Sometimes it may seem risky to purchase, say an anti-aging night cream from the drugstore as opposed to its costly counterpart. So what is really worth the hype and what is not? Keep reading to find out the real deal…

Save on…

Everyone wants to look good and stretch their dollars at the same time. When it comes to buying makeup, the decision should not be so difficult. Don’t waste your money on ridiculously expensive lip-gloss, lipstick, mascara, blush and brow powder unnecessarily. Drugstore brands such as Revlon, L’oreal, etc offer high quality products with half the cost of a high-end brand like Estee Lauder or MAC. If you do decide to purchase a mascara from MAC instead of the classic Maybelline mascara, then kudos to you. But theoretically, you’re wasting your dollars. You truly won’t be able to tell a difference between a drugstore brand and a high-end brand with those particular makeup items.

Splurge on…

This is what is truly worth the hype: foundation, powder and eye shadow. When it comes to creating a flawless canvas and evening out your skin tone, you don’t want to resort to a mere 10 dollars-or-less bottle of foundation. This is where you want to invest your cash and not feel guilty about it. Foundation brands that top makeup artists always rave about are MAC, Giorgio Armani, Christian Dior, Benefit, Stila, to name a few. Of course, you might be lucky and find a drugstore foundation that gets high reviews, but generally speaking, you want to stick with the higher end brands when it comes to a good base.

There is also a difference with high-end eye shadows and their drugstore counterparts due to the amount of pigment that is in them. Try your own little experiment and check out the testers at MAC compared to a drugstore shadow- BIG difference. Drugstore eye shadows contain a lot of talc (in fact, that is usually the first ingredient), and high-end shadows are much more highly pigmented- which means more intense color. But one brand that many top makeup artists’ love is NYX Cosmetics because it dupes a lot of MAC products- from eye shadows to blush. The quality is quite comparable and the eye shadows are so pigmented, it’s almost too good to be true because the price is literally half the cost of MAC.

On the Fence…

Let’s not forget eyeliner, bronzer, primer and faux lashes. These are items that you don’t necessarily have to get from the department store, but also need to be a little skeptical at the drugstore. With eyeliner, don’t be too stingy- skip the super cheap brands such as Wet n’ Wild and NYC because anything that is going on the eye area is too risky as eye infections can occur. With bronzer, you don’t want to take a big chance in case it will give you an unattractive orange disaster. Granted there are decent drugstore bronzers such as Rimmel, but just be a little cautious. And with primer, many people swear by brands like Smashbox while others are totally satisfied with Revlon’s- so that just comes down to personal preference. Finally, when it comes to false lashes, brands that Target carries are great (such as Ardell), but don’t expect to bat your lashes with the confidence with falsies from Dollar Tree as you would with MAC’s.

That’s not all, girlfriend. Part 3 is on its way for more facts on what beauty products are worth or not worth splurging on!

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