The Nevada Sagebrush

Christy Benes, a 20-year-old interior design major, wears expensive name-brand make-up products on the left side of her face and inexpensive, drugstore-brand products on the right. Discount: Revlon ColorStay 12 Hour eye shadow; Ulta eye shadow; Color Concepts fashion blush; Jane shimmering bronzer; Neutrogena Groove moisture shine lipgloss; Maybelline full and soft mascara; Loreal Le Kohl Pencil eyeliner and Covergirl Clean Press setting powder. Name brand: Urban Decay Primer Potion, an eyeshadow base; Lancôme Color Design eye shadow; Nars Fez eye shadow; Lancôme Color Focus Pallette eye shadow for highlighting; Too Face Summer Love blush; MAC blush; Too Face deep bronzing powder and MAC Angel lipstick. Photo by Brian Bolton/ Nevada Sagebrush

Even though the fancy packaging and renowned brand names of high-end beauty products are alluring, it is not always essential to purchase expensive department store makeup to achieve a desired look. On the other hand, there are some high-end products worth purchasing because drugstore brands just can’t compete with everything. Beauty experts break it down and explain which high-end products to splurge on and what drugstore products to save on:

1 Difference in quality

Fancy packaging and brand names aside, one of the main differences between a drugstore beauty product such as a Cover Girl foundation and a department store product such as a Lancôme foundation is the type of ingredients the product is comprised of, as well as the concentration of those ingredients.  Drugstore beauty products contain lower concentrations of ingredients such as lipids, SPF and retinol than a high-end beauty product would in order to keep the price of the product low and affordable, Kelley Scott, a business manager for Lancôme cosmetics, said. Differences in how high-end and low-end beauty products are produced also play a huge factor into what makes the product higher or lower quality.

High-end beauty products go through a more extensive milling process in order to make powders finer and lay smoother on the skin, which also makes the powders longer wearing. Unlike drugstore products, high-end products also contain a heavier concentration of pigments, which result in more intense and vibrant eye shadows and blushes and more natural-looking foundation and powder shades, Scott said.

2 What to splurge on:

If one is on a tight budget and can only afford to invest in one high-end beauty product, it should be foundation.

“[High-end foundations] are better for the skin because they are made of more natural, plant-based ingredients than drugstore brands, which are more chemical-based, and they lay better and stay better on the skin,” Scott said.

Another reason to splurge on a high quality foundation is that department store brands such as MAC, Lancôme and Clinique offer a wide array of shade options, while drugstore foundations such as Revlon or Neutrogena only tend to offer 12 shades at most. Having more shade options ensures a more natural color and a closer skin color match, which will avoid the too-pink or too-orange look that can often result from using a drugstore foundation with a limited color range.

A longer wear is another reason to use a high-end foundation. Both high and low-end foundation formulas that promise a long wear of eight hours or more contain silicones in order to keep the product on the skin for an extended period of time. But some more expensive products are still better; for example, a high-end longwearing foundation, such as Lancôme’s Teint Idole Ultra foundation, contains more dimethicone (a type of silicone), than Revlon’s ColorStay longwearing foundation. Higher concentrations of dimethicone result in a smoother and longer wear.

3 What to save on:

Just because drugstore beauty products are not always as high-quality as some department store products does not mean they should be disregarded completely. In fact, there are many cheaper alternatives to high-end makeup products that are just as effective and of good quality, but are more budget-friendly. Mascara, lip gloss, eyeshadows and even blush are things that people on a tight budget should not worry about splurging on. The formulas of drugstore lip glosses and mascaras are nearly identical to high-endones, and although cheaper eye shadows and blushes may be less pigmented than more expensive versions, they are worth purchasing.

Jessica Adams, a 19-year-old community health sciences major, said although she is an avid fan of MAC cosmetics, she has now switched to low-end makeup options because she can no longer afford MAC’s high-end price tags.

“The bad economy has made me realize that spending a lot on makeup isn’t that important,” Adams said. “I [now] use Colossal Volume mascara by Maybelline, and I actually like it better than MAC mascara.”

Brianna Houston, an 18-year-old special education major, also prefers to use some drugstore makeup brands rather than pricier high end ones.

“I use Cover Girl and Almay, and I think the quality is great and the products are really longwearing,” Houston said.

4high-end vs. low-end:Hair Products

Makeup is not the only cosmetic that comes in often confusing high-end and low-end ranges. Hair products also come in two different quality grades: salon quality and drugstore quality. Much like makeup, the biggest difference between salon brand hair products such as Pureology and Redken, and drugstore options such as Pantene Pro-V or Herbal Essences, is that salon brands are comprised of a higher concentration of ingredients, Dawn Rush, a hairstylist who has been in the beauty industry for 26 years, said. Ingredients such as panthenol (Vitamin B) or hydrolyzed wheat proteins may be found in cheaper shampoos, but the quality and quantity of the ingredients are not even close to being as concentrated as the salon options. It is the high concentration of such ingredients that make salon products so much more effective than their cheaper counterparts.

“The less expensive hair products do not have the molecules or concentrations to properly moisturize the hair like a high-end product can,” Rush said.

5Drugstore hair product recommendations:

Charissa Banks, the director of education at Reno’s International Academy of Style, said there are some drugstore hair products that work as well, or even better than salon brand products.

“Fantasia’s Heat Protectant Straightening serum ($8) works just as well as Redken’s Glass Smoothing Serum ($22) because they both are silicone-based and contain dimethicone and aloe,” Banks said.

Banks also offers some tips and advice about what drugstore hair products to pick up and which ones to avoid at all costs.

“I recommend Dove’s 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner or any of Pantene’s products over most drugstore shampoos like Suave, which is very damaging,” Banks said.

6Product Break Down

This guide shows some drugstore alternatives to popular department store brand makeup. Not only are the low-end picks nearly identical to the high-end counterparts but they are also almost exact color matches and prove that one does not have to spend a lot for a good look.

Enjolie Esteve can be reached at arts-entertainment@nevadasagebrush.com.

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