Makeup with Mrs. Chelsea

Hi, I'm Chelsea of The Life and Whereabouts of Chelsea. I want to give a big thank you to Emily for letting me guest blog! I love to blog about my life, my current weight loss journey, and makeup, makeup, makeup! Hope you enjoy!

I love makeup and anything beauty related. Do I need anymore makeup? Nope. Do I have enough makeup to make over all the Miss Universe contestants? Probably. I could browse around the Chanel, Bobbi Brown, MAC, Lancome, and Laura Mercier counters all day long. Don't even get my started on Sephora or Ulta. My husband knows to go check out other stores while I'm in there because it will be a while.

One thing I make sure to do before I buy a product is research, research, research. I want to know how much it costs, how it performs, and most importantly, are there any possible dupes. "Dupes" in the beauty world mean products that look/feel/perform almost 100% like another product. Think of a dupe as an alternative. My favorite dupes are drugstore dupes. I love the high-end stuff, but my bank account sure doesn't. Here are some possible drugstore dupes to add to your collection:

High-end: Armani Eyes to Kill Intense shadows ($32)

Drugstore: L'Oreal Infalliable 24 Hour Eye Shadow ($7-$10)

Both brands' shadows are a mix between a pressed pigment and cream shadow. These shadows are very easy to use; swipe some product on with your finger, pat on lid, and you are good to go!

High-end: YSL Touche Eclet ($40)

Drugstore: Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer ($7-$10)

& L'Oreal Magic Lumi Light Infusing Highlighter ($7-$10)

Combining your highlighting and concealing routine not only gives you a bright-eye effect, but it also helps you save time during your morning routine! Choose a product that will conceal blemishes and spots while highlighting the higher planes of your face (cheek bones and brow bones) and brightening any undereye circles.

High-end: Urban Decay eyeshadows ($18)/ MAC eyeshadows ($14)

Drugstore: Wet n Wild eyeshadows ($1.99 single, $2.99 trio, $4.99 palette of 8 shadows)

Eyeshadows are my addiction. I have some for almost every brand, high end and drugstore. I love my Urban Decay palettes and MAC veluxe pearl shadows the most because they are very pigmented and go on my lids like butter. Want the same thing without shelling out that much cash? Try Wet n Wild shadows! My favorites are the single shadow in Nutty and the trio in Silent Treatment. They are just as pigmented, go on like butter, and cost less than $5. Try them and be prepared to be amazed.

High-end: MAC pigments ($20)

Drugstore: L'Oreal HIP pigments ($8-$10)

Pigments are highly concentrated loose powder product that can be used in a variety of ways: eyeshadows, eye liners, blush, mixed in clear nail polish, mixed in lotion, mixed with clear lip gloss, etc.

MAC has a large range of pigment colors, but at $20 a bottle it can be expensive to own a lot, especially since you use such a little amount of product. L'Oreal has a line called HIP (do you see the similarity to MAC?) which offers high pigmented products including loose pigments.

High-end: Chanel Le Vernis Nail Polish in Peridot ($26)

Drugstore: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard ($8.50)

Last year, Chanel's Peridot polish was all the rage. The duo-chrome polish changes colors depending on the light. It goes from gold to green to blue to bronze. OPI recently released a Spiderman collection with a polish called Just Spotted the Lizard which is a dead on dupe for Peridot at $17.50 less!

Simply going to Google and typing in "*product name* dupe" will give you information and photos about possible dupes. A few minutes of research could save you some major money!