When I was a beginner to makeup I remember thinking all of my makeup needed to be high end. The more expensive it was the better it was going to be, and I would be in good hands, right?  Are you in this boat?

Beauty products have come such a long way and its hard not to get swallowed into the beauty hole leaving you wondering what are the best products to get started with. The thing to keep in mind is this is just the beginning you can add on as you go so don’t become overwhelmed. 

I wanted to chat about this today after I had an exciting conversation with my close girlfriend. She was telling me that she had ran out of her makeup and she wanted to get something more high end. 

Why go High End Anyway? 

You might be thinking why even go high end in the first place and I don’t blame you, makeup isn’t cheap. Here is why I buy high end makeup products.

• You’ll get better ingredients 
  
• Wears Better and for a longer period of time
• Wider range of shades and tones
• More cruelty free, vegan and gluten free options

Drug store brands are getting better with adding more shades and tones to their lines.  However, with drugstore products, you’re looking at mass produced goods at an affordable price.

Again I want to stress nothing is wrong with drug store products there are a ton of very great products out there that I recommend all the time, and that I buy continuously.

Makeup is a personal experience and what works for you is what works best.

Makeup Lovers

When building a makeup collection I don’t see the point of having all high end but adding some high end products to your collection give it a more luxurious feel.

Foundation is the first product I wanted to have high end. This is still something that I continue to buy high end. Don’t get me wrong I have my drug store foundations that I go to from time to time, but they just can’t compete in my book.

I wanted to get out of drug store foundations because the wear was awful for me. By wear I mean no matter how good I primed my face or powered it still wore off. Another reason was I could never find my correct shade.

That also doesn’t mean that all high end foundation worked wonders either.

I started out by targeting the well known foundations that were popular for oily skin.

1. Hourglass- Worked okay didn’t feel good on my face
2. Fenty- My GO TO 
3. Smashbox- Overrated in my personal opinion 
4. Nars- I felt it was to think for my skin 
5. MAC- I always turned orange no matter what shade I would get
6. Chanel- Worked well after I ran out I didn’t want to repurchase (expensive)
7. Marc Jacobs- Loved this foundation as well I had to mix two different shades 

Out of all of those foundations I’m only loyal to one and that is Fenty. The reason I stay in this foundation is the shade range girl. Let me tell you this has been the first foundation I have never griped about, the only gripe I have is when I run out! 

Here are some tips I wish I knew when I was new to the foundation game. 

Tip 1

If you’re wanting to get into high end foundation I suggest going to Sephora and getting color matched for all the makeup lines. This will save you time and frustration. If you find the shade is a little off you may be able to go one shade lighter or darker, depending on where you want to end up. 

Tip 2

Get a sample! When I started on my quest for foundation I went to Sephora because they give you samples to take home and you can wear.

The number one mistake I would make is buying a foundation that looked good on me in the store, but when I walked out of the store the foundation was the wrong shade.

I’m a lover of eye shadow and I have purchased and worn eye shadow from the dollar store all the way up to the Chanel eye shadow pallets. Eye shadow is one of those hit or miss regardless if its high end or drug store. 

When I was new to eye shadow I didn’t realize the importance of quality, better yet the blend ability of each shadow. Some eye shadows I purchased with more of a chalky finish were hard af to blend out leaving me with a patchy look.

When you’re new to eye shadow its best to start with neutral colors and build from there. With neutral colors it easy to apply lightly for a day look and darker for sultry night look.

The no fails when it comes to eye shadow pallets are below. 

1. MAC- Awesome shade selection- easy to blend- can build your own palette 
2. Anastasia Beverly Hills palette- Super creamy luxurious shadows- easy to blend- a ton of inspiration looks with these palettes 
3. Urban Decay- super pigmented- easy- to blend- I love how they release eye liners and lipsticks with their palettes- smaller versions or their larger palettes available. 
   

My first high end eye shadow palette came from MAC. I’ve been wearing MAC eye shadow since I can remember because I would always steal them from my mom. The one thing that I’ve noticed with MAC is I feel like they have the same shades and rename them tricking you to think its a new shade. But hey, what do I know. 

My first Anastasia palette was the soft glam and I love this palette. Like I mentioned above these are popular palettes. If you think you’ll need tutorials or inspiration you won’t be left disappointed alot of beauties show their looks. These shadows are in my opinion very luxurious and give a glam feeling instantly.

Urban Decay is like that friend that’s always on point, you just cant help but fall in love. I’m in love with all of their palettes and dying to get my hands on the new Cherry palette. These palettes are so beginner friendly that other brands have copied their technique and style. If the prices for the palette are out of your budget they have smaller versions or their palettes, making it affordable to get your hands on it.

Here is what I wish I knew before I went eye shadow crazy 

Tip 1

Like shopping for foundation, head to Sephora and test out the eye shadow. Get a feel for the way the shadows feel and rub them on your hands. I had gotten into the habit of buying palettes just because they were new products, or for a limited time. 

Tip 2

Invest in one palette instead of buying all individual shades and keep it neutral. Unless you’re that boss babe that is going to rock bold eye looks 24/7 grab something that is going to work for both day and night looks. 

Whoever thought we’d be applying our foundation with a sponge? This is a must have in my opinion for makeup my mom disagrees. Shes team foundation brush and I’m team beauty blender. If you can buy both I still wouldn’t even recommend to do so, sponge all the way.

Let me tell you why 🙂 

When I was a beginner, applying my foundation with a brush was a dam project all on its own. I was ALWAYS ending up with brush strokes, hairs on my face, and cleaning them sucked to be honest. So I started out with the real techniques sponge and I immediately fell in love with the results.

I stopped using the real techniques sponges when I realized it didn’t work with all my foundations and left parts around my nose all messed up. SO I broke down and invested in the beauty blender and I’m pissed I didn’t try it sooner! Blends flawlessly and you can use it for foundation and to apply your powder. 

I cant stress this enough for beginners, brushes make a difference when it comes to makeup application. If you have to pick a few brushes Id start with blending brushes. These are the brushes I notice make a huge difference and are worth the splurge. My top three places to get blending brushes are below

1. MAC 
2. IT Cosmetics 
3. Morphie

Tip 1

Buy from a trusted seller if you’re going to buy online, I’ve made this mistake and my eyelids paid for it. 

Tip 2

Buy in a set! I find sets around the holiday really awesome especially from MAC. Sets are broken down by different uses now so you can get brush sets as you need them. 

Final thoughts

This is an exciting journey to begin and with high end makeup it will take you from liking your makeup collection to loving your collection. 

If high end products are out of the budget, pick one and spurge on that when you can. If you’re a lip queen focus on lipsticks. If you’re a master at applying eye shadow invest in a nice palette. 

If I had to pick my top three I would say start with foundation, makeup brushes, and a beauty blender. 

If you’re interested in reading about reading everything needed to build a makeup collection you can find it here. 

I’d love to hear your experiences on building your high end makeup collection!