Drugstore vs. High-End: A Guide to Makeup Shopping

“If I pay more for my makeup, then, it’s bound to work a lot better than cheaper brands!”

“I put on my makeup but, at the end of the day, I’ll take it off again, so, what’s the point on spending a lot of money on it?”

Which one would you imagine yourself saying?

A lot of makeup enthusiasts find themselves asking whether a product is best splurged on or best bought cheap. Here is a guide which might help you out if you find yourself in this situation. Remember, each person’s skin is different. What may work for me may not exactly be the best thing for you.

So, first is primer. Primer is made to help all your makeup stay on. It’s supposed to absorb the oil on your skin and keeps your face from being shiny. Whether you have to spend on your primer or buy one from the drugstore, that’s all up to your skin. You may not even need one at all. Same goes with where you buy it from. The formulation that a certain brand uses might not work for your skin while other brands may work perfectly for you. So, for primers, you just have to keep trying new ones until you find one that suits your skin.

Next is foundation. Foundation is made to give you an even complexion while at the same time hiding your blemishes. Again, where to purchase this is dependent on your skin. Some foundations may react badly with your skin and you might end up with blemishes. Whether it’s from the drugstore or department store is not the determining factor. Same with the primer, you have to find that one foundation that best works for you.

Then, there’s concealer. A concealer is used to aid the foundation in covering your blemishes and imperfections. If you’re looking for a high coverage concealer for your problem areas, then high end would be your best bet but if your blemishes don’t really bother you and you just want some light coverage, drugstore concealers would work well for you.

For eye shadows, however, buying it in the drugstore would be good enough. Eye shadows are made to put on your lids to enhance your eye shape and bring your eyes out. The drugstore offers some very high quality eye shadows and, for everyday use, you need not look for more expensive ones.

Same goes for eye liners. Eye liners are made to give definition to your eyes. The drugstore offers great eye liners for great prices. You don’t need to spend the extra money to grab yourself a high-end brand of eye liner because there are definitely good ones in the drugstore.

Next are mascaras. Mascaras are made to enhance your lashes. It helps make your lashes look fuller and longer. Mascaras are definitely best bought in the drugstore. They have a very short shelf-life. After three to six months of use, you’re definitely due for a new one so, buying high end mascaras would definitely be wasteful.

Blushes are best bought in the drugstore as well. Blushes are used to enhance the natural rosy color you have on your cheeks. You can find good quality blushes in the drugstore. Although, this highly depends on personal taste and the color range that the drugstore offers. But if all you’re looking for is a good everyday blush, then you best can settle for the drugstore ones.

Finally, there are lipsticks. Lipsticks are used to enhance or alter your natural lip color. If you’re looking for natural-looking lipsticks, then you’ll find plenty of good ones in the drugstore. But if you’re looking for more extreme, theater types of lipsticks, then the department store brands offer a wider range that surpasses that of the drugstore. So, it all depends on what you’re looking for.

So, there you have it, a guide on where to buy what. The thing that you have to keep in mind is that not everything that’s expensive is best and not everything that’s cheap is bad. You just have to keep your mind open and who knows, you might end up loving a product that you thought you’d hate.