Drugstore Products that are Just as Good as High End Products

We all love our high end makeup.  It’s often better in quality, has fancier packaging and you feel special walking to a Mac or a Sephora.  That being said there are a ton of drugstore makeups that can offer just as good quality and give you the same effect with spending the $$$$$.  Having lived off drugstore makeup until I was a young adult and able to actually afford the better stuff I've tested my fair share.  I will say hands down, without a doubt Maybelline, no matter the product, is going to give you the best bang for your buck and they offer phenomenal products and shades.  Even now I’ll find myself reaching for their stuff over some of the higher end stuff.  However, I didn't want to write an article all about Maybelline so I decided to share with you my favorite drug store products organized by category.

EYES

Best Kohl Eye Liner: Covergirl Perfect Blend Pencil $4.49

This product goes on really smoothly and creates a perfect line that’s great for blending.  It even comes with a handy little smudge brush at the end.  This product stays in place all day and it has a few different colors so you can get a brown, a navy, a black, whatever suits you.  At $4.49 it’s definitely worth the purchase!

Comparison: Mac Kohl Eyeliner

Liquid Eyeliner: Maybelline Ultra Liner Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner $5.99

This one I love because not only it is extremely waterproof (I’ve gone swimming in this and it hasn’t budged!) the brush is thin enough that it creates a really precise line.  It comes in brown and black, so not too many choices but just enough for eyeliner.  I love this stuff, I wore it in high school and still wear it to this day. 

Comparison: Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liner

Gel Liner:  Sonia Kashuk Dramatically Defining Long Wear Gel Liner $8.99

It’s hard to find a good gel liner.  A lot of them dry up or go on globby.  I’m a die hard fan of the Mac version and wear it almost every day.  This however is a great imitation.  It also comes in brown and black so you have the choice if you don’t want it to be too dark.  The key to any gel liner is getting the right brush to apply it with.  Without that don’t bother buying this.  Sonia Kashuk has a phenomenal line of brushes so I would check out what she has and get one of hers!  This prodcut is only $8.99

Comparison: Mac Fluidline in Blacktrack

Mascara:  L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes $8.50

Hands down the absolute best mascara are the ones that have the primer and mascara in one.  I know Maybelline used to offer one but I don’t think they do anymore.  L’Oreal however does, and I've used it and it’s phenomenal!  It’s the L’Oreal Double Extend Beauty Tubes.  It comes in Black and Blackest Black ( I never really understand how much blacker that actually is but I digress).  This tube is double sided so the one end has the white primer which primes your lashes giving the mascara something to stick to really helping to add incredible volume as you apply the black.  I would never buy a drugstore mascara that was not this ever again.  

Comparison:  This is hard because I haven’t come across a higher end product that offers a primer/mascara in one.  I guess you could buy the Dior primer and the Dior mascara?

Eye Shadow:  Almay Intense-I Bold Shadows $4.99

 These I absolutely love because they a. come in three easy colors so you’re never confused as to what to put where, b. they come for different eye colors.  It says on the package which set would look best with your color eyes so you can really get something that’s going to make your eyes pop!  I love the purple one which is for brown eyes.  The brown set is for blue eyes, the green set is for green eyes and the nudish set for hazel eyes.  Additionally, these colors stay on and are really great quality!  I really love the way they set up their shadows and I think they’re so easy for on the run or for beginners or for someone who doesn't want to spend a lot of time mixing and watching.

Comparison:  Naked Palette (although those don’t specific what colors work well with what eye color)

FACE-

Foundation:   L’Oreal True Match SuperBlend Liquid Makeup $6.64

I love this product because it comes in so many colors.  There is literally a color for every skin tone you can imagine.  I dislike the tube it comes in because I find I wish a lot not having a pump but it provides great coverage without being too greasy.  It also lasts all day long.  I definitely recommend this if you don’t want to spend a ton of money on foundation but want a color that will actually make your skin.  It’s best applied with a makeup sponge or brush.

Comparison: Nars Sheer Glow Liquid Foundation

Highligher:  Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment Concealer $7.99

This stuff is phenomenal!  It works just as well as the Mac highlighter but it’s actually easier to apply because it has the build in sponge.  It’s so easy for throwing in your purse and touching up during the day.  I love, love, love this stuff especially for when I want an under eye highlighter but don’t have $20 to spend at Mac.  Definitely worth the buy!

Comparison: Mac Prep + Prime Highlighter

Face Powder: Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Compact Powder Foundation $8.81

I love Neutrogena products because I always feel like I’m doing my skin a favor.  Their stuff is always formatted for the most sensitive, allergic skin.  This is a great pressed power that comes in a variety of colors for setting your liquid foundation.  I absolutely love this stuff as my face feels clean and moisturized after applying it.

Comparison: Urban Decay De-Slick Powder

Concealer:  Physicians Formula Twin Cream Concealer- Yellow/Light $6.49

This stuff I love because it comes with both a regular concealer color and a yellow color which is great for hiding dark spots under your eyes.  There’s nothing more annoying than caking on skin toned concealer only to find it doesn’t work on your bags.  That’s why this product is great.  You put a little yellow, cover it with the color and you’re good to go!

Comparison: I honestly can’t think of one that has 2 in one

Blush: Sonia Kashhuk Beautifying Blush $9.79

This stuff is amazing.  It essentially is higher end quality.  It has a gorgeous array of colors and it goes on extremely well without looking cheap or cheesy.  It also last all day.  Definitely recommend this!

Comparison:  Any Mac blush

Bronzer: No7 Perfectly Bronzed Pearls $11.99

Before I became an Estee Lauder bronzer junkie I used to ride and die by this stuff.  It is PHENOMENAL.  It is probably my favorite item on the list.  It works so well I can’t even describe it.  You need to use a brush with it but you’d apply it the same way you would any other bronzer.  It doesn’t have shimmer so you can use it to contour or you can place it on your face where the sun would hit.  It’s just such a great products!  Run, don’t walk, and buy it!

Comparison: Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzing Powder

Lip Liner:  Prestige Cosmetics Lipliner- $4.29

This stuff is great.  It comes in a variety of colors and stays on all day.  I love mine and wear it at least 3 times a week.  The quality is phenomenal and all around it’s just a great product!  I definitely recommend getting this!

Comparison: Mac Lipliner

Lipstick:  Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick- Kate Moss Collection $5.49

I loveeeee this read lipstick I got by her.  It’s so gorgeous, the color is a little more firey than other reds I own and it stays on so well.  It looks great with any skin tone but especially with skin and blonde hair like mine.  I would definitely buy this in a heart beat over some of the more unnecessary expensive brands.  Great purchase!

Mac: Ruby Woo

What do you guys think?  Do you have any favorites I haven't mentioned?

xo

Kelly

Favorite Non-Mac Lipsticks

As you can tell from my videos/blogs I'm a huge Mac girl and most of my products are Mac, so as I've expanded my blog I've tried to expand my makeup collection in suit.  My friend Claire who is beautiful and likes very simple, natural looking make up asked me for some suggestions for things she could buy to spruce up her engagements photos.  Naturally, I took this as a sign from God that I needed to run to the nearest Sephora and purchase as many products as possible, all in the name of helping a friend of course :) I convinced myself I'd just return them after but yaaa.... it's been a minute now.  Anyways, I hope you guys like this video.  Her engagement pics turned out BEAUTIFUL and I'm obsessed with a lot of the lipsticks I picked up!  This videos just has the lipsticks and a few others I owned prior to my shopping spree but I'll do another post with the other products soon. Check it out!

xo

Kelly

Products Shown:

Bite Matte Creme Lip Crayon in Satasuma

Nars Creme Velvet Lip Pencil in Buenos Aries

Clinque Chubby Stick in Pudgy Peony

Estee Lauder in Rose Tea

Cover Girl Queen Lip Collection in Berry Bling

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick- Kate Moss Collection #110

Dior Addict in Bubblegum #465

Yves St. Laurent Rogue Lipstick #9

Yves St. Laurent #26

Nars in Roman Holiday

MAC Review: Playland

So I somehow (cough) got roped into being one of the first to check out Mac's new 'Playland' collection.  I was impressed and I was also not impressed.  It's a lot of neon's, blues, yellows, greens, colors that are so much fun but not quite as practical for every day use.  Upon entering the store I was beyond impressed/envious of all of the employee's eye shadow looks but none of their makeup would have been practical for work purposes outside a Mac store sadly.

I did however, get a chance to review and purchase a few of these new items!




Firstly, there are the loose pigments.  These I was the most disappointed by because there were so few wearable colors.  The colors were so pretty and would be great for a photo shoot or if you like really bright colors,  I only purchased the Olive Green.  This color was gorgeous and a little more muted than the others so I can definitely incorporate this into my daily use.  

The next set was the Mac Playland Pencils.  These can  be used for both lip liners and eye shadow liner.  The pink was just a great color for every day use as a lip liner, same with the peach.  The black kind of surprised me because it was so different than everything else they were offering but it was a great classic black liner.  The blue I LOVED!  It was so vibrant and would add the perfect pop of color to your eyes.





Then there were the lipsticks. All of these, even the bright yellow color were all phenomenal.  They each brought their own unique color to the table and I basically wanted one of all of them.  My favorite was the Happy-Go-Lucky color, it was awesome!



Next, were the Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour, which can be used both as a lip gloss and a blush. I love products that can be used in multiple ways!  Plus these are super moisturizing which of course I love. They were already sold out of one of the colors so sadly I couldn't get it but I loved every color they offered of this.  I purchased the'For Your Amusement' and 'Young At Heart'.




Lastly, they had an amazing line of lip glosses.  I felt as though I owned a lot of similar colors so I didn't purchase as many as I'd wanted but they have an amazing variety.  The yellow one added a really pretty gold tone over any lipstick which I thought was just awesome and came off so nicely.  I loved the 'Lots of Laughs' peach one too, it was so pretty and great for summer!




So those were my thoughts on their new collection.  Have you guys tried it yet?  What'd you think?

xo

Kelly

Day to Night Look

Often times when you work a 9-5 you find yourself going to happy hour after work (or is that just me?).  In those cases you often don't have time to take off and reapply a full face of makeup.  So, there are a few quick things you can do to just kind of update your look from office appropriate to happy hour/date appropriate without looking like you went all out.  Check out the video to see my tips!

xo

Kelly

Products Used:

Soft Ochre Paint Pot by Mac

Era Eye Shadow by Mac

Kid Eye Shadow by Mac

Mylar by Mac

Brow Wiz by Anastasia

Brown Down Eye Shadow by Mac

Sumptuous Extreme Mascara by Estee Lauder

Prep & Prime Beauty Balm Compact by Mac

Hoola Bronzer by Benefit

Ethereal Glow Blush by Hourglass

Morning Rose Lipstick by Mac

Night Products:

Mystery Eye Shadow by Mac

Snob Lipstick by Mac

St Geramin Lipgloss by Mac

Kiss Me Quick Lip Liner by Mac

Ruby Woo Lipstick by Mac

Fun Summery Lip

I'm gearing up for summer so I've been playing around with different lipstick colors, trying to find a fun pink, neon, coral look.  Using a bright pink liner to color in the outside half of my lips, leaving the middle pale.  Then using a coral link pencil you color in the remaining middle of your lips.  I then used a loose pigment in pink to go back over that pink liner and give it some shimmer.  Then I used a yellow pigment to go over the coral because I didn't want it to be too orange, but you could always use an orange pigment as well.  Then I used Vaseline in place of a clear gloss to blend the colors together.

The shadow I'm wearing in the video is from my Mac Brown Pressed Pigment video.

xo 

Kelly

Products Used:

In Anticipation Lip Liner by Mac

Lasting Sensation Lip Liner by Mac

Rose Loose Pigment by Mac

Lily White Loose Pigment by Mac

Vaseline in Place of a Clear Gloss

The Mac Haul That Inspired My Patentpolish Lip Pencil Purchase

So this right here is the haul that inspired by previous post/purchasing of the Mac Patentpolish Lip Pencils.  Check out the video to see everything I got!  I posted below a list as well, but I feel like the Mac website does a horrible job of actually representing how the colors look so the video will give you a better idea.  Enjoy!!

xo

Kelly



  Flicker Pressed Pigment
  Pink Frontier
  Bloom On
  Soba
  Aquadisiac
  Plumage
  Lovecloud
  Full of Joy
  Peony Petal
  Azalea in the Afternoon
  Perfect Topping
  Dreaming Dahlia
  Be Nice
  Boldly Bare
  Shock Value

Mac Patentpolish Lip Pencil

One word. Amazing.  That right there is really the end of this post.  I walked into the store the other day to check these out and I am soooo beyond obsessed!  They're super moisturizing (although not good to wear over chapped lips with no chapstick underneath as I very unfortunately found out).  They come in the most beautiful array of colors!  Most are very summery, corals and pinks and then there are a few lighter colors as well.  There's really something for everyone.  They're easy to apply, they can be used alone, over lipstick, with lip liners, together, you name it.  You can manipulate the colors by putting different lip liners underneath so that a coral is not so orange, or a pink is not so bright.

The best part is they're a good in-between from a lipstick and a gloss.  They have the shine of the gloss but they add the color of a lipstick, so if you only want to throw one thing in your bag, or if you're like my sister, and hate the stickiness of glosses these are definitely for you!

They come in 12 colors at $20 each and they go on so easily you don't need to use much product to get a great look, which means they'll last a long time.  They twist up so you don't have to worry about sharpening or any of that nonsense.

The colors I purchased were:

  Teen Dream- This is a beautiful, orange coral shade that's not too bright or in-your-face
  Go For Girle- This is an awesome hot pink color, that's not too neon but definitely gives your lips a pop!
  Patent Pink- This is a really pretty light pink shade with hints of lilac.  It looks great with a soft eye or a more nude look
                                       

                              

If you're as excited about summer colors as I am, or you just need to update your lip collection, these are definitely for you!!!


xo 

kelly

Makeup Mistakes We've All Been Guilty Of (Myself Included!)

It's incredibly easy to make makeup mistakes!  Whether you're a beginner, in bad lighting, or just unsure about the proper techniques to emphasize your look you can definitely negate all of the positive effects of makeup.  I made this below video trying to think of all the mistakes that I know that are fairly common.  There's the usual, too much blush, too much eye shadow etc. and then I tried to include some less commonly known mistakes, like using a shimmery bronzer to contour.  

Even if you don't care about makeup mistakes you should watch this video just to see how hysterical I look by the end of it.  I look like Two-Face from Batman hahaaha.  Enjoy!

xo 

Kelly

March Mac Haul

Hi!

So when I'm having a bad day nothing soothes the soul quite as much as a trip to Mac :)  So, the other day after a particularly stressful week of work I decided to go in to just buy a thing or two.  Well, if you watch the video below you'll see how that turned out.  All in all though, I am very happy with everything I purchased and actually got to try out some new products!  I'm loving the pressed pigments, they stay on so well and they add such a nice color to your eyes!

Pressed Pigments:

                                

Jet Couture   Smoky   Black Grape  Blonde Streak  Deeply Dashing

  

Brush:

  242 Shader Brush

Loose Pigment:

  

Rose       Kitschmas 

  

Paint Pot:

  Chilled on Ice

Eye Liner:

                     

Strong Willed     Teddy         Phone Number 

Face:

  Prep & Prime BB Cream Beauty Balm Compact

Lipstick:

            

Dreaminess    Rose Lily