What They Say: "Apply new super soft kohl formula as a liner or shadow, smudge with the built in specialty-tapered sponge-tip applicator, for soft, smokey color."
Jen's Experience: With bright eyeliners entering their third season this Fall, the time is right to add more of these bold colors to your eyecolor wardrobe. For those who are fans of the Urban Decay kohl eyeliner that hit the market last year, you'll be pleased to find these drugstore liners to be fairly comparable. Sure, they don't have the bits of sparkle and it's not quite as soft, but I don't think it's such a bad thing. The soft colors of the Urban Decay ones caused them to migrate a bit, while these fade but at least don't end up under my eyes. Overall, for the price, they're a great way to extend your color wardrobe without the cost commitment.
Retail Price: $4.99 (Walgreens)
Rating: 


What They Say: "New high shine "no-stick" formula is long-lasting and extremely comfortable. Semi-sheer weightless finish. Precision brush for perfect application."
Jen's Experience: I have a drawer full of lip glosses and more stuffed in boxes, so by now, I usually know what to expect when I see a lip gloss, particularly when it comes to consistency. I looked at this one and saw thick, gloppy, and most likely, very sticky. Well it really is quite thick, and I wouldn't exactly call it weightless. Despite that, it wasn't gloppy or sticky at all, and my hair has consistently resisted its siren call. The color I tested, Tobago, is a coral-based nude, which works well with more intense eyeshadows, but alone with my pale skin made me a little washed out. I would say that the shine is what really makes this lip gloss stand out, but at the same time, the heavy shine with a darker color seems like it might be overkill, at least with my pale skin.
I always use the matching pencil along with the gloss, even on touchups. The definition it gives is important with the thicker formula, and at least with the nude, the matching color means that you won't have ring around the lips in an hour when the gloss wears off. Sure, it's not the longest lasting gloss I have in my drawer, but the nude color and high shine make it a perfect, polished choice for work.
Rating: 



What They Say: "Prestige Eye Shadows are versatile, long-lasting and come in beautiful, trendy shades."
Jen's Experience: I am a huge fan of Prestige Cosmetics. They make some of my favorite eyecolors, both in eyeliner and eyeshadows. On this round, I tested some of their new shades for summer, Love (pictured above), Champagne, and Indigo. The Champagne color is very similar to one I tested previously, and is a great color to use as a base to other shades or alone to brighten up the eye area. The other two shades are, well, a little bright for me. I know that brights are supposed to be in this year and all, but I found them hard to wear without looking like Mimi from "The Drew Carey Show". Still like the punch of the bright shades? If you're prone to looking overdone, try wearing the color only on the crease of the eye, and be sure to limit the use of blush and lipstick in conjunction with the colors. If you're looking for something with a little less brightness, these come in many, many more shades. They're not the longest lasting eyecolors that I've used, but for the price, I love to stock up to broaden my color selection.
Retail Price: $3.99 each (at your local drugstore)
Rating: 


With lipstick and lipstains becoming back into vogue, I wanted to give you my picks on which drugstore lipsticks to stash in your purse, and which ones to leave on the drugstore shelves. - Jen
L'Oreal Colour Riche ($7.99): Nurtures lips to keep them soft, smooth and supple with ultra-hydrating Omega 3. Protects against moisture loss with the conditioning power of Vitamin E. Creamy, anti-feathering lip liners coordinate perfectly with Colour Riche colors. The new Color Finder makes shade selection easier."
My Experience: I really love all of L'Oreal's fabulous shades. I was able to find a great nude that looked great with a lot of my wardrobe. That said, I am not so sure about these supposed conditioning ingredients. Out of all the lipsticks I tried, I thought this one was the driest. That quality also made it one of the longest lasting, but for me, it just made me want to apply gloss over top. I guess my biggest beef with this product is that it really bleeds a lot, necessitating a lip liner for more stationary shading. I am also not a big fan of the taste of this lipstick, although I am certainly glad they've refrained from making it mango flavored.
Rating: 


Prestige Cosmetics Lipstick ($3.99): "Intense color depth. Lightweight, comfortable formula. Lip soothing moisturizing ingredients. In 81 creme, shimmer, and sheer shades."
My Experience: I've always had pretty good luck with Prestige lipsticks, so I thought I would give this one a shot. This one is not too bad. It's much lighter and feels much more moisturizing than the L'Oreal lip color. And, it actually stays in place. I guess the only problem I really had with this lipstick is that the color indicator on the bottom led me to believe it was a light, cute pink, when in reality, it was on the road to trashy, much like my Cover Girl Incredifull experience. I feel like both this and the Cover Girl product are high quality products worth using once the right color is found.
My Rating: 



Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick ($7.49): "Super Lustrous® Lipstick features exclusive LiquiSilk technology to pamper lips with silk-drenched mega-moisturizers and vitamins. For rich, smooth color, soft-shine and irresistible lips. No wonder it’s America’s #1 lipstick."
My Experience: I know Melissa's already covered this one before, but while I was discussing drugstore lipsticks, I really had to bring up what I feel like is the quintessential drugstore lipstick. I have many shades of this Revlon lipstick; it really makes the bulk of my lip color wardrobe. There are tremendous sales on it from time to time. Walgreens drugstores on the day after Thanksgiving here in the US last year was selling all their Revlon lip color for 99 cents. Really, you can't beat that. Now this lipstick doesn't last the longest, but the colors are great and true to their packaging, and they're all really moisturizing. It just feels good on my lips. There are lots of pretty good lipsticks out there on the drugstore shelves, but if I was limited to Revlon for my lipstick forever, that would be just fine by me.
My Rating: 




What They Say: "Soft to the touch silky powder formula provides smooth, flawless application. Non-creasing wet or dry formulation. In 64 matte and shimmering shades."
Jen's Experience: After I fell in love with Prestige Cosmetics' automatic eyeliner, I felt compelled to try some of their other products. I love it when I find a drugstore product that gives more expensive products a run for their money. This is certainly one of those products. The color I chose, Glisten, is very comparable to the Platinum eye cream I recently purchased from Laura Mercier. This powder applies easily and blends well. (I use my fingers rather than a brush.) I love the way the golden color brightens up the eye area, and the color is subtle so that it just sets off the other colors in my palette. It doesn't last as long as some of the department store brands I've purchased lately, but you can definitely extend your wear to 6 or 8 hours by pressing powder overtop. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to build up a spectrum of eyeshadows, Prestige is a great place to start.
Retail Price: $3.99 (Walgreens)
Rating: 



What They Say: "The no-budge, no-smudge eyeliner!", "Incredible long-lasting waterproof wear", and "Twist up self sharpening pencil provides precise application"
Jen's Experience: I have been getting more and more excited about eyeliners this season. I've tried some expensive ones and some not very expensive, and I have to say, this is one of the cheapest and one of the absolute best.
One of my main complaints with pencil eyeliners is that they often pull on my eye while I'm applying (even using short strokes), and often the amount of color I get is often pretty minimal. This automatic eyeliner goes on like a pen. It's so easy to apply; I am able to easily blend the line with my eyelashes and I'm able to adjust the width of the line easily. And because it's automatic, there's no point at which the pencil gets dull and the wood scratches my eyelid. (Ouch!)
I wish the color lasted a little bit longer. For me, it's good for 4-6 hours depending on my level of activity. A full workday at least would be optimal. But I'm ready to let that slide for its ease of application and the great color selection. I'm currently using gold eyeshadow with their Lightening (bright green) eyeliner, but now that it's on sale, it may be time to stock up on some new shades!
Retail Price: $4.99 (Walgreens, currently on sale for $2.99)
Rating: 


