In this Instagram baddie world of botox and filler, we find ourselves wandering through the aisles of makeup and skincare in search of perfection. But what if we could find it in our local drugstore rather than spending our whole paycheck on three items from Sephora? Well if you want to feel pretty and thrifty, then your search begins and ends here with my comprehensive list of drugstore dupes for all things eyes and face that won’t break the bank.
When painting a masterpiece, it must start with a perfect base, which is why a good primer can upgrade you from just a mess to a slightly hotter mess. More so, if you’ve watched any Youtube tutorial you’ve heard about Tatcha and you’ve heard about E.L.F. Now in this instance, they are definitely sisters not twins, but, there are no ugly ducklings here with the E.L.F Poreless Putty Primer giving you the same blurred and smooth porcelain doll skin as Tatcha’s Silk Canvas. The main difference being that the E.L.F primer is the prettier penny at $8 versus Tatcha’s primer at $52.
Everyone wants to look like they simply wake up with perfect skin when really they are piling on fifteen different products to create one cohesive look. Is it magic or makeup? And here is where the term snatural is born (snatched + natural). It’s looking put together, whether you’re using only five products or fifteen, but, nonetheless creating a flawless, natural, effortlessly perfect canvas. In my opinion, the best route to achieve this look is through a satin finish foundation over a matte, especially in the cold seasons where a lot of people suffer from dryer skin. One of my favorites for years has been the L’Oreal Paris True Match Lumi Foundation. And for only $13 from the corner where happy meets healthy, a.k.a Walgreens, you can find perfect skin in this drugstore dupe for the amazing, yet expensive ($64) Girogio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation. Both are medium to full, buildable coverage, and they leave the skin looking radiant and youthful while covering any minor imperfections that make us human. Definitely a must buy and try!
Now if snatural is not your cup of tea and covering all your sins is your daily goal, then you have to snatch up this L’Oreal Infallible Full Wear Concealer. But here’s the real tea, it’s only $13 which is less than half the price of the cult favorite Tarte Shape Tape Concealer at $27. The Infallible Full Wear Concealer will cover your not so designer under eye bags and your unfortunate Rudolph the red nose pimple. In this instance, truly, a dab will do ya.
Even when it’s forty degrees outside and it’s been raining for three days straight, we still want the illusion of just got back from my tropical island bronzed glow. No matter if it serves as more of a mental escape from our dreary wintery reality cramming for finals, you deserve to feel good and look better, which is why you have to cop the Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer from the drugstore immediately. It’s the cheapest beach trip you’ll ever have at only $12 compared to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer at $52. It even smells like a Pina Colada! So close, yet so far away. Butter Bronzer is such a welcomed tease.
I would lie in court for this Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso, that’s how much I swear by it. I use this on my cheeks, of course, but also on my eyes for a quick and pretty look, but if I could bathe in or be buried with this I would. And when I say it looks good on everyone, it looks great on everyone. For my pale girls it works great as a radiant pop of color on the apples of the cheeks and for my dark girls, Luminoso swept over a deeper toned blush or used as a highlighter serves the ultimate glowy and hoey look. The fact that you could actually compete with Jennifer Lopez with this $10 blush versus a $42 blush; I mean what more could you ask for? You don’t, because we ain’t greedy, and this drugstore blush doesn’t leave us needy.
Highlighter is the icing on the cake of this no-cake face, and this $5 Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighter will have everyone eating out of your hand. You will break necks walking down the street with cheeks as poppin’ as yours when wearing this highlighter. You ain’t spending no coin with this drugstore dupe, you’re only making it. Wet n Wild said Becca who? We don’t need no $38 rich bitch here, only MegaGlo hoes.
With this $8 CoverGirl drugstore brow pencil, the full, feathery brow is truly easy and breezy to create. Its fine pointed tip and great shade selection is the perfect formula for the perfect brow. Whether you are a drag queen or a pencil skirt princess, you can still brow on a budget. Why spend $23 on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz when you can actually live in the Hills with all this money you’re saving?
For only $10, you’ll be feeling better than sex while laying in paradise. The L’Oreal Lash Paradise Mascara creates that fake lash effect, but what’s better than fake? Real! This mascara is the real deal and a real steal compared to the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, which is $23. Why spend so much on a product that you have to repurchase so often? And now you don’t have to thanks to the drugstore.
If Lil Mama made her iconic song “Lip Gloss” in 2019, E.L.F would definitely feature, and for only $3, you can leave your Kylie lip filler fantasies in the doctor’s office. We’re enjoying our drugstore shopping spree, pain and needle free. What’s great about a drugstore dupe is not only the price but also it’s accessibility whereas if you were to buy the Glossier alternative, you would have to wait for its arrival and pay $14 plus shipping. We ain’t poppin’ no bubble wrap, just gloss, for us please.
I know it may seem weird to include a foundation sponge in a drugstore dupe list, but how else are you going to apply all this beauty? What I love about a foundation sponge in general, but obviously the L’Oreal sponge is phenomenal, is that it can be used for so much more than foundation. I’m talking concealer, cream blush, cream bronzer, cream/liquid highlighter, and, surprisingly, setting powder. A sponge is truly the best and easiest tool to mold and blend all your hard work to create an even, flawless base. Don’t spend $20 on a Beauty Blender, especially when that’s more than the actual makeup you’re blending. Spend $8 and feel gr8.
OK, this may seem like another one of those common sense health articles, but with the harsh winter weather approaching, and layer…
Freshman orientation at the University of Louisville is a unique experience. It’s scary, exciting, and exhausting all at the same…
Are you wondering what to do when you're broke AF at The University of Texas at Austin? When living in…
When finals are over, everyone looks forward to the break that comes after the monstrosities. Winter break is one of…
Ah, college, what a time to be alive. A time to find out who you are, meet your best friends,…
Of course, the more common article college students read is the top 10 reasons someone should attend Berkeley, not drop…