Looking good can honestly be expensive. If any of you are like me and aren't working this summer because you're doing unpaid internships, taking summer classes, or traveling (I'm jealous of you for this one), you know that whenever you tell you're friends that you're broke, you ACTUALLY mean it. And since it's the summer and we can finally wear our newly-bought summer clothes, I know that we all want that glowy, gorgeous summer look for casual days out with your friends or dates with your significant other. Just the other day I ran out of my favorite Nars foundation and Becca highlight.
I used to LIVE in Sephora when I still was making money, but with this income-less summer, I had to find inexpensive makeup dupes that'll perform just as good or better than the high-end brands. Here they are:
Concealing and Color Correcting: LA Girl, $9.78
Concealing and Color Correcting during the summer are a MUST, especially since we're still recovering from the dark circles and popped pimples that left scars that arose because of finals. I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos about this brand and I finally got to see it in action the other day. The LA Girl Concealers and Color Correctors are AMAZING!!! They have great colors (orange, yellow, green, and lavender for the color correctors) and a variety of tints for the concealers that will perfectly match any shade and undertone.
Foundation: CoverGirl TruBlend Matte Foundation, $8.07
Foundation is always a struggle for everyone. Sometimes they oxidize and end up being darker than you intended, or sometimes you misjudge your skin and the foundation ends up looking so much lighter than expected. Sometimes you get super tan over the summer, which is why having a cheap summer shade is SO important. Covergirl's TruBlend Matte Foundation is AMAZING and an amazing dupe for even the most expensive matte foundations. My friend actually used it and got a great color that matched her skin perfectly and what's even better: there was ZERO TRANSFER. THAT'S RIGHT!!!! NONE. It's definitely not full coverage though, but it's a nice medium/light coverage foundation for those "no makeup, makeup days".
Another foundation that I heard was extremely good but haven't had the chance to use yet is NYX's Total Control Drop Foundation. Another one of my friends actually uses this and she swears by it! And I think it matches her natural skin tone pretty well too! From what I've heard, even though these foundations are matte, it doesn't leave the skin too dry. Also, I was pretty satisfied with the shade selection, too.
Setting Powder: Milani Making It Last Powder, $11
www.milanicosmetics.com
I'm so glad that I FINALLY started using Milani products! I always saw them in Walmart when I went down the makeup section but I was always too bougie to buy it because the Laura Mercier Setting Powder had my whole heart. But now . . . I'm cheating on it with my side chick, Milani.
Anyway, I love this setting powder A LOT. The one thing I hate about some other powders if the flashback effect, but I've never experienced this with the Milani Loose Powder AT ALL. Plus, I'll just throw on some more whenever I get a little oily after a little while and it makes my makeup look like I just freshly put it on.
Eyeliner: Wet n Wild Liquid Eyeliner, $5.95
Eyeliner: I'm a die-hard Stila Eyeliner fan because the tip is AMAZING, but I've also been using Wet n Wild's eyeliner for a while now. Not to be confused with the H2O Resistant one . . . that one is absolutely terrible. I mean just their regular basic liquid eyeliner, nothing too fancy. The reason why I hate the H2O Resistant one is that even though yeah, it's basically waterproof, it was TERRIBLE to take off and the transfer was even more terrible. But the regular liquid eyeliner is absolutely amazing. I love how beautifully the felt tip draws and it's very pigmented. And whether you're a thin liner or a thick liner person (like me), Wet n Wild is GREAT for both.
Mascara: Maybelline Great Lash Washable Mascara, $8.88
I'm always having trouble finding a good mascara. So many times there's disgusting transfer that ends up on the top of my lids and it's not a cute look, okay? But when finding a good mascara, you gotta go back to the basics, am I right? I used this Mascara back when I was in the 7th grade and was experimenting with makeup for the first time, but I forgot about how GOOD this product was. It doesn't leave my lashes clumpy, they don't stick together, and the volume is great. I highly recommend this mascara to anyone, especially on days when you don't want to wear big, fake lashes. This mascara is perfect for anyone.
Eyebrows: Maybelline Tattoo Studio Brow Gel, $9.25
Listen, I'm an Anastasia girl all the way. Dip brows, powder, brow wiz, you name it, I have all of them and the ones I use depends on the day. But what I like about Maybelline's Brow Gel is that it's a TINT and it's a "tattoo" gel. That means you put it on your brows, let them dry, and it fills in all of the sparse spots that we all so desperately try to fill in with our high-end products. What's even better about Maybelline's Brow Gel is that it actually can last 2-3 days and it's waterproof. That means no more runny eyebrows when you go to the beach or the pool. So every time you do your nighttime or morning time routine and wash your face, you can look back up into the mirror with full, gorgeous brows.
Lip: NYX Lip Lingerie, $4.89
Another high-end product that I love is Kat Von D's everlasting liquid lipstick in the color Lolita II. BUT, two summers ago, I actually found these NYX Lip Lingerie liquid lipsticks that work just as well as Kat Von D's. They have a cute design, they don't make your lips chapped, and they literally last ALL DAY. YES ALL DAY. Even after eating the double cheeseburger from the dining hall or kissing up on your significant other in the movie theaters (do people still do that?), best believe that your lips will STILL look as good as lingerie.
Eyeshadow: Morphe Palette, $24
I don't use eyeshadow so I had to get advice from my little sister on this one, aha, thanks Mina! But anyway, she fell in love with Morphe when she got it as a Christmas gift last year. Apparently, the eyeshadows are VERY pigmented and there's a LOT of different colors and types of palettes so you can do any type of look, from natural to dramatic. And I admit, it does look pretty good, maybe even better than the more expensive palettes out there (i.e. the Naked palettes). And when I looked online, they ranged from $15 to about $30, which isn't bad considering how many colors come in each palette AND since they're so pigmented, you don't have to use at much! So yes, you're money is going to go a LONG way.
Highlighting and Contouring: Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder, $9.74
OKAY I HAD TO SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST. For contouring, you can literally just use an eyeshadow palette (i.e. the Morphe one that I mentioned above) and that works pretty well, according to Mina.
BUT HIGHLIGHTING. SIS, OKAY!!! I'm so happy that I found this because literally a month ago. My Becca Highlight in Champagne Pop FELL ON MY DORM FLOOR AND SHATTERED so I've literally been using the scraps until it finally ran out. And I was going to an event with my boyfriend the week after, so I was in desperate need of a good, cheap highlight. So I bought Wet n Wild's MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in the color, Precious Petals and IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN CHAMPAGNE POP. I WAS GLOWING. AND FOR ONLY FOUR DOLLARS??? Wet n Wild did NOT COME TO PLAY.
Total Cost: $91.56
That's a REALLY good price for all of those products, especially since I remember buying a whole bunch of products from Sephora (foundation, eyebrow pencils, eyeliner, mascara, etc) and the total literally came out to over $150. So for about 40% off, you're getting all of these amazing products that are just as (if not, better!) than a lot of the high-end products Sephora sells. At this point, I'm not sure if I'll ever step foot in Sephora ever again.
Please note that prices are accurate and items in stock as of the time of publication. As an Amazon Associate, Odyssey may earn a portion of qualifying sales.
