I have to admit that I think the only time I step into a Sephora is around my birthday each year to get my birthday freebie. I feel so fancy walking out with that mini Sephora black and white striped bag with the red tissue paper sticking out the top and my free beauty item tucked inside. I didn’t spend a dime and I walked out with a “pricey” free item….and maaaybe a couple (or an arm’s worth) of eye shadow swatches from a few palettes on display. It’s just the best feeling!!!! But I’m what you would call a cheapo and I enjoy my drugstore makeup so much more. Now let’s not get carried away and say that I don’t own any high-end products! That’s another post for another time. This post is all about drugstore products and nothing here will cost you more than $12. Score!!!!!!!
1. Profusion Nude Eyes eyeshadow palette
This is easily one of my favorite palettes to travel with. You can go from neutral natural to smoky sexy with just a couple swipes from the deeper shades in this palette in your outer V and crease. It’s super sleek and compact, which makes it perfect to slip into your makeup bag. Love a pop of color? Just add it to your lower lash line, blended with one of the transition shades (towards the middle of the palette), and you’re ready to rock! Did I mention this palette is like $7? I’m pretty sure I got this at Target but I’ve seen them at TJMaxx and Ross for around $5. You may have to “diiiiig a little deeper” to find one, but snatch it up if you do. You won’t be disappointed.
2. Wet n Wild Photofocus Pressed Powder
For less than $5, you can have the most beautiful, air brushed looking face. I’m not one to pack on powder with a super dense brush. My go-to is a big, fluffy powder brush that I sweep across the top of this power and buff on my face. Just that little bit makes your face look incredibly smooth…and photo focused. 😉 This is one of those powders that I forget to use at times because I love to switch things up, but then, when I make my rounds back to it, I don’t know why I ever stopped. It’s absolutely gorgeous on the skin.
3. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer
I know everyone and their mom raves about this concealer on YouTube. There’s a reason and it took me a while to get on that train. Now, I do have to say I have dark circles and I usually will need to pair this concealer with one that has a tad more coverage, but overall this concealer is amazing and it’s under $6 at Walmart. It’s light weight and creamy, which is perfect for the dryness under my eyes, and has good medium coverage. Wanna hear a little trick? For a bit extra coverage without gooping on layers, just swipe a thin layer of concealer (any creamy concealer actually) under your eyes and let it sit for about 20-30 seconds and then tap and blend it out with your ring finger. You’ll notice it’s a little thicker in consistency which means more coverage. You’re welcome!!!
4. L.A. Colors Contour
This bad boy, I bought at Dollar Tree! Yes, I love me some Dollar Tree beauty products too. I can’t remember if this little duo comes in a lighter or deeper shade but I’ve got the color Medium and it’s perfect for my skin tone. I don’t use this product to actually contour and chisel out my cheeks. I just like a little bit of a “bronzer” in my cheek bone area. I swipe this on the outer portion of my forehead and run it down just below the cheekbone, just to give me some color after I add my powder. It’s easy to look flat and one solid color after you apply foundation, concealer and powder. Something a little bit deeper tone adds a little dimension to your face so you don’t look washed out. Sometimes I use this duo as a quick eye shadow as well. I’ll use a fluffy eye shadow brush and apply the lighter color all over the lid then run a bit of the contour color in my crease. For a buck, go get you some!
5. Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Primer
This is the most expensive product on my list of drugstore favs. It’ll will run you about $11.99 at your local Target. I have oily to combination skin with my T-zone being the most prone to getting oily throughout the day. You don’t need a lot. A pea size amount will easily cover the areas on my face that I need to be primed. I concentrate it on my forehead, around my nose (I really get it in all the crevices), and on my chin. It creates this matte finish while also filling in pores. Wear it under your favorite foundation or wear it alone for a no-makeup kind of day.
6. Makeup Revolution Luxury Powder (Banana)
I love this powder for setting my undereye concealer. It’s not heavy looking and the “banana” shade gives a little bit extra coverage and softens the look under my eye. It’s an excellent shade to help counteract those dark circles too. There are a couple other powders that come in these little pots but the banana color is my personal fav. This $8 pot will last you forever because you need the tiniest amount because it is a very fine milled powder. I apply this under my eyes using a fluffy eye shadow brush.
In my opinion, the brush prevents the powder from looking cakey and dry….and I’d prefer to not look crusty. I will admit, this powder does not travel well. It’s messy and gets everywhere. I usually will shake up the bottle and use what is on the inside of the cap to swirl and tap the powder on my brush. But if you do want to travel with a powder that comes in these little tubs, I suggest transferring some to a smaller sifter container. I had a sample of the Tarte Amazonian Clay powder that I received in one of my Birchboxes. Once that power was empty, I saved the container because it came with a sifter. Keep those empty sample bottles from makeup. You never know when they will come in handy. 😉
7. Essence Pure Nude Highlighter
Oh, my highlight!!!!!! A couple years ago, I couldn’t stand the craze about highlight all over YouTube. I’m sorry that I didn’t want to look like I swam through french fry grease with the amount these gurus would slather their face with highlight. On the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, on their cheekbones, on the cupids bow, on their pet cat… My goodness, let’s tone it down people!!! But then………I bought this little compact of molten goodness! I don’t know why I did.
Maybe there was a sale at Ulta? Maybe I blacked out during checkout or maybe it jumped into my bag? But the purchase was made and I wear it literally every day that I leave my house. I have to admit that I had no idea how to apply highlight properly. I had seen it done countless times on YouTube but applying it myself was another story. So, I winged it! I tapped a little bit on the tip of my nose with my finger and ran it slightly up the bridge of my nose with a brush. Just that little bit and I was hooked. I didn’t pack it on, just a little tap and swipe and it brought my face to a new level. I didn’t look like I swam through french fry grease or that I just ran a 10k and didn’t blot my face. It was…. beautiful….and might I say…. youthful!!!! And the tone of this highlight is perfection. It’s not blinding or super sparkly with chunks of glitter. Just a beautiful “glow from within.” It’s $4.49, peeps, and it doubles as a beautiful eye shadow. 😊
8. Essence Lash Princess-False Lash Effect
It HAS to be the one with the green writing. Trust me! There’s a special kind of magic with this one. I’m a mascara junkie and I am CONSTANTLY trying out a different mascara or working through all the ones in my collection, but this is by far my absolute fav!!!! I have long lashes but they aren’t very dark on their own. This mascara does exactly what it says. It gives you that “false lash effect.” I don’t even have to curl my lashes. It lengthens, curls, darkens and separates your lashes the right amount. The consistency is one of my favorite things about this mascara. I’m not a huge fan of super wet formulas because they make my lashes look like I just got out of the shower with no length or volume. This consistency starts off with just the right amount of wet and dryness. The longer you use it, the thicker it gets in the tube, which means more volume. I love this mascara and how it makes my lashes look. Not a fan of it on my lower lashes because it transfers. I have another mascara that is my favorite for down there, but again, that will be for another post (it’s a high-end mascara that isn’t allowed in my drugstore post). Check your local Ulta for a sale on Essence products. They have BOGO half off often on this brand so you can try out this mascara and the highlighter for less than $10.
9. Real Techniques Miracle Body Complexion Sponge
I’m sure your looking at this thing and thinking “What the heck?” Well my friend, this is my love and my favorite product. It’s ginormous compared to the other beauty sponges you see out there and it only gets bigger once you wet it under some water.
I did own the original Beauty Blender when they first came out, but thanks to my dog, she must have gotten jealous of my love affair and ripped it to shreds. That $20 price tag though was little hard to swallow!!! Thankfully, over the years, everyone seems to have made their own version and I love them so much more. The Real Techniques Miracle Body is a little more expensive running $8.99 at Ulta. This sponge is designed specifically for your body, not your face, but I use it for my face to blend my foundation and to set my makeup at the very end of my makeup routine with my bonus product listed at the end of this post. 😉 Because of its size, I can blend my foundation faster. If you’ve never given a beauty sponge a try or even know how they work, here’s some quick tips: run it under some water while squeezing it. You’ll notice that it is soaking in the water and getting bigger. Once it’s all soaked in, wring out the last bit of water. I personally sop even more of the water out by squeezing it in my towel a couple times. It’s now just a damp sponge. The purpose of this is to help soften how your foundation goes on by soaking up a little extra of the product. Applying a foundation with a brush gives you fuller coverage while a dampened sponge gives you a more natural finish because it helps “water down” the coverage to give you a skin like finish. Like I said, I’m a sponge snob so there WILL be a post just about beauty sponges and some of my drugstore favs.
10. L'oreal Infallible Pro-Glow foundation
Last but not least!!!! This is a new love of mine from probably the last year or so. I have to admit that I didn’t even start wearing foundation until about 2 years ago because I was always intimidated by it. I can’t stand seeing girls with this thick layer of foundation on their face, that was usually not their shade, and you could see the line separating their chin and neck. I didn’t know anything about foundation, but I sure knew walking around with an orange face and a white neck wasn’t cute. So, the past couple years I’ve been all about trying out foundations that were natural looking and skin like. I wanted a little coverage, but I didn’t care if the few freckles I have peeked through or that my face didn’t look “flawless.” I just wanted a little more even skin tone to “blur” some unevenness on my face. This foundation is lovely on my skin. I love that this foundation gives me that “glow.” I want to glisten in a youthful but not greasy kind of way and this foundation is perfect for what I want. It gives me a little coverage but not too much. It’s not heavy feeling and because it’s the “pro-glow” version, it really does give me a beautiful finish on my skin. Your face can still breath through it and it looks good all day.
And now my bonus product because I just couldn’t leave this out but I also couldn’t take any of my other products away….
11. Facial Spray
I didn’t specify the actual product because there are literally so many you can choose from. This is just the one that I am currently using, but so many of the facial sprays on the market will work. My absolute favorite places to get facial sprays are TJMaxx and Ross!!!! This particular facial spray is from Ross and cost me $4.99. It smells great and provides hydration to my face, with or without make up. I HIGHLY recommend you try a facial spray whether you wear makeup or not. It’s a great refresher in the middle of the day, feels great right after a shower to lock in moisture, or even in the evening to spritz after your moisturizer. My favorite way to use these facial sprays is once my makeup is all done. I like to spray a little of it on my dampened beauty sponge, then I bounce the sponge over my face but avoiding the area under my eyes.
This takes away the powdery look and gives you a youthful, natural and skin like look to the face. It makes the little bit of highlight on my nose pop and melts all the powders, blush, bronzer all together for a non-makeup look. I love this step in my makeup routine. I know if you watch the beauty gurus, they spray a setting spray directly to their face and then fan it until it dries. I used to do it but most times my bottom lash mascara would transfer to under my eyes. When I spray it directly to my sponge, I can target moisture to the areas I want without it getting in my hair or transferring my mascara. When I go looking for a new spray, I don’t look for a specific makeup setting spray. Obviously, I don’t want one super oily. If I do get one that is too oily, then I’ll use it as a nighttime spray to spray after my moisturizer. Definitely check out your TJMaxx, Ross, Burlington, and Tuesday Morning for a good facial spray. There are so many kinds to choose from with different scents. You won’t be disappointed!!!!