The Ultimate Holy Grail | The Best of Drugstore Makeup

Hey my lovelies, I hope you're all well. So today we're going to be talking all about drugstore products, yes, it is time for the ultimate, the holy grail, the best of the best drugstore products ever! 

*DISCLAIMER*

I seem to be doing a lot of disclaimer's in my posts lately, but either way, these products may not be any of you guys' holy grail products but they're mine and I wanted to share them with you. So let's get started. 

Now as we all know I'm a true drugstore girl at heart. I don't have much high end makeup, mainly because I don't want to pay £30+ for a setting powder when I can get one in the drugstore that does exactly the same job for under £5! And with that, it brings us to our first product. 

Of course it's the royalty that is Rimmel London's Stay Matte powder. As you can see from my current one, it's extremely well loved. I feel like every single person who uses setting powder, they always have at least one from the drugstore and it's this bad boy. I have used this powder for god knows how many years now. It sets my foundation and concealer, it bakes my face for my contour, I use the shade transparent which is the perfect colour for my skin with and without makeup on, I use this to cover my redness and control my natural oils on a day when I'm not wearing any makeup, it keeps my face matte for the majority of the day, and most importantly, it does the job it is supposed to do and it does it well. 

Another star in our line up is of course Collection's Lasting Perfection concealer. This is the best concealer to ever exist in the drugstore and I know so many people will back me up with that. I am telling you, no other drugstore and maybe concealer in general will beat this for me. I've been using it since I first started out with makeup when I was like 12/13 years old. That's a good 6/7 years and if that doesn't tell you how incredible it is, I don't know what will. It covers, it brightens, it lasts all day long, everything you want in a concealer. 

Maybelline Dream BB Fresh is the one product I go back to every spring/summer. Now although it may not be a product with high coverage as a priority. What it does do is, it makes my skin feel fresh. It feels like I am putting water on my face because of how light and cooling the product itself is. In the spring and summer, especially when it's hot, there's nothing worse than having a full coated base of makeup that will more than likely be sweating off the minute you step outside into the sun. It claims to blur imperfections, visibly smooths, adjusts to your skin tone, creates a natural looking glow, helps protect your skin with SPF 30, it feels fresh, hydrates all day, and has no oil. And in my opinion, everything it claims to do, it does. If it didn't work for the summer season, I wouldn't go back to it every year. 

This next one isn't a makeup product, but it is a makeup tool that has become an essential over the past few years in many women's makeup routines including mine. That is of course, Beauty Blenders, the ones we have here are the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion sponge and the Primark Beauty sponge. I love both of these sponges, I've used a lot of the Primark beauty sponges as they're so cheap that you can purchase new ones whenever they go a bit disgusting and there's just no point cleaning them anymore. Recently in a lot of YouTuber's videos I've seen people kind of bad mouthing the Primark one. But to be honest, for less than £2 you can't expect anything amazing. Yes the Primark version is physically more dense than the Real Techniques version. Also the Real Techniques version soaks up the product a bit better than the Primark version. But all it means is you shouldn't be stabbing yourself in the face with a sponge if you know it's pretty solid. Personally for me, I don't mind either, soft or dense. At the end of the day, they both do exactly the same job and work for me. 

This is by far my oldest and longest running highlighter to this day. A lot of my other ones I love for a while and go off but MUA's Undress Your Skin highlighter in Pink Shimmer is one I always go back to. It can give me a subtle sheen or I can be a glowing goddess with a little bit of build up. As you can see it is extremely well loved and I have had this for a good 3 going on 4 years which means it is well over due to get a new one. 

Another reason I always go back to it is because of the colour. As you can see from the swatch on my hand its this beautiful pink iridescent shimmer which works well on my skin as I have pink undertones so any product that's pink or has pink tones running through it is right up my street (not to mention pink is my favourite colour). 

In the range now they do a lot of different shades. They do still do Pink Shimmer, as well as Iridescent Gold, Opalescent Amber, and  Radiant Cashmere. So they have created a good selection for different skin tones and preferences. I personally want to try them all as they all look so pretty and if Pink Shimmer is already in my favourites, the other's are bound to be just as stunning. 

Now I know what you're all thinking, "Katie, this isn't a 'makeup' product" and you're right, it's not. However, it's still a beauty product so I decided to add it in anyway. It's of course Soap and Glory Hand Food. Now I remember when everyone was raving about Soap and Glory, especially this product. I didn't see the hype when it first came out I wasn't too bothered. But then I tried this and oh my god I got addicted. I absolutely loved it and hadn't tried another hand cream like it and still to this very day it is my favourite hand cream of all time. 

I usually buy the mini size, partly because it is cheaper (£2.50 isn't gonna break the bank!) and obviously because it's portable and doesn't take up much room in my handbag. Plus, it 100% does what it says on the bottle. It is non-greasy which is fabulous as there is nothing I hate more than when you've put hand cream on and then whenever you try to pick something up it's just slipping out your hands. This stuff means if my hands are feeling dry, I can massage it in and within a minute my hands are just soft and I can go back to getting on with whatever I was doing just like that. Also, one thing I do notice, is the smaller bottles are only 50ml but that 50ml goes a long way. I only have to put a small amount on and that will cover the whole surface area of both my hands. This one I'm showing you today has lasted me since Christmas of last year and is still going strong right now. 

In my opinion it is the best hand cream ever, nothing else I have tried has come close to this yet. If you're gonna buy anything from Soap and Glory I urge you to get this. 

Right, we're moving onto lip products. I've tried a lot of different lip balms, lip sticks, lip liners, lip crayons, lip stains, lip pens etc. So when it comes to drugstore lipsticks I think I'm pretty solid in my critiques and recommendations. So obviously we have to start with the product that at least everyone owns one version of, yes, it's Maybelline Baby Lips. 

As you guys can see, I have quite a few and I really wanna get some more as I adore these lip balms. I remember when these came out and everyone was obsessed and believe me, they are 110% worth the hype. 

So I have three from the original range and four from the electro range. I was so obsessed with the few I had from the original range, the minute they brought out another range I was straight down to Superdrug to purchase the four new ones they made, which is the four black ones above. Now they have brought out many more since I purchased these a couple years ago or more, but I still absolutely love these. 

My favourite thing is they actually do what a lip balm is supposed to do, they soften your lips and make them look super healthy as well as having so many different shades. So there is a colour for everyone! 

My shades from top to bottom: 

Peach Kiss

Pink Punch

Cherry Me

Oh! Orange

Strike A Rose

Pink Shock

Berry Bomb

I love that they have pigment but not too much because lets be honest, we all have those days where we want something on our lips that isn't a lipstick or just a boring old lip balm. These are right in between as they have all the purposes of a lip balm and have the pigment for a natural every day lip shade. I love these and will hopefully buy some more soon. 

Moving along to some lipsticks now and these are Collection's lipsticks. Now some of these I already had but a few others I bought at the makeup counter in the market place in Chester (I can't wait to go back and buy some more makeup goodies when I move back). So I adore these lipsticks, they're cheap, stunning colours, fab pigmentation, they last well throughout the day, they glide on easy, and amazing quality. They're just staple lipsticks for me form the drugstore. 

My shades from top to bottom:

Peachy Keen 

Sea Shell

Sweet Tart 

Mango Tango

Tea Rose

Hot Chocolate

Red Carpet

For me, I think they're such good quality for the price you pay and the pigmentation is spot on, even with the super light shade Peachy Keen and the darkest shade Red Carpet, which is matte. And let me tell you, that red, once you've got it on, it doesn't come off. 

I can't wait to get some more creamy and matte shades to add to my collection. 

Now in my opinion, if you're doing a favourite drugstore makeup post/video how can you not include Sleek? I feel like Sleek is insane quality for the prices you pay for some of their products. Personally I think Sleek could give some of the high end brands a run for their money. I don't have very many products from their brand, but I'd love to get some more. I'm dying to get their newest highlighting pallets at some point, as everyone in the beauty world is raving about them. 

Every person who loves lipsticks is bound to have a nude, a red, a pink, and now a purple/berry in their lipstick collection. Purple and berry toned shades have been all over the beauty industry in the colder months of the year, especially when fall hits and leaves are turning brown. If you're deprived of a purple/berry lipstick in your life and you need one, then go and grab this one from Sleek called Smother. 

I really love Sleek's packaging, in and out of the box, because the boxes the lipsticks come in are ironically really sleek and they look a lot more expensive than they actually are. Even though their packaging of the actual lipstick is more compact and cylinder shaped compared to your classic lipstick shape, like the Collection one's above. You still get the same lipstick shape inside and virtually the same amount of product. Plus, their packaging is matte and I absolutely love that. 

Right, enough about the packaging and lets talk about the actual lipstick. As you can see from the swatch, the pigmentation on this lipstick and this colour is fire! It's bold, brightly deep, and will pair well with all of your perfect autumnal eyeshadow looks. Again, it glides onto your lips and lasts virtually all day. I go back to this lipstick every autumn and winter because the colour is banging and fall makeup is what I live for!

We're about to talk about another purple/berry toned lipstick. However, this one is slightly lighter and more wearable for other seasons. Personally I wear my lipsticks all year round; if I want a dark vampy lip in the summer I'll wear a dark vampy lip in the summer. But I know some people only like to wear certain colours when it feels more appropriate in the year. E.g. lighter shades in the spring and summer and more darker shades in the autumn and winter. 

So if you like the deeper toned lip colours but not as dark as Sleek's one. Then try this beauty from MUA in shade 2. I'm so gutted that MUA lipsticks don't have nicer names, but what can you do? 

I was given this lipstick for my birthday from my friends as part of this hamper of presents they got me, which was so lovely of them to do. And they clearly know me well as this lipstick is one of my absolute favourites of all time now. It's more on the berry side compared to purple toned, but it has these slight light reflecting glitter things in that you can't tell in the swatch, but it's stunning either way. Plus, the top section where you can see the colour in the left picture, that screws off and you could use it for a lip liner or an over the top of main lipstick shade or something. I don't really use them all that often but it's a nice extra touch.

Again the pigmentation on this colour is spot on! I adore MUA as a brand in general. I think for how cheap their products are you can get some absolute beauties, just like this lipstick. I've worn this a lot since my friends got it me and I love it. It's such a beautiful colour, the colour wears well on your lips throughout the way, it is super creamy which makes it super easy to apply. The only downside is because of how creamy it is, sometimes it has a tendency to go out of the lip line which can be a bit annoying sometimes. 

But overall would highly recommend this one. Speaking of which, I need to get some more of their lipsticks.  

Goddamn, lip products are dominating this holy grail post. But, the Kate Moss collection in Rimmel London is an absolute must if you're gonna purchase any lipsticks from the drugstore. I didn't actually try and of Kate's lipstick collection until last year as everyone always raves about them so I thought I'd see what the hype was about. And my god the people weren't wrong! Kate's lipstick are immaculate. 

So I only have three shades at the minute, two from the Nude collection she released and then one of the most famous lipsticks from her range which is of course 107. I adore this rosy red shade, especially for autumn and winter. It's one of those lipsticks that isn't a berry and isn't a red, it's some where in between which makes it a lot more wearable as sometimes you don't want to wear a bright bold red lip, it's nice to have something that is still bold but isn't as sharp. It's a mix between creamy and matte; it glides on creamy and dries semi matte but you can easily top it up if you need to as it doesn't fully set matte. It has to be one of my all time favourite shades I've ever purchased. 

The next two from the Nude collection are 45 and 48. When I bought 45 it was around the time I was looking for the perfect nude lip to match my skin tone. Like I've already mentioned, I have pink undertones, therefore concealer like coloured nude lipsticks do not work for me whatsoever. But 45 is a really pretty pinky nude shade, I know it doesn't look like it in the swatch on my wrist, but believe me, when it's on your lips, it is. I wore this all through summer last year when I bought it as well as autumn and winter. This nude lipstick has been loved so much that I've almost ran out and have near enough hit the very bottom of the twisting applicator. Which means I need to purchase another one ASAP! 

48 is another one of my absolute faves. It's just a classic autumnal deep brown which I wear constantly throughout autumn and winter. It has also been well loved as I'm very close to the bottom of the twisting applicator as well. But overall for both of them, they're gorgeous colours, easy to apply, they last throughout the day even though they aren't matte, both have a beautiful shine, and I would highly recommend them to everyone. 

I swear to you guys now that this is the last lip products of this post. Even though you can't buy these in Superdrug or Boots, the store is still classed as high street therefore they're getting included. But these are the Primark lip liner pencil's and these are phenomenal. Honestly, I am not even joking, probably the best lip liners I have ever used. For the majority of the shades above I have the velvet lip creams to match in the same shades because I absolutely love them. For only £1.00 these are just insane! 

So firstly, let's talk about that colour pay off from those swatches. So we've got a pinky nude, a bright pink, a bright orange/coral, a deep brown, and a wine shade. I'm hoping to get the red and the purple ones when I go shopping next week as well as picking up another nude one as I've pretty much finished the pencil as you can see above. 

When I first ever applied one of these it kind of tugged on my lips a bit, but I applied some lip balm before the lip liner and it glides on like a dream. The pigmentation is incredible, the colours work so well under a lot of different lipsticks, they are so pigmented you could wear them alone without a lipstick, they last all day, they have a tacky consistency once the product is on your lips which is so much better as it makes your lipstick cling onto your lips better and last for longer. These are the biggest contender for my favourite product of the year and if you do not have one of these I urge you to go and purchase one and try them out for yourself. Honestly, for only £1.00 you can't go wrong and you could buy 5 of these for the price of one from another brand. 

I LOVE these and I am OBSESSED! 

Moving swiftly on from all of the lip products, it's time to talk about brows. Now you guys know that these two products are my ultimate brow favourites of all time, it's of course the Maybelline Satin Brow and the Brow Drama brow mascara. After using this I'd never go back to a brow pencil; because this is a satin product it glides on really easily and it's super easy to build up your brow. What I mean by that is say you don't have much of an arch from your natural brow hair and shape. But with this you can build it up as much or as little as you want and if you make any mistakes you can just correct it with setting powder on an angled brush or concealer depending on your preference. 

I personally don't know how satin products compare to brow pomade products as I haven't tried any pomades. But I've seen people in YouTube tutorials use them etc and I just don't feel like my brows would get on with it. Only because with a product like this one I can build as much or as little as I want whereas with a pomade the colour always seems to come out so bold and it looks like the minute you place it, it has to stay there. And just because of the precision and time I take with my brows, and the shape they are naturally, as well as how I like to fill them in, I just don't feel like a pomade would work for me. 

In the product itself you have the satin end and then a powder end to run through after the satin end has been applied to the brows. In the swatches above from top to bottom we have: the satin end, the powder end, and then the brow mascara. In the demo's they show of how to use this product, it only outlines the brow shape with the satin end and then fills in the hairs and sparse areas with the powder. You could do that if you want a super natural brow with some definition on the outline of the brow but that doesn't work for me personally. I use the satin end to do the whole brow - outline, shape, and fill. However I leave the front hairs and only outline the top of them so I get a nice fade into the darker shade. You don't have to put loads of pressure on the product to achieve your desired look. I will then still run the powder through them and then of course the brow mascara to set them for the day. 

The products paired together work like a dream, my brows last all day and night if I need them to and the colour is the perfect match for my hair. They do a range of shades in both of these products: light blonde, dark blonde, light brown, medium brown, dark brown, auburn, and black. So a colour to suit every hair shade.

I've been using this product for a good 2 nearly 3 years now and it is absolutely fabulous and I'd highly recommend this product. 

We can't forget to mention mascara, as you can tell this photo isn't mine as I currently haven't got this mascara at the minute and I've been trying a lot of different brands of mascara recently. But the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara is by far the best. In my opinion if you're gonna buy any mascara from the drugstore Maybelline is the place to be. For me, Maybelline never fail to make amazing mascaras, I've tried the majority of the ones they sell and they've all been amazing. However if I have to pick to a favourite, it has to be the Lash Sensational because it makes your eyelashes fuller, longer, blacker, and you look like you're wearing falsies when you're not. The fact it also has a curved brush applicator makes it super easy to grab every lash on the top and bottom of your eyes because it's curved in the shape of your tight line and lower lash line.  

If you haven't tried a Maybelline mascara, where have you been?! Get down to Boots and Superdrug right this second! You will not be disappointed. 

Of course we've gotta mention eyeshadows! My two favourite brands from the drugstore for eyeshadows are 100% MUA and Makeup Revolution. I have so many pallets from both brands that I love and they're all phenomenal quality considering all the pallets are near enough under £10! I have so many favourites but I condensed it down to the pallets I use the most from both brands. 

So first up we've got MUA's Undress Me and Undress Me Too which are dupes for Urban Decay's Naked 1 and Naked 2 pallets. I don't have Naked 1 or Naked 2 as I already got Undress Me Too so I thought there was no point if I'd already bought the dupe. But anyway, as you can see Undress Me Too is extremely loved, it is the pallet I go back to every year in the autumn and winter without fail. I also love Undress Me as well, it just hasn't had as much usage yet because I only got it for my birthday a few months ago from my friends in the hamper type gift. 

Here's a full swatch of the whole of the Undress Me pallet down my arm and you can see how pigmented the shades are. I personally think this particular pallet is really versatile. I feel like you could use it all year round as there is a good ratio of light to dark shades. You can't see the very top shade in this due to where the light was hitting my arm from the window and because of how light and shimmery it is but you can see it on my close up shot down below. 

Close up of the 6 shades from the
top row.

Close up of the 6 shades from the
 bottom row.

Here's the full swatch of the whole Undress Me Too pallet down my arm and again, you can see how good this pigmentation is. Compared to the first pallet you can definitely notice a difference in colours. Undress Me is a lot more of a "going through the motions" kind of pallet and what I mean by that is it begins with the very lightest in certain colour categories and goes down until you get to the very bottom of the colour spectrum with the darker shades. Whereas Undress Me Too's are a bit of mix as I'd say this pallet is definitely made for the autumn and winter months of the year. Therefore the colours featuring are aimed to be the more browns, coppers, and golds as those shades are frequently worn in the end of the year seasons. 

Close up of the 6 shades from the 
top row.

Close up of the 6 shades from the
 bottom row.

And last but not least, Makeup Revolution's Girls on Film pallet. I have so many of their eye shadow pallets but I decided to mention the one I have reached for the most and because the shades in this pallet are extremely versatile. Makeup Revolution have got to be my ultimate favourite drugstore brand because every from them I've purchased has been such brilliant quality for the price I pay. Products wise, everything is under £20 and their brushes and tools are all under £45.00 (this is including their brush sets). In my opinion, it's one of the most affordable brands for the quality of products they produce. 

So the pallet itself is a mix of pinks, purples, browns, golds, coppers, and greys. This is a pallet I use all year round as it has colours in line with each style and season. 

The swatch of the first two rows - all the shimmery shades

Close up of the 6 shimmery shades from the top row: (left to right)
Walking Hand In Hand, Heads Turning, Camera Rolling, Take Your Picture, Polaroid Heaven, and
Made A Million.

Close up of the 6 shimmery shades from the middle row: (left to right)
Bridge At Midnight, Lights Flashing, Frenzy All Down Your Spine, Lipstick All Over The Lens, Smiler Wider, and Hold Tight. 

Close up of the 6 matte shades from the bottom row: (left to right)
Give Me Shudders, Shooting Star, One In A Million, So Bright, She's Falling, and Girls On Film (a super light nude shade, it's hard to see in this image)


So guys that's it for my holy grail drugstore makeup products, I hope you enjoyed and there's been some products you agree with me on or you've read my opinions and want to try some of these products out. I'd highly recommend them all to everyone. I love drugstore makeup, I don't see the point in buying high end makeup and spending a large amount of money when in my opinion some parts of drugstore makeup is just as good and sometimes even better than high end products.

I will talk to you all again soon!

Love, 

Katie