The Beauty Files: beauty on a budget



Hi! I'm Kim from the blog and shop, Oh, Sweet Joy!. I live in colorful Colorado with my husband, and besides being a shop owner & blogger, I'm also a Personal Shopper for Anthropologie. I love DIY, handmade, fashion, and baking. I'm excited to share my beauty post with y'all today! It's nothing fancy, but hopefully I can save ya a few dolla dolla bills ((y'all))!

I've never been much of a make-up girl. Apart from using too much glitter in High School Cheerleading, I've always kept it pretty natural looking. In fact, I've used the same eye shadow since high school -- I've bought new ones, of course -- but the same colors.

There are a LOT of make-up products out there. It's overwhelming, especially for someone like me who doesn't really know the first thing about application. I want to preface, however, with this: things that you are putting DIRECTLY onto your face need to be a higher quality for your skin's sake. I'm talking base/foundation, powder, etc.  I promise the more you spend on this, the less you'll have stuff to cover up. I use "No Zit Sherlock" Skin Treatments and BareMinerals Makeup for primer, concealer**, foundation, bronzer, etc. That way, problem areas aren't having those extra yucky ingredients caked on them every day.

-I say, with the money I save on these items, 
I can afford to buy the more expensive and higher quality for my face-

HOWEVER, for the other parts of my limited makeup routine, I use "drug store beauty."This means, the items I use are really inexpensive and can be bought at Target, Walgreens, CVS, RiteAid, etc. Most of the time, I can stock up on all of them a couple times a year for under $25. Baller! Here's what I buy:


I buy brown eyeliner and mascara and I swear by this eyeshadow. I mean, obviously...I've been wearing it since 2002. Yowza. I don't wear eyeliner every day, so that's why I can go with the cheap stuff and be okay with it. As for the mascara, I think I'm just a creature of habit, as with the eyeshadow. It's the most expensive of my drug store beauty products, but I think it works wonders for my thin eyelashes! Here's the cost breakdown.

**Sometimes for major spots that need to be covered up, 
I use a cheapo concealer with great coverage before using BareMinerals.





SO tell us, what's your favorite drug store beauty product? 



7 comments:

  1. i buy those exact same products! they are the best! i especially love the mascara, ridiculously cheap. i loved this post. thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. almay liquid eyeliner for sure! I have worn it every day since I was about 15 years old. I don't think I could live with out it, and it costs about 7 bucks I think.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh my gosh, that shirt, necklace and blazer are genius together :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll have to try the BB lipgloss. I've only ever used their chapstick and love it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kim, we are makeup twins! I buy and wear all of those products! That mascara is my absolute favorite!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I always buy Alamay liquid eyeliner for around $7 and it works great! The best product I have discovered is clean & clear's oil absorbing sheets. They work way better than expensive ones at Sephora and are only around $5 at a drug store. They work great through out the day and don't ruin your make up.

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's not super cheap, but Almay Get Up & Grow mascara would be my favourite item from the drugstore. I have noticed a huge difference in my eyelashes since I started using it :)

    ReplyDelete