MY Favorite Things – Drug Store Edition

We had another ice storm last night and when I walked out this morning, all the trees were coated in beautiful shiny ice making it look like crystal.  My car was also covered in snow, so I had to break into my car(?), I mean I had to break the ice to get into my car.  It wasn’t too bad though.  It melted quickly once I started the engine and broke easy.  Looking at those pretty ice made me think of glitters and glitters made me think of eye shadows and eye shadows made me think of make-up in general.  So I wanted to list my favorite things for this month concentrating on my make-up favorites.  Since I’m on a budget, I started using drug store brands.  Huh~ The horror!  I’m actually pleasantly surprised by some of the products and here are my surprise drug store finds.

1. Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Concealer by Maybelline – As I complained many times before, I have acne and acne scars that make my face look dirty and spotty.  So I usually focus using concealer for those acne marks to cover them up.  But I realized that my dark under eye circle was contributing quite a lot to my overall uneven tone.  So after reading some reviews online, I headed to buy this at a drugstore.   I’ve used drugstore make-up before, but not anything that’s for the face.  For some reason, I feel like it’s going to damage my skin and make me look cheap or something.  However, I’m glad I got this.  It really brightens my under eyes and that itself brightens my whole face.  You have to turn the tube to get the concealer come out of the spongy part, but the first time you use it you have to turn it many times.  I thought I bought a damaged one, but it eventually oozed out.  It’s easy to use and it doesn’t leave streak marks either.  It feels very smooth and you don’t really need much of it.  I also put a little on top of my nose and the center of my forehead to brighten it up and put a highlighter on top to add some shine.

2. Volume Express The Falsies Washable Mascara by Maybelline – I love mascara.  I think I love it more than black eye liner.  I think you can wear mascara without the eye liner, but I don’t think you can wear eye liner without the mascara.  Maybe it’s just my eyes that make it weird, but that’s just my make-up philosophy.  This particular mascara really gives volume and mass to your lashes and even though the brush is big, it’s still easy to apply.  It didn’t clunk up my lashes surprisingly.  I have oily skin and even oilier eyes, so it did smudge a little, but when I used a make-up setting spray right after I was done putting the make-up, that problem went away.

3. Rapid Clear Oil-Control Foaming Cleanser by Neutrogena – I know this is a cleanser, but cleansing is an important part of make-up routine.  I especially like this one, because it leaves me feeling like all the oil on my face has been sucked out.  It lathers pretty well and it does quite a job of removing make-up.  Though I find that you have to use eye make-up remover for mascara and black eye liner to be completely gone.

4. Daily Facial Cleanser by Cetaphil – I use the oil control foaming cleanser at night to lather it up to remove my make-up, but I use this one in the morning.  It’s gentle and doesn’t break me out.  Good cleanser to wake up a sensitive and very acne prone skin.

5. Super Lustrous Lipstick in Wild Orchid by Revlon – I’m not usually a lipstick wearer.  I feel like I’m channeling a clown when I’m wearing it.  I was always envious of people who can rock a red or hot pink lipstick.  They look so stylish and bold.  So I finally decided to try wearing lipstick in bold color.  But I didn’t want to spend $30.00 on something that I might not like.  So I went to a drug store and picked out a color from the cheapest lipstick brand.  On that day, this brand was on sale, so I picked it up.  I’m satisfied with my choice, because the color’s not too deep and it’s enough to bring nice color without overpowering everything else on my face.  It glides on smoothly and it doesn’t dry my lips out either.  I usually put a light color lip gloss on my lips and put this lipstick mostly toward the inside edge and blend the outside to have a gradual fading effect toward the lip lines, if that makes any sense.

6. Dream Bouncy Blush in Pink Frosting by Maybelline – Hmm.  This is my 3^rd Maybelline product on this list.  I guess the price point was good for me to try it and I ended up liking it.  I like the color, which is bright and pops without being too much.  It has a gel/balm texture and I didn’t like it in the beginning, because the top would be pushed out of the container, but once you get passed that point no hassle there.  I like pink tone for my blush, but I think I’m going to try a peach tone next time.

What are your favorite drug store make-up products?