Hi y'all!

As much as I love to splurge on beauty products for my own personal stash, some of the best makeup in my collection is from the drugstore or more affordable brands. Contrary to popular belief, shopping for beauty products on a budget does not mean that you are giving up quality. Amazing products do not have to drain your bank account. 

Keep scrolling for some of my favorite affordable beauty products that perform amazing and won't break your bank.

Elf  Hydrating Camo Concealer $6

ELF Poreless Putty Primer $8.00

Elf Primer Infused Blush $6.00

The Ordinary Niacinamide $5.90

Makeup Revolution Splendor Matte Bronzer $12

Nicka K 9 Color Eye Palettes - Mocha Mix and Oh Honey $3.99

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Hey beauties! It's definitely been a while since you've heard from me on this blog. My best explanations is that sometime life (and seborrheic dermatitis) happens. I have had a massive break out on my face since November and it has not been fun at all. Sebborheic dermatitis is basically dandruff on the face and really came out of no where as soon as the temperature dropped here in Baltimore. It caused swelling, itching and a huge rash all over my face and I haven't been able to really wear a lot of makeup.

I was finally able to get an appointment with a dermatologist a few weeks ago and my face is all better so It's back to blogging for me.

You would think that having a horrible skin condition would keep me from wanting to try out new drugstore beauty products...but of course it didn't. Today, I want to talk about some of my newest makeup purchases that I've been putting to the test over the past few months.

Most of these were picked up from Ulta or Walmart

Milani Conceal and Perfect Longwear Concealer $8.99

If I am honest, I don't really have a lot of drugstore concealers that work for me and certainly I can't think of any from Milani that work for me. However, this  new concealer had amazing reviews online so I decided to pick it up. After weeks of use I can say t and love how full the coverage is despite the lightness of this formula. Although it wasn't creaseless on my skin (especially on my aging skin), it definitely stayed in place and wore really well all day. I took this on vacation with me to Chicago recently and wore just this concealer with powder and it looked so natural and beautiful. This concealer also wears well on its own.

Milani Amorematte Satin Matte Lip Cream $8.99

The Milani Amorematte Lip Creams are one of my favorite matte liquid lipstick formulas at the drugstore, but they are super drying so I was absolutely thrilled when I saw that Milani released a satin version, at least one shade had to go home with me. The shade Plush is a mauve pink and is my go to lip color for most makeup looks that I do. Are these more comfortable than the original formula? Yes, these have shea butter and soybean oil so my lips definitely felt more hydrated. I did not expect this liquid lipstick to dry down to a lasting finish, but they and I got about 5 hours of wear from this lippie.

Milani Amore Shine Liquid Lip Color $8.99

This lip formula is definitely the MVP of this blog post! The Amore Shine formula isn't exactly new to the Milani line, but it's my first time trying it and I am obsessed with using this as a lip gloss over my lipstick. The formula can best be described as a shiny liquid lipstick that doesn't dry down. Now I'm pretty sure it's meant to be worn on its own because the pigmentation is damn near opaque. I personally prefer to layer mine over liner or another lipstick for a long wear shiny lip color. I seriously have the best lip days when I wear this lipstick lip gloss hybrid. I feel like anyone who enjoys glossy lips will enjoy this lipstick.

Rimmel Stay Matte Concealer $4.97

Rimmel is one of my new faves at the drugstore. Although not a lot people agree, I love their Stay Matte Mousse and Lasting Finish Foundation formulas on my skin. So when I spotted the Stay Matte concealer in a skin tone I snatched it up. Out of the two concealers I mentioned today, this one is my least favorite. It's not that its not good, the Milani concealer just kind of blows this formula out of the water on my skin. Despite the watery formula, this really did a good job of covering the dark circles under my eyes and didn't look cakey. It pairs really well with the Stay matte Mousse foundation, but was too much coverage to be paired with the Lasting Finish formula. I love the price point of this and it lasted really well on my skin. I ended up picking up the shade 512 Amber and found that it was a pretty good match for concealing, but not necessarily brightening.

Black Radiance highlighter palette $9.99

This highlighter palette was a total impulse purchase that I am sooo glad I picked up. Not that I needed anymore highlighters, but the formula of this little palette is everything. It features 3 unique highlighter shades and the pans are huge. Baecation is a golden peach that reminds me a lot of Champagne Pop from Becca ; First Class is like an icy vivid lavender without the ash, and Paradise is like a reddish copper that mimics Blushed Copper blush from Becca. The pigmentation of these highlighters are next level! They pop on dark skin, but definitely can be worn by all skin tones. I also love that this palette is multi purposes. I used this on my face and eyes while I was on vacation recently and the look came out absolutely gorgeous so I definitely recommend this. If it can last all day in the Puerto Rican sun, it's definitely worth paying a little attention to.

Left to Right: Baecation, First Class, Paradise

Wearing First Class

I have definitely cut down on my makeup spending since 2019 started, but I just couldn't resist sharing these recent finds with you. Share some of your favorite recent drugstore makeup finds below in the comments.

During Black Friday last year, I really went HAM on makeup purchases. One of the brands that I had been wanting to pick up some new items from was J. Cat Beauty. 

This brand is actually available at Ulta and I love a few of their lip products, particularly the lip paints, but only in limited release. So on black Friday, when they had a 35 percent off sale, I decided to just go for it and try a couple more of their products, including the eye shadow palettes I am going to show you today.




The 24 Eyeshadow palette is one of J. Cat's new releases and comes in 3 variations. I was able to pick up the Hollywood Blvd and Santa Monica palettes. The Hollywood palette is a bright and bold palette, while Santa Monica has a cool palette. They retail for $17.99 and can be purchased on the J. Cat Website here.


There are 12 mattes and 12 shimmers in each palette and at $17.99 I think that this is a pretty good deal! As far as color preference, I think that I was drawn more to Santa Monica. The mattes in this palette are to die for and the shimmers are so pretty.

The question is though...How do these perform on the eye? Are they a beauty steal or complete waste of time.

Swatches - Santa Monica

First Row

Second Row

3rd Row

4th Row

Swatches - Hollywood

1st Row

2nd Row

3rd Row

4th Row

Review

Pigmentation - 3.5

The pigmentation in this palette is hit and miss. All of the shimmers are stunning, they pick up nicely with a brush, but the mattes leave a lot to be desired. They have to be built up and the brighter colors perform way better than the deep smokey colors like the black and greys! These will need a good sticky primer to stick to the eye. I typically used the Wet n Wild eye shadow palette and it worked amazing.

Packaging- 4

These palettes have basic black packaging, much like the Morphe palettes. There is no mirror and each shadow is about the size of a Mac Eyeshadow. The shadows are arranged so that the shimmers are the first two rows and the bottom two rows are all matte. Both palettes, are cohesive in the color selection. You can definitely use these palettes stand alone to complete and eye look as there is a pretty good variety to choose from.

Performance - 3

This palette is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. I think that the shimmers are gorgeous. They are super pigmented and almost have like a heavy silicon feel to them. I am pretty sure that's what makes them show up on the eye at full pigmentation.

I just really don't care for the mattes. First, you will definitely need primer and a good base for any of the mattes to show up. I found that it took several layers of product for some of the shadows to show true to color and found them to be powdery. Some are definitely better than others. For example, all of the mid tone mattes are really pretty and look nice on the eye, but the darker mattes just didn't have the intensity that I personally like. I think lighter skin tones will love the pigmentation, but the NW45 girl needed just a little bit more.

These have pretty good staying power, but primer is a must for most eye shadows and these are no exception.

The palette is still worth it for the price. All in all there were only 2 or three duds in each palette. Make sure you find a coupon code, as the site always has a 25% code and free shipping over $25. I am glad I have these in my collection and definitely use them on a regular basis!

Have you tried the J. Cat Beauty 24 Eye shadow palettes yet? Leave me your thoughts in the comments below!

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I know I'm not the only one that loves new makeup!

For the past few weeks, my new makeup box has been steadily filling up so I'm pretty sure its time for me to do a haul of all of the things I have picked up lately. Most of these products have gotten some use so I think a first impression may also be helpful just in case you were curious about any of these things I am about to show.

L to R: Snow Rose, Lavender Steel, Peach Kiss

Highlighter Craze

It's not a secret that I'm a little obsessed with highlighters, The last drugstore highlighter I picked up was the Nyx Duochromatic Illuminating Powder (Post), but I picked up a few new highlighters that I want to show you today.

Makeup Revolution Skin Kiss Highlighter in "Peach Kiss" $9

I picked this up from Ulta last week and have literally used it almost everyday as my highlighter. The pigment is intense and this truly brightens up the high points of my face. It's has light peach hue and is super pigmented. I have been using a tiny amount of this on the center of my face and mixing it with a slightly darker highlighter for my cheekbones. I also love that its not over the top shimmery or glittery, but leaves a radiant sheen on the skin.

Nyx Cosmetics Duochromatic Powder in "Snow Rose" and "Lavender Steel" $7.99

I raved about this formula in my post about this highlighter a few weeks ago, so I had to go grab two more colors when I saw that Ulta has BOGO free on Nyx Products (lasts til 3/4). Lavender Steel is a purple with pink reflects, while Snow Rose is a white gold with pink and opalecent reflects. These will be on rotation all spring! I can't wait to use them.

 

L to R: 5401 , 5405, Au Chico, Blue F21 gloss, and Grandee Lip Kit

Bold Lips Galore

As far as lip colors, most of the shades I picked up were go to nudes and pinks for me, I had been wanting to try out some new formulas, but I did throw in a bold blue lip gloss, that I couldn't resist because the color was too amazing to pass up.

Black Radiance Perfect Tone Matte Lip Cream in "5401" and "5405" $3.99

A few weeks ago, I picked these up in Walgreens and have been using them as everyday lip colors. The 5401 is a midtone pink and can be paired with almost any eye. 5405 is a perfect nude for dark skin. I know these shades have names, but for some reason they aren't on the packaging which is kind of annoying, However, I love love the formula of this lip cream. It's long wearing and super comfortable, they also don't transfer and last through meals, which I love because I like to eat constantly through out the day.

NK Makeup Creme Silky Stick Lipstick in Au Chico $2.99

I picked up this lipstick randomly at the Beauty Supply Store to try because I'm kind of over matte lips and this is a cream formula that swatched opaque and came in some gorgeous colors. It feels good on the lips, but I have'nt worn it long enough to give an impression. The color I chose is a mid tone dusty rose. Can't wait to try this out!

Forever 21 Matte Lipgloss $3.90

This was a random find at Forever21 while in the checkout line. I love blue lips and this look interesting so for $3.90 I decided to try it out. It swatched really opaque so I am kind of excited to try this out .

Makeup Revolution Retro Luxe Matte Lip Kit in Grandee $9.00

This Ulta find is probably one of most excited things in this haul. Since Kylie, has popularized the lip kit, they have been all over the place, so I grabbed this off of the shelf when I spotted them. Grandee is a pale pink and honestly swatched kind of patchy. I did love the feel of the matching lip liner, but it honestly looks a little light, but we shall see if it works or not.

 

Makeup Revolution #Slay Slogan Palette $8

This palette was so adorable and irresistible. The packaging alone was enough to make me get it. I love the holographic touch on front and I have enjoyed using this palette so far. As you can see the from the swatches, the mattes don't swatch the best, but they perform awesome with a good primer. I have been getting pretty nice looks from the palette for everyday! It's also travel friendly and comes with a mini primer.

Drop some of your favorite new Drugstore Products in the Comments below! I love to try new products! 

 

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Wet n Wild is one of those drugstore brands that I actually get excited about Limited Edition collections. At the beginning of the summer, I reviewed the Summer collection and recently picked up a few items that launched with the new Fall Collection. This collection is called Autumn Lush and is based around fall colors of burgundy, deep teal, bronze, and all of those colors that make you think of fall.

This newest collection features colored mascaras, 2 eyeshadow trios and Liquid Lipsticks. Since I am on a cut back and I'm overloaded with mascara at the moment, I ended up scooping up the two eyeshadow trios and 2 of the four liquid lipsticks.  I was super excited to try the liquid lipsticks from this brand and was kind of hyped up on that alone.

Eyeshadow Trios

Plaid to the Bone

The eyeshadow trios in this collection are Violet Vixen and Plaid to The Bone. These trios remind me of Catholic school uniforms for some reason. The burgundy + cream and tan and Navy and bronze give me flashback to high school. Let's look at a few swatches.


These swatches really do the colors no justice. Both of these performed really well on the eye. The only one that swatch that disappointed me was the matte deep teal shade it in  Plaid to the Bone trio. It swatched dusty, but actually built up really well on the eye. The shimmery shades in the quad are gorgeous, creamy, and pigmented. The dark shimmery color is a dark teal with bronze reflects. I can't wait to try this with a black base. This trio wore beautifully and lasted throughout the night.

I haven't had a chance to wear Velour Vixen on the eye but the colors swatched gorgeous. The lightest shade in the trio looks a little chalky when swatched, but I think it will work nicely packed over a primer. The darkest brown in this trio has glitter over a satin base, but I don't think that this will translate on the eye. The burgundy shade in this trio has a soft sheen to it and will be perfect on its own as a one color look or with the other colors in the trios.

The Look I created using Plaid to the Bone and My Tulips Are Sealed:

Color Icon Matte Liquid Lipsticks

 

My Tulips are Sealed and How Fleek is Your Love

As I said before, the liquid lipsticks that I picked up really impressed me. These retail for $2.99 and you get  .18 oz of product. You can find them at Walgreens, Kmart and on the Wet n Wild website The formula of the this lipstick is a hybrid of creamy and liquidy and dries to a flat comfortable matte finish. Literally, the swatches lasted through two showers. I also wore these out on Saturday and Sunday and they lasted the whole day. These are totally kiss proof which I love.  The applicator on these are a large doe foot applicator that comes to a point so they are very easy to control and spread on lips evenly.These are not patchy at all.

How Fleek is Your Love is a cool red orange color. Once this one dries down, it will not budge. I wore it out to dinner on Saturday and loved how comfortable it felt with out being too drying and didn't peel off my lips, which is always a win for me.

Too Tulip Too Quit is a deep blue toned fuchsia and reminds me a lot of "Flat Out Fabulous" retro matte lipstick from Mac and More Better from Colourpop is also a close comparison. I wore this shade a few times this week and got so many compliments. I absolutely love how it looks and performs on my lips.

Overall I was really impressed with this collection. The colors are fall appropriate and perform really well on the eye. I cannot wait to use the other eye trio and incorporate this into my fall/winter makeup routine.

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I typically don't blog about products I don't like because I am truly savvy about how money is spent when it comes to beauty products. I don't hesitate to return things that don't work for me and I also do a lot of research before I buy almost anything. It's almost like selective experimentation, I love to try new products but I also won't waste my time if something swatches horrible in the store. Samples are also really important to me because it allows me to try new things for little of nothing without shilling out cash for the full size.

However there are a few things that slip through the cracks and end up still in my collection. Today, I am going to show you a few of the drugstore products that I hate or was disappointed by.

Nyx Cosmetics Wonder Stick

This cream contour duo was not wonderful for me at all. I picked up the darkest shade Deep from the Ulta website in January and I could tell from the first swatch that it wasn't going to be for me.

First, in my opinion it wasn't dark enough. The color was only slightly darker then my skin tone and the highlight color ran way too cool toned. The main problem I had with this is the way it blended out. It was hard to blend out and patchy. The highlight side looks AWFUL under the eye and creases even when set with powder. This was just a patchy mess. Nyx is my favorite drugstore brand, but this missed the mark for me.

Nyx Ultimate Palettes

People sing the praises of these palettes, but I HATE them. I ordered these online when they first came out, but disappointment is an understatement. In my opinion, the pigmentation is not up to par as is chalky af. Some of the colors from the warm neutrals no lie did not show up on my skin at all, especially the shimmers. The mattes were decent, but I just expected so much more from this 18 dollar palette. In my opinion, there is nothing Ultimate about these and I couldn't recommend these to anyon. Instead, I think a better product for the same price are the Avant Pop shadow palettes, the quality is much better!

 

Maybelline Miss Manga Rock Mascara

Overall L'oreal has awesome mascara. Voluminous and the regular Miss Manga are some of my favorite formulas. So I picked the Rock version up thinking I would really love it, but that turned out to be the farthest from the truth. This is soooo wet! Everytime I go to put this on, I end up with mascara all over my face especially under my lower lashes. The brush on this is also not the best in my opinion. I know this was formulated for the clumpy mascara look, but I absolutely hate this on me.

 Nyx Liquid Lingerie | Post

I did a review on these when they first launched and thought that with more use I could possibly grow to love these, but that honestly never happened. Let me preface this by saying that my lips are extra prone to being flaky, but these were so drying on and they look absolutely awful on me. These also have that tacky feel that I just can't with. I know this is a fan favorite...but are a total no go for these dry lips.

Maybelline Fit Me Stick Foundation

I hate when something makes bold claims and then fails miserably. I have had this foundation stick for a good minute and I had to stop using it when its hot outside. This is  a light weight foundation with an anti-shine powder core. I think that it is light weight and gives light to medium buildable coverage, but the oil control portion of this does not work at all for my skin. I always have to blot when I wear this and I typically never have to do this with any shine control product. This is just not my favorite and I would never repurchase.

Revlon PhotoReady Cream Blush in Coral Reef

 This particular color in this line is discontinued, but this cream blush did not quite hit the mark for me. I did not swatch this in stores and when I did like I literally got nothing. Keep in mind, I am a NW45, but this does not show up on my skin at all. Cream blush has always been a good base for a powder blush or alone as a flush of color, but I don't like this one on me at all. I also have swatched other colors in this line and the color pay off blendability is underwhelming for me.

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So, I have no explanation for this latest shopping trip. I went in for water and came out with new makeup and once I went to one store I figured I would just keep going because why stop at this point! I'm sure someone knows where I'm coming from....