Drugstore Makeup That's BETTER Than High End!

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 going to be a couple of surprises, but also a lot of this you've heard we mentioned 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 soakie blur 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 to the skin. By far, one of my 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 book today. 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 Lori L. That's what I have on today. And every time I 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. The 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 and 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 the 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 drugstore brand. This is $18. So it's on the higher side. It's kind of in between drugstore 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 end side. 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 they 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 drugstore products. So yes, the drugstore market. Man, 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 dupe 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 shade 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 collection products. I do have one eye product. For me, the eye products at the drug store, 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. I just am going to show you a few of them. And then I'll swatch what I have for you. But 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. Some of you guys are going to be so obsessed with these. The caro crush boots on. 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 thirteen 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 underlayer 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 cutries. Now this is the only cutries 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 Eyeliners. I did a whole video on that. My favorite shade is Toffee Tock but I'll show you some of the shades that I have line me softly. Toffee Tock, 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 cutries ones and they're like so so affordable. I actually do have another contoury kind of product blurring product and I think Lori L did a great job with these. These are the blur filler blurring lip contours. I do prefer the verse on the outskirts of my lips. I've been using the Lori L 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 verse. 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 KBVD 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 bomb. These are one of the most hydrating and also one of the most truly glossy and shiny butter bombs. 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 bombs and by far if you ask me the best quality lip butter bombs 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. Mmm 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 lux looking packaging for only 18 dollars like their 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 that 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 leave 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 to 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 see you later