Is High End Makeup Better Than Drugstore

Co-ordinate to Statista, the cosmetics manufacture in the United States is expected to accept close to a whopping $59 billion in acquirement in 2014. From mascara to nail polish, lip gloss to eyeshadow, there's no shortage of products to spend your hard-earned coin on. And temptation is everywhere. Whether you're buying a pair of shoes at the department store or picking up a prescription at the drugstore, you're bound to be faced with racks and racks of cosmetics offerings.

At the department or beauty specialty store, y'all can find exclusive brands and high-end service for a loftier cost, while drugstore offerings tend to be more mainstream and priced more modestly. How do the two types of makeup actually compare? Is it worth forking over the actress greenbacks to nab makeup with Christian Dior, MAC, or Stila printed on the tube?

Why Designer Makeup Costs More

The question of whether designer makeup is worth double or triple the toll of its drugstore analogue – products sometimes called "dupes" in the industry – comes down to a few different factors.

What You're Paying For

When information technology comes to designer makeup, you usually pay actress for several reasons:

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Brand Name. Every bit in way, but purchasing a designer makeup brand is going to cost you. Information technology's a condition symbol, so information technology takes some extra money if you want to accept Chanel in your cosmetics bag.
Fragrance. Hither'south one of the areas designer brands outshine their cheaper dupes: Luxe fragrances added to the formula to raise the user feel. Or, in the case of brands like Clinique, a lack of fragrance advertised as beingness better for your skin.
Better Applicators. Designer makeup is more likely to offering better awarding devices, such every bit eyeshadow brushes, foundation sponges, and mascara and pulverisation applicators. These can make a big difference in how makeup looks on your skin, so they could bring added value – especially if you purchase applicators separately for your drugstore makeup anyway.
Packaging. You definitely observe a difference in packaging with designer makeup versus drugstore cosmetics. Flashy tubes and pretty packaging make up much of the extra toll, which also speaks to the idea of status in the makeup world. If you lot feel more "special" using a tube of designer lipstick, mayhap y'all're more willing to pay for it.
Increased Pigmentation. Amend makeup brands oftentimes have better pigmentation, which means improved color payoff. Improve color payoff means you need to apply less production overall – you won't need to use as much blush if it'southward more than highly pigmented.

Notice that ingredients aren't actually a factor in the increased pricing. That's because the vast majority of designer makeup has the same ingredients as its drugstore equivalent. While designer makeup might accept features like added pigments or fragrance, their components are oft fundamentally the same. It'south upwards to yous to determine whether the extra cost justifies the benefits you get.

Of form, not anybody has the same priorities. While your best friend may exist happy to splurge on her signature designer lipstick, you might go deal basement on lips and adopt to spend more on a dandy concealer. Your makeup upkeep should address any makes you feel all-time.

Designer vs. Drugstore Makeup

Sometimes, you lot tin can justify the actress toll of designer makeup based on the added benefits of pricier brands, such equally increased pigmentation, meliorate fragrance, or a meliorate applicator. Notwithstanding, this is non always the example.

Knowing when to splurge on designer cosmetics or save with drugstore products tin help you better classify your beauty budget and become the most out of every dollar. Here are some general guidelines for the most common products.

one. Blush

Designer or Drugstore: Drugstore

Blush has one of the longest shelf lives of any makeup – up to about a twelvemonth. And, since many pulverization-based blushes have the same ingredients, you really don't need to splurge on pricey designer brands. Even if the pigment isn't as potent in a drugstore brand, chroma is buildable, which means y'all can layer it to get the correct amount of color.

The merely time y'all'd demand to splurge on chroma is if yous prefer a stain formula. If you like cheek stain instead of blush, you may need to buy a designer brand just because it's a specialty product.

Expect to spend around $five to $7 on a mid-range drugstore chroma. I honey Cover Girl Classic Color ($6) and east.50.f. Studio Blush ($iii).

2. Mascara

Designer or Drugstore: Either

Mascara is some other product that has similar formulations from make to brand. However, because mascara depends on both brush type and pigment, you may prefer to pay more than for a designer make that prioritizes both.

Personally, mascara is one of my favorite products. Therefore, I'one thousand willing to pay more for a designer make that I know and love – the cost per wear is fairly low, fifty-fifty with the added premium of a designer name tag.

Keep in mind that dissimilar mascaras have different benefits. Some promise to give y'all fatter lashes, others tout lengthening benefits, and some help define fifty-fifty the smallest lashes. The play a joke on is to discover the all-time mascara that gives you lot what you lot need.

Mascara is besides 1 of the most mutual makeup products at the drugstore, so at that place are plenty to try on the inexpensive. In my experience, designer brands with larger, softer applicators tend to have better results for volumizing, while drugstore brands (which often have thinner brushes) piece of work well for lengthening.

You can spend anywhere from $7 to $xxx on a mascara. Two of my favorites are L'Oreal Telescopic Shocking Extensions ($10) and Diorshow Iconic Overcurl ($30).

3. Lipstick

Designer or Drugstore: Designer

A good lipstick relies on excellent pigmentation and expert habiliment throughout the day. Buying a more expensive lipstick tin can go y'all ideal colour payoff again and once more, so it's often worth splurging for a designer make if that means nabbing your signature color. Better brands likewise tend to add together more moisturizing ingredients to their lip colors, so you go the benefits of add-ins such every bit shea butter to keep your pout from drying out, a common complaint among drugstore lipstick users. Then, you tin nab cheaper shades for trendy colors yous want to try, simply aren't still willing to commit to.

Expect to fork over anywhere from $sixteen to $30 for a loftier-end lipstick. I love the colour and hydration of Lancome'southward Color Pattern Lip ($23), as well as NARS Semi-Matte Lipstick ($26) for the perfect daily-wear finish.

4. Lip Gloss

Designer or Drugstore: Drugstore

You don't demand to be nearly as finicky with lip gloss equally you practise with lipstick, so feel free to bargain hunt and purchase a bunch. You don't need the pigment y'all practise from lipstick, and near all lip glosses have the same formulas and comprise some combination of lanolin oil, polybutene, and microcrystalline wax. Go cheap and buy a few dissimilar colors.

Yous can spend from $1 to $7 on lip gloss and get a huge range of colors and brands. Some of my favorites are e.l.f. Studio Glossy Gloss ($3), Rimmel Stay Sleeky ($four), and Maybelline Babe Lips ($4). I tin can also say that I own Dior Addict Gloss, which set me back about $30, and it doesn't perform any ameliorate than any of my drugstore faves.

5. Concealer and Foundation

Designer or Drugstore: Either

Because concealer and foundation are such personal products (you might need full coverage, while other ladies are more interested in color correction), it's hard to say definitively whether designer or drugstore brands reign supreme. Skin-colored makeup relies on too many factors to declare a winner, especially since you could potentially find your perfect lucifer and coverage level just nigh anywhere.

You lot may need to experiment with unlike products, remembering that the department shop isn't the only place to discover a good selection. If you're shopping designer, always ask for samples and then you can effort a product out in natural light before splurging.

Keep in heed that designer brands often have more than pigments, along with add-ins such as serums, light-reflectors, and sunscreen, which cheaper brands might non include. Information technology all depends on the benefits you're looking for in your foundation and concealer, and how much aid your peel needs.

You lot can pay anywhere from nigh $3 to more than $l for a range of foundations. A few I've tried and loved include east.l.f. Hard disk Lifting Concealer ($3), NYC Polish Peel Liquid Makeup ($3), Cover Daughter Avant-garde Radiant Age-Defying Liquid Makeup ($11), BareMinerals Mineral Foundation ($27), and Urban Decay Naked Skin Weightless Ultra Definition Liquid Makeup ($39).

half dozen. Nail Smoothen

Designer or Drugstore: Drugstore

Nail smooth is definitely the same beyond the board, especially when comparing meliorate drugstore brands – Sally Hansen and OPI – to department store brands such as Chanel. However, the difference might not be in your smash smooth, simply the quality of your top coat, since a good i tin seal your manicure and make just about whatever nail polish concluding longer. I always splurge on top glaze, which in turn makes all of my cheaper nail polishes concluding longer and appear shinier.

My best favorite top coat is Seche Vite, which is about $eight at my local beauty supply store. It dries fast and rock-hard, making all my boom polishes – both designer and drugstore – look amazing, and it protects them from fries and peeling too.

7. Eyeshadow and Eyeliners

Designer or Drugstore: Either

Eyeshadow, similar blush, has similar ingredients across the board, but designer brands might take premium versions of those ingredients. Drugstore eyeshadow can sometimes feel chalky and have less pigmentation, while designer brands might accept meliorate color payoff and smoother application, meaning you lot don't have to use as much production per wear. In the finish, I think a combination of designer neutral shades and drugstore trendy colors is best – yous get great coverage for everyday looks, but can notwithstanding spice things up without committing to a pricey palette.

As for eyeliners, I've had designer and drugstore brands, and as long equally they have a soft kohl tip they perform basically the same. You might pay for a improve applicator on a designer pencil, or a built-in pencil sharpener, then it's up to yous to make up one's mind if those benefits are worth the cost.

Still, I have noticed a divergence in liquid liners. Since I like a smoothen line and marker-like applicator, I splurge more than for designer brands that tend to offer better applicators so I don't take to fuss with creating the perfect line.

Eyeshadow palettes can cost yous from $3 to $fifty. My favorite palettes include Maybelline Centre Studio Colour Tattoo Foam Gel Shadow ($seven), Doc'southward Formula Broiled Drove Wet/Dry out Shadow ($8), and Urban Decay's Naked Palettes ($54). I employ the Naked for day-to-day neutrals, merely go for cheaper brands when purchasing colored shadows.

For eyeliner pencils, y'all can spend betwixt $1 to $30, depending on the brand. I've had first-class luck with the $i Wet n Wild Kohl Color Icon Eyeliner Pencil, as well every bit Starlooks Eye Pencil ($12). I splurge on my liquid liner, opting for LORAC'south Forepart of the Line Liquid Pro ($24).

The Truthful Toll and Value of Makeup

A expert way to decide the true value of makeup is to calculate its cost per ounce. For example, I was planning to purchase an eyebrow pencil for $21 – a good price. However, when I read the packaging, I realized the product merely weighed 0.003 ounces, bringing it to a price of $7,000 per ounce. According to current prices, this would brand the materials used in the countenance pencil most 7 times more valuable than an ounce of gold. Furthermore, unless y'all consider your eyebrow pencil to literally be worth its weight in gold, that'due south a bit steep. That little $21 pencil isn't such a bully deal after all.

Another factor that should go into deciding the true value of designer cosmetics is the cost per use. If you employ a good concealer once in the forenoon and once again as a bear upon-upwards in the belatedly afternoon, that's twice a day, every day. Assuming in that location are about 100 applications in each $30 tube, it costs you lot about $0.30 per use. If this is a cost yous can live with, y'all might exist more likely to splurge on a pricier production.

In contrast, say you get talked into an expensive blue eyeshadow by a section shop makeup artist. Yous purchase it for $25, simply only apply it four times before it ends up in the bottom of your makeup purse. That puts the price per article of clothing at $6.25, which is pretty hefty. Calculating this cost tin can give you a ameliorate idea of the value of a product and whether or not the added expense is worth the money.

Take it from someone who loves ownership makeup – it's hard not to get swept up by new products, pretty packaging, and make entreatment. However, taking a few minutes to run some calculations and estimate how much something is really worth can save y'all from making an expensive and unnecessary purchase.

Final Word

If you're a diehard fan of your favorite designer blush, that increases the product'southward worth to you. Still, just considering you purchased something at a section shop counter doesn't automatically get in superior to something yous could purchase at a drugstore. You might merely be paying for the pretty packaging when a drugstore gull would work just also. Ultimately, comparing ingredients and doing a bit of research into the true cost per ounce could help yous save major beauty budget bucks.

Do you lot use department store makeup, or are yous a drugstore beauty queen?