Products you Should Splurge on vs. Products you Should Save on

It's not an exaggeration to say that products that are more expensive do tend to be of better quality and therefore you reach for them more often, or you go back to them again and again. When you're doing someone's makeup, as well, you use products you want them to buy (and make commission off of, if that's your jam. The pricier, the better). Walking into a drug store or a beauty store, any beauty advisor is going to recommend products that brands are pushing them to sell, or products that might benefit them from your purchase too. Some are worth the money, some just aren't. If you can save, you definitely should. 

 Here are products that I think are worth spending a little more on:

01. Face primers.

Primers are some of the best investments you can make for your makeup collection, whether it's humble or brag-worthy. Primers smooth your skin, create a base for your foundation/BB cream/etc., and help it to last all day. Most generic primers (like the ones pictured) do all of that, but you can buy face primers for specific issues as well: One of the best brands for this is Smashbox. If you've got redness (guilty), a green-tinted primer that helps couteract that will help, and many brands sell such a product. If you've got blemish-prone skin, you can buy a primer with salicylic acid in it to help you fight your acne battles throughout the day. If you find you're overly oily and you've got large pores, you can find a primer that will conceal your pores and control your oil (this is probably the most common concern for those looking for a primer!)

A face primer is in incredibly good investment, and quality isn't always cheap. I've found that if you're willing to spend a little more on a primer, the results are amazing. Not only that, but if you've got a good base (primers keep your foundation lasting longer and help keep it even) you can cheat a little bit and opt for a cheaper drug store foundation. There are some amazing drug store foundations on the market that can look like a million bucks with a nice primer. (I recommend Revlon Colorstay).

You don't even need to use a primer strictly as a prerequisite to your foundation routine. Primers make your skin look great no matter what. They're mattifying and pore minimizing, if it's hot and you're feeling oily and a little red, throw on a primer with SPF and you're good to go. Au naturel, smaller pores, and a matte finish without feeling cakey with a foundation.

If you're interested in my recommendations, I'd marry and have many babies with Smashbox face primers. Smashbox is a cosmetics brand that stemmed from a photography studio (Smashbox Studios, the more you know) and was created by two brothers who wanted a brand that not only photographed well, but lasted all day and didn't need retouching. The primers were one of their first product lines, and they've grown so much. The line of primers from Smashbox is incredibly extensive, whatever issue you've got, there's a primer there that will work for you. I personally use the colour-correcting green tinted primer, it's incredible. These primers range from around $44-50, and a little bit goes a long way.

Another great primer, particularly created for reducing the appearance of pores, is the Porefessional by Benefit. It retails for $37 at Sephora, prices don't range much from that anywhere else, but it is a great product. Again, a little bit goes a long way.

There are so many great face primers out there just waiting to be bought, and there are many more I neglected to mention. I won't recommend any that I haven't used and abused, though, so those two are my holy grails. 

02. Eyeshadow bases/primers.

We're obsessing over primers today. I can't help it. Eyeshadow bases and primers do so much of the same things as face primers, except they're for your lids and they help your eyeshadows to be super pigmented and to last all day/all night. I think these are so worth splurging on if you can because they just do wonders for your shadows. They really do. There's always a lot of type for expensive eyeshadows from you-name-it high end brands. That's not to say those hyped up shadows aren't great, but you can make any shadow look incredible and last a long time with a good primer. 

Have you ever gone out for a long night and looked in the mirror after a few hours of being out and noticed your shadows just look creased and faded and not at all how they looked when you put them on?... we all have. It's unpleasant. A good primer will prevent that from happening and make your shadow-applying experience better. You use less of your eyeshadows when you have a primer on because you don't need to pack on the product to get good colour payoff or good pigmentation. I think if I were to recommend ONE expensive product that everyone should have in their collection... it would be an eyeshadow base or primer. That's hard for me to say, but it's true. 

In my experience the best eyeshadow primer is the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It is silky, it makes your shadows just glide on, blending is an absolute dream, and it's just the best product. For a larger-sized product, it retails for about $25. Sephora sells the smaller sizes for $14 (0.2oz), which is what I purchased along with the Naked 3 when it came out and that primer lasted me months. Worth the hype, worth the money.

03. Palettes.

This is my final recommendation, and it is with reservations that I make this statement... As I stated before, if you invest in a good eyeshadow primer you can make cheaper shadows look, blend, and last great. I do however think that a good eyeshadow palette or a good contour palette can change your life. Palettes are great products to buy and worth the money if you splurge on something a little pricier. I've found often that with drugstore products, while single shadows and single pots can be great, palettes tend to fall short on quality. 

Palettes are great for travelling, they're amazing for creating an abundance of different looks, and spending a little shinier of a coin on a good palette will brighten your life. As pictured, the Urban Decay Naked palettes are incredible if you want to dabble with more neutral looks. The Naked 3 palette leaned entirely more toward rosey shades and rose gold tones, if you're into that. Too Faced also has a Chocolate Bar palette with amazing neutrals. There are many different brands as well that allow you to create your own palettes (MAC, Anastasia Beverly Hills...) and while they're slightly pricier, being able to pick all the shades you want ensures you'll use every colour in that palette.

So that's it. These are my personal opinions on products that I think are worth splurging on. I think with many things, cheaper alternatives offer just as good (if not sometimes better) quality than their more expensive counterparts, but there ARE some things that I would spend a prettier penny on any day. 

Credit to DeathtoStock for the header photo, 

C xx