How a College Girl Can Stretch Her Makeup Dollar

College students are always looking for ways they stretch their dollars.

Back to school is not just a time for new clothes, school supplies and dorm furnishing, but most girls will be buying new makeup for the fall. It is easy to be persuaded by the hype. The old saying "you get what you pay for" does not necessarily apply to makeup.

Some girls save by buying drug store brands. Still, a good deal of drug store brands are expensive when you are on a tight budget.

Dollar store brands can be a good alternative for girls on a really tight budget . You can take the twenty dollars your great aunt sent you for your birthday and really stretch it to cover your entire make up essentials. Sometimes you can find overstocks of quality name brands . There are some basics you should know when buying dollar store make up . Good news you can buy almost any brand of make pencil confidently at the dollar store. Eyeliners, lip liners, and eyebrow pencils are mostly made of wax and don't fade or dry out even when on the shelf for a long time. Make sure the pencils are in a tightly sealed package to avoid getting a contaminated product.

Foundation is something you will want to spend a little more on . Foundations tend to "go bad" if they sit for too long or exposed to too much heat in a large warehouse somewhere. If you have sensitive skin you will most likely want the more expensive organic brand or a tried and true brand like Almay. Almay is a drug store brand and is really only moderately priced compared to the brands you buy at department store counter. If you do find your brand at the dollar store and it is not more than a year old , don't buy it in bulk. Two bottles will do most girls for the whole school year and they will still end up throwing out product when the foundation has aged.

There are two brands of dollar store line I can recommend. Discount line are not necessarily consistently available at you local dollar store ,but more at the dollar discount stores like Family Dollar and Dollar General. The thing that amazed me about these stores is they carry deeply discounted name brands such as Revlon as well. Check these store even before your local Wal-Mart because the saving is significant over most large discount stores. My case in point is a skin care product. Stridex pads at CVS were over six dollars. , around six dollars at Wal-Mart, and three dollars at Dollar General. Sometimes ,I have found name brands are not always consistently available at these upscale dollar discount stores , but the saving is worth the look see.

The same is true with normally moderately priced makeup brands , even specialty ones like Almay. Oil of Olay makes a very nice SPF 15 every daywear moisturizer that goes well under makeup. The more expensive foundations have the SPF protection built in. I would recommend that if you go with the cheaper liquid foundation you use the Oil of Olay everyday moisterizers underneath. You can really save on this and other Oil of Olay products at Dollar General.

The two lines of dollar store cosmetics I would recommend are LA. Colors and Jordana. I have had good luck with the following cosmetic products they offer. LA colors do have a very acceptable pressed mineral foundation. It a somewhat traditional compact , with a slight irritating opening at the bottom to access the mirror and make up sponge. Save the makeup sponge for blending and apply the foundation with your Kabuki brush. It blends very well and can be used as a stand alone foundation or a finishing powder.

They do have a crème foundation called Mystic Foundation. It is a very good product if you do not have sensitive skin. It is not a natural product and I used it selectively as a concealed on problem areas. It blends very well and does not dry out , flake, or cake in creases. Both products will set you back about six dollars.

A must have LA product is the mineral eye shadow products. They have a nice selection of colors in matte and glittery finishes. This product stands up to all day wear and come in sizes that will provide you plenty of color. Most are priced around a dollar so you just really have not reason not to have this product.

Jordana has the perfect purse makeup. The packing is a bit odd with small squares of colors but if you take along a few Q-tips you can easily apply the color . It is called All over Color and the four colors shades each package contains complement each other. You can use the colors as eye , cheek, or bronzer colors. It is great for travel. There is not a lot of product but enough to meet your needs on a week long trip or to use as touch color in your purse. There is a very light (white in the compact I have L square of color that serves as a nice powder concealed. I use it on dark circles under my eyes and apply mineral makeup on top.

A friend of mine uses it as eye highlighter to make her eyes look wider by applying it in the area between her nose and brow bone. The medium colors in the packing can be used as blush or bronzer if mixed with your powder foundation. The dark color can be used as a powder eye liner if applied with a Q-tip , or an eye shadow. All the colors in the package can be used as eye color of course.

Both Jordana and L.A colors are consistently available at Dollar General. I am not sure about Family Dollar , but they are the kind of product I believe they would carry regularly.

When you make up budget is tight you do not have to go without , simply do a little research online and find what economy priced makeup lines can meet your needs and visit your local dollar discount store. Like their higher priced counter parts you will find relatively extensive reviews of products from both L.A Color and Jordana.

http://www.jordana.com/home.html

http://www.lacolors.com/ Check out new mineral blush and Art Deco nail polish.]

http://www.dollargeneral.com/Pages/index.aspx

http://familydollar.com/featuredstore.aspx