye shadows and face products because I don't have to deal with break outs, poor pigmentation, creasing, fading, etc. as much. I can't always afford high end products so I stalk the sale sections at Sephora.com and Ulta.com (right now Sephora.com has some really good deals in their sale section - including some Urban Decay palettes). I own the Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Box ($10) and Anastasia Catwalk palette ($29 @ Ulta) that Kyuu mentioned and they are fantastic! There are some good quality, reasonably priced high end products out there. I recommend looking at makeup sets and palettes since they're more economical than buying things individually. Also, if you end up hating the products Sephora and Ulta will let you return them for a refund.

My favorite drugstore products:

  • Maybelline Color Sensational High Shine glosses
  • Revlon Lip Butters
  • Physican's Formula Lash Booster eye liner
  • Wet n Wild Take on the day Eyeshadow Primer
  • Sinful Shine nail polish
  • Revlon nail polish
  • Sally Hansen Insta-Dri top coat
  • Covergirl Jumbo Lip Balms
  • Yes to Carrots Lip Balms
  • Maybelline Eyestudio Gel Liner
 
OTOH, just because it's a high end or even luxury brand doesn't mean the quality will necessarily be there.  This week I've read two reviews of a Chanel and a Giorgio Armani eyeshadow palette that were sub par.  It's hurts a lot more to pay $85 for four shadows that suck as opposed to $32 for 4 drugstore singles that suck, for example.  So really, I think it boils down to doing your research prior to buying. Sites like Temptalia or other various beauty blogs are great for giving a plethora of opinions on any given product. 

Also, for huge companies like L'Oreal that have a range of product lines from drugstore to mid-range to high end, I haven't always been able to tell the difference in some of the similar products carried in all three lines.  For example, L'Oreal's Infallible eyeshadow compared to Lancome's Color Design Infinite shadows.  L'Oreal's Infallible runs about $8, Lancome's version runs $24.50, and then you have the Armani Eyes to Kill Intense version which runs $33.  Outside of shade variations, there was not any difference between the L'Oreal and Lancome versions I tried.  I can't speak regarding the Armani version, as I haven't tried them.  Complexity in color seems to be the main difference there, but some of the later L'Oreal Infallibles are as complex in color. 

It really pays to be an educated consumer, IMO, which communities like Makeuptalk are also quite helpful with.

Originally Posted by Kyuu /img/forum/go_quote.gif

On another note, this is just MY OPINION but

Personally, I don't actually feel like budget beauty is so "budget" these days in terms of drugstores. Mascaras are a good thing to get from drugstore since you have to go through them quickly. But for stuff like eyeshadow, they're already like $7-9 a pop (even with BOGO50%, that's two for $12 so $6/ea). In that case, instead of spending $36 to get 6 eyeshadows which you're not sure about the quality of, it's worth it more to invest in a high end travel palette like the mini UD shadow box which is still on sale for $10 at a lot of places:

http://www.sephora.com/deluxe-shadow-box-P194718?skuId=1037373

Or just invest in a Stila in the light palette (which occassionally -- but rarely will go on sale on Stila's sight).

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2233181&productId=xlsImpprod3540013&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045%20cat940003%20cat260010

Or pick up the Anastasia catwalk palette:

http://www.ulta.com/ulta/browse/productDetail.jsp?skuId=2261577&productId=xlsImpprod5430007&navAction=push&navCount=1&categoryId=cat80045

There's this really great quote I (re)read recently by Terry Prachet:

So to me, buying cosmetics on a "budget" is better spent buying a few more expensive items or items you know are excellent quality, than wasting a bunch of money on things you're not 100% sure on the quality of. But again, that's just my opinion.
 
Originally Posted by Lulubelle107 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

OTOH, just because it's a high end or even luxury brand doesn't mean the quality will necessarily be there.  This week I've read two reviews of a Chanel and a Giorgio Armani eyeshadow palette that were sub par.  It's hurts a lot more to pay $85 for four shadows that suck as opposed to $32 for 4 drugstore singles that suck, for example.  So really, I think it boils down to doing your research prior to buying. Sites like Temptalia or other various beauty blogs are great for giving a plethora of opinions on any given product. 

Also, for huge companies like L'Oreal that have a range of product lines from drugstore to mid-range to high end, I haven't always been able to tell the difference in some of the similar products carried in all three lines.  For example, L'Oreal's Infallible eyeshadow compared to Lancome's Color Design Infinite shadows.  L'Oreal's Infallible runs about $8, Lancome's version runs $24.50, and then you have the Armani Eyes to Kill Intense version which runs $33.  Outside of shade variations, there was not any difference between the L'Oreal and Lancome versions I tried.  I can't speak regarding the Armani version, as I haven't tried them.  Complexity in color seems to be the main difference there, but some of the later L'Oreal Infallibles are as complex in color. 

It really pays to be an educated consumer, IMO, which communities like Makeuptalk are also quite helpful with.

Agree big time! I'd been spending 18-30+ dollars on mascaras, but found a 9 dollar Revlon one that does just as well for me as yves st laurent, if not better. Quality isn't always a price point. Revlon lip butters are my favorite lip item. I have a million different lipsticks/glosses/etc, in all variations of prices, but I prefer a revlon lip butter over any of my 20+ dollar items. 

 

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