Here are products that are and aren’t worth your hard-earned dollars. The first five are the recommended products, and the last five are the ones to avoid.
- Milk Hydro Grip primer ($30)
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This primer is worth every dollar. It has a tacky texture and keeps your base down and on all day, without drying out your skin.
- Elf Poreless Putty primer ($8)
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If you’re looking for something that is a little more affordable, this is the best drugstore primer on the market. It is very similar to the Tatcha canvas primer, for a fraction of the price. It keeps your makeup long-lasting and doesn’t cause creasing.
- Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara ($26)
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There is a reason that this mascara is a cult favorite. It volumizes your lashes, doesn’t clump, and the wand is very easy to manipulate. It’s created so you can coat every single one of your lashes with mascara. It also comes in a waterproof version, but I tend to stick to the original.
- Colourpop Lilac You a Lot Pallete ($12)
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This palette is a lovely variation between lilacs and pinks. It has both shimmers and mattes, and the color range is perfect for creating versatile looks. Each shadow is pigmented, there is not a lot of excess dust when you use the shimmers, and all-around the eyeshadows have great pay off. I couldn’t recommend this palette more.
- Anastasia Beverly Hills liquid lipsticks ($20)
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These lipsticks are amazing! They last literally all day, they have such a wide variety of colors, and you can even eat food and they will not be smudged (unless the food is super oily).
- Huda Beauty
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Technically, this is a brand, not a product. However, Huda beauty is so overpriced, the quality is on par with $30 eyeshadow palettes, so why would you spend $60 on something you could get for $30 for the same quality. The actual products just aren’t nice enough quality, to be so expensive.
- Benefit Bad Gal Bang mascara ($21)
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formula got really clumpy, even though it was definitely not expired. Additionally, the wand sort of made it so the clumps were not spread out. Basically, the formula kind of sucks after a while, and the brush has a weird shape. I would say that this mascara is not great because it does not volumize your lashes the way it claims to and honestly just clumps them together. There are much better high-end mascaras you can get for the same price.
- Bite Beauty lipsticks ($18)
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Honestly, I still own two or three of these lipsticks. The pigment is really great, and I like the formula (and now it’s a vegan formula). However, this lipstick smudges and smears like no other lipstick I’ve ever tried. For example, my Becca lipstick does smear a little, but not to the extent of ending up somehow on my chin or cheek or even my nose. I would just say get a Mac lipstick and don’t waste your money on these.
- Tatcha Silk Canvas primer ($52)
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Listen. Tatcha has good quality products, I’m not going to dispute that. However, there is no reason why you need to spend $52 on a primer. I am telling you, you will get the same effect with a $30 primer or the Elf putty primer I mentioned in the earlier section. This product just simply isn’t so spectacular that you need to spend $52 on it. It’s good, it’s nice, it does its job, but there are so many equivalent products in terms of quality and what they do, or even better ones than the silk canvas that are not this much money. It’s just overpriced, plain and simple.
- Maybelline Age Rewind concealer ($7.99)
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Look, this concealer is fine. It’ll do well in a pinch, but I have to say, the formula is drying, it creases, and it just is not good especially for under-eye, in my opinion. Which is weird, because it’s supposed to cover up circles and fine lines. I just wish that the formula was more hydrating and not as cakey. There are better drugstore concealers, and this one just does not deserve the hype.