This has been a controversial debate within the cosmetics community for as long as I’ve been in the ‘business of pretty’.   Lauder  loyalists will turn their nose up at drug store mascara and Maybelline commercials make it seem chic to wear five dollar mascara but which option is the best?

Well, both types  are acceptable forms of usable product.  If you ask another beauty professional they may agree or adamantly disagree.   It really is a matter of personal preference.  I have worked on set with great talent but I am by no means a makeup snob.  I began my makeup career using drug store makeup because that’s all I could afford.  I’ve always been able to create beautiful faces that looked flawless on camera no matter what the price tag of the product.  I can now afford the “good stuff” so to speak. I STILL  use a few select drug store products. Girl, they perform just as well if is splurged at the Nordstom cosmetic counter.

Although I love a good deal, there are some products that have been created using only the best quality ingredients on planet earth. A drug store replica would not suffice.  I will give you an example; I have been an adult acne victim for most of my twenties and now my thirties.  I’ve spent thousands on almost every acne treatment and product that exists and yet, I was still breaking out horribly.  I eventually started using Intensive Youth Serum by Hydroxatone.  I decided to take my anti-aging prevention more seriously and accidently cleared my skin in less than two weeks.

Puzzled as to why it served as an amazingly gentle acne fighter, I did some research and found that Intensive Youth Serum contains three deep sea anti-inflammatories which obliterated a shocking source of acne; inflammation.   Carrying a price tag of $90 it was an investment, but when compared to the amount of money I’ve spent in the last decade on products that didn’t work, it was well worth the dollars.

My advice to you is to just play around with product and educate yourself on key ingredients.  Sometimes it’s just a quick Google search. Once you are able to identify those ingredients that will serve your purpose best, you can then confidently choose your products from either a drug store shelf or from a department store counter.

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