Drug Store Beauty Finds

Monday, October 29, 2012

Donna Macdonald, GoLocalWorcester Beauty Contributor

Admit it, you’ve stood in the aisles of your favorite local drugstore and wondered if the beauty products were as good as the expensive department store brands that come with glass and chrome counters and trained makeup artists. What you may not know is that some of the drugstore brands are actually made by the same companies that make your favorite department store products - the only difference is in the packaging. It's also been long reported that the notorious 1% swears by drugstore beauty buys, along with busy moms and savvy beauty addicts. Here’s what they're buying:

Pond’s Cold Cream

An affordable cleanser with a soft feminine fragrance, it removes makeup, cleanses and hydrates the skin, and it’s been around for over 100 years! Don’t even think about falling into bed after your Saturday night party without a quick creaming with this classic. A moment to tissue it off and your head can hit the pillow with fresh comfy skin and a much prettier morning.

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

There isn’t a makeup artist alive who doesn’t have this recognizable pink and green charmer in their makeup kit. It hit the market in 1972 and has not fallen out of favor since. No muss, no fuss - just thick silky lashes with every swipe. There’s a reason why it ends up on every beauty magazine’s favorites list year after year. Long story short: works great.

VO5 Shampoo

Drugstores mark this shampoo down as low as 88 cents a bottle. Sure, you can spend your beauty dollars on a hot salon brand for $16.00 but even hairdressers know that shampoos need to be on a revolving door schedule to perform optimally. VO5 is a terrific clarifying shampoo that gets the built-up gunk out and it smells amazing.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick

There's something alluring about a $30.00 designer lipstick in a fluted gold tube with a satisfying click. But for experimenting and having fun, collect some color saturated Revlon lipsticks. They’re inexpensive and creamy with excellent staying power. Keep your glamorous lipstick in your handbag for showing off, and feed the need for color and artistry with this time-honored drugstore lippy.

CoverGirl Fresh Complexion Under-Eye Concealer

Another great line that professional makeup artists turn to time and again is CoverGirl. With its light reflecting pigments, it will make the skin around your peepers as young-looking as the hyped-up $50.00 cult one from the big chain department store.

St. Ives Apricot Scrub

This gentle and invigorating facial scrub gives you smooth makeup ready skin that glows without a bit of abrasiveness. It's got a great clean scent in a cute little tube. Why make it complicated with a heavy fragrance and a heavy price tag? It's a scrub. It works. End of story.

Don't be afraid to make a mistake with a drugstore beauty product. The major stores accept returns with a receipt, even if you've sampled it. So while you're running out for diapers, batteries, and light bulbs, hit the beauty aisle too for some great buys that really work.

All available at CVS, Rite-Aid, and Walgreens.

Donna Macdonald is a freelance writer who enjoys covering topics of interest to women, especially fragrance, style, beauty. She has also written marketing material for a women's book that hit the New York Times Bestseller list and netted her an up close and personal discussion on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Donna currently writes her own personal blog, http://alovelyinconsequence.blogspot.com where she also writes about issues close to a woman's heart Donna believes that when a woman finds beauty in the world, she will find beauty in herself.