There are so many good “affordable” makeup brands out there making really good products. In fact, there are so many that it can make shopping for makeup a bit overwhelming if you don’t know what is best. This blog post is my attempt to help you out with this. I am going to list the best drugstore makeup in every category.
Now obviously these recommendations are just my opinion, and of course, there are a lot of products I have not tried. However, I do regularly try new makeup so that I can make recommendations, and I think it’s safe to say that I have more than a regular consumer (or two or three). So let’s jump right into what, in my opinion, are the best drugstore makeup products in every category.
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Primer
My recommendation here is the new Elf Power Grip Primer. You can buy this either with or without 4% Niacinamide in it, but why not get some skin care benefits while using your products? The price is the same either way, which as I’m typing this is around $10 for 0.8 oz.
This primer feels like a thick gel and leaves your face feeling sufficiently tacky to hold on to makeup. It keeps everything in place and where it should be.
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Liquid Filter
This category is next because you can wear it over your primer and under your foundation, or over your foundation when you are done with your makeup. I have used and liked it both ways. My drugstore choice for this is also from elf–it’s the elf Halo Glow Liquid Filter.
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Foundation
My top choice for the best drugstore foundation is hands down the L’Oreal Infallible Freshwear 24 Hour Foundation. This is easily the best in class. I have other drugstore foundations that I like but this one is the most dependable. I know when I put this on my face that it’s going to go on smooth, stay on long, and not emphasise any large pores or dry patches.
Here are some honorable mentions in the drugstore foundation category:
Maybelline Fit Me Matte & Poreless Liquid Foundation
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Revlon Illuminance Skin Caring Foundation
Concealer
The drugstore concealer that I most often have in my vanity is the Super Stay Active Wear by Maybelline. This concealer does the job well. You do have to be careful about it looking cakey in places so make sure you moisturize and use a setting powder.
A more recent find of mine is the essence Keep Me Covered Concealer. Like all products by essence this is very inexpensive and seems to do a decent job.
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Blush
If you want a good quality blush at a low (very low) cost then the Essence blushes are your answer. I loved their original The Blush formula and I recently purchased one of their newer Baked Blush blushes which I love as well. I haven’t found a better drugstore blush formula than this and you can get them for under $5 USD each. Tip: try the color Bold Heart in the Pure Nude Baked Blush, it’s just beautiful.
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Bronzer
I steer you to the Silky Matte Bronzing Powder by Milani in the bronzer category. If I could only own one bronzer, I would choose this one. It’s just as the name describes, silky smooth as it goes on. It blends easily and looks natural.
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Highlighter
I picked up the essence highlighter in the color Staggering for a video I was doing and I’m in love. It’s a subtle pearlescent glow without any actual shimmer or glitter. It looks lovely over blush.
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Mascara
There are two great drugstore mascaras that I recommend:
The first one is Lash Sensational Sky High by Maybelline. This mascara gives you incredible length to your lashes. It’s worth the hype that surrounds it.
The second one is Lash Like A Boss by Essence. This mascara is very black and adds a lot of drama. I love the looks of it on my lashes and it costs under $5 at my local Ulta. It doesn’t flake or have fall out. The only thing I don’t like about it is that the formula does clump. It clumps on the brush and sometimes gets on your lashes. For the price it’s a good buy.
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Eye Brow Pencil
My favorite eyebrow pencil happens to be a drugstore eye pencil. It’s the Micro Brow Duel Ended Pencil by Morphe. This pencil works just as well as any of the high-end pencils I’ve used and it’s less than half the cost. You can get it in either a wider slanted tip or the fine tip to add definition and hair-like strokes.
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Eye Shadow Palettes
In this category, there are two I recommend. The first one is a new love of mine and that is the palette’s by Essence. I recently purchased one of these (My Rose Will Go On pallette) and I’m enamored with it. I love the creamy texture of the shadow and lack of fall out. It has good pigment and looks beautiful. I highly recommend this palette. The formula is so good I will be trying other palettes from Essence.
The second one I recommend is the Cream and Sugar Palette from Elf. This is one of Elf’s Bite Size Palettes that comes with 4 shades. Although I don’t love this formula as much as the Essence shadow, it is beautiful and with this neutral color scheme, you can make many looks.
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Lip Liner
There are a lot of decent lip liners out there. I like the Nyx Professional Makeup Lip Pencil the most. Essence 8H Matte is good as well. My two favorite colors in these are Natural and Silky Hazelnut, respectively.
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Lip Gloss
Potentially my favorite makeup item. If I had nothing else and I could keep mascara and a good lip gloss I could be happy. I can’t go five minutes in my day without reaching for some kind of gloss to put on my lips. I have many that I love but the one I have been most recently obsessed with is the Cover Girl Clean Fresh Yummy Gloss.
I love everything about this lip gloss from the fact that it has clean ingredients to the smell of it which reminds me of childhood. I have been reaching for this wonderful, fairly thick but not at all sticky, gloss all of the time. I currently own it in ‘But First a Cosmo’, which is my favorite, and also ‘Glamingo Pink’.
Honorable mentions in this category are the Nyx Butter Gloss which is extremely affordable and has a wide variety of colors, and the Maybelline Lifter Gloss with Hyaluronic Acid.
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The best drugstore makeup
If you love good makeup but are on a budget I hope that you find this helpful. There are so many good affordable makeup products out there that there is no need to spend a lot. Often we are just paying for marketing and/or packaging. All you need is some dependable drugstore makeup in each category to look pretty and polished when you get ready.
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