Hey! I decided to cover this topic because it seems that everyone who has a beauty blog has their own opinion about using high end cosmetics or drug store brands and almost always they are biast . I began the hunt for facts and I uncovered quiet a bit of information that may help you decide where to best invest your money and where to save!
I'll get straight to the point without wasting too much of your time. There are only a few difference's between high end makeup and drug store brands! Chemically they are all fairly equal as drug store brands are evolving into non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic - those features were once reserved for high end brands which was one of their attactive points. Packageing is almost always much more detailed and made of a finer quality than drug store brands (thus an area they save money in and pass those savings on to you) High end cosmetic brands are also known now for their hyper pigments and their top of the line researchers - which comes at a cost to you, drug store brands are almost always the last to get on the band wagon with the "new" thing (they often take a product from a high end brand and emulate it by changing a couple of the ingredients to get around patents as well as useing a "normal" pigment instead of a hyper pigment. Lastly, two difference's between high end brands and drug store brands will come as no shock to anyone - shades Drug store brands rarely have a wide variety of shades particulary when it concerns foundation - most carry between 10-20 shades while the vast majority of high end brands tend to have upwards of 50+ shades making it easier for someone to find just the right colors. Finally comes the name - there is a certain "zing" that comes along with names like NARS, MAC, and MakeUp Forever that many people can't seem to get past .
Although, the differences may not seem like such a huge deal I decided to create a list to give you a guideline of some the "best" products for your face - particulary foundation. As far as eye shadows, liners, mascara's, blushes and "powder" based make ups go you will be fine with both high end or drug store but please do not get caught up in a name -the fact is while your high end brand's will have some better products there are drug store brands out there who will have products that are as good or better in some aspects!
Below I will leave a list of things to avoid in your cosmetics mainly your all over face primer as well as your foundation - there will be number system to go along with this as well 5 means the ingrediant is severly comedogenic and EVERYONE should avoice them, 4 means it is very comedogenic and those prone to breakout's or who break out around their "cycle" should avoid those as well (only those who have perfect skin can use them) and lastly 3 means moderate comedogenic and these a pretty safe for those who have decent skin however yet again if you are prone to acne these ingrediants are more likely to cause it to flare - I didn't post ingedients that are rated and 2 & 1 because those products are safe for all reguardless of skin type they aren't likely to break you out. Also, for the sake of time I have been working on a list of foundations for each skin type etc but that list will take probably months to complete as I am having to research every ingrediant listed on the packaging - so expect to see that list hopefully by the end of summer!
Ingredients rated 5 (severly comedogenic):
Acetone
Algae extract
Carrageenan
Hexadecyl alcohol
Isocetyl stearate
Isopropyl isosterate
Isopropyl myristate
Laureth-4
Octyl stearate
Oleth-3
Potassium chloride
Red algae
Sodium chloride (salt)
Sodium lauryl sulfate
Wheat germ oil
Myristyl Myristate
ngredients rated 4 (very comedogenic)
Acetylated lanolin
Acetylated lanolin alcohol
Algin
Cetearyl Alcohol + Ceteareth 20
Cocoa butter
Coconut butter
Coconut oil
Disodium monooleamido PEG 2-sulfosuccinate
Ethylhexyl palmitate
Glyceryl-3-diisostearate
Isopropyl palmitate
Isostearyl isostearate
Isodecyl oleate
Lauric acid
Myristyl lactate
Octyl Palmitate
Oleyl alcohol
PEG 16 lanolin (Solulan 16)
PPG 2 myristyl propionate
Polyglyceryl-3-diisostearate
Propylene glycol monostearate
Sorbitan sesquinoleate
Steareth 10
Stearyl heptanoate
Xylene
Ingredients rated 3 (moderately comedogenic)
Butyl stearate
Colloidal sulfur
Corn oil
Cotton awws oil
Cotton seed oil
Crisco
D&C red #30
D&C red #36
D&C red #17
D&C red #21
D&C red #3
Decyl oleate
Dioctyl succinate
Ethoxylated lanolin
Glyceryl stearate LSLE
Hydrogenated vegetable oil
Isostearyl neopentanoate
Laureth-23
Mink oil
Myristic acid
PEG 200 Dilaurate
PEG 8 stearate
PG monostearate
Shark liver oil
Sodium Laureth sulfate
Sorbitan oleate
Soybean oil
Stearic acid: TEA
Sulfated castor oil
Sulfated jojoba oil
Wheat germ glyceride
