The SAD TRUTH About Drugstore Makeup in 2024

Today I wanted to sit down and talk about what the heck is going on at the drugstore because honestly It's not good. You all know I built my channel around drugstore makeup I started my blog around drugstore makeup then came over here to youtube and I was all about it Wanting to prove that drugstore makeup was just as good as high-end at least most of the time and I really think That back then it was easy after suffering through the horrible drugstore makeup of the 90s and early 2000s the quality started to get better and better and then in the makeup boom of 2015 2016 we were seeing such great quality at the drugstore. It would often rival the high ends I think drugstore was just really having a moment at the time, but that doesn't seem to be true anymore Especially post 2020. I think we have seen a steady decline In the quality of drugstore products while the prices keep going up. Now, of course, this is not a blanket statement There are still some really fantastic drugstore products that are launching all the time But I do think that the quality has gone down overall So today I want to talk about why this is happening and then give you some Solutions things that we can do about it because not everybody wants to spend money on luxury makeup Not everybody can spend the money on it. So if that sounds good to you guys Let's go ahead and jump right in and get started. All right So i'm gonna go ahead and do my makeup while i'm talking i'll leave all the products Link down below and i'll put what i'm using on the screen just so we don't interrupt the flow of the video And everything that i'm going to be using is drugstore today And it's things that I think are super high quality and favorite products of mine So i'm gonna go ahead and start with the reasons why I think drugstore makeup is declining And then i'll talk about things that we can do as consumers So I think the first reason just comes down to the economy and inflation and all of that Since 2020 we have seen prices just increase and they just keep on increasing without going back down So we have rising costs of raw materials shipping Packaging and it's basically forced companies to raise their prices so that they can maintain their profit margins now to offset the higher operational costs brands might end up reducing either the quality of the products or Using cheaper alternative ingredients and things like that to try to reduce their costs to offset the higher operational costs Brands are going to reduce the quality of the ingredients. They're going to use cheaper alternatives And that's just going to lead to products that don't perform as well as they did before and some examples of brands that this has Affected I think are the super inexpensive brands like essence makeup revolution wet and wild la girl Those were all super inexpensive to begin with and they haven't really raised their prices like some of the other brands have So you have to wonder how are they even making money at this point likely? It's that they're cutting their costs somehow either the manufacturing or they're using cheaper ingredients And in all of the brands that I mentioned I personally have noticed a decrease in quality I don't think makeup revolution was ever the best quality They had some good products, but almost everything that i've tried from them lately has been kind of a dud also essence I used to love so many essence products and they've definitely become a lot more hit or miss lately Same thing with la girl I felt like they had one of the best eyeshadow palette formulas at the drugstore and the last couple of palettes I got from them were terrible. They just were not the same quality at all So I think especially when it comes to the more affordable drugstore brands if they're not willing to raise their prices a little bit They're gonna have to skimp on quality like something has to give and to be honest if one or the other has to happen I would rather them Increase the product price a couple of bucks rather than skimp on quality because if the quality is bad Then I just completely wasted three or four dollars Whereas if it were five or six dollars at least then I would still have a product that I could use So, I don't know if you all agree with me But like I said, I think I would rather pay a couple of dollars more I mean, I don't want them to double their prices or anything like that But with a brand like essence that's charging three dollars for a blush if they would just bump it up to five I still wouldn't be mad about it as long as the quality remains good another thing that's contributing to rising drugstore makeup costs is Marketing and pr so drugstore companies are still doing Regular tv advertising they're doing print advertising, but now on top of that. They're also doing social media Marketing they're paying for influencer partnerships sponsorships And celebrity endorsements, which might lead to more price hikes without necessarily improving the product quality I think we saw this with bh cosmetics instead of just focusing on the quality that we all knew and loved from them They ended up spending tons and tons of money on these collabs with Musical artists like iggy azalea and doja cat instead of makeup influencers that could really sell the products. I mean looking back Bh's biggest and probably most successful collab was their carly bible palette and they actually came out with a second one as well Because it was just so incredibly popular and probably made them a ton of money But I don't think a lot of people cared about their collabs with the musicians because it just didn't make sense I mean talk about an incredible rise and fall for a company bh started out With those private label looking palettes the big mega palettes with a million colors To having one of the best eyeshadow palettes at the drugstore yet Somehow they just lost the plot and I think they must have lost a ton of money On those celebrity collabs and ended up having to sell to makeup revolution And we really haven't heard from them since they haven't been the same another area where I think the drugstore is really failing is repackaging instead of Reformulating so most drugstore brands are facing increased competition from luxury brands, especially As they go viral on tiktok So they're focusing on creating trendier more luxurious packaging to compete with the high-end brands But not really improving their formulas inside. So I think we've seen this from elf recently Remember their halo glow liquid filter. It's a great example of this to try to compete with charlotte tilbury They switched from their cheap plastic packaging that they used for pretty much all their other products and they put this product Inside a really heavy glass bottle with the oversized doe foot Just to make it look like the hollywood flawless filter from charlotte tilbury And at first people were so upset about the 14 price tag Everybody was freaking out about it because this is elf they have like one dollar makeup or five dollar makeup, right? It just seemed so far out of left field and fourteen dollars seemed crazy for a liquid highlighter But then elf started to become more of a dupe brand and thus created not so subtle versions of higher end makeup and in the Process they became a lot pricier. I've always said that they got away with this because with dupes It just doesn't register the same way because you're comparing it to something way more expensive So let's take that example of the halo glow liquid filter versus the charlotte tilbury hollywood flawless filter They didn't want you to think oh my gosh elf came out with a liquid highlighter and it's 14 That's crazy what they wanted you to say is wow, this looks just like charlotte tilbury and instead of fifty dollars It's only fourteen dollars. What a steal. This is an amazing price So at first we had sticker shock over the fourteen dollar liquid highlighter But then it started to become more commonplace to pay more for these drugstore dupes not just from elf but from all brands But at the same time consumers aren't stupid and I think this is going to be a very short-lived not well Tolerated trend because people are catching on to this and we're realizing that we shouldn't have to pay more money for products like this because At the end of the day, you just have to think about it as this is a liquid highlighter from elf It's not charlotte tilbury. It doesn't have the same ingredients There are plenty of other liquid highlighters from other drugstore brands that don't cost fourteen dollars It's just that because it doesn't look like charlotte tilbury. They can't charge more for it. But is it really that different? No, another thing that's contributing to the fall of drugstore makeup is just changing consumer expectations So drugstore brands have been trying to keep up with luxury trends and it's leading to I think more experimental products that may not really go over that Well, they're not going to be as reliable as staple products from the past so some good examples of this would be some products i've seen recently from physicians formula covergirl and Revlon i've seen them releasing products that don't necessarily go with their vibe But it's like they're trying to become trendy or hop on a trend or go viral for example covergirl released that dupe of the chanel essence foundation the one that has the little beads in it and Not only was that completely out of left field for covergirl. We were not expecting it It wasn't on our bingo card for 2024 But also it just was so expensive for covergirl. I think it was a 21 or 22 dollar foundation And I admit I actually like that foundation But there were a lot of people that didn't like it and I don't know if a lot of that had to do with just How expensive it was and maybe people were expecting more out of it Or if they just didn't like the formula in general, but it had very very mixed reviews Also, I think about like when elf and flower beauty released those blush wands that look just like the charlotte tilbury ones To me, it felt very rushed like we have to capitalize on this trend before it goes away So we're just gonna hurry something out of the manufacturing process We're not really gonna field test it. It just felt like a cash grab to me and the products themselves They weren't the most horrible thing in the world, but they were to me at least patchy They were hard to blend they dried down really quickly and they just didn't compare to the charlotte tilbury for me at all And I think if they had just taken their time and said look we want to come out with a glowy blush And really put some thought into it used really good ingredients and released it on its own merit instead of just trying to copy Charlotte tilbury it would have been so much better and i'm not saying that These were not successful launches for them because I think they were people saw that packaging and rushed right out to buy it But what happens to the next launch and the next one if they keep doing this? They're going to start undermining their credibility with consumers and next time people might not be so quick to believe that this is going to be a true dupe for this product because The last one fell short and the one before that so while it might make them some money in the short term I don't think this is a good long-term strategy for these brands to be using to me in the example of those blushes that I was just talking about it seemed like They just needed to get it out there before the trend of those blushes disappeared and they didn't care how they did it And it didn't matter how it performed another thing. I thought was a weird release was from physicians formula They came out with these liquid Lip balm gloss things in this funky packaging that looked nothing like anything else Physicians formula has ever released before and it turns out I knew i'd seen it somewhere before It was a dupe for a k-beauty brand that it's pretty much the exact same packaging It's too weird of a design to not see that this was intentional And this might be kind of a bad example to use because I did Like those lip balms from physicians formula I thought they were really good actually, but it looked weird and out of place It didn't fit with their brand at all And I think we're starting to see these drugstore brands losing their identities because they just are copying other people Instead of making the products that they're good at and what they're known for So micro trends in general are a huge problem because now these things are all going to start to look outdated Again, thinking of these blush wands from flower and elf that trend has kind of come and gone now So are people really going to be repurchasing these? I don't know. They're probably just moving on to the next thing I think for me the really interesting products are coming from the luxury brands right now They're not necessarily coming out of the drugstore Everything coming out of the affordable brands just feels like a copy of something that's already been done So I wish that they would just go back to what they're good at Focus on their core products and just coming out with really good quality And I think they'll see better long-term success from that rather than jumping on all of these micro trends So those are the four main issues that I see contributing to the fall of drugstore makeup again just to recap we have Inflation which is resulting in them cutting corners and cutting costs The second one is not being as smart when it comes to marketing and branding just spending way too much money on that The third one is focusing on packaging rather than the ingredients and the product performance And the fourth one is trying to keep up with these trends and what consumers are supposedly wanting to see Editing Jen here. I just wanted to jump in quickly and mention my fifth point that I completely forgot to talk about And that is inclusivity I think that drugstore brands are so far behind the luxury brands when it comes to shade ranges Not just in complexion products, but across the board with all of the color cosmetics And while there are a few brands who are getting better with this I think the drugstore as a whole has a really long way to go so I just wanted to mention that quickly as well because a lot of you tell me in comments that one of the reasons you're Not buying from the drugstore these days is because you have trouble finding your shades in certain products So what can we do about this? Most of us do not have the money to be buying luxury makeup And even if you can some people just don't want to spend all their money on makeup They want to use it for trips or cars or their house or whatever it may be So how can we make sure that we're getting high quality makeup at the drugstore these days? I have a couple of things that I think we can do. It's not foolproof Obviously you're still going to end up with duds occasionally, but this should hopefully just help to cut down on that a little bit So the first thing I would say is to check reviews and ratings So this one might seem obvious But I think what's important is where you're getting the reviews and ratings from I would look for Honest reviews from somebody that you can trust Online whether that's an influencer that you really feel like is being honest and is in it for the right reasons another pretty good source is somewhere like reddit or Facebook groups. I actually have a facebook group and everybody over there You know, it's just regular people who buy makeup who love makeup and they're not influenced or biased You know, they're spending their own money on it and you're gonna find very honest opinions But I think whoever you're listening to just make sure that they have similar Skin type skin tone or preferences as you because obviously that's going to influence what they're recommending And if you have a completely opposite skin tone or skin type Then it may not work for you in the same way as far as reviews on websites I would just seek caution with that because I think Ulta and Sephora are using a lot of these Incentivized reviews now people who got products for free and they're also pulling reviews from the brand's website And if you've ever been to an actual like a brand's website You probably have seen that I would say the majority of them Have basically filtered out all of the bad reviews and just left the five and four star ones I see that in almost every brand website and it is so obvious because No brand's products are five star like every single one. It's just not even possible There are always going to be people that don't like your products and whenever I go to these brand websites All you see are these glowing reviews? So sometimes when you're on the Ulta website, you'll see like i'm just using this as an example You know got2b hair gel and it'll have a little disclaimer By the review and it'll say this was pulled from the got2b website, you know So just make sure you're looking at that same thing at Sephora. A lot of times you'll see incentivized reviews you can filter those out if you want and just Read the reviews of people who actually spent their hard-earned money on it because they're going to be the most critical for sure Another thing that you can do is learn to read ingredients and figure out which ingredients work best for you and which ones don't and I think That can be a little harder with color cosmetics because with skincare It's just a little bit more obvious But you can tell if a product has fragrance in it First of all, like a lot of people don't like the physician's formula butter bronzer because it has that fragrance You know if you don't like fragrance products make sure to just look at the ingredients first Make sure that it doesn't have added fragrance or any type of fragrant ingredient. I know for me Alcohol is a big one I've stopped buying any foundations that have denatured alcohol way up at the top of the list because I know That those always make my skin look dry. I don't mind it if it's a little bit lower. I've had success with Foundations where you know, it's one of the last ingredients and that's fine But whenever you're reading an ingredient list The first ingredient is the one that it has the most of and then it just goes down in descending order So it's really important before you buy something to just make sure that it's going to work well for you Another thing is just the description of the product itself Sometimes, you know if something is labeled as matte or matte finish or long wearing I'm a little bit more wary of it and i'll probably wait and hear some reviews from other people with dry skin Because I know if a matte foundation or a matte or long wearing lipstick Can definitely have the tendency to look a little bit more dry on those of us with dry skin So if I see anything with that description, i'll usually just wait for some reviews and I won't purchase it right away Same thing with dewy sometimes which seems weird because I have dry skin But I hate dewy blushes the kind that don't dry down and also I think it's because those extra dewy formulas like i'm thinking of the Merit blushes for example the little domed ones a blush like that It's it's sticky on your cheeks all day, but I just find that even on my dry skin They slide around they don't last as long as some of the other formulas and also if I want to build it up Sometimes those really dewy slick formulas don't build upon themselves very well So that's another one that i'll wait for reviews on sometimes it ends up working out fine Other times not so I think it's just a good idea to use caution Whenever a product is labeled something that has the potential to maybe not work for you Another thing we could do is focus on classic products So these are things that have been around for a long time already that have a good reputation Rather than the trendy stuff that keeps coming out rapid fire. So for example, I love revlon's lipsticks I think their formula is incredible. I really enjoy the maybelline lifter glosses l'oreal's blushes Milani's bronzer the silky matte bronzer is so good These are all tried and true products and they aren't exciting, but they work really well They have amazing quality good ingredients And if you don't have the budget for high end or you just don't want to throw away money on makeup That isn't going to work Well, just go back to the classics. Sometimes it's better to just stick with what you know And you know if there is a product that comes out and you think wow This actually sounds like it's going to be really good or you're interested Try to wait for reviews and make sure that it's built up a good reputation before you decide to buy it Another thing that i've been doing is buying k-beauty makeup and that has worked so well for me Korean makeup brands are always ahead of the trends Sometimes they're the ones creating the trends in the first place that end up trickling into the u.s market after that So I often see formulas released by korean brands that don't end up in the united states From our brands for a year at least so if you're bored of all of those classic products I just mentioned I think k-beauty is a great way to try some newer trendier products And at the same time they keep their prices to about what it costs for drugstore here So that's definitely something to think about if you want me to do a k-beauty video. I think i'm due for one I definitely will especially when it comes to the makeup because it can be super overwhelming All of us are really familiar with all of the brands that we have here at the drugstore But when it comes to korean beauty brands, I know it can be very overwhelming So if that's something that you'd like to see definitely let me know and I will do that video But when it comes to k-beauty makeup, I am rarely disappointed in what I get They just use such great ingredients and everything performs really well So anyway, I am really curious about what you guys think of this topic. Are you still buying drugstore? I know a lot of you have commented to me that you're buying more high-end recently and just kind of fewer products But better quality and I guess i'm wondering if you've seen a decline in the quality of drugstore products Or if you think that they're still as good as they were before I'd love to hear your thoughts as always. I love chatting with you guys down in the comments So thank you all so much for taking the time to watch this video I truly appreciate it. And if you have some extra time and you'd like to watch some more videos I'll just put some right over there that you could check out next I hope you have a great rest of your day and i'll see you all in my next video. Take care Bye