Drugstores Makeup at Premium Prices Are You Paying Too Much?
When I started Musings of a Muse several years ago I really wasn’t a fan of drugstore makeup. Actually I was a snob about it! I just was never really happy with the quality of products and felt like my money was best left to higher end and mid-range brands.
In some ways, I still feel like a high end fan girl but drugstore makeup has evolved so very much in recent years. I think the packaging still has a way to go if I’m honest but the quality, pigmentation, and just the overall selection is quite good compared to several years ago!
The fun thing about going to drugstore is you can AFFORD to grab six different lipsticks without feeling guilty. Try that at a Guerlain counter! We love the steals, deals, and beauty on a budget atmosphere at our drugstores but…are things getting a little too high?
Sometimes you have question drugstores makeup at premium prices. If I’m going to go to CVS and spending $9.99 to $11.99 on mascara well, I might as well just go to MAC for that or even Sephora right?
Are you paying too much for your drugstore makeup?
A good example of drugstore premium pricing is the recent Covergirl + Olay Facelift Effect Firming Foundation at Walgreens. This foundation is marked at $17.99. I believe there is a sale this week and I THINK it might run you $13.99 but don’t quote me during that sale.
That’s one of the great points about drugstore makeup, there’s always a sale, there’s always coupons to be had, you can always get a deal.
However, sometimes there isn’t a sale, sometimes there isn’t a coupon to be had. I’m an instant gratification kinda a girl! I’m not likely to play a waiting game for something to go on sale that I really want to try or I might need to replenish. Say you needed your favorite drugstore moisturizer but it typically it costs $19.99 or more. You ran out! What do you do? Wait for a sale!? You likely won’t be sitting around waiting on the Sunday paper to come so you can pillage it for coupons and the sale flyer or would you? That would mean you’d be sitting around without moisturizer. So yes, the sales are brilliant but sometimes they aren’t always practical.
Which brings me to the point on pricing. At $17.99 for a new foundation that may or may not be worth the price would you rather give your money to a drugstore brand or for a few dollars more get something that will likely work out of the box from Sephora. It’s a gamble with some brands at the drugstore and I’m a firm believer that concealer and foundation are splurge items.
There are other things that shock me as well when it comes to beauty at the drugstore. I find mascara vastly overpriced as well as some of the newer chubby pencils that I’ve seen marked as high as $10.99 each! Ouchie!
Are drugstores getting a little too highly priced?
I won’t shop anywhere but Harmons for drugstore makeup lately as I think CVS and Walgreens takes me to the cleansers with their pricing. Even after a sale you aren’t getting much of a deal. Just yesterday I realized I ran out of toothpaste and stopped at Walgreens and it cost me $6.99 for a tube! For toothpaste? What?
Where do you get the best deals on drugstore makeup?
Do you feel like drugstore makeup is going premium with their prices lately?
Are you ok with paying more for products you like at the drugstores?
Or are you of the mentality that it should be a little cheaper, because hey, it is the drugstore after all and not Ulta or Sephora.
Do share!