Beauty Steals & Splurges

We have complied the below list from lists from prominent beauty editors. These are basically the tried and true products that consistently win “best of” awards. We wanted to give you a good list of both and we tried to find splurges that weren’t too expensive (though some are). We also tried to give you a steal and a splurge in every category however some products were just not available in a steal.

We do have a note about higher end cosmetics. While the price tag may seem high you have to look at what you are getting. A higher end cosmetic is higher end due to the fact that it has a higher level of pigmentation in the product which means that a small amount of the product will satisfy. Higher end products do tend to be less waxy, brittle or hard and tend to go on smoother. This doesn’t mean that you can’t find good products at the drugstore it just means that it may take some more experimentation.

We have tried to include prices for all the products however prices for drugstore brands may vary based on location.

Moisturizers/ Eye Creams

Steals:

Olay Complete UV Defense Moisturizer ($11)

Cetaphil ($12)

Eucerin Protective Moisture Lotion with SPF 30 ($8)

Biore Shine Control Lotion ($6)

Splurges:

Philosophy Hope in a Jar ($15-$60)

Kinerase intensive Eye Cream ($59)

Cosmedicine Honest Face ($35)

Foundation

Steals:

Rimmel Lasting Finish Transfer Resistant Make-Up ($8)

L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable Makeup ($11)

Splurges:

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer ($42)

Bare Escentuals Mineral Makeup ($18-$25)

Concealer

Steals:

Rimmel Recover Anti-Fatigue Concealer ($5.50)

Max Factor Erace Concealer ($5)

Splurges

MAC Studio Touch Up Stick ($14)

Laura Mercier Customizable Concealer Kit ($28)

Benefit Galactic Shield ($20)

Benefit Boi-Ing Concealer ($18)

Prescriptives Site Unseen Concealer ($22)

Powders/Bronzers

Steals:

L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable powder ($10)

Cover Girl Clean Pressed powder ($4)

Cover Girl Cheekers Bronzer ($4)

Splurges

Benefit Boxed Powders ($28)

Laura Mercier Loose Translucent Powder ($34)

Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer ($48)

Sephora Brand Compact Powder ($14)

Blush

Steals:

L’Oreal Cashmere Perfect Blush ($10.50)

L’Oreal True Match Blush ($11)

Splurges:

NARS Blush ($25)

Benefit Boxed Powders ($28)

Stila Convertible Color Cream Blush ($22)

Eye Shadows

Steals:

Lumene Delight Duo Eye Shadow ($7.50)

L’Oreal HIP Eye Shadow ($9)

Rimmel London Cream Eye Shadow ($4)

Maybelline Expert Eyes Trio Kit ($6)

Splurges:

MAC Eye Shadow ($13.50)

Dior 5 Colour Palette ($54)

Smashbox Eye Shadow Trio ($28)

Stila Eye Shadow ($23)

NARS Cream Shadow ($21)

Eye Liner

Steals:

Sephora Brand Slim Eye pencil ($1-$4)

Cover Girl Line Exact Eye Liner ($6)

L’Oreal Lineur Intense Brush Tip Liquid Eye Liner ($8)

Splurges:

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner ($19)

MAC Kohl Eye Liner ($14)

Mascara

Steals:

Maybelline Define a Lash Mascara ($8)

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara ($5)

Max Factor Lash Perfection ($7)

Cover Girl Lash Exact ($8)

Splurges:

Dior Show Mascara ($24)

Clinque High Definition Mascara ($14)

Lip Color

Steals:

Maybelline Shiny-Licious Lip Gloss ($6)

Cover Girl TruShine Lip color ($6)

L’Oreal Colour Riche Lipstick ($8.50)

L’Oreal Infalliable Lip Color ($12)

Revlon Moisturous Lip Color ($8)

L’Oreal Juicy Lip Gloss ($7.50)

Splurges:

NARS Lipstick ($24)

Benefit Rush Hour ($20)

NARS Lip Gloss ($24)

Chanel Rouge Allure Lipstick ($30)

Chanel Glossimer Lip Gloss ($25)

Vincent Longo Lipstain Lipstick ($23)

Cheek Stain

There are no steals in this category

Splurges:

Benefit Benetint ($28)

Tarte Cheek Stain ($28)

Primers

There are no steals in this category

Splurges:

Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer ($42)

Urban Decay Eye Shadow Primer ($16)

Benefit “That Gal” Face Brightening Primer ($27)

Sephora Smoothing Primer ($18)

Highlights and Luminizers

There are no steals in this category

Splurges:

Benefit Moon Beam ($24)

Stila All Over Shimmering Luminizers ($22)