Many people scoff at the idea of spending more than 8 dollars on a tube of mascara, fearful of dipping into the world of extravagance and, with good reason, unwilling to part with their money for the more expensive, professional level products.
It’s too easy to be deterred by that first initial impact to your wallet. The idea is to look past it and into the long-term big picture benefits of investing in high quality makeup. Because honestly, if you’re going to be applying something to your face on a fairly regular basis, it should be something of quality. And if anything, you will likely end up spending far more on drugstore brands over time than on high-end brands.
Take for instance, the experimentation process:
While it’s pretty easy to test out colors of lipstick at CVS, it can be a struggle to navigate the wide array of foundations and concealer bottles that you can’t sample. And even if you do decide to go ahead and secretly open up some bottles, you only get to dab it onto your hand, which is often a different shade from your face.
In high-end carrier shops like Sephora, Ulta, and MAC, you are encouraged to sample and explore, with test tubes available for just about every product you can think of. An obvious bonus is the staff of beauticians that work there as well. At the very least, they can be a second set of eyes to tell you how something looks, and at best, they can guide you to the products that suit your skin type and color.
The best part about Sephora in particular, however, is something many people may not realize. It is perhaps one of the only stores I know of that will accept gently used products as full-return products.
You heard that right.
Even if you thought you liked a product after experimenting in the store, even if you used the product a few times, you can still return it for a full refund if you change your mind.
For drug stores, if you’ve even tampered with the packaging, you’re pretty much stuck with what you got. If you mismatch your foundation color the first time around, it may mean spending more time and money trying to figure out what color matches best.
Another major bonus of buying high-end makeup is the longevity of the product over the course of the day.
Regardless of where you get your makeup from, primer and a translucent setting powder are critical for makeup to last longer than a few measly hours. However, in most cases, you will definitely get a much longer lifespan out of high-end primer, setting powder, and foundation. This is probably a bigger concern for people who, like me, wear makeup more often than not but don’t have time to majorly retouch or reapply makeup throughout the day.
Recently, I tried out a handful of drugstore brands that have had positive reviews. L’Oréal had both the best-rated drugstore foundation and concealer, both sold under the name L’Oréal Paris True Match. I also purchased two products to keep my makeup in place: Maybelline’s Master Prime by FaceStudio for the primer and Elf High Definition Powder as a setting powder.
Overall, the makeup looked pretty good after applying. There was no significant difference from my usual high end products. I could probably get, at most, five or six hours of wear until the makeup started to smudge.
However, with my trusty Smashbox Iconic Photo Finish Foundation Primer, my handy Laura Mercier Silk Crème Moisturizing Photo Edition Foundation, and my favorite MAKE UP FOR EVER Full Coverage Concealer, my makeup will look like it was just applied for up to 12 hours.
For the same physical amount used of each product, one can easily double the life of makeup products without replacing what has come off. Not to forget, high-end makeup can survive sweat and rain, while other drugstore brands usually streak.
Final thought: I don’t think it’s necessary to switch all your products to high brand, but I certainly think it’s a wise choice to invest where it counts.