A few of my favourite drugstore finds, including a few dupes!
I never used to buy myself too many drugstore beauty products and would always opt for high end as I believed that high end makeup was better quality, lasted longer and you just generally got your moneys worth. These days, I think drugstore brands have seriously upped their game and there are so many makeup products out there now that are super affordable and just as good as a lot of high end makeup. I’ve rounded up a few of my current as well as long time favourites and I thought I’d share them all as well as giving you some affordable alternatives to some popular high end products.
Makeup Revolution Iconic Lights & Contour Pro | £8.00
Most people will know about the famous Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kits that were all the rage a few months back. I splurged on one for myself after hearing all the hype surrounding them and I ended up barely using it, and if I did, I would only use two or three shades out of the six that were in it. I ended up selling mine as I just didn’t see the point in owning it anymore and started using other contour products instead. Anyway fast forward to a couple of months ago, I decided to get myself the Makeup Rev Iconic Lights & Contour Pro Palette because it looked like such a good palette for such an affordable price, and Shaaanxo is always using & raving about it, so I gathered it must be good! And it really is, I use it to contour with on a daily basis now, it’s as good as, if not better than the ABH Contour Kit and it has eight different shades whereas the ABH kit only has six. I know NYX do a palette really similar to this too but even theirs is £18 and the MR is only £8! I don’t know how those two compare because I didn’t see the point in splurging almost 20 pounds on the NYX when I can get the MR one for so much less, but from what I’ve seen, they are practically identical. Definitely pick this up if you’ve been thinking about it already, the highlight shades are beautiful and glowy, it has a really good yellow setting powder, and it has a mixture of warm and cool toned contour shades.
Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder | £3.99
I’ve been using the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder to set my foundation with for the longest time now, it’s one of the best powders to use if you want a matte finish or you have oily skin. I have a very oily T-Zone and this is the best product I’ve found to help keep it under control. It’s so affordable too so I can’t really recommend this enough if you want a good powder that will help mattify your face! I don’t know what to compare it to high end wise as I’ve never found the need to try out a high end powder, I just happened to come across this and found it worked so well for me that I’ve been using it ever since. I do want to try out the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder, but even that one is £12 and this one is only £3.99 so I’m not fully decided yet!
Essence Eyeshadow in Snowflake 01 | £1.00
I discovered this product after one of my sisters bought it from Wilko, it’s a £1 eyeshadow from Essence, yes only £1, that works so so well as a highlighter. If you live near a Wilko I really recommend going in and swatching this to see if you like it because for a mere one pound, it really does create a beautiful natural glow on the tops of your cheekbones. Obviously it can be used as an eyeshadow as well, but it’s the perfect shade for a highlighter and it also looks gorgeous on the inner corners of the eyes. You seriously cannot go wrong for the price, it’s so pigmented too!
Essence Make Me Brow Gel | £2.50
Another absolute steal from Essence is the Make Me Brow Gel. I’ve had Benefit Gimme Brow on my makeup wish list for ages now, but I’ve been unsure whether to splurge on it or not. The main reason that I wanted it was because of the teeny tiny brush that it comes with to brush your brow hairs in place. And this is gorgeous for hairpices for men. I’ve used various different eyebrow mascaras and when they’re tinted, I always find the brushes are too big and get product all around my brows which I then have to clean up. So I really just wanted a good brow mascara that had a tiny brush like the Benefit one, and then I came across the Essence Brow Gel that is pretty much a dupe for Benefit’s Gimme Brow. The brush is just like the Benefit one, nice and tiny in size and it also has little fibres to fill in gaps which my sparse brows really need. I absolutely love it and it’s so much more affordable than the Benefit Gimme Brow, it works so so well and makes my brows look naturally filled in with one swipe. If I’m having a no makeup day, I love using this on it’s own but I also always use it before filling in my brows with brow pomade. It’s so good!
NYX Tame & Frame Brow Pomade | £5.50
I gave this a review recently comparing it to the ABH Dipbrow Pomade so I don’t need to go too much into it as you can go and read that if you’re interested in the comparison. But it had to be included in this post as the NYX Brow Pomade really is a drugstore steal at £5.50 as it’s such a good dupe for the ABH Dipbrow Pomade. If you’re wanting to try out a good brow pomade without splurging on one from ABH, then just get the NYX. You really can’t go wrong with it!
Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer | £5.49
This is probably my most favourite drugstore beauty product at the moment. My favourite concealer for years has been the Mac Studio Finish Concealer that’s £15 and usually lasts me a good year or so. I was so happy sticking with that as it works out to be quite affordable when it lasts me so long, but then I read a review on the Rimmel Lasting Finish concealer and the shade looked really light for a drugstore product which is hard to find, so I had to give it a try. If you’re really pale like me, you’ll probably know the pain of finding drugstore products that are light enough in shade to match your skin tone, but this concealer is almost like it’s made for pale girls, it has a variety of different light shades! Anyway, it is without a doubt, an exact dupe for the Mac Studio Finish Concealer, it’s heavy in coverage, creamy and blends in beautifully. It’s the best drugstore concealer I have ever come across and can’t recommend it enough. It covers all my dark circles, redness, blemishes, absolutely everything and is only a fiver. I also need hardly any and it comes in a really good sized pot so I already know this is going to last me forever. This one is such a steal.
L’oreal Paris True Match Foundation | £9.99
My favourite drugstore foundation has been Loreal True Match for ages now, I always repurchase it as I think it has such good coverage for a drugstore foundation. I also find the lightest shade to be quite neutral/yellow toned which is another thing that’s hard to find with drugstore products, they’re usually far too pink toned and I have yellow undertones. When they changed the formula of this, I wasn’t sure if it would work for me anymore as I do suffer with oiliness and the old formula worked quite well with it but I’d heard the new one wasn’t as good. Anyway I decided to give it a try and I have to say I really do love the new formula. Everything that I loved about the old formula is still there, and if anything I’m actually preferring the new one. I still get the odd bit of oiliness peeking through, but even with the old formula I had that and for a drugstore foundation I don’t expect any less. I have actually been using this without a primer lately as I’ve had quite a lot of dryness around my faced and my matte primers haven’t helped, and it’s shown me how well this foundation actually works. It’s lasted all day, I’ve hardly had any oiliness and it’s had amazing coverage and that’s all without using a primer! It’s definitely one of the best drugstore foundations there is. I also only use two pumps of this and it’s enough to cover my whole face so for £9.99 it’s another product that I’m really going to get my moneys worth out of.
So those are all of my fave drugstore beauty products at the mo, they really are all such good value for money! What’s your favourite drugstore product? 🙂