The Best Recession-Friendly Drugstore Beauty Buys

Best eyeshadow-Wet N’ Wild Ultimate Expressions (trademark) eyeshadow palette.  I believe it’s under five bucks, and with it, you get eight different shades.  So far it only comes in 3 different varieties: one in brownish tones which is my favorite, one in purplish tones and one in bluish tones.  My guess is, they will come out with more colors.  All of the compliments I have gotten on my makeup happen when I’m wearing this in “Sand Castle”.  Plus, it did almost no damage to my wallet.  The dark colors are also highly pigmented, which you usually only see in the most expensive of eyeshadows.

  (picture courtesy of buzzillions.com)

Best eyeliner- Generally, I prefer the eyeliners that are self-sharpening, so they are twisted up like lipsticks instead of sharpened with a sharpener.  Bonne Bell eye stlye precise liner is perfect for a cheap eyeliner that does its job and doesn’t wear off.  If you want something even longer-lasting, then go for Revlon Colorstay eyeliner, which is a little more expensive, but only by a few dollars.

(picture courtesy of amazon.com)

Best mascara- The trouble with mascara is that they all claim to do the same thing (make your eyelashes longer and more voluminous) yet most of them don’t even come close.  However, Revlon’s Voluminous Mascara does the job right.  It is not as “clean” as some of the other mascaras, meaning it is possible to get some clumping.  But it’s not Tammy Faye Baker clumping, it’s just that the more volumizing a mascara is, the more clumping you will get.  I’d still recommend it.  And it’s only 7 bucks!

(picture courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Powder Foundation- I only use powder foundation these days, and I’ve really fallen for Physician’s Formula Mineral Wear Talc-Free Loose Powder.  But here’s a tip: don’t use the brush it comes with.  It can deposit too much powder on your face.  Instead, get a different brush with more fine hairs in it.  This foundation doesn’t come in many different shades, but that’s okay because it works with your skin tone when you put it on, as long as you are in the basic ballpark.

Best Liquid Foundation- This one is a tie.  Because I don’t use liquid foundation, I don’t have a strong preference for either of these, but from my past experience, I’d say that Almay’s Clear Complexion Makeup and L’Oreal Infallible Liquid Makeup are the best.  It depends on what is important to you.  Almay’s Clear Complexion can help banish pimples, while L’Oreal Infallible is great for preventing and covering wrinkles, plus it has SPF 15 in it.  Take your pick.  They’re both worth it.

(photos courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Blush/bronzer- I have been using Neutrogena Healthy Skin Blends for years and it has never failed me.  It comes in several shades.  I have used the pink shade for blush and the tan shade for bronzer, and they work well together.  It won’t break the bank, and it will look natural on your face.  Once again, like the powder makeup, I suggest using a brush that will be a little softer on your skin.  This brush is a little too small and can deliver unnatural-looking results sometimes.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best SPF moisturizer- I was surprised to figure out that Garnier was making a moisturizer, but I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it. It has SPF 15 which prevents premature aging, and there is another anti-sun damage moisturizer that repairs sun damage.  (I’d recommend the first for younger women and the second for older.)  Because I tend to like to be tan, I will mix this in with some of my favorite self-tanning moisturizer.  It smells delicious too, but I can’t describe exactly what the smell is.  Plus, there is something kind of happy about that bright green bottle.  It’s also under $15.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Facial Self-Tanner- L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise Sublime Bronze Dual Action Instant Bronzer and Self-Tanning Lotion for the Face.  Yes, a long name.  And difficult to find these days.  But it works wonders.  A lot of self-tanners for the face either don’t work, or they wash off in the shower.  Not this one. And it isn’t so dark that the effects are irreversible.  It’s silky and not too heavy on your face. The only problem is that it does have that “self tanner” sweet smell that gets a little nauseating, but it goes away after it is absorbed into the skin.  And once again, under $15.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Body Self-Tanner- From the same line as the facial self tanner I recommended comes L’Oreal Dermo-Expertise Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Gelee.  It’s only 9 bucks, and unlike self-tanning lotion, it absorbs very quickly.  It’s sort of a tinted gel with Vitamin E oil and other nutrients for your skin.  It softens your skin, and I think I’d use it even if I wasn’t trying to get tan.  It’s also readily available in most stores.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Volumizing Hair Line- I was surprised to find out that one of the best volumizing shampoo and conditioner combos would be one of the cheapest.  It’s Schwarzkopf’s Thicker Fuller Hair line.  Not only does it have a weightless conditioner and revitalizing and moisturizing shampoos, but it also has a thickening serum that works great with a blowdryer, and hairspray with caffiene that makes your hair as voluminous as you want.  (sometimes too big!)  Although my hair isn’t super thin (it’s about medium thickness) I like to make it super think when I go out at night.  This line is perfect for just that, and it works almost immediately.  You don’t need to use it every day to get fantastic results. Plus, when I get the shampoo, it only cost about 4 bucks.  Runner up?  Nexxus Diametress.  However, it’s more expensive.

(picture courtesy of greatnewstuff.com (http://www.greatnewstuff.com/images/celluplex.jpg)

Best Damage-Repairing Hair Line- People can hate on Pantene all they want, but Pantene Time Renewal and Breakage Defense hair lines are amazing.  The deep conditioner is fabulous for making damaged, color-treated hair look like healthy virgin hair.  I dye my hair a lot and I run into a problems quite a bit with split ends and hair breakage.  Although Pantene does have silicones in it, those are necessary to coat the hair and prevent breakage.  If you want a natural shampoo, this may not be for you, but if you are willing to deal with some chemicals for beautiful hair, then go for it.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Color-Treated Hair Line- Everyone loves John Frieda’s color-treated hair line.  My cousin used to use it and her brown hair (although not color-treated) was long and beautiful.  She used Brilliant Brunette volumizing shampoo.  The good thing about John Frieda’s color-specific line is that it works for natural and color-treated hair and there are different kinds of shampoos, from volumizing to moisturizing, to highlight-activating.  Usually I find that shampoos and conditioners for specific hair colors only take care of the color, but not of thinness or dryness.  These shampoos do it all.  But here’s a warning: don’t bother with the color glazes in these lines.  They don’t do much for your hair, they stain your hands in the shower (and sometimes your body if it drips) and they kind of dry out your hair.  But definitely use the shampoos and conditioners.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best leave-in conditioner- Without a doubt, the best leave-in conditioner is Infusium-23’s (repair)ologie and (moistur)ologie.  Both of these leave-ins are light (so they don’t make your hair feel greasy), they smell fine, and they are not too expensive.  I got both for $2.99 each!  They make my hair feel fabulous.  I will probably use these for the rest of my life, or as long as they are on the market.  They get rave reviews everywhere and I would definitely recommend.  One way to aid these leave-ins is to go to bed with satin cap in your hair (they are sold in the ethnic hair care section) and it “traps” the moisture and prevents your hair from getting tangled.  You will look like Strawberry Shortcake, but at least nobody will see. (probably not the best thing if your boyfriend lives with you, thoguh)

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Body Wash- undoubtedly, Dove’s Go Fresh line is amazing.  They come in many refreshing scents, and they make your skin feel clean and moisturized at the same time.  There isn’t much else to say.  My favorite is “nectarine and white ginger.”  I got thirsty just smelling it in the shower.  Best part is, these body washes also come in exfoliating soap bars, deodorants and body sprays.

Best Exfoliator- Neutrogena’s Sugar Scrub.  It smells like lemon cake, and I love to use it right before shaving my legs.  It leaves them really smooth and silky, and then after I shave, it feels even nicer.  It’s just your average price for a drugstore exfoliator, but I think it works like a more expensive product.  However, only use this if you like products that leave you feeling very moisturized.  I could see how some people would argue that it left them feeling “greasy”.

Best Deodorant- I have been using Dove “powder fresh” deodorant for years.  It somehow manages to not show up on black clothes (at least not so much) and the powder texture is a lot better than the sticky feeling of some gel deodorants.  The fragrance is also so light that it won’t combat your perfume or lotion.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Natural Hair Care Line- Some people don’t like using hair care products with any sort of parabens or sulfates.  Understandable.  So if you have a strong issue with that, you should go for the Organix line, which is natural, but not in that hippie-cheap-doesn’t-work sort of way.  It also comes in twelve different scents (get ready): nourishing coconut milk, healing mandarin olive oil, hydrating teatree mint, smoothing shea butter, soft and silky vanilla silk, reviving white tea grapeseed, awakening mocha espresso, enriching cucumber yogurt, revitalizing pomegranate green tea, fortifying lavender soymilk, moisturizing grapefruit mango butter, and energizing passionfruit guava.  However, not all of these lines are available everywhere.  The shea butter, vanilla silk and coconut milk can be seen in most drugstores, but other newer scents like lavender soymilk and grapefruit mango butter haven’t been seen as often.  My guess is, once time has gone by there will be more of these on the shelves.  Not only do they come with shampoos and conditioners, but some of the scents also have their own hot oils, leave-in conditioners, and shine serums.  The Organix line has also won countless awards from women’s magazines.  I personally have tried the coconut milk line and loved it.

(photo courtesy of freebies4mom.com)

Best Kids’ Shampoo- As a little girl, I had waist-long straight hair and I needed something to keep it clean.  I used L’Oreal Kids shampoo.  Specifically, I used a L’Oreal Kids shampoo hair that had a really awesome scent that I still remember (something with almond and cherry and I posted it above).  However, it’s been quite a while since then, at least ten years, and that shampoo has been discontinued, I think.  In its place are some great new scents that kids will love: strawberry smoothie, blueberry smoothie, volumizing (no scent specified), orange mango smoothie, soothie smoothie (sounds cute but I have no idea what it means) and an extra-gentle sport shampoo.  All of these also are 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner together.  They are tear-free, which means if kids get some bubbles in their eyes, it might hurt a little but it won’t cause a huge issue, and the bottles are cute and colorful.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)

Best Lipstick- Okay, there are some ties here because it’s hard to tell what a person wants in a given lipstick.  So I’m going to talk about three different kinds: moisturizing, mineral, and volumizing.  As for moisturizing, Maybelline’s Moisture Extreme lipstick is the best.  I have it in about five or six different shades and I love it. It doesn’t feel too heavy and it smells nice too.  (It comes in a little red case as you can see in the picture above).  If you want a more natural lipstick with minerals in it, go for Maybelline Mineral Pigments lipcolor, which come in fewer shades than Moisture Extreme.  I have two of these and I love both of them.  After a while it doesn’t feel like you are wearing lipstick at all, and it is sheer enough that a dark color won’t make you look odd if you are pale. (same with a light color if you are dark).  If you want a lip color that will plump up your lips a little, try Covergirl’s Incredifull lipcolor. It comes in a decent range of shades.  Although it isn’t as plumping as most lip-plumping glosses (which we’ll get to later), it slides on lightly and I’ve noticed it always looks good for the most part.  All of these lipsticks are under $10.  Covergirl’s Incredifull is a little more than the other two, but still under 10.

(photos courtesy of amazon.com, and the last one courtesy of covergirl.com)

Best Lipgloss- There is also a bit of a tie with this because lip glosses are all very different from each other.  One of my favorites is Covergirl’s Wetslicks Fruit Sprizers.  They are small bottles of very sheer fruity lip gloss that FINALLY doesn’t “stick”.  So you could probably kiss while wearing it and not have it stick all over your boyfriend’s face. Plus, they all smell and taste great.  There are also other kinds of Wetslick lipgloss that are just as good.  Some are flavored like mint, or have sparkles.  You can find a great variety at your regular CVS or Rite Aid.  For a little plumping action (but unfortunately not the same totally non-sticky feeling, you can go for Maybelline Volume XL Seduction Lip Plumper (terrible name, good product).  It doesn’t plump your lips up to an extreme amount, but it does a little bit and it looks nice and shiny.

(photos courtesy of amazon.com)

Best drugstore hair dye- That would have to be Revlon Colorsilk.  It only costs between 3-5 bucks per box, and it gives professional-looking results with no ammonia.  Even though there is no ammonia, it is still able to lift hair color to a light shade if used correctly (When I used to bring my medium-dark brown hair to blonde, I would use Revlon Colorsilk Ultra Light Natural Blonde #04).  Although the shades sometimes start out darker than intended, that could be said for any hair color, even one done at a salon.  Don’t bother going to a salon, just go to the drugstore.

(photo courtesy of amazon.com)