I decided to give myself a little challenge. I really haven't been impressed with a lot of the recent makeup collections the mid to high-end brands have been releasing so I decided to see if I could fill the void by trying some of the "super low-end" brands that are out there. You know, the ones that don't exactly qualify as drugstore makeup and cost about a dollar? Well, this proved to be quite the test because they've honestly never appealed to me, but I was determined to step outside my comfort zone and at least try something from one of these brands. I did cheat with the purchase of a few drugstore items (Wet n' Wild), however, I am proud that I stuck within my budget of ONE DOLLAR per item.
First up is L.A. Colors, which is a brand that can be found at various beauty supply stores and dollar discount stores. They had various eyeshadow palettes and nail polishes and such, but they didn't look too hot. So I ended up picking this trio called Sunflower because of the colors (umm... do you see the taupe?).
The shadows were very soft. In fact, they were so soft that they were "crumbly" as you can see in the swatches. The pigmentation was pretty good, though. Was it worth the dollar? Well, I have yet to wear Sunflower, but just based on looks I think a dollar is fair. But not a penny more.
Next up is e.l.f. (eyes lips face) Cosmetics, which can be found at Target. Now I know that there are legions of women that sing their praises, but I was never convinced enough to try anything from the brand. I stayed away from their face products (concealer, foundation, etc.) for fear of breaking out and just focused on their powder products. After perusing the shelves, I settled on these two shadows - Dusk and Aubergine.
These e.l.f. shadows were soft and a little crumbly as well, but the color payoff was very good; Dusk was especially high performing in that it gave opaque coverage in just one swipe. Were they worth one dollar each? A would say a solid "yes".
Unable (or perhaps unwilling) to find additional makeup items that seemed up to par, I found my way to my local drugstore and purchased some dollar items from "old faithful" Wet n' Wild. First, their eyeliners in Amethyst and Bronzed.
Wet n' Wild has really come a long way and their Color Icon eyeliners are AWESOME!! They go on smoothly and have excellent color payoff. And the color selection is great, too. Were they worth a dollar each? Absolutely, YES!
Now you already know from my taupe series that I love Nutty so it would only make sense that I purchase another one of their single shadows, this time a duo chrome called Penny.
Super buttery and packed with color, these shadows are superb. They are not crumbly or powdery in the least. So are they worth the dollar each price tag? Affirmative!
That's all the shopping I did, but I thought I would have some fun and show you some other cheapies that I have. These (above) were bought by my mother. She saw this off-brand in a drugstore one day and thought of me. Bless her heart...
It's a collection of eyeshadows and lip glosses surrounding by an orb of blush.
Needless to say, the powder products are pretty chalky and don't yield nearly enough color, except for some of the blushes which are just OK. I haven't even touched the lippies. Not sure how much this set was, but I'm hesitant to get rid of them since they were a gift from my mom.
And here's another one from - yes, you guessed it - my dear mom. This one is an eyeshadow/blush combo, but with the same mediocre payoff as the previous set.
And so ends my adventure to the other side of the cosmetic spectrum where the question of quantity versus quality comes into play. Lots of brands with lots of products to choose from at a price point that empowers you to buy more, but at the risk of playing Russian roulette with what's ultimately most important (at least to me) - quality. I think I did OK overall, though. And it was kinda fun to dibble and dabble in some brands that I would normally ignore. So, was the experience worth the dollar(s) spent? Yes, I do believe so.
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