I’m thinking of adding a regular feature about beauty for old ladies.  (And please my besties. Please do not be insulted when I use the term “old ladies”.  It is more a term of endearment and a slap in the face to those who are ageist! I AM an old lady—in the eyes of fashion and cosmetics industries as well as the media.) If you recall I recently wrote a beauty post of sorts for my date night with Bonaparte. But this time I wanted to concentrate on drugstore items exclusively.

I had an epiphany while looking through YouTube for beauty videos.  Quite honestly, I was looking for videos about “older and mature beauty”—but incredibly helpful videos were few and far between.

Then I discovered EmilyNoel83.  She isn’t old by any means. But—she isn’t a teenager or a twenty-something vlogs about their  expertise when they’ve been wearing makeup for about a year or so. She is real. She is a former TV news caster and she knows beauty.  Her insights and reviews are honest. She is incredibly detailed and explains product usage so well. She is also extremely diplomatic when something doesn’t work for her AND her tips are great for women of all ages.

Watch this video. I rediscovered CoverGirl Lip color! Isn’t she the greatest? What a personality!

I was inspired by one of her vlogs about overlooked drugstore products and drugstore hauls. After all—it’s been over a year since I had a steady paycheck.  I have to “face” (get the pun? Hahaha I crack myself up!) the reality that I now have to prioritize my high-end cosmetics/beauty products. More and more, I’m exploring the drugstore cosmetics.  I know I am not the only one in this situation. Lots of older women are on fixed incomes and that is no reason to have to give up all things beauty! Right???

Come on with me as this old lady has fun with some money-saving items.  I’m not using any high-end products today and want to look nice because my girlfriend Mary Beth is coming over for lunch!

All the products used were drugstore items.  I have my hair in rollers because my girlfriend Mary Beth is coming over and I don’t want my hair falling into the food while I prepare it.  The rollers will also give my hair some 6-day volume!

something weird? When I was young, I couldn’t use Dove at all. It dried the bejeezus out of my face. NOW I’m old and my skin is naturally dry but Dove doesn’t bother me. Go figure!

Next I massaged Olay Active Hydrating lotion into my face.  I waited five minutes.

Then I applied e.l.f. Mineral Infused Primer. At $6.00, this is a great, great bargain.  Compared to Smashbox, e.l.f.’s primer is thirty dollars less—and does the same job. Waited another five minutes before applying the makeup.

Six bucks worth of special!  I have quite a few high end face primers and this is just as good, if not better than a couple of them!

Today was the first day I tried the e.l.f. Eye Primer. I paid two bucks for it. I dotted it on my lids and around my eyes.  I write this 10 hours after applying my eye makeup.  It works like a charm!

This eyelid primer worked all day. ALL day.   I took a pic of it on my hand for a better view.  I have a cold and my eyes are so watery today. Ugh. I’m trying though!

You know how much I love my Bare Minerals “Well Rested” and I can’t live without it. Well—today I used e.l.f.’s Corrective Yellow Concealer. I was beyond pleasantly surprised when I opened this and saw that it was cream-based instead of powder.  I applied with a small concealer brush and was delighted to see that the blue areas had been covered.  This is definitely a great two bucks spent and I’ll be tracking down more of this.

This was another $2.00 well-spent.  I do like the yellow because it really corrects the blueish tint in the corner of my eyes.

The shadow.  You know, I’ve always thrown that little double-tipped sponge applicator that comes with drugstore eye shadow. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I purchased drug store shadow.  But EmilyNoel83 gave some good advice in one of her vlogs.  She said that those little applicators are great for applying shadow to the lid because of their small size. I’m glad I took her advice.  Damned if this $2.00 palette wasn’t a great purchase!

In and out of the packaging. I like how the parts of the lid are imprinted. But–I ended up using the lid color to line the bottom of my eyes instead of the line color. It worked better for me.

I used three of the four shadows and followed the little imprinted instructions as to where to apply the shadow. Heavily pigmented and no fallout!  And the sponge applicator worked like a charm to apply the color to my lid.  The brown color  to line eyes was a bit on the dark side for my bottom lid so I gently and very lightly lined the bottom of my eyes with the lid color.  I rarely line my bottom lids anyway. I think it can make a “mature” eye look a bit rough so I usually keep it bare or just apply a bit of mascara.  I blended, blended, blended and was pleased with the way the shadows looked.

Look how pigmented this shadow is. I had to blend a LOT!

 I lined the bottom of my eyes with the lid color.  I also used a small concealer brush to apply the shadow.  I like the smaller brushes because they give more control.

Wanting a bit of a highlight under my brow, (BTW, I filled in my brows with a black eyeshadow), I multitasked Wet ‘n Wild’s Megaglo Illuminating Palette in 320, Catwalk Pink.  This was purchased on a whim at the grocery store for $4.99 and boy, am I glad I made the purchase! I’ve been using this as a multitasking product. Applying it not only to my upper cheekbone for some illumination, but also under the brow as a highlight. It gives off a very nice but subtle glow. AND FORGET WHAT THE BEAUTY EXPERTS SAY ABOUT OLDER WOMEN SHOULD NOT WEAR ANY PRODUCT WITH GLIMMER.  This has a bit of sparkle and glimmer and it looks fine! In fact, I think I heard my wrinkles say “Thank You” to me!

This $4.99 illuminating powder is great. I use the far left and far right colors as highlighting shadows. There are quite a few uses for this palette.  This will definitely be a repurchase. As an aside, Wet ‘n Wild also has a GREAT bronzer!

Did my lashes with Maybelline’s Falsies mascara and lined with L’Oreal’s Lineur Intense felt tip liquid liner. I paid around $8.00 at Walmart for this liner and I’m on a repurchase.  This has a very thin felt tip and the product doesn’t dry out. I’ve tried Sephora’s house brand felt-tipped liquid liner and was disappointed in it. At $14.00 the price was high for me. I don’t like spending money on eyeliner at all.  And the Sephora brand dried out very quickly.   My first Lineur Intense lasted forever and for the price point, this liner is a great buy.

This liquid felt-tipped liner by L’Oreal is a great buy and better than high end liners!

e.l.f.’s $6.00 Flawless Finish Foundation was next.  I’m still fascinated by this foundation.  Currently, I have three high-end foundations at my makeup desk.  I love them all.  But I have to tell you—this foundation blows my mind. The color, porcelain, works so well on fair skin and the texture is nice and smooth. And it lasts!  Look. I took it off to show you. It’s now 5:00PM. I put my makeup on at 7:00 this morning.  Look how much came off on the pad! This is good shit!

Six Buck foundation and it is worth every cent and much, much more!

I KNOW–this is gross. But I wanted to show you that this foundation, along with my other makeup lasted all day! These inexpensive cosmetics DO have staying power and that’s great if you are a lazy slob like me. I never touch up during the day. Too much work for me!

I applied with my “Real Techniques” beauty blender sponge. Chippy ATE my expensive Beauty Blender. He made a meal out of the entire thing. I had a suspicion when I couldn’t find it—and when Bonaparte took Chippy “out” the other day I was questioned with why pieces of a pink sponge were mixed in with his “waste”.   I guess Chippy has expensive taste. Proof to me that less expensive is better. Hopefully he won’t acquire a taste for Real Techniques.

Let’s hope Chippy doesn’t eat THIS sponge!

 After applying with the sponge I buffed with a brush.  I find that with the “older more mature” skin, foundation looks better with a final buff—it buffs any possible cakeiness away.

Here’s where I prioritize.  I used this IT cosmetics brush to buff my foundation. The brush was about thirty dollars; and like mixing high end with lower end cosmetics, I do the same with brushes. No falling bristles and it cleans up well.

NYX cosmetics came out with a highlight and contour palette.  I happened to see this a while ago at Wegman’s for $18.00. Kind of pricey for a lower-end cosmetic line but it’s good. This is especially good for beginners.  Listen to me. I spend almost fifty bucks on the Marc Jacob’s highlight and contour powder duo and I love it—but this palette by NYX is far less expensive and the powders are just as finely milled.  I used the yellow for highlighting and the taupe for contouring.

If you are a beginner at contouring, THIS is a great and inexpensive palette to try. The colors don’t have intense pigmentation–and when contouring that is a GOOD thing. I used the yellow to highlight and the taupe color directly underneath to contour.

I also used my trusty NYX Wonder Stick for a bit more of a contour. I love this stick so much—it’s looking pretty nasty from overuse!  I blended in like a madman.

I also did a bit more contouring with this Wonder Stick. I swear by this one. It’s $11.99. Personally, for the amount of product, I think it’s a bit pricey–but it’s just so darn great!! It is also less expensive than any high-end contour and the fact that it’s creamy is so much more appealing!

Now for some cheek color.  E.l.f.’s All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade was the color of the day. I forgot how pigmented this is and first applied a bit heavy. I’m telling you, this little gem looks unassuming but it packs a punch of color.  After blending it into my cheeks I swiped the Megaglo Illuminating powder over the top cheekbone.  This works just as well as my very expensive Guerlain Meteorites.  The only difference is that Megaglo has more of a tint where Meteorites goes on tint-free.

Holla!  A Dolla! Yeah A buck for this. It is incredibly pigmented so go lightly! 

Lips. Oh. The lips. Thank you Emilynoel83.  She helped me rediscover CoverGirl Outlast All Day Lip color.  Oona used to wear this lip color years ago when she was competing in Irish Dance. She loved this lip color because it stayed put all day and didn’t rub off on her expensive dance dresses!  To tell you the truth, I’ve been somewhat dismayed with lipstick in general.   It bleeds. The color fades. And the price point for the staying power usually sucks.  I happened to see this at Ulta for $7.99 and purchased Number 550, Blushed Mauve.  This is a two part application. First the lip color is applied in a thin coat. Then the balm is applied over it.   First of all, the color was great. Secondly—this stuff didn’t move.  It stayed on through lunch and then some.  I picked up a second one for backup.  Now I understand why this has been around for years—but I’m surprised it isn’t more popular.  Honestly, if you see this lip color while you are out and about—pick it up.

This is a two-step application but the end result is a color that lasts all day. See how liquidy it is–and the color is just so pretty!

Isn’t the color great for everyday?

That’s about it.   It’s funny, but I used to be somewhat snotty about buying drug store cosmetics. Now they are a large part of my cosmetics and beauty product collection.

The old lady cleans up nicely. Now I gotta get dressed!

I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

I heard this song earlier today and it brought back such great memories. Remember the song “Bus Stop” by The Hollies.   Isn’t it great?