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Budget Makeup Tips

Read these 3 Budget Makeup Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Make-Up tips and hundreds of other topics.

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Should I budget my makeup spending?

Should Makeup Have Budget, Cost of Makeup Over Time

Makeup is one of the most expensive essentials that women and men across the globe spend their hard earned money on every year. It is easy to rack up a sizeable bill over the course of a year with small purchases here and there over the course of months. It is important that users understand the basic costs of makeup over time and understand what to spend on and what to save on. The first thing to consider is foundations and concealers. It is incredibly important to test the formula, color, and wear before you purchase, that is why most brands offer a tester especially in department store settings. Understanding how a foundation looks, feels, and lasts is the best way to avoid buying three or four until you find the one that works best for you.

Going to a department store and buying a foundation that has been picked for you may cost a bit more at the outset but can help you save hundreds in the long run. In order to see this difference it is important to compare. Say you buy one department store foundation that has been picked especially for you, this will likely cost around $50 USD. Now say someone else buys a drug store brand that does not work and they have to continue to buy until they get one that is right. The average drugstore brand foundation is about $12 USD so after buying only four without considering taxes, they have already spent as much as a department store and they have a product that is not as useful or suited as the other. Products that cost a bit more also tend to have better ingredients that will last a bit longer than other brands.

The next category is eyeshadow. Now this is not a product that you should spend hundreds of dollars on every year as most formulas are similar and you are likely only paying for the celebrity endorsement and fancy packaging. While there are some subtle differences in product like the wear-ability and texture, most often the biggest difference in eyeshadow brands is the color pay off. That being said however you can get the most expensive shadow on the market and it may have less of a pay off than a drugstore brand. The goal of most people is to have as many different shadows as possible and the best way to do that is to buy one or two luxury shadows then use drugstore for everything else. You can make drugstore shadows last longer with a primer. One designer shadow can cost as much as $30 USD while the average drugstore shadow costs around $4.99 USD.

The last category is the everything else category, this can mean mascara, liner, lipstick, blush, etc. This is another category that you should shop from the drugstore for. Buying designer mascaras may seem like a great idea but in reality they last just as long as a drugstore brand and they are three times as expensive. When buying a mascara the brush is more important than the formula which means that you should pay attention to the shape, size, and length of the brush to decide which mascara is right for you. Depending on brand names for mascaras is a bad idea as you will end up getting an expensive product that is nearly identical to the cheaper drug store brand. A designer mascara usually costs around $30 USD while the average drugstore brand is only $6.99 and lasts just as long.

   
What items should get the largest part of my makeup budget?

What Products to Splurge or Save On

In the big wide world of cosmetics there are hundreds upon thousands of items to choose from and often times this choice can get incredibly confusing. When it comes to spending your hard earned money there are some products that are worth a bit more, and some that are not. Knowing which items to spend a bit more on is the best way to save money in the long run and get a great look. There are three categories of makeup, the first is foundation and skin. This is perhaps the most important area, which means that this is the area in which you should feel free to splurge. Buying a foundation that costs a bit more can make all the difference between a flawless finish that lasts and a breakout or skin drying that takes weeks to clear up. Spending a bit more money on things like foundation and concealer is the best thing that you can do for your skin and for your overall look. Because foundation generally goes all over the skin, you need to make sure that you find a gentle formula that does not irritate or break out your skin in order to make sure that it is wearable and comfortable. The same goes for concealer, anything that comes in direct contact with a large area of skin needs to be made of the finest ingredients to insure optimum wear-ability and gentle treatment of skin.
The next category is color, this can be blush, eyeshadow, contour, etc. These items can be a bit cheaper without hurting a thing. Items like eyeshadow and blush are used only for their color pay off. Because these items do not come in contact with a large area of the face they are less important in terms of quality. A good primer can make even a cheap eyeshadow last for hours and you can build up coverage and color quickly without worrying about weighing down the face or breaking out. The last category is lipsticks and lip color. Again, this is not the most important part of any makeup. You can choose to splurge or you can stick to $5.99 drugstore products that often have the same pay off. It is completely up to you how you spend you makeup budget but taking the time to understand what you are buying is the best way to use your money wisely.

   
Are budget friendly products cheap in quality?

Are Budget Products Cheap?

In the world of makeup there is most certainly a difference between cheap products and those that you may purchase on a budget. The differences are subtle and can be nearly impossible to spot but with a keen eye and a bit of extra attention you can pick out the good budget items from the trash that is cheap cosmetics. The first thing you want to look at is packaging. Often times cheap brands that use inexpensive ingredients or that are not at all good for your skin will use flashy packaging to detract from their sub par products. This tactic is the easiest way for these brands to draw in customers and get them to purchase these items without looking at the ingredients. It is always important to take a quick look at the ingredients and try to familiarize yourself with ingredients that are in more expensive brands and that work well with your skin.
The next thing to remember is that if something seems too good to be true, it most likely is. With cosmetics you are paying for three things, the ingredients, the packaging, and the endorsement. If you find an inexpensive brand that looks incredibly similar to a high cost brand except for the price, odds are that this brand is simply copying the ad campaigns and overall package design of the larger brand to dupe customers into buying the product. When purchasing cosmetics for far less than you think they should cost you should be aware that the product that you get will be reflected in the price. You should take the time to try out as many budget friendly brands as possible to find one that works. It may cost a little more to buy an item that is not cheap but it will save you money when you do not have to run out and buy another when the cheaper product does not work.

   
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Sherril Steele-Carlin