Having hit my early 30s, I’ve been trying to uplevel my makeup situation. It feels worth it to splurge a little on a few products that really seem to make a difference. Which is not to say that drugstore beauty items can’t be awesome: they definitely can. I’m not trying to spend hundreds of dollars a month on makeup, so some cheaper options need to be thrown into the mix.

Mascara Primer: The Skinny Confidential’s Lauren, one of my blogging heroes, raves about this product. I have really long eyelashes but they could use some thickening, and eyelash primer seemed like a way to address this without having to resort to adding individual false eyelashes which I am just not motivated enough to do.

I’m now a convert and you can find me gooping this stuff onto my lashes pre mascara when I want an extra boost.

Concealer: My undereyes have become a little more noticeable to me (e.g. bags, dark circles and sun damage, yay) of late and I wanted to do something about it. After reading about how amazing Cle de Peau concealer is about seventy different times I finally went for it.

This concealer lives up to its hype, and I get to use a brush to apply it which makes me feel fancy.
It’s effing expensive but I can tell it’s going to last forever.

Lip Stuff: Personally, I usually go for cheaper lip color. Lip goo doesn’t tend to last long on me and I don’t feel like eating layers and layers of a $30 lipstick.

I am a little picky about lip product textures though; my lips are super dry and matte stuff tends to get cakey. I also sort of suck at applying lip makeup so I like something that you can smudge on a little haphazardly.

Enter Revlon Colorburst Laquerbalm: it’s moisturizing and a little glossy but also stays on well and the fatty pencil tip makes it really easy to apply. I have it in Enticing. Drugstore makeup colors can be tricky but warm reddish or berryish, but not purple-y, options tend to work for me.

Birchbox Finds: My Birchbox subscription, while sometimes hit or miss, tends to keep me well stocked in higher end mascaras and in lip color products I wouldn’t normally buy. This makes the monthly $10 fee worth it to me, for now at least. A recent summery gem courtesy Birchbox:

This has become on of my summer go tos. It adds a really nice punch of color which is supposedly custom, adjusting to your individual skin tone/chemistry. The color lasts a decently long time.

The Bag Itself: As I began to step up my makeup game a bit I realized I should step up my makeup bag so I picked up this little number.

I like the pattern, and it’s big enough to hold a lot of crap but not so big that it won’t fit into my smaller handbags. Similar options available here.

There you have it: a lovely roundup of some of my recent makeup favorites. Next up on my quest to wear makeup like an adult, a truly daunting task: I’m going to try and find a foundation that doesn’t look like the cheapo orange shit I wore in middle school that scarred me for life. Wish me luck…