What are 5 high end products worth adding to your collection?

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I recently moved out of my parents house, go to school (which tuition comes out of my own pocket) and teach preschool so I don't make a whole lot of money to be spending on high end products! I usually wait until the holiday season to get high end makeup since there are sets that are available with a variety of products to use at a decent price. Since I have been getting more and more into makeup I wanted to know what high end products are worth paying $$$ for and what are better to dupe for lower end products? I am assuming primers would be better to buy high end, any thoughts?

Oct 29, 2011

Samantha G.

hmm well some high end things i own that i use and feel are worth it are:
tarte clean slate primer, urban decay naked palette (which will undoubtedly be on close to everyone's response list here), mac's tenderling blush, urban decay's all nighter setting spray

it really depends what you like. i would go to sephora if you have one close by and swatch everything you like. some brands worth mentioning to check out are:
urban decay
tarte
smashbox
nars

there are some overhyped products that are dupe-able. i would check out the dupes before picking up the higher end product. a good example of that is make up for ever's hd finishing powder. elf sells one just like it for $6. you can do your research online (i know temptalia has a dupe list you can check out on temptalia.com for products)

if you're new to collecting, i would skip mac. i know others may not agree but i feel like mac isn't worth it when you're just starting out. it's rather pricey. instead, i would look into palettes or value sets. nars, urban decay, benefit, etc come out with value kits at sephora a lot. it's a nice way to try products for a fraction of the price. like i said though, swatch everything that you can. it makes a huge difference- if you're on the fence about a product, no number of reviews can change how that product will work for YOU.

now, there are a lot of lower end products that are just as good or better than high end brands. the elf powder instead of the mufe powder is a good example. i would look into really great quality make up at a lower price like nyx. they make high quality make up that's affordable. once you get more into make up, you'll know what works for you and what doesn't. i have oily skin and i know face products with shimmer/glitter/sheen look awful on me. i've found to know what i like and what i don't like as well just by looking at a product.

also, don't let popular opinion influence you to buy something you know you won't use. i would love to buy benefit's they're real mascara but i've found drugstore brand mascara that love-so why switch? my collection, as well as a lot of other people on beautylish i'm sure, is a massive mix of low & high end.

also, keep an eye out for codes & deals. sephora does a friends and family sale (i'm not sure how often) where you can save a bit of money. other sites may do similiar things. sites like urban decay for instance, also have clearance sections. you might be able to score a product for cheap but that also gives you an idea of the quality.

point systems & recycling programs are also a cool way to get new product you might be on the fence about. sephora has a points system for instance, and i know mac does the recycling program where you can bring back 6 empties to get a free lipstick.

i would recommend swatching and reviewing things though. high end impluse buys tend to end poorly!

whew i hope that helps haha

This was the most helpful reply I have gotten on here yet! I absolutely love elf and have a lot of their products in my collection. I was considering getting that naked palette since the reviews on it were amazing but then again there are dupes for that palette too! Thank you so much for the website I am going to start researching. And as for Mac, I always felt a bit overwhelmed when I walk in to Mac stores just because there is a lot of stuff and people trying to sell me everything! I have had some of their eye shadows in the past but none that blew me away. I have heard of the NYX brand but never really looked into them because I assumed they were also pricy. I am definitely following you! thank you so much for your help!

Oct 30, 2011

Soma S.

To add onto Samantha's response:

It also depends on what your price range opinion is when you're referring to "high end". I think holiday sets are great, and
MUFE has a train case of full sized products worth $600 for only $350... You can use your sephora ff discount on that too to save more. I purchased the one from last year and I used everything in it!

Also, a Clarisonic is another great item. I would get the Mia... Since I have the pro, Ive never used any of the fancy speed options... So I think a Mia Is more than enough.

I love MUFE primers (one is included in the holiday set I mentioned, full sized) and I do think they're better with high end. Lipsticks, lip liners and eyeshadows can be duped easily... Along with blushes.

Oct 30, 2011

Samantha G.

soma's right!

she also makes a good point about the clarisonic if you're really into skincare. olay sells a cleansing system like it for $30 (which is what i have), and is good to pick up if you're unsure you'll like a cleansing system. i might shell out the money for a clarisonic someday but i don't know

Oct 30, 2011

Samantha G.

oh and you're welcome! lol

Mkay, I love varity so I could never buy a kit full of one brand when so many brands have so much to offer (this is just me thinking out loud). I spend too much time in beauty stores so here are some things that are in stores now and are cool (in my opinion)
Stila Natural Eye Palette $39.00 - same colors as UD naked palette but the colors are more pigmented, larger (better to fit your eyeshadow brush head) and it comes with a water proof eye liner which can run you $18 bucks by itself.

Urban Decay Primer Potion Duo $19 - I usually don't like the packaging of this particular primer but when you're getting two for the price of one I'd say run don't walk to your nearest UD dealer (yes, I'm a junkie...makeup stores are dealers to me)

LORAC Jewel Compact $34.00 - You get three full sized eye shadow quads for the cost of one.

CARGO Must Have Collection $15.00 - in this kit you get a full sized cargo gloss which is $14 buy itself. You also get a full sized black high pigmented eyeliner, a sample sized beach blush, and a sample sized mascara for s little as 4 more quaters than the cost of the gloss.

NYX pigments $2.99 - You will never use all the amount of pigment in the MAC and MUFE jars. NYX is a good size, good pigment, and for the price point you have room to choose a few.

Tarte Clay Pot Gel Liner $22 - I mention this cream liner because you also get a full sized eye liner brush which could run you 22 by itself.

Stila also has a lip gloss collection set out that I think it 24(?) bucks and I think it come with 6 glosses...smashbox also has one for a decent price.

I know of three brands that have a waterproof pencil eyeliner collection (CARGO, PUR Minerals, & LORAC) all under $25 I believe and with all you get about 4 full sized pencils.

Play with Grab and Go's as well, you can get MUFE HD powder for $15 at the G&G, smashbox primer, Cargo essential eye palette for 8 or 12 bucks. There are amazing deals all around...just got to keep your eyes open to them.

Also, I'm going to try to do my monthly buy reviews each month to go over great deals and if my purchases were hits or misses you might want to check those out...I have september's up on my page and Octobers is coming soon. Hope that helps!!!

Oh, by the way, to have more options. As a person who has the clarisonic and the DDF Revolve...if you are balling on a budget I would say get the revolve. If you weren't balling on a budget I would say get the Revolve. It not only cleanes the skin (better than the clarisonic) [being faster than the clarisonic] it also comes with a dermabrasion brush head and scrub for $98 bucks...it has both speeds like the full sized clarisonic ($198) and is invented by dermatologist...not dental hygenist. Most doctors recommend the revolve (how I heard about it)
Now stay with me...if you are really on a budget...get the Olay facial cleansing revolving brush and then purchase the DDF revolve replacement brush heads and srub. Since OLAY copied DDF's Revolve the brush heads fit thus, you can still get the cleasing and dermabrasion abilities for a fraction of the cost. 

Oct 30, 2011

Catey P.

I'm working on a college student budget, too, and doing you've got the right idea to do research first. For myself, I decided to only let myself buy ONE new makeup product every month. This makes me really think about it and do some research to pick the product that I'd really use.

I know that a lot of youtube gurus do "Product Smack-downs" or whatever each one calls it. They compare a high-end product with a dupe in-depth and you can see how they actually perform.

For me, I would always go with a drugstore mascara, I just don't think there's much of a difference for those.

I love the Stila liquid eyeliner, but N.Y.C. makes a really good one that's just not as waterproof for a fraction of the price.

N.Y.C. also makes some really pigmented eyeshadows (I just bought a yellow-orange duo that's crazy pigmented). Covergirl eyeshadows are generally pretty high quality, too- I use the Coffee Shop quad every day. For eyeshadow, I would think about the colors you would actually use and research around for a really good one in just a few colors at first.

I just got some NYX jumbo eye pencils and they're really pigmented and cheap, but really smudge-y.

Keep an eye on Hautelook, too, sometimes they have really amazing deals. You just have to check in on them and wait for products that you really want.

Good luck!

Angel- Thank you for your reply! I am definitely going to do what you suggested about getting the Olay facial cleansing revolving brush and buying the DDF replacement heads! Also, thank you for mentioning all of the kits, I too like variety and how the sets included other products that were expensive when bought individually! I will definitely check out your monthly buy reveiws!

Catey- NYC eyeshadows have been my go to's for a while! I have some sephora, tarte, and mac eyeshadows as well and find that some of the shades really do work as well as wet n wild, NYC, Rimmel do! Is Hautelook a website? I will definitley check that out too! I have realized that you can dupe eyeshadow, blush, and eyeliner but I know primers and foundations are harder to dupe and since I haven't been a huge fan of Revlon colorstay I have given up on the idea of there even being a good dupe foundation! Unless anyone has recommendations?? lol Thank you all so much for your responses this has definitely been helpful and influencing my christmas wishlist! =D

Oct 31, 2011

Branka P.

I agree that a high end foundation should be on your list of 5 products.

Also, it is a good idea to try various ones before you decide to splurge on one. Try researching foundations on the internet and narrowing your choice to a few (3-5) depending on your skin type, the coverage and finish you want and then go to a counter and ask for samples. I think it's important to try each one several times before deciding on the one you think works best for you. 

Nov 1, 2011

Savannah B.

The things I happily splurge on are MAC blushes, UD Naked Palette, Diorshow Maximizer Lash Plumping Serum, and NARS blushes :)

Oct 23, 2017

Sunny Y.

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LeeAnn B.

Bay Area, California