The Beauty Academy

The Beauty Academy

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Makeup Wars: Designer vs. Drugstore!

5-favorite-makeup

In the profitable world of the makeup wars, is designer makeup really better than the drugstore brands we have been using all our lives?  Do they really have better ingredients? Do their products really go on smoother and last longer?  Do you need to spend a fortune to have that flawless look? Let’s find out!

The first thing to consider when shopping for makeup is color pigmentation. The greater the pigmentation means the makeup’s raw materials have been finely milled and not diluted with filler products, thus ensuring a vivid and true color application. This goes for foundations, concealers, eye shadows, blush and most of the makeup we use.

Foundation: Designer or Drugstore?

Designer: We prefer the designer brand to the drugstore brand. Why? It’s color pigmentation gives you a truer color match while at the same time gives you better longer lasting coverage using less harsh ingredients that may cause skin irritation. Our recommendation is the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick; it comes in 31 colors and will give you all day coverage.

bobbi-brown-stick

Concealer: Designer or Drugstore?

Designer: We prefer the designer brand of Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lift Concealer; it gives awesome coverage to hide under eye circles as well as blemishes and can even smooth out fine lines. It is packed with vitamins to nourish your skin and at only $20 it is a great buy for your money.

concealer-1

Lipstick: Designer or Drugstore?

Designer: We prefer a semi designer brand; Origins Flower Fusion Hydrating Lip Color for it’s highly pigmented color, it’s smooth application and it’s long lasting power. Best part is, it has no waxy feeling or icky after taste. Our favorite color is called Sweet Pea, and it looks great on almost everyone!

origins-lipcolor

Mascara: Designer or Drugstore?

Drugstore: Since mascara is the #1 product in our beauty kit and it needs to be replaced often for sanitation reasons we choose The Falsies Push Up Drama Mascara by Maybelline. It gives dramatic volume with a creamy dreamy application in the blackest black color without flaking during application and the best part is, it washes away easily at the end of the day.

mascara-1

Eye Shadow: Designer or Drugstore?

Drugstore: We are in love with the 14 Color Eyeshadow & Highlighter Palette from Carli Bybel that you can find at bh Cosmetics. This dual-purpose palette can be used for your eyes or your face (eyeshadow and highlighter) as an all in one, and for us that is a super steal deal because you can buy it for only $15!

carli

When shopping for cosmetics here are a few things to remember. The average woman spends around $15,000 in their lifetime on makeup and skincare. Today we are a society thriving on cosmetics and in 2012 Vanity Fair reported that $17 billion dollars was spent on makeup in the U.S. alone. The average women purchase 2-3 times more makeup than they will ever need or use.

Today the average woman owns:

  • 7 Lipsticks but use only 2 of them on rotation
  • 12 Eyeshadows but only use 5 of them on rotation
  • 2-3 Mascaras but only use 1
  • 3 forms of blush in various shades but only use 1
  • 2 foundations and they use one or both daily

It’s apparent we own more than we need and spend more than we should but beauty comes with a high price tag, let’s be honest we love all things sparkly and pretty and in fact we are worth it!

Cheers!

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