At almost every convenient store, drug store, and malls or outlets, there are products to be tried and makeup to be bought. With all of the options we have, it can become overwhelming trying to find the products that paint our face the way we like it. Should we spend $100 and only leave with two products? Or should we spend that same $100, but have a whole face of makeup?
Each time we open up a social media platform, like Instagram or TikTok, we are faced with beauty influencers giving us their recent recommendations. These recommendations are often products found at Sephora or Ulta from higher end brands. Seeing the way these products work for others mesmerizes us, and next thing we know, we have a full basket of products that are sold for at least $30 each. Name brands that everyone recognizes has a special way of drawing us in and draining our pockets.
High-end makeup is popular for a reason–we can trust that these brands have our best interest in mind and will make our faces as snatched as possible. The price-tag makes us believe that because we are paying a pretty penny, these products are magic. Most of the time, they do work very well, and our faces find the perfect contour, the most beautiful rosy cheeks, and a highlighter that blinds every person who walks by us. Brands such as Tarte, Nars, Hourglass, and so many more, have made a splash in the beauty world despite the high cost of almost every product they sell. Not only do the influencers love them, but most consumers tend to prefer these more expensive, well-known brands.
Though we all want to have the bougiest makeup bag we could own, just because the price tag is high, does not always translate into high quality. Actually, many high-end products share almost identical ingredients as those found at the drug store. Examples of these products include the Urban Decay All-Nighter setting spray (high-end) and Skindinavia The Makeup Finishing Spray (drugstore) and Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finishing Powder (high-end) and MCoBeauty Miracle Flawless Pressed Powder (drugstore). The functional ingredients for these products are exactly the same, the main difference between the products is primarily the packaging and brand name itself.
The similarities between these products is due to the fact that many luxury brands are owned by mass-market conglomerates, and are owned by the same parent companies as the drugstore brands. L’Oreal is a major one, and they own many of the luxury brands we all know and love, such as Lancome, Giorgio Armani Beauty, and Urban Decay. L’Oreal products themselves are sold at the drugstore, and replicate many of these higher-end makeup products–everything but the price tag.
Makeup shopping does not need to mean draining our bank accounts. It should be a peaceful, exciting experience, and as affordable as we can make it be. Sephora and Ulta, as glamorous as they may seem, are not the only options when our makeup products run out–CVS and Walgreens can become our newest best friends. Not only do our faces still love the drugstore, but our pockets appreciate it the most.
