Last night I found myself at the mall exchanging a pair of jeans, and I initially felt a bit worried I would over indulge. Since I’ve put myself on a serious “money diet” since entering school, the luxuries of clothing and makeup hauls have taken a major back seat compared to what they had been prior to my entering school. I don’t have much time, but lucky for me, I can supplement my studies with the makeup artistry I do on the weekends – a passion of mine to say the least.

I did step in to Forever 21 just to browse, of course, and was instantly swayed by the oh-so-helpful sales associate to try out a lipgloss by the checkout stand – it was “only $1.88”, she informed me. Albeit reluctantly, I accepted the offer and bought the inexpensive lipgloss.

I suddenly realized that a lot of the time society places huge emphasis on the correlation between the quality of something and the price tag. I thought to myself, how often are we wrong in this assumption? How often are companies, specifically makeup brands, jacking up the price just because us women will buy it? As I walked away and smeared my new lipgloss on my lips and concluded that this number was probably pretty high, I was unexpectedly pleased. The brand is called Love & Beauty, and the product is High Shine. As a bit of a lipgloss snob, I’ll be the first to admit I did not expect to love this cheap gloss, but I do.

It mimic’s M.A.C.’s cake-like lipgloss and lipstick scents and has the thickness of Lancome’s Juicy Tubes which I’ve always been a huge fan of. It’s highly pigmented, and actually a lot more like a liquid lipstick than a lipgloss. The stuff is only slightly sticky, so you just have to be careful in how much you apply. For $1.88, it’s awesome, and I highly recommend it.

My point here is not to say that makeup shouldn’t be expensive and that high end brands are crooks, but to encourage you to give drugstore brands and after-thought checkout line products and discount stores a chance. I will forever and always spend good money on the majority of my makeup and my kit is probably worth more than I am (I have different favourites from different brands, many of which are listed in my second blog post: Bare Naked. The No Makeup Makeup Look (almost everything from M.A.C.; Benefit’s concealor, eyebrow pencil, and “They’re Real” mascara, Etc.; Urban Decay’s eyeshadow, Lacome’s lip glosses, etc. etc. etc), but I also have a list of favourite “drug store” brand items that I’ve been a fan of and hooked on for years:

Cover Girl Smoothers Pressed Powder in Translucent Medium

Loreal Voluminous mascara in Carbon Black

Gosh foundation (this isn’t a true “drug store” brand even though its sold at Shoppers Drug Mart, but it’s an affordable mid range price)

Maybelline Baby Lips tinted lip balm in Pink Punch (you will never see me leave the house without this product)

Give them a try (especially if you’re a student on a money diet) and leave your comments in the box below, I’d love to hear you’re favourite “drug store” brand makeup products!

To all my Canadian readers, I hope everyone has beautiful Thanksgiving weekend!

*T xo