Drugstore Needs and Nopes, Vol. 1

I don’t go to regular drugstores as much as I used to, mostly because of Ulta and Target, which is basically a drugstore, only a million times bigger, but ever since I was a kid cruising the makeup aisles at Thrifty (of course, I had to get a Thrifty ice cream cone while I did this), I’ve been a drugstore beauty addict.

And over the past few years, drugstore makeup has gotten MUCH better — like next level sh*t. You can be a woman of color now and find a foundation that actually matches your skin tone, and within those foundation families, you’ve got dewy finishes, matte finishes and satins. Nowadays you can also find good drugstore cream shadows, where once you could only get those at department stores.

As for drugstores colors, you aren’t just limited to a narrow neutral range anymore. Now you can find all sorts of drugstore color craziness. It’s an exciting time for affordable makeup! That’s for sure.

Here are five drugstore products I tried this week, and whether I think they’re “needs” or “nopes.”

1. Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Royal Blue

If you were a fan of Maybelline Great Lash Mascara in Royal Blue back in the day, it’s back for a limited time exclusively at Walmart for $6.40. It had been discontinued some time ago.

Honestly, I’ve never quite understood the Great Lash Mascara love out there. For me…it’s just OK. Decent lift and separation, but with regard to Royal Blue, I can barely see the blue color on my lashes. I have to pile it on and look in a magnifying mirror.

If you have lighter lashes than I do, I’m sure the blue will pop more.

THE VERDICT: Nope! For me, this is a nope, but I know there are lots of Great Lash fans out there.

2. Physicians Formula Butter Blush Murumuru Butter Blush

This blush smells like cocoa butter! Yum.

Technically, this shimmery golden tan face powder is classified as a blush, but it also works as a highlighter, which is how I use it.

It looks lovely on upper cheekbones (and more expensive than its $12.99 price would suggest). It’s available now in Natural Glow and Plum Rose for $12.99 each.

THE VERDICT: Need!

Physicians Formula Butter Blush Murumuru Butter Blush ingredients
Talc, Alumina, Mica, Dimethiconol Stearate, Isostearyl Neopentanoate, Astrocaryum Murumuru Seed Butter, Fragrance (Parfum), Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Polybutene, Isopropyl Isostearate, Lauroyl Lysine, Astrocaryum Tucuma Seed Butter, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Tin Oxide, Tocopherol, Lecithin, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Glyceryl Stearate, Glyceryl Oleate, Citric Acid, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499, Red 7 Lake (CI 15850), Ultramarines (CI 77007).

3. NYX Vivid Brights Creme Colour

So many cray-cray colors…but cray-cray in the *best* possible way! From the handful I’ve tried, these potted cream shadows vary widely in quality.

Some of them, like mint green Aqua Sapphire and kelly green Get Money, are chalky, dry and skip a bit when I blend them, but sky blue Blueprint, purple Rebellious Edge and hot pink Love Overdose POP on the skin. And all of them are a blast blend. They’re available now in Cyberpop (red), Endless Skies (light blue), Aqua Sapphire (mint), Love Overdose (hot pink), Glam Rock (tan), Get Money (bright green), Light Show (goldenrod), Bad Blood (oxblood), Pillow Talk (taupe), Sugar Rush (pastel purple), Blueprint (bright blue) and Rebellious Edge (purple) for $9.99 each.

THE VERDICT: Need! — especially the hot pink, sky blue and purple, OMG! But it really depends on the shade, so keep your receipt in case you get a dicey one.

NYX Vivid Brights Creme Colour in Rebellious Edge ingredients
Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethicone, Isododecane, Alumina, Silica, Phenyl Trimethicone, Beeswax / Cera Alba / Cire d’Abeille, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Polyethylene, Microcrystalline Wax / Cera Microcristallina / Cire Microcristalline, Dimethicone / Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Water / Aqua / Eau, Sorbitan Sesquioleate, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Ethylhexylglycerin, BHT, Barium Sulfate (CI 77120), Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Red 6 (CI 15850), Red 7 (CI 15850), Yellow 5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow 6 Lake (CI 15985), Blue 1 Lake (CI 42090), Red 28 Lake (CI 45410), Manganese Violet (CI 77742).

4. NYX Faux Blacks

I had such a great experience with the NYX Faux Whites shades that I was sure I’d love the black pencil versions too, but for the life of me I can’t get them to stick to my water lines, so for me, that means nope.

On the lash line, they wear like iron, though. They’re available now in Obsidian (blue black), Black Hole (purplish black), Midnight (navy black), Onyx (forrest green-black), Burnt Sienna (plum black), Black Olive (khaki black), Oxblood (reddish black) and Blackberry (light purplish black) for $7.99 each.

THE VERDICT: Nope! I absolutely need to have the option to line my water lines, so these are a reluctant nope for me. If you mostly stick to lining your lash lines, however, you might want to grab one or two. They’re $7.99 each.

NYX Faux Blacks in Obsidian ingredients
Isododecane, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Dimethicone, Polyethylene, Synthetic Wax, Silica, Polybutene, Alumina, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Talc, Propylene Carbonate, Caprylic / Capric Triglyceride, Polyglyceryl-4 Diisostearate / Polyhydroxystearate / Sebacate. May Contain: Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), Chromium Oxide Greens (CI 77288), Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide (CI 77510), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Ultramarines (CI 77007).

5. Revlon ColorStay Brow Crayon

These Revlon ColorStay Brow Crayons are nice and chunky (like my favorite tabby!), so they should be able to quickly fill in my brows, right?

Unfortunately, I can barely see the colors on my brows. They’re available in Blonde, Soft Brown, Dark Brown and Soft Black for $9.99 each.

THE VERDICT: Nope.

Revlon ColorStay Brow Crayon ingredients
Isononyl Isononanoate, Ozokerite, Trioctyldodecyl Citrate, Silica, Octyldodecyl Neopentanoate, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Cetyl PEG / PPG-10 / 1 Dimethicone, Hexyl Laurate, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Polyethylene, Paraffin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, C10-30 Cholesterol / Lanosterol Esters, Synthetic Wax, Octyldodecanol, Octyldodecanol, Cera Alba ((Beeswax) Cire D Abeille), BHT, Benzoic Acid.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen