Are There Any Low End Products Worth Getting for a Makeup kit?

Jan 22, 2012

LeeAnn B.

So prom will shortly be around the corner and I already have 5 girls that want me to do their hair and makeup ( This is my first step towards free lancing yay!) I am curious as to what to include in a kit, I know there are things I will need to get high end but wanted to stay more on the low end side of things.

I know that prom makeup will need to photograph well, I remember how important those pictures were to my relatives lol, I was just wondering what I can get away with buying that works well on the lower cheaper side of things? Any suggestions?

Jan 22, 2012

Zoe C.

The things that I'd recommend getting from high ends brands are foundation/concealer, mascara and eyeliner. Drugstore brands SUCK for these, I have yet to be proved wrong on this. I have only found a few drugstore foundations and concealers that work for me but they're difficult to work with and do not photograph well.

e.l.f do an amazing HD powder which some people say is better than the MUFE one, and I love mine :)

If you haven't got much money to spend on a kit, I'd suggest multi tasker products. Brown mascara to fill in eyebrows, light lipsticks for highlights, peachy/pink lipsticks for blushers, and thick foundations to use as full coverage foundation and concealer (full coverage is good for prom too, lots of photos!)

Stay away from foundation with spf though, as these looks terrible in photos.

Good luck! :)

Jan 22, 2012

Samantha G.

milani makes the liquif'eye eyeliners that are incredibly pigmented and amazing. i would stock up on the $3 elf studio blushes as they're pretty dang pigmented. revlon, maybelline and l'oreal make amazing mascaras- i'd look into volumizing and lengthing mascaras, as well as maybelline's great lash (which is extremely natural). revlon just came out with the 16 hr colorstay eyesahdow quads that come in a good selection of colors and neutrals.

maybelline also just came out with the color tattoo 24 hr cream shadows- i would invest in all of the colors if you have the funds to do so. i'd take a peek into picking up some individual and half lashes with some duo lash adhesive. full strips of lashes will be a bit much for prom but half lashes are flirty and easy but not over the top. i'd look into nyx cosmetics as well. they make extremely pigmented make up- i'd snag blushes and eyeshadows, as well as their megashine glosses. they also have great lipsticks (round lipsticks) but i dont know if thats something to concern yourself with for high school girls.. though something to think about if you're going to be working with anyone who's finished up high school. revlon lip butters are a good choice as well- there's 20 colors i think so those would be great for your kit!

for high end, urban decay is probably the best brand to go with. they come out with amazing palettes that are always a bang for your buck- naked and naked 2 are amazing neutrals to keep in a kit but the 15th anniversary (for example) will give you neutrals and brights. for high end blush, i'd recommend going to mac if you don't mind. you can swatch and play in the store and get a feel for how colors will show up since there are so many different finishes.

so i would say nyx, maybelline, l'oreal and revlon are your best bet to save your wallet. when you get more into freelancing and are making a great turnover with it, then i'd start to slowly invest in high end make up but you definitely don't need high end make up for a professional look!

Jan 22, 2012

Faye F.

revelons foundation are beyond the best. max factor mascaras are so good. miss sporty eyeliners are amazing soso cheaptoo! elf blushes arent bad either

Jan 22, 2012

Zoe C.

I find maybelline and L'oreal to make clump o rama mascaras >_< I do like Max Factor mascaras though :) and go crazy at e.l.f (but check reviews first!) there are so many 'hit' products on the cheap! :D

Jan 22, 2012

Lori S.

I have done girls' makeup for many dances and used all drugstore products with the exception of eyeshadow. For the face I used loreal studio secrets primer (it's amazing), and revlon photo ready foundation (i hear they make a airbrush mousse now?), and girls have told me that they loved it. for blush I used physicians formula which doubled as a highlighter, lips i used revlon lipsticks, and for mascara i used either covergirl last blast or maybelline lash stilleto (both waterproof formula) and it lasted wonderfully and looked great! eyeliner is the thing i would go high-end on, and for eyeshadows i have the 180 color palette from BHcosmetics, it's inexpensive and you get just about EVERY color under the sun.
However it you are wanting to build up a real profesional kit, i would purchase some palettes from either BHcosmetics or Coastal Scents, both companies make eyeshadow, lip, and face palletes. If you are starting a free lancing career and are wanting to be professional about it, I suggest just trying for higher-end things. If girls are paying you for professional looking makeup, they'll expect you to use things that aren't in their own makeup bag. And I say that as a VERY frugal, i-can-find-anything-in-a-drugstor girl. But if you are trying to make this a professional career, spring for the higherend

Jan 22, 2012

Miss Manny S.

Honestly you could get away with using almost all drugstore products. Off the top of my head i can think of foundations, powders, mascaras, liquid and gel liners, blush, eye shadows, lip liners, lipsticks, and lip gloss that you can get from the drugstore that would do beautifully. A lot of the inexpensive brands are starting to step their game up and are really getting on par with high end brands.

Jan 22, 2012

Soma S.

Highlighter: Hard Candy baked blush in honeymoon $7 (MAC MSF dupe)
Foundation: Revlon PhotoReady
Contour: NYC Sunny
Blush: anything matte for photography is nice if you're already using a highlighter
Lipstick: Revlon or Covergirl
Eyeshadows: WnW or Revlon quads, OR the new Color Tattoo cream shadows
Brows: use matte eyeshadows to fill them in or a cheap brow pencil... WnW taupe.

Jan 22, 2012

LeeAnn B.

I feel concealer needs to be higher end and I may invest in higher end foundations as well, I have been learning the hard way about how terrible the SPF foundations look in pictures =[ I will definitely go for "multi-tasking" products since I don't have much to spend.

Although I was going to have them do a trial run and try out products and looks to see what they like so if they are happy with how the low end products look I may just stick with them. I do want free lancing to become a career for me and I plan on investing in high end makeup, I have been putting money aside for a kit as well as cosmetology school tuition =]

I already have the first Naked palette, MAC eyeshadows, and blushes I really just want to get the right foundation and concealer. What higher foundation and concealers that photograph well would you guys suggest I stock up on? Thank you for all of your help so far!

Jan 22, 2012

LeeAnn B.

I actually have some Coastal Scents eye shadows, I think I need to stop buying high end eye shadow and get high end face makeup.

Jan 22, 2012

LeeAnn B.

@ Soma- That's awesome because you listed so many products that I already have! =] OH What do you guys think about the NYX starter kits? Good idea or no?

Jan 23, 2012

Jeanine H.

I am CONSTANTLY reaching for my BH Cosmetics 120 color palette 2nd edition... It is my favorite ever for bright looks. For neutral looks, I have both Naked palettes in my kit. I also have a few MAC shadow palettes, but these are not cheap. About $185 for a 15 palette to be exact lol. I would agree with everyone else and say buy high end foundations and concealers. Mascaras aren't much of a fuss because you just need a good formulation. The brush doesn't matter because you will be using disposable wands anyway. I do like using higher end blushes but there are tons of cheap palette alternatives as well that you can use. Especially if you're just doing gigs like proms right now. Invest in MAC Mineralize Skinfinishes though! Oh, and if you're looking for great lipsticks/glosses for CHEAP, check out NYX cosmetics. Cherryculture.com sells all of their things for great prices and the colors are fantastic. They don't look cheap, either.

Jan 23, 2012

Stephanie M.

Maybelline Color Tattoo cream eyeshadow. that will last you all night with no primer! you can wear them alone or add other shadows to it! love them, they are like $5-$9 depending on where you go.

Jan 23, 2012

Barbie V.

You can definitely add low end cosmetics into a pro kit! But I did notice a lot of people recommending Revlon PhotoReady foundation and just a word of warning it is known to oxidize on some people and actually ends up getting DARKER after a few hours. I have heard of it happening to a few people and saw it happen to a friend of mine. So you want to look out for that. You are right, you should invest in higher end face products if possible. MAC face and body foundation is great! And if you want to go pro, do it the smart way... in my kit I have 4 face and body foundation, N1, N9, C1, C7 (I may have mixed up the 9 and 7 but the point is I keep the lightest and darkest shade in the pink undertone family and the lightest and darkest shade in the yellow undertone family.) From these 4 I can mix all the shades that MAC sells in between without having to buy them. Also it is a lot easier to carry. I personally like face and body because it is not too heavy but very versatile. If you want to turn into a full coverage foundation just mix in some concealer to thicken up the consistency. It's all about playing with mixing and finding shortcuts. Pro kits can get expensive. As for eye shadows, lip products, etc, you can deff snag some low end. NYX and coastal scents have great, super pigmented, cheap shadow palettes. Hope this helps, sorry it's so long!

Jan 23, 2012

Angela s.

If I had to recommend good drugstore products try:
NYC bronzer and mascaras
Maybellines color tattoo shadows
any Revlon lip products
Wet n' Wild shadows
And any NYX products
Hope this helps :)

Jan 23, 2012

Jasmin V.

Low end drug store products that are awesome.! [=
Foundation> Dream Matte Mousse, Color Stay by Maybelline
Mascara> Define a Lash by Maybelline & Lash Blast by Cover Girl
Eyeshadow> Revlon, Physicians Formula, Or NYX
Lipstick/Lipgloss> Revlon, NYX Or E.L.F (Studio)
Blush> LOVE the Milani Blushes.! Also, NYC & E.L.F
Eyeliner> Milani, (Bright Colors look great!) Or Maybelline

Hopefully this helped you out a bit [=

Jan 23, 2012

Soma S.

I'm no fan of premade starter kits because the brand may be well known for one particular product like eyeshadows, but their foundations can be crap. Many may make you think you're saving money for the amount of product you receive in return, but you could have had a smaller and more effective kit with products you are happier with that work better.

Not all kits are made equal though. The NYX kit is definitely no kit made by MAC or MUFE (of which I would invest in if I had a choice) but it depends on which products in the kit appear most beneficial to you.

Jan 24, 2012

Annalese H.

In my kit I use

Drugstore/Low End
Eclipse concealer pallete from Coastal Scents
BH 120 Eyeshadow palette
Rimmel Clean finish foundation
Rimmel Stay Matte Powder
Maybelline lash mascara
NYX lip liners
NYX lipsticks
NYX Sunny bronzer
False eyelashes in a 10 pack from Ebay

High End
MAC blushes
MAC MSF
Nars Primer
Nars Blushes
Cargo Bronzer
Nars Shadows
Mac eyeshadows
Urban Decay Naked Pallette

Jan 24, 2012

Tanziina G.

I would definitely recommend Sleek palettes, simply because the quality is amazing and its extremely travel-proof, which is always a bonus in make up kits. I've been annoyed so many times with shadows smashing, blushers usually come in better packaging but eyeshadow mess is the worst! And price wise, it is ridiculously cheap for the quality, around £6.

If you have time also, I'd also appreciate it if you took a look at my blog, you don't have to :)
http://makeupatoz.com/ 

Jan 24, 2012

Kristina K.

I'm a huge fan of Trish McEvoy makeup and brushes! However, there are times where I did not have time to get to the Trish counter, so I supplemented with drugstore/low end products. I've actually come to really like some of them! However, I ALWAYS use a drug store mascara: Maybelline's The Falsies Volum' Express (I prefer waterproof).
Here are the others:
L'Oreal True Match super-blendable make up liquid foundation (natural buff)
L'Oreal True Match super-blendable make up compact (natural buff)
L'Oreal Magic Perfecting Base Face Primer
NYX Jumbo pencils
Revlon Luxurious Color Smokey Crayon eyeliner
Maybelline Line Stilleto liquid eyeliner

Jan 25, 2012

Kimberly T.

I say go the coastal scents route! Get the 10 blush palette AND a few of the 88 palettes! These are great to have because they can work with multiple skin tones. Its easy to start racking up the money (and load!) trying to buy individual products, so get palettes that can serve many people! There is also the camoflauge palette from coastal scents (which i havent tried), that has multiple concealers! They look professional which is a plus! Coastal scents is ALWAYS running amazing deals so keep an eye out! :)

Jan 25, 2012

Kimberly T.

Ive heard kett foundation is THE BEST! I havent tried it but i want to! There are color additives you can utilize to match different skintones as well through kett.