Drugstore Makeup Starter Kit

Hey everyone! This is going to be my first official blog post - very exciting! For this blog I want to include a range of fashion, beauty and lifestyle posts, and with my main passion being makeup I thought what better way to start than to create an affordable makeup starter kit. If you are new to makeup or just want some recommendations for some new products out there, I hope you will find this useful. I'm going to cover everything from your primer base to your brows so you will have everything you need to start your makeup kit. 

Primer

There are two drugstore primers that I would recommend. These are the Benefit the POREfessional and MUA Skin Define Matte Perfect Primer. The Benefit POREfessional retails at £24.50 ($35.76 US) which is on the higher end of drugstore prices, but I would definitely say it is worth every penny. This primer is a creamy, almost moussy consistency which blends really well over the skin. It makes your makeup apply really well and lasts all day. I wouldn't say that it's the best product out there for minimising pores as I don't really notice the difference, but it's an all around brilliant primer that is definitely worth adding to your collection. 

The second primer is the MUA Skin Define Matte Perfect Primer and is a hidden gem! I would never have considered looking at MUA for a really good skin primer and am so glad that I found this. It retails at only £5.00 ($7.30 US) and is probably one of the best primers I have ever tried. It contains Vitamin E and Jojoba which are both incredible for your skin. It is a clear gel-like formula and a little goes a long way with this product. It blends perfectly on the skin and has a really good shine control system in it which means I can go the whole day without having my makeup melting off my face - which is a bonus! It keeps face oils under control so if you have combination to oily skin then you are going to love this. 

Foundation

Rimmel's Match Perfection foundation is probably one of my favourite drugstore foundations. This foundation retails at £7.99 ($11.66 US). It has great medium buildable coverage and blends out really well on the skin. Rimmel have recently improved the formula of this foundation giving it 24 hour moisture hydration and a pore blurring effect which you really can see! The foundation has SPF 20 which is great for the summer months and saves you having to apply a separate face sun block. If anyone is wondering, I am in the shade 200 soft beige. I would say, however, that Rimmel could do with putting some lighter foundations in their range with a yellow undertone. I always have this problem, as my skin is quite pale in the colder months but I still have a very olive/yellow undertone to it, due to my Mediterranean roots. The shade soft beige is the lightest colour in the range that has a yellow undertone so can look a bit dark on me, but this can be fixed with a lighter concealer over top. Overall, the foundation itself is really good and long-lasting and gives a nice natural finish to the skin. 

Another foundation that I really recommend is the Clinique Even Better makeup which retails at £25.00 ($36.48 US). This foundation is again a really good option for anyone looking to achieve a natural yet medium coverage look. It is created specifically for dry combination to combination oily skin and also contains an SPF of 15, which is always nice. This foundation does take a little bit more effort to blend into the skin but once it has, looks beautiful and very natural. One thing I'm not so sure on with this foundation is the scent. It claims to be 100% fragrance free but still somehow ends up having some sort of chemically, plastic scent. If you can look past this, you are getting a really nice foundation that is long-lasting so I would still recommend it. Clinique's products are known to be really good for your skin so if you are particularly acne-prone I would definitely consider Clinique foundations. 

Concealer

I have two favourite concealers, one for the face and one for under the eyes. The Collection Lasting Perfection concealer is perfect for an all round concealer. It is super high coverage, lasts up to 16 hours and the best part is the price. It retails for only £4.19 ($6.11 US) which is absolutely incredible for a concealer this good. It blends out really easily and can literally cover any spot or blemish in the world. Definitely recommend! The second concealer I want to mention is the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer. It retails at £5.99 ($8.74 US). This is actually a 2 in 1 product with a highlighter incorporated in it as well, which is perfect for brightening under the eyes. It is also surprisingly high coverage and really long lasting, which is why I absolutely love it! The concealer comes with a brush on the end for easy application so you just squeeze the tube and the product comes through the brush. I am in the shade 010 Ivory, which is a couple of shades lighter than my foundation so it's perfect for giving your under eyes a beautiful highlight.  

Powder

The number one powder that I will always recommend to anybody who asks, is the Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder. It is super affordable, retailing at only £3.99 ($5.82 US). I use it in the shade 001 Transparent, but there are many shades in the range to suit most complexions. This powder is just so amazing. It states on the back that it lasts up to 5 hours but I would actually say that it can last around 6 or 7 instead. It minimises oily skin building up throughout the day and sets your makeup perfectly without looking cakey or drying. Definite must-have!

Bronzer

The bronzer I would recommend for a drugstore makeup starter kit is the Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder. This bronzer retails for £7.99 ($11.66 US) which is not too bad for the quality. I think this one is perfect as an all around great bronzer as it doesn't have too much shimmer so can be used to lightly contour as well as an overall bronzed glow to the face. It's also not too orange so doesn't make the face look unnatural. The best thing about this bronzer is the fact that it literally smells like chocolate! So good! 

Blusher

This was probably the category that I found the hardest to pick a product for because I absolutely love blush and have way too many favourites. I was thinking that I need to find a blush that is affordable yet is really high quality and has great pigmention. Then I found Sleek. They have such an amazing collection of blushers in their range and the colours are just absolutely beautiful and incredibly pigmented. Also, they only retail for £4.99 ($7.28 US) which is just amazing. My favourite colours in the range are rose gold (pictured below) and suede, which is a much more natural colour perfect for everyday wear. Other brands that I will give a quick mention to for great blushers are Bourjois, who do a really lovely cream blush, and Rimmel. 

Brows

My number one brow product has quickly become the Maybelline Brow Drama sculpting brow mascara.  It retails for only £4.99 ($7.28 US) which is insane for a brow product this good. It is so useful as it tints your eyebrows in a very natural way, brushes them, and keeps them in shape for the entire day. I am in the shade dark brown which is the best colour for my brows. The wand is the perfect size and has a kind of ball shape that you can see below that glides through your brows perfectly. 

Eyeshadow Palette

This was again a really hard category to try and pick just one palette for but I finally found it. The Soap and Glory 'The Perfect Ten' Limited Edition ten-shade palette is a super underrated eyeshadow palette that I think should get more recognition. It retails for £16.00 ($23.35 US) which is fairly affordable for a palette this size, however it is only available as part of their Christmas range. It features 10 beautiful shades that blend really well and are fairly pigmented too. The palette features 8 shimmer shades and 2 matte shades and all the colours are warm toned. It is the perfect palette for anyone who is looking for a great natural everyday palette with a lot of neutral shades that can be worn day or night. My favourite shades from the palette are 'copper' which is a lovely bronze shimmery shade, and 'toasty' which is matte and is perfect for a transition shade in the crease.

Eyeliner

The best drugstore eyeliner hands down has to be the Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen. It retails at £6.99 ($10.20 US). It is super pigmented and jet black so looks amazing for the perfect cat eye. The pen is the perfect thickness and tapers off to a really thin point at the end so you can create a variety of eyeliner looks. Also, the eyeliner is completely smudge-proof, so although can be a pain trying to take off, means that it lasts a really long time and looks perfect at the end of a busy day. 

Mascara

This is my holy grail mascara so please just go and purchase it regardless! It is the Benefit Roller Lash and it is hands down the greatest mascara out there. It retails for £19.50 ($28.46 US) so it isn't the cheapest one out there but it is definitely worth it and I am 100% going to be repurchasing it. The wand is what makes this so incredible. It is curved and flexible so actually curls your lashes and lengthens them at the same time. Also the formula is amazing and doesn't transfer at all onto your upper lid or under eye area which is so great and means I don't have to finish the day looking like a tired panda. Please go and try this one, you'll love it! 

Lipstick

This is again a really hard category to pick for because there are so many great lipsticks out there but the brand that doesn't fail to impress me time and time again is Rimmel. My favourite range in particular is their Kate Moss collection which comes in standard and matte shades. The lipsticks typically retail at £5.49 ($8.01 US) which is amazing for a lipstick of this quality. The colour range is amazing with every shade being incredibly pigmented, long-lasting and smudge-proof. My favourite shades are 108, 103 and 110. Shade 103 is pictured below and is the perfect everyday colour with subtle berry tones running through it. These lipsticks are marketed to last for up to 8 hours, which I wouldn't quite agree with on an average day if you are eating and drinking etc. but I would definitely still consider them long-lasting. If you are looking for affordable lipsticks, I would definitely turn to Rimmel as they have a large collection with shades suited for every skin complexion. 

Okay, so there we have it! Everything you need to start your own makeup kit and also some good recommendations if you are looking for any new products to try out. Hope you liked it :)

Seda x