Drugstore Picks for First Time buyers.

I'll be the first to admit that it's not easy finding affordable yet purchase-worthy products. With brands galore, lipsticks/eyeshadows/palettes in colours that span the entire rainbow and shelves upon shelves of budget friendly items - walking into the drugstore can be downright overwhelming. At least at the high end counters you've got the advantage of helpful assistants. 

I can barely remember my first drugstore foray - only that it consisted of the dream matte mousse and the black kohl liner variety - but I've gotten much better about it over the years. I'm in there weekly nowadays, so much so that the staff at my local Superdrug have started giving me the 'oh, you again' smile rather than the 'oh wonderful, another customer' one. Being new to makeup can be scary, and most if not all of us have had those 'I can totally rock this foundation two shades too dark' or 'roll on glitter is the way to go' moments - I'm a 90's child, therefore I didn't have the benefits of beauty bloggers/youtubers to turn to when I wanted to start wearing makeup, hence the roll on glitter phase. Growing up, there were many times when my face was a different shade to my neck and eyeliner had worked it's way from my waterline to my lower lash line and had congealed in the inner corners (but that was okay because it made me feel more Avril Lavigne). 

Fortunately I've made all those mistakes for you and done most of the legwork when it comes to testing out the best of the drugstore - hey, someone's gotta do it! and I've compiled a good sized bounty that I believe you can't really go wrong with when buying your first makeup bits.

First up is primers. Now I'm fully aware that if you are fairly young, a primer may not be the first thing on your list of 'beauty products I need' but I think adolescent skin can really benefit from a primer. It'll keep your makeup in place and some can even aid in skin issues. My favourites are the Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro primer for mattifying and the Bourjois Happy Light Luminous Serum primer for radiance. 

As far as bases go, a good all-rounder is the Loreal True Match foundation - it doesn't cling to dry patches, it's one of the best at the drugstore for shades and has pretty decent coverage. Concealer is another good product to pick up, you'll find countless uses for concealer - from covering spots to neatening up lipstick. I recommend the Bourjois Happy Light concealer for general use and the Collection Illuminating Touch concealer to cancel out dark circles.

Powder wise, if you need it, I'd go with Bourjois' Healthy Balance powder. It's not got the best shade range but it does last for ages - much longer than the Rimmel Stay Matte. And it smells delicious. 

If you're young, I doubt you'll be looking to contour/highlight but in case you have been watching those Kim Kardashian tutorials I recommend the Sleek Contour Kit. It has both a contour shade and highlight shade, both with really great pigmentation. For blush, you can't go wrong with the Natural Collection blushes. Great colour range at really affordable prices. If you're not a fan of contour and just want a highlight, then the No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter is great for adding a bit of glow to the tops of the cheekbones.

As for eyebrows, the Rimmel Brow This Way is really all you need. It has enough pigmentation and staying power that it'll fill in your brows and keep them in place all day. 

Moving onto eyeliners. I've gone for a liquid and two kohls. My liquid eyeliner pick would be the Rimmel Scandaleyes Precision Micro Eyeliner, the easiest I've come across in the drugstore in terms of use. A great practice tool if you're looking to make the cat flick your signature. Secondly, I have the Rimmel Scandaleyes Kohl pencils in 'Bronze' and 'Nude'. The 'Bronze' shade for those days when you just want a simple eye look - this smudged into the out half of the upper and lower lash lines works wonders and the 'Nude' for using on the waterline and brightening up the eye. Another one for the effortless eye look is the Maybelline Colour Tattoos. I've gone for the shade 'On and On Bronze' since I think it's one of the most wearable shades of the range though I do love 'Metallic Pomegranate' for the Autumn/Winter time. They look great just swept across the lids and blended out with the finger. 

Something that every girl should have in her beauty stash is mascara. It's one of my favourite makeup items because it's the one thing that makes you look 'done'. Maybelline's The Falsies is a great one for volume and separation without the spider lashes.

Finishing off with the lip colours. The Maybelline Colour Drama Intense Velvet Lip pencils are brilliant. Long lasting colour in a semi-matte finish. These pencils don't drag on the lips and don't emphasise dry patches, not to mention they have an amazing shade range. I already own three and I still want more. I recommend the shades 'Nude Perfection' for an everyday Kylie Jenner-esque lip colour and 'Light It Up' for a more out there option. 

Makeup can be an overpowering concept, but trial and error is really the only way to work out what's best for you. If you go wrong, that's okay. Trust me, we've all been there. 

Lauren

xo