Affordable Makeup Series | Beauty and Fashion Tech

Aug 24, 2012

BH Cosmetics Party Girl Palette Review

August 24, 2012 By Carleenp Leave a Comment

I recently ordered a bunch of items from BH Cosmetics, an ulta affordable online makeup sales company, and came away pleasantly surprised. With items such as 120 color eye shadow palettes under $20 and a good selection of brushes under $5 and $10, I had my doubts. But the quality turned out to be quite high. Indeed, one of my favorite new makeup brushes came from my order, and I paid only $5.21 for it (read my BH Cosmetics Round Stippling Brush Review).

Among the items I ordered was the limited edition Party Girl Palette, a 40 shade palette with dime sized selections of brilliant and fun eye shadow shades. The variety gives you everything that you need for fun party looks, neutral looks, and some smoky looks. Its cost is only $17.95.

When I played with this palette, I was first off struck my the quality of the pigment. These are ultra cheap in price, but they rock in quality. The pigment is excellent, especially with the matte shades in the set. A couple of the lighter tones shimmer shades, such as the light green in my swatch photo, required extra application for me, but most shades were super dense in pigment. The shadows are a bit on the soft side, something I don’t mind since it makes blending easy, but you do have to watch for a bit of fall out of powder when applying.

Here is a sampling of swatches from the Party Girl Palette. As you can see the colors are very vibrant.

I have worn looks using this palette for hours on end with no fading or creasing. It really is a great value! BH Cosmetics also has a variety of other super affordable palettes and I highly recommend them for anyone who need good budget makeup. It also is a good way to get fun bright colors that you might not use too often while saving your budget for everyday items for more luxury type cosmetics.

Shop at BH Cosmetics

Here is my video review of the palette as well.

Disclosures: Beauty and Fashion Tech at times reviews products provided by a representative of the company. When we do so, we specifically state so. We also use affiliate links. For more, please see the disclosure page

Filed Under: Affordable Makeup Series, Eyeshadow, Makeup, Palettes and Collections, Video Tagged With: BH Cosmetics, Budget Beauty, Eyeshadow, Palettes, Swatches

Mar 6, 2012

Look Beautiful on a Budget – 5 Great Makeup Tips

March 6, 2012 By Carleenp Leave a Comment

If you envy celebrities with their armies of hair and makeup artists and an unlimited beauty budget, you might be feeling like you could never achieve a similar look on your budget. The great news however is that makeup doesn’t have to be expensive to look fantastic. The key is to know how to apply it properly, plus there are plenty of tips and tricks that can leave your friends wondering if you have suddenly swapped your budget brand makeup in for something much more high end...

Image by Jupiter Firelyte.

Tip 1: Store Nail Varnish in the Fridge

Whilst expensive nail varnishes may come packaged in a prettier bottle, the truth is that there is very little difference between cheap and expensive brands when it comes to what’s inside. High priced nail polish is just as likely to flake and chip as cheaper brands. With pretty much any colour that you can think of available from a discount brand, it is a waste of money to go for expensive options when cheaper ones will do the job just as well.

One little known trick is to store your nail varnishes in the fridge. Keeping them cold will make them extra glossy for truly A-list nails. On the other hand, if your nail varnish is thick or gummy, a couple of quick solutions are to either warm it up in a bowl of hot water before application or to add a drop of two of nail varnish remover which will thin it down instantly.

Tip 2: Make Use of Tester Products

In-store makeup displays offer testers for a reason. The worst thing that you can do when trying to save money on cosmetics is to buy something, only to find that it doesn’t suit you and you can’t get a refund now you’ve used it. If testers are available always try them out on the back of your hand to be sure that what you are buying will suit your skin tone and look as you want it to – certain lip glosses for example have a knack for looking colourful in the tube but colourless when worn!

Tip 3: Get a Free Makeover

Many makeup counters in large department stores will be more than happy to give you a free makeover if they are not too busy as this is a great way to show you just how good you look and encourage you to make a purchase from them. Of course, there is nothing that says you have to buy from them so do not feel pressured to do so. A makeover can simply be a way of finding colours you may not have tried before, meaning you can then buy products in new shades from the cheaper brands.

Image by Much To My Dismay

Tip 4: Buy Online

With fewer overheads to pay and much fiercer competition, the majority of online makeup stores offer much lower prices that you would expect to pay in store. It is quick and easy to find what you are looking for online and to compare prices of products at rivaling stores. Try this when out shopping and you will find yourself doing a lot of walking between shops! The Internet is by far the best place to find a great deal on makeup.

Tip 5: Go For 2-in-1 Items

Another great money-saving tip is to choose from the wide range of 2-in-1 makeup options available nowadays, effectively halving what you need to spend. From lip and cheek tints to highlighter pens that can be used on dark eye circles, brow bones and cheeks, there are plenty of multifunctional makeup products available to those who look for them.

Good makeup doesn’t have to cost the earth. It takes time and patience to shop around for the right products to suit you, but it doesn’t have to break your bank balance. I suggest you get online and start browsing for what you want. Cheap does not equate to unethical.

Do you have any tips or stories? We’d love to hear them!

Estelle Puleston blogs about everything health and beauty related. As a student she developed an addiction to buying cheap makeup online and learnt some great tricks on how to expertly apply these cosmetics.

Filed Under: Affordable Makeup Series, Makeup, Nail Products Tagged With: Affordable Makeup Series, Makeup

Dec 15, 2010

The Best Makeup Brushes

December 15, 2010 By Carleenp 2 Comments

Your makeup is usually only as good as your brush. This is especially true with cheap makeup or drugstore makeup, which isn’t usually very pigmented to begin with, and is often packed with cheap sponge applicators. The good news is that the best brushes need not cost a fortune. There are some excellent pro makeup brushes out there, which tend to be pricier, but there are also some decent inexpensive makeup brushes available at your local drugstore. I received some brush questions recently, so I thought I would do a post on them as part of the Best Makeup series here on the site.

Here are the primary differences between cheap makeup brushes and professional makeup brushes:

Professional makeup bushes are normally made of real animal fibers which hold and apply pigment more evenly for the best look. For liquid makeup and the best eye shadow application, pro makeup brushes are often preferable.
Pro makeup brushes hold up better. They do not lose bristles, which can be rather annoying when applying make up, and they last longer overall.
Inexpensive makeup brushes may lose a few bristles, but often, once they are broken in, they work nearly as well as the pro brushes. Some brands are better than others though. For example, Eco Tools tend to hold up pretty well, but the last Sonia Kashuk makeup brush I had lost bristles constantly, to the point where I considered it unusable.
Price is often the biggest difference. Drugstore brushes are often under $10, while pro brushes are after over $20-40. You will replace even the best drugstore makeup brushes more often though.

Below are a look at some of the best makeup brushes across several price ranges.

The Best Cheap Makeup Brushes

Low on money? One of the top cheap makeup brush brands is Eco Tools. Eco Tools makeup brushes are very affordable, easily found in drugstores and big box retailers, and tend to hold up pretty well. They also are eco friendly, being made of recycled materials with bamboo handles, and are packaged in natural hemp and cotton cases. For a good inexpensive makeup brush set, the Eco Tools 5 piece makeup brush set is a good way to test out the line. I also love the Eco Tools 6 piece eye makeup brush set (pictured above).

Another good inexpensive line, which can be found at CVS, are the Essence of Beauty makeup brushes. I find that those tend to wear out a bit quicker, but they are very affordable and apply makeup rather well for their price.

The Best Professional Makeup Brushes

In the pro makeup brush range, there are numerous excellent choices in brushes. But a couple always stand out. First and foremost are MAC Makeup Brushes. MAC makeup brushes are consistently high quality and often carry a bit lower price than some of the other pro brands. For a particularly good deal, watch for the MAC makeup brush sets that come out around the holidays. They are the same high quality brushes, but with shorter handles in order to fit in a makeup kit. Buying a set can be a great way to get a set of quality makeup brushes and save a good deal of money.

Another professional quality favorite of mine are the makeup brushes from Laura Mercier. You can see some Laura Mercier makeup brush sets (limited edition travel brush set pictured above) along with some other sets at Nordstrom, which also has a pretty nice selection of higher quality items: Shop Nordstrom Makeup Brush Sets. As with the MAC brushes, finding travel sets can be a great way to save money over buying each brush individually. I actually find that I prefer the shorter handles as well.

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