Let's talk about expensive makeup.

Since joining the world of the beauty obsessed, I have come to acknowledge a certain necessity for higher end cosmetic products. There are some products you just cannot skimp out on, no matter what, and there's just certain cosmetic lines that you cannot go to for everything (which makes you wonder why they bothered coming out with certain products in the first place, but hey; money talks). Especially when your skin is a little persnickety about some things, like oily eyelids, sensitivity, etc; you're just going to have to shell out some extra coin to get the comfort and result that you want. 

So, as frugal as I am, I choose to bite the bullet sometimes; Benefit ain't cheap, and Anastasia ain't for the lighthearted, either. Because of  the makeup artists that you see on YouTube and Instagram and whatnot, and see the products that they use (Natasha Denona, Tom Ford, Dior, etc), they will have you thinking that the only way that your makeup will be beautiful is if you spend at least $25 on everything that you put on your face. That's how I felt at least, so I didn't think that I would look good until I had some expensive foundation and, especially, some high end eyeshadow; nobody is going to take you seriously with L.A. Colors on your face, right? I bought all of the cult classics, if you recall from my Super Mega Ultra Haul (I think that's what I called it). 75 Urban Decay Naked Palettes, some LORAC, some Tarte, and I wasn't done. Anything that I had seen a YouTuber use, I was going to buy; I even considered shelling out $200 for a Natasha Denona palette (the colors of which are exorbitant, but $200?). I had my arsenal of Ulta and Sephora-bought eyeshadows, and I would look at my vanity and think, there; I've arrived.

Then they started to collect dust, and I would look up at them as I was reaching for my La Palettes or my Wet 'N Wilds, and realize that I never touched them. They'd been sitting up there since I bought them, and I tried to use one of them for my makeup for work this past Sunday, and realized that there was none of them that really matched what I needed on my face; for $50+, I'm gonna need you to be in my hand a little more often. It was then that I had to take a step back and really look at things, and face the facts. I never used my Urban Decay palettes, or the first Tartelette, and I have done and posted several looks on Instagram and this blog; what's the point in me having them, and having had spend $200 on them, if I never felt a need for them? To be in with the rest of the crowd? That's not my style (mostly involuntary). I have soooo many drugstore and lower priced palettes, being an eyeshadow addict in particular, and not one of them is poorly pigmented or cheap looking on my face; I reach for all of them over and over again - why did I spend all of that money? So, I took them back (not the LORACs; I adore the LORACs), and traded them in for something a lot more affordable, and a lot more appealing to me.

From general left to right:

• Makeup Revolution Sugar & Spice Ultra Blush Palette, $10
• Makeup Revolution Affirmation Ultra Eyeshadow Palette, $15
• Makeup Revolution Girls on Film Salvation Eyeshadow Palette, $10
• Makeup Revolution Run Boy Run Salvation Eyeshadow Palette, $10
• Makeup Revolution Unicorns Unite Salvation Eyeshadow Palette, $10
• Ulta Beauty Gilded Gold Eyeshadow Palette, $20

You can see I've quickly developed a love for Makeup Revolution products, right? To be honest, the only reason why I got the Ulta palette was because I was trying to get the free gift with purchase but some coupon applied and I was too lazy to take it back. It's still a nice palette, though. But the point! The point. The point is that I got all of these with the credit from the four palettes that I returned, and still had over $100 refunded to me, and I'm glad I did it. I needed to get off the bandwagon and acknowledge that I'm fine with more affordable makeup, and I needed to get out of the mindset that affordable makeup is cheap looking or subpar in comparison to all of the expensive crap that YouTubers use. The point of BeautySupplyBeauty is to show affordable beauty, anyway, and it's time to get back to that.

Alright, enough yapping. Swatches will be added to the Swatch Gallery, pictures will be added to the Palette Key, and I will be all up and through these during my No Makeup March Challenge, so stay tuned!

x Ashlan