Demo Makeup Tutorial

Jul 29, 2026

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Chapters

00:00 Intro and Philosophy 01:16 Essence So-Clearly Bolder Concealer 03:11 L'Oreal True Match Foundation (Side Note) 03:42 Essence Soft Touch Butter Bronzer 05:06 Essence Soft Touch Bouncy Blushes 06:28 Pixi Beauty Liquid Glow Blush 07:36 CoverGirl TruBlend Skin Enhancer Powder 09:11 Beauty Creations Single Pressed Eyeshadows 12:15 Versa Tip Lip Frames 13:09 Cutress Gel Glide Lip Liners 14:24 L'Oreal Blur Filler Blurring Lip Contours 15:43 CoverGirl Squishy Glaze Lip Butter Balm 16:47 Pacifica Sugared Apricot Fragrance 17:24 Outro

Transcript

I just am going to show you a few of them and then I'll swatch what I have for you but like look at these. The ones with the plastic wraps are the ones I haven't even used yet. I just make up at all different price points from the affordable side to the high-end side to even the luxury side of beauty and I am a very very picky person and I've been saying the last couple of years that drugs or slash affordable makeup is getting better. The technology is getting better to create these products and therefore I'm noticing the gap of difference between high-end and drugstore quality is lessening and in some cases a lot of cases actually the affordable makeup is as good if not better than the high-end makeup and I test it all so I can truly tell you which products are performing above their value. So that's what this video is. I have been testing the newest affordable makeup products and I'm going to tell you which ones I think perform better than the high-end products that I am also testing. If you've been watching my videos regularly there's gonna be a couple of surprises but also a lot of this you've heard me mention before but if you're just coming across this video and you're in for a treat I hope I can introduce you to some amazing affordable product. We need to talk about essence because lately they have been killing it with their newest launches. Sometimes essence can be hit or miss with me the good thing about essence is the price point is so so low but this concealer has me floored. If you told me this was a $30-$40 concealer I would believe you. This is their new so-key bluer hydrating longwear concealer. This is very much giving the Hourglass concealer. Honestly I've never been a huge fan of the Hourglass concealer. I have always felt it was too thick under my eyes. I like this a better than the Hourglass concealer. It is so creamy, think tower 28, think Natasha Denona. It has someone of a soft matte finish so it's really blurring on the under eyes and all things considered I do think it has great wear time as well. This is a concealer that I haven't gotten the chance to talk about too much on my channel yet but it is one of my new favorites across all price points and I just can't believe it is by far one of the most affordable concealers that you can get on the market. It just blends in like butter. It has a little bit of extra thickness to it which I do feel kind of fills in the hollowness of the under eyes and it's so soft and flattering on this skin. It's beautiful to blend all over because a little bit goes a long way. It just spreads like silk over the skin. By far one of my all time, all time favorite drugstore concealers. This is amazing. I haven't talked about this one enough on my channel so I just wanted to let you know. Essence has absolutely knocked my socks off with this concealer. The shade that I use is 130 and then if I want a little bit more of a skin tone match I know it's weird but it's a little bit deeper shade 120 all over and then I said 130 for the under eyes and I will have all of everything I'm wearing which is a full face of drugstore and of course all the products that I'm mentioning with the shades that I use as well for reference. This is not part of the video but a drugstore foundation that I've been loving is an oldie but dirty. That's why it's not part of this video because I'm just talking about new products but just to side note recommendation. Something that has come up that I really have been loving lately is the True Match foundation from L'Oreal. That's what I have on today and every time we wear this people do ask me what I'm wearing and it's this foundation it's gorgeous but let's stick to the theme here. Let's move on to bronzers so we have another product from Essence. This is not the last time you will see them in this video. Like I said their new launches have been absolutely mind blowingly amazing so this is their new soft touch butter bronzer so this is a powder bronzer but it doesn't really have any kickback and it blends in as the name suggests like butter into the skin. You can't over apply this. It applies in almost an instant blur on the skin. You don't pick up too much product because there's no kickback with it and it just creates this filter wherever you apply it so I have two shades. I typically on the everyday used whipped butter cup which has a slightly cooler undertone but when I'm going for a true summer sun-kissed look I go for the shade Golden Buttercream and just what amazes me about this is it is very clearly a powder but it applies like a cream. It has this instant blur on the outskirts of the face. You can't over apply it. It's not patchy. This is an amazing amazing bronzer. I really can't think of a bronzer that is quite as soft and blurring as this. It's almost like airbrush on this skin so this is another one. It's only six dollars incredible and I guess we will stay on theme here. This is the last one that I do have from Essence but it's also from the soft touch line and these are again it reminds me very much of the bronzer. The soft touch bouncy blushes difference with this is the bronzer is the powder. This is more of a putty consistency but it turns like from putty to a powder dry down. If you love that really airbrushed blurred look that's K Beauty inspired. Think of that if you love that under eye blush this is going to be the product for you. Today I demoed the shade Exotic Daisy which looks really scary in pan but you can see I'm able to soften it to make it a really natural color. It also is really great for blending out other blushes because of that soft airbrush effect that it gives on this skin. It of course will smooth the skin as well with its bouncy putty consistency. It looks like a cloud on this skin and you can build it up. It's very very pigmented so if you have a deeper complexion there are definitely color options for you and not to mention amazing amazing wear time. I also really love antique bloom which is more than a natural everyday rose but honestly the rest of the shades even though they look kind of scary. I promise you with this light hand they are stunning because they're like a watercolor on the face. And then the next blush that I have if you watch my videos this should be of no surprise to you. I just did this whole giant video of ranking all of the newest blushes that have launched this year and the number one my most favorite blush that launched was a pixie beauty product. Now I know pixie beauty isn't a traditional drug store brand. This is 18 dollars so it's on the higher side. It's kind of in between drug store and high end but I just wanted to mention it because it is cheaper than what you're going to get at Sephora and it's really really good but yes I do want to acknowledge it's on the higher inside but this is their liquid glow. This is a liquid blush. They also have two liquid highlighters in the range which I also recommend because I do like to mix these with the liquid blushes. So this is a serum style blush. I don't recommend applying this over a really heavy foundation but this melts into the skin. You get a lot of pigment with it. It gives a really youthful, dewy, juicy look on the cheek and very easily build up the pigment with this and it just looks so fresh. This is not for the faint of heart. You have to want a lot of rosiness or color to your cheeks but if you want something really juicy and glowy that just melts into your makeup highly recommend these. I mean this is my favorite thus far blush launch of the year. So I've talked about it enough. We're just going to keep it moving but just know I do highly recommend that but let's move back to the true drug store products. So yes the drug store market may and the prices are going up but another brand that has really stepped it up is CoverGirl. They've been launching a lot of amazing products and I really have been loving the TruBlend Skin Enhancer Baked Illuminous Finishing Powder. I personally as somebody who is so so so picky with Dupes. This is not a Dup of the Hourglass Powder. The Hourglass is still best finishing powder ever but for me this functions a little bit different. So while it's different from the Hourglass I still think it's really nice and it's a good alternative. This just lays down a little bit more color on the face and it's just a little bit more on top of the skin whereas the Hourglass creates a filter over the skin. That's not really a bad thing. I like this to set my makeup. When I don't want to lose all of my shine I will lightly use this to set my makeup. The one thing I will notice that to me gives like drugstore is this does oxidize a little bit so make sure you're purchasing a shape that is lighter than your skin tone. It's very odd for powder to oxidize but it does happen. So when I put it on my hand it's nice and bright and then five minutes later I'll do a fresh swatch and this swatch that is older actually darkens so you want to be careful with that on your own complexion because that's also going to happen. I don't love this as much for sweeping over color because this gives more pigment than the Hourglass. It does dull down but for pressing into the skin to set it but not take away the glow. This is super duper nice and even though it's not as good as the Hourglass I do think it still performs at a high end level. That's all I have for complexion. Those are just like the best new complexion products. I do have one eye product. For me the eye products at the drugstore I just don't love as much unless we're talking like mascara's or something but of the new new these are only six bucks each and these are the beauty creations single pressed eye shadows. These are incredible if you aren't into buying individual shadows. Now I've said this before beauty creations is one of my all-time favorite new up and coming affordable brands. Not enough people talk about them because they create really high quality products. I love their bronzers. They have great blushes in their range and these are another new favorite of mine. So what's cool about these I do really like the acrylic packaging so you can see the colors and it's actually magnetic so they'll stack. It's not super it's not super secure. If I had too many they would be falling apart. I haven't even used all of this shade so I'm just going to show you the ones that I've used because they do have a lot of colorful options. They have matte options. They have a lot of glittery options. Just I'm going to show you a few of them and then I'll swatch what I have for you but like look at these. The ones with the plastic wraps are the ones I haven't even used yet. The matte shades blend like butter. For today's look I used the shade Desert Sand all over my crease. This is just the perfect starter crease color and then I used a little bit of horse talk which is this dark matte brown. I could use something a little bit deeper but this did just add a little bit more depth in my look and then all over my eyelid. This one is gorgeous. If you love a glittery gold this is the shade Bling Bling. Incredible. Let me just swatch a few more for you just so you can see how stunning these are and see them up close. So this is stay wild. Look at that. If you love a dark smoky eye, put Western wonder and you guys these are so pigmented as you can see they're very very creamy. It really is hard to believe that these are only six dollars. Brands will sell single eye shadows for 20 plus dollars and these are so so competitive with those expensive single shadows. Cowboy era. These are all kind of cowboy western themed. Look at that one. That one's one of my favorites and you don't get crazy fallout. You will get a little bit but I mean I don't have any glitter glue on and you see I still have the glitter on my eyes. Let's ride shooting stars. Mm-hmm. Some of you guys are going to be so obsessed with these. The caro crush boots on. Look at that. This one's like your doesn't one. Have a closer look at these. How unreal are these shadows? You would not believe these were only six dollars each. Now let's talk lips. Some of my favorite products will start off with the liner slash contours. For me the best contour lip liner meaning they're a little bit more blurred. You kind of place them on the outside of the lips. I am loving the verse to lip frames. They're 13 dollars and these are the perfect hybrid of like one of the blurring lip liners and the regular lip liner. You have a little bit more definition with them but they still have a soft tip. They give just enough pigment but still have that blurred look. I actually really really like these as lip liners. Sometimes I'm a little iffy because I feel like they do make my lips look kind of messy but these ones really don't and I love the shades because they're true contour shades. I used the shade sculpt today but I just placed a little bit on the under layer of my lips for the most part to give that little extra bit of contour or I'll blend it out to have it as a background to a true lip liner. Now in terms of longevity with these because I know these don't have the longest in general. These are longer lasting than some of the more popular ones but you know they don't set down. When I want something that sets then I'm gonna go for cutress. Now this is the only cutress product in today's video. They also like essence have been launching some really nice products lately. These are the gel glide long lasting lip liners and I swear to you these are a dupe of the Urban Decay gel liners. I did a whole video on that. My favorite shade is Toffee Talk but I'll show you some of the shades that I have line me softly. Toffee Talk, Princess Charming, Sass and Flirty. So these are my go-to if I want them to set down and not move. These are just as long wearing as the Urban Decay. They have a pretty easy smooth glide on the lips and they set down and they do truly last such a long time almost all day. So if you're looking for a good gel lip liner that sets down with great colors I definitely recommend looking towards these cutress ones and they're like so so affordable. I actually do have another contouring kind of product blurring product and I think L'Oreal did a great job with these. These are the blur filler blurring lip contours. I do prefer the worst on the outskirts of my lips. I've been using the L'Oreal more for all over the lips as more of like either quick everyday lip or lipstick. I like how blurred that these look on the lips. They're definitely much softer and much more blurring than the worst. So you're not going to get too much precision but they last longer than the road and I like the finish of these better because they're more of a softment. I feel like the road was like a weird hybrid shiny finish which I didn't love for myself. So I love the range of colors as well. If you love these neutral lip tones this is definitely something to look for. Nude espresso, worth it, worth it medium, tea time, mocha mousse, brown caramel, for doabi zoo, worth it intense. But like I said I don't necessarily use them as much around my lips as I do just on my lips as a lip color and I love how blurred these look which again these give that very KBD blurred style lip which is not my personal favorite but they do do a good job of that if that is what you're looking for and pretty good wear time as well. They don't set down but because of the matte nature very good. And then the last lip product that I have I've been talking about these a lot and I've learned to love them even more over time and you guys know how sick I've been of these butter bones that every brand is launching and they're all kind of blending in to be the same to me. But by far the best one at the drugstore that I've tried is easily the cover girl squishy glaze lip butter balm. These are one of the most hydrating and also one of the most truly glossy and shiny butter bones. It doesn't feel like Vaseline on the lips it leans more towards gloss because I do find with a lot of the more affordable ones. I feel like I'm just putting Vaseline on my lips. These actually have kind of that makeup gloss quality. The flavors are superyums which as a foodie that matters to me, toasted vanilla marshmallow, cotton candy grapes, how yummy is that peach gummy. And then if you're actually looking for a little bit of pigment on the lips, I recommend raspberry twist. This just adds the prettiest raspberry tint to the lips and the fresh plum will also give you good color. So that's another bonus point for me is that some of the shades actually give you color. Then there's also gray flavors and it's actually hydrating on the lips. So the cover girl is definitely competitive with some of my all-time favorite lip butter bones and by far if you ask me if you best quality lip butter bones and I do feel like a lot of them. So many of them are the same but there are a few outliers that are really nice and this is one of them. Okay finally I have an affordable fragrance and I wanted to bring it to your attention because it is just so good. One of my favorite affordable fragrance brands is Pacifica. I feel like they are so slept on. The Tuscan blood orange is amazing but they came out with this new one, sugared apricot and you must be a sweet lover. You must love gormonsense but if you tend to really love like a fruity, a sweet fruity scent, think what's the name? Vanilla nectar from Flur. Think Vanille apricot. If that is your jam, you are going to love sugared apricot. It reminds me so much of the Vanille apricot which I wore for my wedding just a lot more affordable. The one thing I will say about Pacifica fragrances is I do feel like if you smell really really closely like yes you can smell a little bit of alcohol particularly with the vanilla one I noticed. This one's not as bad and it's only 15 bucks. I give you walks by someone you're going to smell delicious. So if you love like a sugary fruity scent you are going to love this one. It's incredible and I don't know why but this line has really I think quite luxe looking packaging for only 18 dollars. They're current one. I mean this is fine for the price point right but this is nice. This is actually even cheaper than this one. I think you do get less luod ounces. You totally get less like half almost. So actually the value is not as good but for 15 dollars and just how delightful delicious yumminess it smells I have to recommend that to you. And there we have it you guys. Those are some of the newest drugs or slash more affordable products that I think are competitive with products that are two three four times their price point and I don't think you'd be disappointed with these. So I'm going to link these down below for you guys. If you have any other amazing affordable products that you've been loving feel free to share with me. I'm always on the hunt. I'm going to go to all too soon and see what I can pick up. I've got my eye on all the new elf stuff that just dropped. So I'm excited about that but I hope you guys enjoyed this video. I love doing the drugstore slash affordable dedicated video every now and then just to kind of round up what I've been testing and yeah I hope you guys have a good rest of your