I ♥ Drugstore!

I've been loving these videos on youtube lately so I'd give it a shot!

1. What is your favorite drugstore makeup brand?
I guess it's ELF because I own more ELF than any other brand. I've tried a pretty wide range of their products and there are so many things I love from them. Favorites are the studio blushes, essential lipsticks, studio high definition powder and makeup mist and set.

2. What are your favorite face, cheek and lip products?

Face- L'Oreal Lumi Foundation and ELF HD Powder
Cheek- ELF Studio Blushes
Lip- NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss

3. Least favorite product?
Rimmel pro primer. It just felt heavy on my face and broke me out (probably because my face was sweating from how heavy it feels). To add insult to injury, it didn't really do anything to improve how my makeup went on or it's staying power.

4. What is the best makeup bargain?
Probably the Wet N Wild Color Icon Eyeshadows. So inexpensive but the quality and pigmentation is on par with MAC and Urban Decay!

5. What is your favorite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)
The ELF essentials lipsticks. They're only $1, really creamy and pretty basic colors. For a beginner, it would be great to pick these up, even if all you want is some lippies to play with and experiment with what colors look best on you. Just a heads up, the packaging is definitely $1 and they are so soft they can be prone to breaking. This doesn't bother me as I don't carry lipsticks with me and I don't mind repairing a lippie.

 

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?
Physician's Formula. I only own one Physician's Formula product, I won it from their FB page and I'm meh on it. My roommate at college only used PF products and she looked like a hot mess at the end of the day. I'm sure they have some quality products but at that price, I'm going to upgrade to higher end brands with prettier packaging and fewer added fragrances.

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!
I'm not sure if these are exact dupes because I've never bothered to check. I've heard WnW Walking on Eggshells is similar to MAC Shroom, Mulch, and All That Glitters. I'm not big on makeup dupes, I really only care about nail polish dupes.

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?
EOS lipbalms. I've spoken about these before. They are so waxy. Everyone loves the cute packaging but it is pretty impractical, at least for me.

It was very fun to try to come up with these answers! I tag Sam to try it! I'm definitely going to look for other tags that might be fun to try blogging!

Project Pan

It's been a while but I'm back today to share my project pan with you. After Sam left I decided it was probably time to cut back on my shopping habits for a while, at least until we move. I've basically grown out of my current storage. I do have a new vanity waiting for me for when we move so I will re-evaluate once I get all set up at the new place. Another reason I'm cutting back is that I've never actually hit pan on a product. I almost never use anything up (besides mascara). To me, it's important that I appreciate the products that I have and get rid of things I don't want hanging around any more.

My rules are fairly simple. Items will be counted if I hit pan or use it up. I'm not completely banning myself from shopping but I'm not buying as much and trying to limit myself only to limited edition products. I put 5 items I'm really focusing on in this little basket that I keep on my vanity. Obviously everything in my stash is fair game but I'm really working on these 5 things. I don't really know how this project will end. It might be a number of products or a certain time frame, I just haven't gotten that far yet.

 These are three things I'm trying to use up. I've had this bottle of Neutrogena's Healthy Skin Enhancer for a long time. It's not really a tinted moisturizer as much as it's a light foundation. It has a slightly dewy finish, SPF 20 and it works well with dry skin. I also love airless pumps. But it can be difficult to work with and many days I struggle with it to keep it from looking slightly patchy. I probably won't repurchase this.
The EOS lipbalm is about half way, not including the wedges underneath. Lots of people love these but I don't really get it. It smells nice and the packaging is unique if not a little inconvenient. But it feels very waxy and it doesn't really hydrate my lips all that well. I'm ready for this to be out of my stash.
Maybelline's the Colossal mascara is probably my very favorite mascara! It makes my lashes look long and full and dark. But I have several other mascaras that need to be used up too so I'm working on getting this used up. It's very near the end of it's life.

Two products I'm just trying to hit pan on. ELF's Studio Blush in Tickled Pink is definitely one of my favorites. It's a little more peachy than what's showing up here. It works well with my skin tone and goes with almost everything. One of my things to do is layer it under a little bit of Benefit Hoola. It's the most natural way for me to look a little more sun-kissed.
I've had Maybelline Dream Matte Powder for as long as I have had the Neutrogena tinted moisturizer. It's a great powder. A little but not too much coverage, matte finish and it buffs into the skin really nicely. I've never found a foundation that this doesn't play nicely with.

So that's it! I'll update you periodically on this project. No hard and fast rules here, just trying to be appreciative of what I have. I love reading these types of posts so if you are working on one and blogged about it, let me know!