I’m a college student. So, for me, I try to finesse on a budget. Frankly, I like expensive things so I splurge more on beauty, makeup, and skincare more than anything else. It’s an investment in myself so like I always say: TREAT YO SELF…but on a budget.

Makeup can get pretty expensive. I calculated my former makeup routine and it was well over $400. That includes some skincare but still…ya girl will go broke if she keeps spending this way.

I narrowed down my dupes and favorite products for a full face of makeup. This is for all the people who want to look great, have high-quality products, and still want to save!

These products can all be found at Ulta (not sponsored, I wish) or most drugstores. Where I live, drugstore makeup is pretty shitty because there are items that most stores don’t carry. Your safest bet is going to Ulta because they have great deals and you can find high-end and drugstore products.

Before I get into it I wanted to describe my makeup routine for those people that are newer to my blog. I don’t wear foundation every day. I actually haven’t bought the full size of the NARS Radiant Longwear Foundation because I am super lazy. I wear the shade “Vallauris – Medium 1.5 – medium with pink undertones”. I wear concealer, mascara, blush/highlight, and I do my brows. I set my makeup with a loose powder OR I just leave it as is. I focus more on skincare prep than anything. So I moisturize, moisturize, and moisturize.

If you have a good complexion and are comfortable with your pores, acne scars, etc to peek through all you really need is concealer + mascara + blush/highlight. THIS IS NOT FOR A FULL COVERAGE LOOK. I have a few essentials too that are skincare, eye products, etc.

General Tips: Makeup doesn’t need to be super expensive to look, perform, or work nicely. You can get a lot of beautiful makeup for under $15. Most of what I have listed is under $20. I think the most expensive thing is the Colorpop palette which is $16. Starting with a clean, healthy base is essential in every makeup routine. Also, if you want to learn more about a new product check out makeup gurus on Youtube. I have listed some of my favorites in this post! They test out popular, hyped products that come out and will give you the real tea on them. Tati Westbrook has so many videos on high quality drugstore makeup so be sure to look over there for makeup that I may not have listed.

Brushes: Brushes are a staple. A bad brush can really f*ck up a great product. If you like natural haired brushes, good for you. They don’t work for me and the maintenance on them is kind of annoying. I like synthetic brushes because they tend to be denser and they don’t absorb too much product. Morphe has really affordable brushes and bundles. All of the beauty gurus that I follow use Morphe and I didn’t realize how inexpensive it was. My favorite foundation brush is the Morphe M439. You stipple your foundation in then use your beauty sponge to set it into the skin and it works SO nicely. The brushes are available at Ulta or Morphe.com

I haven’t found a drugstore foundation that I am living for but if you know of any you love please comment below and also, how do you shade match in the drugstore?

For concealer, Makeup Revolutions $7 concealer is amazing!!! It is thick and full coverage. It doesn’t crease on me and I can expect it to last me the whole day. A little goes a long way and some beauty gurus argue that it’s a dupe for shape tape. Honestly, shape tape is not my most favorite concealer. There, I said it: it’s overhyped.

Mascara: The Lash Sensational line of mascaras is so good. I love the angled brush, it grips and separates each lash so well, and it coats it with even amounts of product. These do get clumpy if you use it a lot. Mascara is something I go through so often that I don’t spend too much money on. I always went for the roller lash mascara from Benefit.  You can also pick up Loreal’s Lash Paradise which is a dupe for the better than sex. I want to show you a comparison because you don’t need to spend lots of $$$ for makeup. Drugstore makeup works just as nice if not better

Blush: Flower Beauty has really nice blushes. My favorite is the flower pots powder blush in the shade sweet pea. It blends really nicely into the skin. Tap off the excess because you can pick up a lot of product at first. Then build it to your liking.

Highlight: MY FAVORITE CATEGORIE. I love me a good glow. I want people to be BLINDED by my highlight. I like to build my highlight, add it to my eyes, inner corner, cupids bow, everywhere. I prefer a rose gold highlight because it acts like a blush too. The Wet n Wild highlighter is so amazing. The shade Precious Petals is stunning on olive skin tones. I use it with a wet brush to intensify the glow and it works so beautifully. It’s also only $5!!! Another amazing one is the Master Chrome Highlights. You can use these wet but I use it dry since it is super intense.

Eyebrows: I have been using a dark brown eyeshadow to fill them in for a more natural brow. I don’t have super thin eyebrows so I just need to fill the tops in and make it more defined. I take a small detailing eyeshadow brush, dip it into any dark eyeshadow that matches the color, and then make hair-like strokes to fill them in. It’s super easy and I also hate the feeling of a waxy eyebrow. If you do like an eyebrow pencil, I do love the Brow Precise Micro Pencil. The tip is super tiny so you can make a more natural eyebrow shape with them.

Eyeshadow Palettes: I haven’t tried too many Colorpop products because I haven’t bought any new makeup but they have amazing products that blend so nicely. Their color arrangments make a lot of sense and this palette I have used every single color which IS RARE. My rule with eyeshadow palettes is: if I can’t see myself using 80% of the colors then I won’t buy it. The Double Entendre palette is amazing if you want neutral, warm tone shades. I use this everytime I apply eyeshadow. The colors are pigmented, they blend out beautifully, and they have STUNNING shimmer shades. The only problem is there is a lot of kickback in the palette itself but since the component is cardboard it’s not too bad. I will probably hit pan on this which is super rare for me. Also any of their Supershock shadows perform beautifully on the eye but the glitter is more chunky. THIS PALETTE IS SO BEAUTIFUL IF YOU NEED COLOR OR PINK IN YOUR LIFE. It’s $7!!!! My friend used this on me for spring break. Most of the shades in that palette are beautiful but some don’t show up. For 7 bucks, I cannot complain at all. This is SOOO beautiful for those peachy, pinky days.

Makeup is super fun and tends to be super pricey. Hopefully this helped you guys! Let me know in the comments what you love or want to try.

What’s a drugstore product I have to try?