We all like to look beautiful and everyone likes a bargain, but it isn’t a bargain if it doesn’t live up to high-end. Here are some products that dare to be better than high-end beauty.

Beauty Pie

You may get tired of hearing about this brand because I know they have an annual fee for it. Beauty Pie’s website has gotten better it used to be so slow and clunky. You no longer have only a certain amount you can spend monthly without paying more fees (or going up a level for more monthly fees). Some of their products are exceptional and made from some great labs that high-end brands also contract with for products. Of course, the formulas and ingredients are not the same but they could perform about the same.

Bronzing wand

I believe I stated in a previous blog about this product and how it compares to Charlotte Tilbury. You may remember that I contacted Beauty PIe to inquire if they were going to discontinue and they did not. It is exceptional and maybe a bit better than the high-end. It seems a tad bit more moisturizing than the high-end. Beautiful tones in this line as well from both brands. The pigment lasts longer on my skin than the other brand. These little beauties are always selling out, probably because they are $16.00 for .4 fl oz and worth it.

E.l.F Halo Glow Contour Beauty Wand

Elf does have an e.l.f. Halo Glow Contour Beauty Wand for $9.00 for .33 fl oz and while it is nice not as natural or long-lasting as the ones above. I find it a bit too glowy for my tastes, but they blend easily.

However, if you like glowy, the glow can be beautiful on all types of skin. If you are a glowy girl they are a good bargain.

A better bargain in the Elf Cosmetics line is their e.l.f. Halo Glow Blush Beauty Wand or e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter Highlighter, these two are some of the best substitutes for high-end. The blush wand comes in some gorgeous colors and yes, they glow. I like the glow in a blush not in a contour/bronzer. These blushes are the same price as their bronzer and blend just as easily. The color tones are different than the Charlottes and not quite as pigments but sometimes being that rich with pigment has its drawbacks. As in staining your cheeks in a nonflattering area if you don’t blend fast enough.

Better than the high-end all-over glow

I am going to have to rave about the e.l.f. Halo Liquid Filter, especially for mature skin. We lose a bit of luster to our skin as it ages and cell turnover goes down, this product brings a little bit of life back to your skin. I use it as just a foundation some days and some days under my regular foundation for a bit of radiance. Just recently, I introduced it to two people at work. They hadn’t heard of it. So, if you haven’t either get out there and get it. It is even better than the product it is trying to dupe. For $14.00 for 1.06 oz, it is a terrific value.

If you are a traveler, I would skip traveling with the wands, to be honest, quite often they implode a bit from the pressure in airplaces for some reason.  I think that all wands probably do this because I have traveled with Charlottes and Beauty Pie's and they both did the same. The Elf Halo Liquid Filter in the bottle also leaked but I will just put a piece of tape around it next time.

Kiko Milano Cream Sticks

It would be unreasonable if I didn’t tell you how good these sticks are by Kiko Milano, because they are travel-friendly and beat most of the high-end sticks out there. By most, I mean there are a couple of high-end that may beat them but they are so much higher priced (like Chanel, etc.). In terms of color and blendable, you wouldn’t know the difference but they last probably 12 to 14 hours on me, not like the 15 to 16 of some high-end. That isn’t a big difference. They are never patchy and don’t accent fine lines. Even better, they are travel-friendly.

Kiko Milano Sculpting Stick

The Kiko Milano Sculpting Stick is $15.50. I usually get 200 Hazelnut. I have gotten 202 Coffee when I wanted a deep contour and love that as well. It is simply beautiful. I still have one in my travel bag now and I will probably always put one in my travel bag or purse. Kiko Milano is also on my makeup table as well. I trade off between Chanel, wands, and this one. It just depends on my skin or if I am being lazy or not. This is more of a lazy girl-friendly product.

Kiko Milano and Flower Beauty

Kiko Milano also has their Velvet Touch Creamy Stick which is a cream blush stick just as beautiful and it is only $14.00 which is just as good or better than the other creamy blush products out there, even high-end. It again is lazy girl-friendly. The Flower Beauty Lip & Cheek Gel Crush is $11.50 which is in the same category as easy to apply and great color payoff. No, it will not last a whole 8 hours but close probably 6 and 1/2. But still a great product and I travel with it as well.

Foundation better than high-end

Have you heard of a little company called George Armani? How about Armani Luminous Silk Perfect Glow Flawless Oil-Free Foundation? That foundation is iconic and every makeup artist knows about it and uses it. The problem is it is $69.00 for 1 fl oz and that is pricey. Most people I know do not want to pay that price for a foundation and it is hard to justify that type of money on a foundation. I have found a foundation that reminds me of it and I love it. It is Sephora’s Best Skin Ever Liquid Foundation. It is $20.00 for 1 fl oz and comes with a pump. Drugstore prices and at Sephora. The range of colors and tones is exceptional. In the Winter, I usually range from 23.5P to 24N and usually. In the Summer, I wear 27P or 28.5N. You can mix this foundation with anything, even moisturizer for a skin tint and it is beautiful. If I am in between colors I can mix it with whatever I have to make the perfect match. This is just an amazing foundation. The bottle has a darker hue, almost like a thin black overlay on the glass. Your shade may look darker in the bottle than it is when pumped out.

Lip oils have made their impression on beauty

Dior has had some of the most exciting products to reach the beauty market in the past few years. They also have their Dior backstage mascara which has been a favorite over the years. Then they came out with their bright blush and lux lip oils, taking over a good portion of the beauty dollars around the world. Both products were amazing and have dictated those beauty trends in Lip Oils and Blush. Of course, that spurs the other brands to make some good substitutes.

Lip oils that are better than high-end

Of course, I went looking for one of these imitations as well. As I love the Dior Add$ct Lip Glow Oil, but she is pricey. I found it better than the comparable high-end. The formula in these lip oils is amazing and Beauty Pie has outdone itself with these gems.

Wondergloss^TM Collagen Lip Oil + (Better than high-end)

Beauty Pie Wondergloss ^TM Collagen Lip Oil + has a rich, thick, luxurious feel on your lips. There is a drawback to these, they don’t come in enough colors. They had some gorgeous limited editions this summer for the perfect sun-kissed lip, and now they are all gone. If they bring them back this summer, I will be jumping on those as soon as they get in stock.

These lip oils are $14.00 for .16 fl oz, a great price for this quality product. I know Elf has some lip oil as well and I have tried them. They are $8.00 for .25 fl oz, which is a great price and they are not bad (not in love with the smell of them at first). They are thick, but simply put, they aren’t in the same class as the Beauty Pie Wondergloss^TM Collagen Lip Oil+.

(No, I am not sponsored or even given any free product by these brands. I am just giving my honest reviews).

Concealer brush

I hear Angie from Hot and Flash’s concealer brush made from a collaboration with BK Beauty is amazing and I have a couple of friends that have one of those brushes. It isn’t bad. Not worth the price tag in my book. This one from Beauty Pie is better. It is high quality, with fine yet dense bristles. I have about 3 of these now and they are great brushes. I have heard popular celebrity makeup artists talk about this brush and they aren’t sponsored for doing so. How many other brushes can say that? It is $12.00 for this brush when you would expect to pay $30 or more.

Cream Eyeshadow Sticks

Okay, one more Beauty PIe Product. I don’t think that all of their products are better than high-end, no matter what it might seem like in this post, but they do have some good ones.

Beauty Pie Wonderclour^TMLongwear Cream

However, these Wonderclour^TM Longwear Cream Eyeshadow Sticks beat high-end or should I say are high-end for a lower price. They are $14.00 for .05 oz and are richly pigmented just like Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier. The eyeshadow is creamy and it dries down to last all day without looking dry. They last all day on my eyelids just like other high-end brands. Easy to apply anywhere and take on the go. I believe they are changing up the packaging, but I don’t have any of the new packaging eyeshadow sticks. It looks sleek and pretty but I don’t think that is affecting my decision to buy them and more or less. I believe I have 5 or 6 of these now. Two are in my purse from their Christmas pack, 1 is in my travel bag and 4 are at my makeup table with Charlotte Tilbury, Laura Mercier, and Bobbi Brown (in the travel bag). I reach for these the most.

Kiko Milano Eyeshadow sticks

I like the Kiko Milano Eyeshadow sticks but currently Ulta only has Burgandy, which I haven’t tried but that color isn’t my thing. Amazon has an array of colors of these Eyeshadow Sticks for $11.50. I think there are 25 colors and they last a day and night. I haven’t left them on all night but I have had some long days with them on and they have stayed on from 6 in the morning to close around midnight. Still looking good. Me not as much.

Travel Bag

I quickly decided to just pull out my travel bag as I had just gotten back yesterday from over a week-long trip. Mostly business so makeup is a necessary thing. The first photo has the yellow arrow(s) and the top arrow pointing to the Flower Beauty Lip and Cheek Gel Crush, 2nd or middle arrow to the Sephora Best Skin Ever Foundation, one of the bottom arrows pointing to the Kiko Milano Sculpting Stick, and the other to a Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow Stick.

2nd the picture or the other side of my travel back makeup bag there is the first blue arrow pointing at the Kiko Milano Eyeshadow Stick, then Beauty Pie Pink Blush, and finally the ELF Halo Glow Filter (which did leak, not the Anastasia Beverly Hills Foundation.

I know the bag is messy, but this is real life NOT Instagram.