Tip Of The Day: Wear and tear shows you love certain items in your makeup arsenal best. Shown above are the items I use the most when trying to put my best face forward. And yes, they are all frugal buys… well, except for maybe that MAC shadow.
Tip For Tomorrow: Are you ready for some football?!?!?! Like it or not (personally, I LOVE it), football season officially kicks off tonight. So tomorrow we’re talking football eats – cheap noshes for any pigskin gathering.
Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: The older I get, the harder it gets not to scare children when I go out into public. Therefore, I rely on certain makeup stuffs to make me into someone presentable and non-threatening. Here’s the lowdown on the inexpensive items I use every day.
Foundation: When I need heavier coverage (auditions, TV, Ren Festing), I will start with a cream foundation. But for day-to-day wear – and to dust over the top of said cream foundation – I use Physicians Formula Talc-Free Mineral Wear Loose Powder in Light. I’ve been touting this product for years, because it rocks AND it comes in an organic formula for a few dollars more.
For around $12 a tub, you get perfect coverage that won’t slide off you face an hour after you apply it. The downside? I’ve yet to see a mineral powder that looks like it would work for women of color. Get on that, makeup companies.
Ulta Colors: Do you have an Ulta where you live? If not, start petitioning for one STAT. This makeup emporium kicks Sephora’s ass when it comes to price and selection. Best of all, they have their own makeup line – an amazing mid-priced array of beauty goodness. I like their neutral colors for everyday use, especially the Cheek Color in Glow!, which I’ve used for the last 7+ years. And their Eye Color in Sable gives me a dramatic look with very little effort. A bonus, when you consider what a slacker I am.
Ulta colors, brushes and other makeup goodies cost around $20 or less. Plus, the stores are constantly running buy one get one free sales on their products. AND they have a shopper’s club, so the more you spend, the more you save.
Maybelline and Cover Girl: I think every teen in America starts their journey into makeup using one, if not both of these drug store stalwarts. I still use their colors today, because they’re cheap – under $6 for almost everything – effective, and work well with my skin tone. The Earthy Taupe eye shadow is great worn on its own, or used to blend in other colors on my lids. The Cheekers Blush in Rose Silk makes me look not dead on camera AND just walking down the street, which I’m sure everyone appreciates.
Rimmel London: I may not have the ‘London Look’ (Kate Moss I shall never be), but I do love their Professional Eyebrow Pencils, which I don’t actually use on my eyebrows. They work best as a lower lid liner – and as I’ve been lining my lower lids since I was 12 years old, I consider myself an expert on this matter. There’s no smudging, no running, and it’s easy to apply. All that for about $3.50. However, I do NOT recommend using them to line your upper lid – you’ll put your eye out trying to draw the line.
That wee pot of MAC: Confession time – occasionally I am lured to department makeup counters by their flashy come-ons. And like everyone else, I’m powerless to resist the urge to buy just one small thing. My one small MAC purchase was this pot of Vanilla Velvet eye shadow for around $16. But. You know why I can’t remember the price? Because that pot is about 5 years old. And I STILL have it, even though I use it approximately 5 days a week.
If you break down my cost per use on that expensive eye shadow, it starts to sound like a pretty good deal, right? Or am I making a false justification? You be the judge. I’ll be sitting over here, awaiting your verdict, slathering on my MAC shadow.
Open up (like a lotus flower) and share your experience – what makeup do you use every day? And how much does it cost?
9 Comments
I have to agree that the Physician’s Formula Talc-Free Mineral foundation ROCKS! (I get mine in creamy natural for less than $11) One thing I noticed when starting down this path of mineral makeup, you need to be wary of the “translucent” types. You will NEVER get a full coverage out of a translucent. I also noticed that the organic version had a weird smell to it (it found a new home REALLY quickly).
My MAC confession? Their “powerpoint” eyeliner! After Almay stopped making the one I had been using I needed to find another. I have issues with eyeliners smudging throughout the day and this product seems to not do that. A product that does what it claims to do these days is almost unheard of!
My other thrifty plug is nail polishes.. I NEVER go through an entire bottle of the stuff before it dries out, separates or goes out of style. Therefore I have begun buying the “trial” sizes. The little bottles cost a buck or 2 and will cover your little piggies for long enough for you to decide if you really like that color afterall or if it was just a whim…
For powder, I use Aveda’s bronzer. I used to use Cover Girl in their Honey shade, which I’ll probably go back to once the bronzer is gone. I get the cheapie (Jane or NYC) eyeliner in different colors. I also have an eyeliner with Almay to complement their eye shadow that’s suited for your eye color. Cover Girl mascara for me – whatever Queen Latifah was advertising – that works really well.
Lip gloss is what I covet most (besides really cool shoes and nail colors). I have lip gloss from Aveda, Ulta, Bath and Body Works (when they were having the best sale ever on this stuff) and Lip Smackers. I had to stop myself from buying anymore lip stuff until I get through my goodie bag.
It’s a sickness, it really is.
Milani mineral poweder compact foundation in Creamy Natural, about $8, if I recall correctly. Love it. Not shiny. I also love Boots’ little pot of shadow base (the proper name, I forget), which is $9. I use that first after cleansing my skin, then the Bare Minerals’ Summer Bisque mineral powder sparingly (for concealer purposes), then the Milani stuff. After that, if I have to, if I must, if I FEEL like it, I throw on mascara, etc., etc. My makeup collection is too vast to mention, but almost everything is reasonably-priced. Pretty simple routine. Just enough not to totally scare the whole neighborhood.
Milani mineral poweder compact foundation in Creamy Natural, about $8, if I recall correctly. Love it. Not shiny. I also love Boots’ little pot of shadow base (the proper name, I forget), which is $9. I use that first after cleansing my skin, then the Bare Minerals’ Summer Bisque mineral powder sparingly (for concealer purposes), then the Milani stuff. After that, if I have to, if I must, if I FEEL like it, I throw on mascara, etc., etc. My makeup collection is too vast to mention, but almost everything is reasonably-priced. Pretty simple routine. Just enough not to totally scare the whole neighborhood.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
I have to put another vote out there for MAC – I too have found that their products last FOREVER. I started out wearing Cover Girl foundations and powders, and found I was going through a compact every few months. A friend of mine nagged me for a year to try MAC. I finally gave in, and am so glad I did. Granted, it costs more money upfront, but it lasts forever! I can go almost a year on one compact, and I used it everyday! Therefore, MAC ends up being cheaper in the long run. The product stays on longer, lasts longer, and you can use less than drugstore brands for the same effect. I still use CoverGirl Outlast Lipstick, but everything else I use is MAC (eye shadows, eyeliner, powder, concealer, blush). Well worth it!
I am a make up junkie.
Especially lip glosses/lipsticks.
My staples?
Cover Girl Professional Mascara in brown-black.
I have tried EVERY mascara on the market, and I am allergic to it.
L’Oreal Eye Shadow duos in Classic Khakis.
For eyeliner, I wet down eye shadow and use a very fine brush on my top lids. That seems to last longer for me. I just make sure to switch out the shad0w every 4 months or so to prevent any infections/germs.
Regular liner doesn’t like me, I cry it off.
For lips, I use whatever I pull of my purse. Or Burt’s Bees.
I am like you and wear the mineral-minimal route for every day, and stronger foundation for Festing or going out.
I love L’Oreal and Revlon products the best, especially when CVS or Walgreens has it buy one, get one. It is fun to try new products or stock up that way.
My only “splurge” is Mary Kay’s Eye Primer. This keeps your eye make up from sliding or creasing off half way through the day from oil slicks on your face.
(How can your face be very dry except for your eyes????)
Kate–
I also use Cover Girl professional! In black. Hands down, the best mascara I’ve ever tried–no flaking or smudging, great looking lashes in one coat.
For lips, Carmex…I like the cherry flavor.
If I’m going out, I LOVE Urban Decay liquid eyeliners–that stuff is amazing. I wait until it goes on sale at Sephora.
I have very sensitive skin, and it took me almost 10 years to find a foundation that wouldn’t make me break out. It was called Jane Erdale or something like that. Just after I found that (it was only available through a “medical facialist”), Bare Minerals started becoming available in malls, so I went to try it — pretty much the same stuff, but cheaper. It costs around $20 for a pot of foundation that lasts me at least 2 years; the same with the mineral veil. I still have the blush that came with the initial “kit” that included the brushes (which was $60 for 4 brushes, two foundations, mineral veil and blush).
I use Aveda eye shadow and eye liner (a little spendy, but again, I’m sensitive, and it happens to work…and, like Erin’s Mac, it lasts a pretty long time). A mascara that I’ve found that works, doesn’t irritate my eyes, and is CHEAP is plain ol’ Great Lash!
It is now noontime. By now the hundreds of other eyeliners I’ve tried have smudged.
I splurged. I bought MAC eyeshadow and liquid liner. The MAC liner hasn’t budged or smudged. I used the liquid liner first then lined again with the dark brown eyeshadow. (tip: place a drop of Visine into the pot to wet it first)
I paid only $10.25 for a pot of eyeshadow at Cosmetics Company at a local Tanger Outlet Center.
Considering the money I’ve lost throwing away bad cosmetics I think this stuff is a deal. I plan on using every bit. Since I bought two pots I guess I’m good for at least ten years!
My all-time favorite cosmetic? Covergirl Fresh Look pressed face powder. Makes my skin look silky smooth without shine.