We all wear it at some point of some reason, even if it’s just a little mascara here, or a whole made-up face there. Makeup can make you confident and feel more beautiful (even though you all are no matter what!) but there’s plenty out there that won’t save you any money. So how do you choose? There’s no right or wrong way of choosing makeup, it just comes down to whatever works for you and what you like best. But there’s definitely a way to save on it, especially since so many drugstore products are exactly the same as their department store counterparts.
Some may think that the more expensive a product is, the better it is. But this is not always the case (and sometimes this is completely wrong!). Think about the makeup brand you use: Maybelline, L’Oreal, Covergirl, Clinique…each one of these, and every other brand out there, almost always has a product on another line that is identical or close to it. I happen to be partial to Clinique because their products are hypoallergenic, noncomedgenic, dermatologist tested and truthfully they work quite well. But to save myself some money I could absolutely try a drugstore brand. The only problem with doing this is that you will be making a small money gamble in the beginning. However, switching out a department store brand for a drugstore name will save you money anyway (if you end up liking the product), so why not give it a shot?
Think about it this way. Drugstore brand cosmetics are like the generics of department store brands. The only difference is that a lot of the less expensive brands are guaranteed to work as well as, if not better than, their more pricey counterparts. They will usually have the same ingredients, colors and formulas. A quick example of this: my mom has been, like me, a faithful user of Clinique for many years. The eyebrow pencil she used daily cost her $14 or more a month and depleted itself quickly. Frustrated, she searched for a similar product and found one by Maybelline. This pencil was the exact same color, a fraction of the price, worked better and lasted longer.
Be wary, though. You always have to be vigilant when deciding on any skincare products, especially if you are “downgrading” to a drugstore brand. You are probably aware that the skin on your face is much more delicate than the rest of your body and requires more attention and less abrasive products. Another example for you all comes from my recent personal history (this demonstrates my latter aforementioned point and speaks to the money issue here!). I had been using a St. Ives face wash for upwards of 6 years now as well as a $17 Clinique moisturizer. Interesting price combo, I know. To try to cut some costs and help my skin, I switched over to two Neutrogena products. Both combined came out to less than the price of my old moisturizer so I thought it was a bargain. Wrong! The issue arose because of the formula of both products and the main ingredient. They both contained salicylic acid, a strong acne fighter.
The combination of both products containing the same medication (twice the amount my skin was used to) completely dried it out and made it over-produce oil to compensate, therefore leaving me a mess of acne to clear up. After less than two weeks on these products, I switched back to my old routine and saw immediate improvement. The moral of this story is to not only choose what products are best for your skin (makeup, cleansers, makeup removers, etc.) but to also choose the most price-conscious ones.