Do you ever hear the names of brands like Mac, or Anastasia Beverly Hills, or Urban Decay, and get super excited to the core? Do you often stay up late at night watching 15 seconds instagram makeup tutorials and thinking how rad the makeup will look on you? At times, do you post pictures of fancy shmancy makeup with the caption "Goals!" or "WANT!" or "Needddd!!" but cant really buy them because your pockets don't allow you to do so (and also because you still live off your parents and are totally dependent on them and there's no way in hell they'll allow you to buy a highlighter palette worth 5k and an eyeshadow palette worth 10k?) Are you a self proclaimed makeup enthusiast like me who is also part broke and part dreamer? Are you just as scared of buying dupes and copies of makeup as I am, but really just want an option? Do you wish there was an alternative you could count on when in dire need of makeup?
If there was a 'YES' or a 'HELL YES!' following all the questions above, then this blog might help you BIG TIME!
In the light of recent events, where I discovered AliExpress(Jack of all trades) and facebook pages selling makeup, and of course, Instagram makeup accounts, I realized there was too much diversity in the brands of makeup. Low-key makeup artists use lotsa low-cost drugstore makeups, which kinda gives the same-ish result as the products that are high-end and expensive. And the fact that the china-produced dupes of big makeup brands are so close to real and pigmented, that for a noob makeup enthusiast like me, it's hard affff to identify whether they're fake or real. However, that's kinda a plus point here because if you can't identify if it's fake or not, people can sure as hell not identify whether the makeup you're wearing is expensive as hell. The quality is pretty much the same, and if you have skills, you can pull of ANYTHING!
I've made up a list of Low-cost , affordable, underrated and completely unharming Pakistani/random /favvv tareen makeup brands that I normally use and till date, no counter effects or skin irregularity has occurred.
Vaseline is the bomb when it comes to keeping skin hydrated in all weathers. My skincare regimen includes using the vaseline cocoa glow after every shower in winters, and the vaseline aloe fresh in summers. The cocoa glow is a bit oily, so it helps keeping the skin smooth in winters and the aloe fresh, as the name suggests keeps my skin away from breakouts and keeps it smooth, fresh and is not oily at all, so doesn't really clog them pores.
Kiss Beauty is very new to me. The only thing that caught my attention was how much it look exactly like the NYX contour wonder stick. i bought these set of three worth 1200 PKR to try out how they were, and to my surprise, they work pretty damn finee! my contour has never been on this level of awesomeness.
I tried another Pakistani brand called Christine. Christine has a wide range of very low cost makeup and are very high-end too. from loose fixing powder to loose face shimmer, and lipsticks, lipliners, eyeliners and mascara, they have it all. The waterproof marker eyeliner is my everyday necessity. The tip might sometimes piss you off, but if you don't have a steady hand like me, this is definitely for you! (liquid eyeliners piss me off more because hello? y u drippin?)
The lipliners are highly pigmented and very smooth (swatch below) and the shimmer is very fine and not the kind that irritates your skin. Plus everything here is affordable af so..
Sweet Face!! the name suggests it must be one of those products nobody uses, but to be honest, I've never been this wrong in my life. I may not be able to afford kylie lipkits (I actually can but I'm not stupid enough to buy a product that supports people like the kardashians), but I genuinely liked the colours of the lipkit and so i set out to find similar colours an well, I found a dark brown matte lipgloss that looked bombb on me. The sweetface matte lipgloss range has some seriously hot colours. and the lipstick (shade 172) was also the kind you can wear daily. T'was also glossy and scented (with no added mercury jbtw). see the swatches below.
Also, the eyeshadow kit of sweetface is so highly pigmented and uber shiny that for a brief second, i really didn't believe Pakistani brands are this good. Even maliha rao (Redalice Rao) has the same views about the local brand!
Foundations and BB creams are of lotsa kinds and choosing one is literally the hardest thing for a girl. a foundation that provides total coverage for blemishes, eye bags, discoloration and tan is very hard to find. I cannot really suggest a foundation or a bb cream since they're pretty diverse and need to be selected according to skin types.
For instance, my skin is pretty oily in summers and using Garnier's BB cream in summer is a baddd badd idea. Sweating throughout your makeup looks gross and feels grosser, plus works best in winters because it acts as a moisturizer too.
Similarly LAKME 9-5 BB cream gives off a grayish ivory tint when I sweat through it. which is even worse.
So for summers, The Body Shop's Tea Tree BB cream is the best. Using 2-3 tiny drops are enough for a flawless finish for daily use.
However I use Luscious, Flawless Finish foundation(which is a pakistani brand) for a smooth look that can last throughout an event without sweating abnormally. Luscious is probably my favv tareen because works best in bothh summers and winters. it is however a bit expensive but not THAT much.
My newest obsession with highlighters is beyond crazy. I'm one of those people who comments 'GOALSS' on ABH's instagram post of their super beautiful highlighters. My search for the perfect highlighters made me realize one day that SHIMMER EYESHADOWS CAN BE USED AS HIGHLIGHTERS TOO OMG WTF? Therefore, I bought two different eyeshadows from two different brands.
ESSENCE worked like magic! i bought no 19 of "The grammy goes glammy" and it actually works as highlighter and as a shimmer eyeshadow for the inner lids or for whatever you wanto use. both the pictures below are from this blog.
Similarly, I bought a highlighter (Eyeshadow pan) worth PKR 50 from a company called ETUD but we all know its just a dupe of brand ETUDE. But to be honest I don't really care because as long as its shiny affff on my cheeks, it's all chill.
The Etude lipstick however is surprisingly good. really nice for daily wear and its longlasting as well. The shade number is 29. Swatches are below. 50 points to Etude!
My Lipstick obsession is beyond my intellect. I'm a lipiosexual. Yes I made that word up. I don't buy expensive makeup until i absolutely need it. And so, for buying lipsticks, I only buy expensive ones when there are big occasions like the presidential elections, or the birth of Kate and William's son.
Just a quick review of my favourite lipstick brands.
Botanics shade 465, is really nicely pigmented but could've been more moisturizing since my lips always pucker up after I use this. (It's not matte).
Golden Rose 2000, shade 109, is vvvvv nicce. I found this colour to be the best for nude lips. And its glossy and leave a yummy tint. swatches are below.
The lipsticks below are:
SwissMiss matte shade M-39 in red, BarryM neon pink in shade 62,
Maybelline Iced caramel shade 625, Becute in shade 453 blood red!
and lastly, Bourjois Rouge edition Velvet in Pink Pong! This colour and brand has my heart. Not only it has worth for money (it costs around 1k), but its velvet touch and pigmentation is also commendable. The picture below is from POUT PRETTY and there's me, as usual, wearing the gorgeous colour!
If this blog doesn't help you in getting the basic knowledge of lowcost, lowkey, underrated , and good brands of makeup, then i don't know what will. I'm not the kind of person that endorse expensive brands just for the sake of it. Kum-kharch-balanasheen (low-cost-living) is my motto. and I'd rather enjoy buy expensive makeup only when the timings are right and y'know, when I'm making my own jahaiz to go to piya k ghar (jesus christ!!!!), But till then, Id rather have good makeup hacks and polish my skills on low-cost no-cost makeup.
People often tell me that low-cost makeup is harmful and destroys one's skin.. But in my opinion, any makeup can irritate your skin and cause breakouts or pimples or allergies if you DON'T take care of your skin properly, not because of the makeup solely. A proper diet helps in rejuvenating your skin and keeping it clear. frequently keeping your face clean and drinking lots and lots of water also helps in keeping up health skin and face. If you don't do that, then the makeup companies are not to blame, and instead, you yourself are. I always wipe my makeup off after i'm done with the day and that is one of the core factors i rarely encounter breakout. (and i do use all these brands and been using them so shush i'm okay you'll be okay too :p)
I hope this blog helped y'all. If it did, do leave a comment or tweet me at @DigitalZarda!
Till I explore more low-cost nice makeup brands, this is me, signing off!
Digitally dazzled,
Wurduh Jaffri
