Hello everyone!
Welcome back to part two of this little series, click here if you missed part one or need a recap. Today’s post is all about comparing drugstore and high end eye makeup products that I’ve tried. Please note I’m no professional and everything is from my personal experience. I will only be comparing products that I have tried. If you have any suggestions or enquiries, please leave a comment below 🙂
Now let’s get into this post!
Eyeshadow palettes:
Chi Chi Taupes Palette vs. Tarte Tartlette Tease Palette
The Chi Chi palette has been discontinued hence the missing link. This was fairly affordable and had a good range of colours, though I barely touched the blues/pink/purples in it. The other shadows in the range were pretty good too, it’s ashamed to see that they no longer stock them because I remember seeing them all the time when I was in high school. I posted about this palette on my blog a while ago, click here to read it.
It retailed for $19.95 from Target.
This is a pretty nifty palette, I like to take it when I go travelling. It comes with a mirror and has 6 shadows. It’s one of the smaller Tarte palettes and isn’t too badly priced. They’ve raised the price by a few dollars since I acquired it. The shades are fairly pigmented, though I don’t touch the paler shades as much. I mainly use the middle column’s shades.
This retails for $29 at Sephora.
I think it’s a tie. They’re both good in their own ways and have pretty usable colours (minus the odd colour here and there that I wouldn’t normally wear). They’re both fairly affordable as well, despite the Tarte one being a high end brand/product.
Pencil eyeliner:
W7 Automatic Eyeliner Pencil vs Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Eye Crayon
The description says it all. I used this when I was first getting in to makeup and man I was so excited to try it out only to have it fail on me. I used it on my water line one time and it left me with panda eyes at the end of the night (I wore it for 2-3? hours maybe). It had completely smudged and it was terrible. Another time I used it for a wing and it was kind of stiff? I didn’t glide on as smoothly as I would’ve liked which made my wing look blunt.
This retails for $4.99 from Chemist Warehouse.
I love the sleek packaging of this, it’s just so luxe. I also used it on my waterline and it didn’t smudge at all yay! However, I did find it to be quite hard to remove. The formula of the crayon is good and easy to use but I’m not the biggest fan of pencil liners anyways.
This retails for $36 from Sephora.
Hm…as I said, I’m not the biggest fan of pencil liners so there isn’t really a clear winner as I had troubles with both. I haven’t used many gel liners so I can’t exactly comment on which is the best. I’ve heard good things about the Maybelline, Revlon and Urban Decay ones though, so if you’re into pencil liners give them a go!
Liquid liner:
Maybelline Hyper Sharp Eyeliner vs Stila Stay All Day Eye Liner
Let me start off by saying that I’ve used my fair share of eyeliners. It’s a staple in my makeup collection. I first got the Hyper Sharp a few years ago and fell in love instantly. It was super easy to use and it was affordable (it has gone up a bit since I first bought it though). I like that you can change the thickness by rotating the pen as well. It has pretty good staying power in a typical day’s wear too. I’ve purchased this a few times in my life and the last couple of times I was pretty disappointed in the quality. It tried out within 2-3 months and I’ve always kept the lid on and stored the liner tip down. Not sure if they’ve changed the formula but it just hasn’t been the same as when I first used it.
It retails for $17.95 from Priceline.
The tip of this is a bit different to the Hyper Sharp, it’s more like a pen. It’s also easy to use and does have pretty good staying power. This also dried out after a short period of time which was pretty disappointing. I was so excited to try this after hearing all the raving reviews.
It retails for $36 from Mecca.
The winner is….neither! They were both good but I wouldn’t purchase them again. I reckon the best eye liner hands down are the ones by Miniso. They are about $4+ and amazing. They’ve got a few different tips (felt tips, brush etc.) and the pigment is really good. It stays on well and some of their liners come with built in brow pencils or a stamp on the other side.
Mascara:
Maybelline Lash Sensational vs Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Mascara
I still remember going into Woolies to buy this after school because it was half price and I wasn’t ready to pay $22 for a drugstore mascara haha. I had heard so many good things about it and I finally bit the bullet. I had tried other Maybelline mascaras before and I had recommendations from friends about Maybelline mascaras as well. The packaging is very nice and I love the wand. It’s thicker on one side and thinner on the other. Also I swear I am the only one who had noticed this but it smells like chocolate! So good and even better when it’s half price!
It retails for $21.95 from Priceline.
At first I wasn’t the biggest fan of this because it picked up a lot of product with each application, but over time it started to grow on me. I really liked how it made my lashes look naturally longer and darker. I wiped the excess product off and it applied like a dream. I like the wand as well, it’s a bit ‘fuller’ than the Maybelline one.
It retails for $21 (6g) and $39 (9g) from Sephora.
So hard to choose a winner here because I really like both, so it’s a tie! They are both great and I recommend both! I recommend getting the Maybelline one when it’s half price though and trying out the smaller sized Marc Jacobs one if you’re not ready to commit to the full size. The smaller one and the Maybelline one are about the same price anyways.
Brows:
Essence Make Me Brow Mascara vs Benefit Gimme Brow+ Brow Gel
I’ve repurchased this a few times and it’s pretty good for the price. The brush is the perfect size and it can be used alone (for lazy days) or used on top to set brows. It has tiny fibres in it as well which is meant to mimic real hairs and give your brows a full look. This is so affordable as well and you can’t go wrong!
It retails for $5 from Priceline.
I’ve originally tried the Gimme Brow, but that’s been discontinued and brought back with a different formula as the ‘Gimme Brow+’ which I haven’t tried but will compare for the sake of this as I haven’t used many high end brow products. The wand on this was smaller and I found that it wasn’t as good as the Essence one. I found that the formula of the Essence one was a lot better and gave my brows a fuller look, compared to the Benefit one.
It retails for $23 (mini) and $42 (full size).
The winner here is drugstore! I know so many people swear by Benefit’s brow products (I haven’t tried heaps so I can’t comment on it), but I found that the Gimme Brow didn’t do it for me. I much prefer the Essence one and for the price, it’s legit unbeatable!
High end scores – 0
Drugstore scores – 1
Ties – 2
When it comes to some eye products, I find that it’s a pretty close call given two ties. With eyeshadow palettes, I think some of the drugstore ones are pretty good! I know there are a few that are a miss because of the quality, but most of them aren’t too bad. With pencil liners, I’m not the biggest fan of them so I’m going to keep avoiding them haha. With liquid liners I think they’re pretty much the same! I believe high end liquid liners have more shades though, like colourful ones. Mascara is another thing where I think they’re pretty similar, there’s a wide variety of different wands and formulas in both so I’m sure everyone is able to find something that’s fit for them. And lastly the brows…there are some really good drugstore brow products out there and they just keep bringing out more new amazing ones as well!
That’s all I have for this weeks post, stay tuned for the final installment – part three where it’s all about the lip products!
With love,
VQP. usu BEAUTY