At some point or the other, this question pops up in everyone’s mind: “Is it worth the money? Or should I just stick to the cheaper alternative?”

Well, first of all, we’re going to talk about drugstore makeup. As far as lip glosses and eye pencils are concerned, I’m all drugstore. Now why would I splurge on a Laura Mercier Eye Pencil ($25) when I can get the SAME thing for much cheaper for just a dollar? Yes, just a dollar. The Wet and Wild Color Kohl Eye Liner is just for $1 and I assure you it works just as good as any other eye pencil. So when it comes to eye pencils, higher-end brands are a big NO.

Now lip glosses. Again, drugstore and more expensive brands produce mostly the same type of lip glosses, same ingredients as well as results, so I don’t bother wasting money in Sephora for items I can get for much reasonable prices. My personal favorite drugstore lip gloss is Maybelline New York ColorSensational Lip Gloss ($4.8-$7) and due to the reasonable price, I can easily buy a wide range of colors to my liking. Compare this to NARS Lip Gloss ($21.2) and ding ding ding ding ding, the clear winner is drugstore!

And one more time, drugstore beats higher-end makeup again in the blushes department. As far as my experience goes, drugstore blushes are SUPER pigmented and easily blended. My personal favorites are Milani Baked Blushes ($7-$10) and E.l.f Blush Palette($8.59). Compare this to the NARS Blush ($28.50) and once again drugstore wins!

I bet that now you’re starting to think this post is all about praising drugstore makeup. Ha-ha, no it’s not! Now it’s time for expensive brands to get a little praise. Eye shadows. Yes guys, no matter how hard I’ve tried to work with Maybelline, L’Oreal or even Wet n Wild, I just can’t get the perfection I want on my eyes! Sometimes the eye shadow isn’t pigmented enough and my hand gets tired applying layers over layers trying to get the desired color and still failing. The eye shadow is chalky and has a lot of fallout. The brush doesn’t pick up the shadow. And the main problem I have with cheaper brands is there are rarely matte shadow palettes. There will be about four glittery shadows and a single matte just to make us feel better and that is a big NO for me. Really guys I would rather spend the dollar for an eye shadow that is worth it, runs long and also gives me the desired result and most of all, I don’t want to spend 20 minutes applying a single shadow and constantly failing.

My personal favorites are the Urban Decay Naked Palette and Mac Single Shadows. Its Not as if drugstores don’t produce any good shadows at all. The only drugstore shadow that I tried and went back to was the L’Oreal Infallible Amber Rush which is BEAUTIFUL! There are many other colors in the same line which I’m sure will be as good but that is a drugstore gem.

I like to splurge on lipsticks as well. The color and formulation of prestige brands are outstanding. They stay on for a good amount of time and yo definitely get your money’s worth. And to be honest, I can’t really pick out one single brand or type of lipstick that I love, there are just so many! Mac Retro Matte Lipstick, Mac Kinda Sexy Matte Lipstick, Mac Flat Out Fabulous, NARS Lipstick Fanny and the list goes on and on!

I hope this post was helpful to you guys to figure out where to spend money and where not to. I would love to hear your views and opinions, find out if you agree or disagree and hear your experiences! Until next time!

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