As a makeup artist and beauty YouTuber whose mission and passion is helping those of us who are over 50 look our best, I love testing out newer, inexpensive drugstore products to see if they work well on our mature skin.

As we all know, many of the makeup techniques and products that worked for us in our 20s and 30s don’t work as well for us now, so when lower priced drugstore products from reputable brands hit the market, I feel it’s important for me to test them out so you don’t have to waste your time or money on products that don’t work well for those of us over 50.

I’ve recently been trying out some new-to-me inexpensive drugstore products and have been really impressed with most of them. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that most of them are actually “crazy good.”

So today I’m going to have some fun using these new products on one side of my face and comparing them with some of my other all-time favorite drugstore products which I’ll apply on the other side of my face. And I look forward to getting your feedback as to which side of my face you feel looks the best.

All-Time Favorites

Eye Products

On the side of my face where I’m using mostly older products, I’ll be using two of Elf’s Bite Size Eyeshadow Quads. Primarily, I’ll be using the “Carnival Candy” quad, but I’ll also be using some colors from the “Cream and Sugar” quad.

Face Products

For my face makeup, I’ll combine my Wet and Wild Matte Foundation with a newer product for me – the Elf Halo Glow Liquid Filter in Shade 2 – which I’ve only used once before. Combining these two products will create a foundation with some soft radiance.

To cover the dark circles under my eye, I’ll use Elf’s concealer in the shade “Light Peach” as my color corrector and tap on the Elf Concealer in the shade “Fair Beige” over it. For contour, I’ll apply my Wet and Wild Contour in “Where’s Walnut.” I’ll put some of the contour on the back of my hand, dot on just a dab of moisturizer to make it glide on more easily and then apply it with a brush.

My blush is the Blush Bomb blush in “Bubbly” from Flower Beauty. And I’ll next apply my Wet and Wild Highlighter in “Halo, Goodbye.” I’ll apply my lipstick after I complete the other side of my face.

Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 50+. Don’t forget to subscribe!

Experimenting with Newer-to-Me Drugstore Products

Eye Products

On the other side of my face, where I’m applying the new-to-me makeup I’m trying, I’ll first apply a light color from the “Cream and Sugar” Bite Size Eyeshadow Palette on my lid and then I’ll apply the No Budge Eyeshadow sticks from Elf which I’ve not used before today.

The No Budge shadow stick colors I’ll be using are “Thrift Shop,” which is a medium brown and which I’ll use in the crease; “Cool Beans” – which is a darker brown that I’ll apply in the outer crease and on the outer lid. And lastly, “Out of Sight,” which is a beautiful blue, I’ll apply on the outer part of the lid and the outer crease.

Face Products

For my makeup on this side of my face I’ll first apply foundation. I’ll combine Catrice’s True Skin Hydrating Foundation in “True Rose” with the Elf Halo Glow Liquid Filter to once again create a softer, more radiant foundation look. And I’ll apply my Elf Concealer first in the color correcting shade “Light Peach” and then I’ll dot my Elf Concealer in “Fair Beige” over it as I did under my other eye.

My contour on this side of my face is the Elf Cream Contour Palette, and I’ll combine the two darker colors. Since these shades are very creamy, I’ll just apply them with my fingers and then blend them in with a brush.

My blush is Elf’s Putty Blush in the shade “Bora, Bora.” This blush is also quite creamy, so I’ll apply it as I did the contour: I’ll dot it on and then blend it in with a brush. And I’ll go back to the Elf Halo Glow Liquid Filter that I mixed into my foundation on both sides of my face for a dot of added glow along the top of my cheekbones.

After applying my eyeliner, mascara and under-eye eyeliner, I’ll take the shine off my T-Zone by using Rimmel’s Stay Matte Powder in “Creamy Natural” and finish up with my L’Oreal Age Perfect lip liner and two lipstick colors from Wet and Wild: “Light Berry Frost” and “Blind Date.”

And last but not least is a newer product from Elf I’m trying called “Dewy Coconut Setting Mist.”

I’d love to know which side of my face you feel looks better: the side of my face which has mostly newer products on it or the other side which has mostly some of my older, favorite products on it.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

Do you use any of these drugstore makeup products? If so, which ones have worked well for you? Have you tried any other drugstore products recently that have become favorites? If so, please share them with us!