How to Find Inexpensive, Good Quality Makeup

Makeup can work wonders for any face, but not everyone is able to spend huge amounts for every moisturizer, powder compact, lipstick and other beauty products that is sold in today's market. Everyone sure wants all those brands advertised on television; MAC or Bobbi Brown to name a few. Though if you're a good shopper, you're bound to find quality makeup at a cheaper price.

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   Getting started. Look through fashion magazines, and online reviews for low cost cosmetics. This is your first and best step to finding makeup. Online you will find hundreds of helpful reviews from beginners, to professionals. But as always, don’t believe everything you read. You’ll never really know until you try it yourself.
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   Find a Look. It can be overwhelming walking into a cosmetic department with so many options out there. So to help combat that, stat by deciding on the look or products you are going for. Take a look through magazines, cosmetic websites, and other image and info resources. Take into consideration your complexion, eye color, and hair color. Search out looks that are similar to those, to help prevent the confusion of color choice.
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   Try it before you buy it. Just because it claims to be the best of the best, or look amazing in the bottle doesn’t mean it is. It’s always a good idea to test the product out before you buy it. See if it's possible to try the cosmetics on beforehand. Another important thing is the return policy. Some places won’t take it back if it’s used, and some will. Ask a few questions about returns, so you aren’t stuck with something that’s just going to collect dust.
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   Where to find it. Drugstores are going to have the largest selection of inexpensive cosmetics. It is possible to find high quality products nearly equal to department store brands, at a lower cost. In fact some of the drugstore brands are owned by the same companies that are sold in high end department stores. This don't always mean it is the same quality, but there are a lot of hidden gems if you take a good look. But don’t be fooled, department stores, or beauty specialty stores sometimes have a great low cost brand, or low cost house brand. You can find low cost makeup online as well, but this gets tricky. You can’t see the exact color, or try it out
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   How to test quality. There are a few tricks of the trade to test the quality of the cosmetic.The first trick is testing the pay off. What this means is testing the quality of the pigment. Low cost cosmetics can contain fillers, which dull the intensity and effect the performance. To test, simply take the product, and swipe a little on your finger, then onto your skin. The color of the shadow or blush should not be sheer or washed out unless that is the intended nature of the product. The color should come out fairly true to how it looks in the package. Shadows will come out more vibrant under a primer, so do take that into good consideration. It needs something to catch onto, and very dry skin isn’t a good surface to test on. The same trick applies to foundation, concealer, eyeliner, and other creamy product. Apply a small amount on your skin and test the feeling of the texture. It should not feel heavy or greasy. It should blend easily onto the skin, and appear to “melt” into the skin if it a foundation related product. Eyeliner should glide easily along the skin, not pull. Rub to see how it smears and moves. You do not want anything that will smudge too easily as it will run very quickly and fade off. As mentioned before, these products should have a good pay off. There is no point in getting it if you have to pack it on for coverage. Lipsticks and glosses should be done with the same sort of test as the creams. How sheer or opaque the colour is depends on the intent of the product. What to look for is the texture and staying power. It should not be too greasy, sticky or dry. These will cause undesirable results. A lip liner or stain will help with the staying power of the lip products. The same rules apply to these are the other lip products.