A girl on a mission… That is the phrase that would have best described me while I was desperately scouring the streets of Paris for any sign of drugstore makeup. For some reason, I thought it would be easy to find affordable makeup brands like L’Oreal and Bourjois in Paris, but much to my disappointment all of the pharmacies only carried skin care or luxury beauty brands and none of the supermarkets had cosmetics. Finally, I was lucky enough to discover a Monoprix in Paris that sold almost every drugstore makeup brand I could ever want from Bourjois, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Revlon, the Balm, and Monop’ Make Up! Having the opportunity to try beauty brands that are not available in the US and exclusively-overseas products from my all-time favorite brands made me so happy; I felt like I had died and gone to makeup heaven. I hope you have as much fun reading about all of my exclusively European drugstore makeup purchases as I had choosing them!

• L’Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion De Soleil Fresh Glow Bronzer: Since L’Oreal is my favorite drugstore makeup brand and bronzer is one of my favorite steps in my makeup routine, I could not wait to get my hands on a few of their exclusive European bronzers. I have actually never tried any cushion makeup products before, so I was really impressed by how luxurious this packaging felt. I love to use a small angled brush or my BeautyBlender to pat this under my cheekbones, around my temples, and on my jawline before blending it out. Unfortunately, this only comes in one shade, which is a medium beige with warm, almost orange undertones, which does look very pretty and natural, but is barely dark enough to be a bronzer on me. This has a natural, skin-like finish, and although it is not matte, it does set completely and it blends flawlessly, which I love!

• L’Oreal Glam Bronze Powder Duo in “102 Brunette”: This duo features a rich, silky matte bronzer shade, which is very pigmented and long-wearing, and a pale, shimmery champagne highlight shade which I never use because it is slightly chalky and I do not want to mix the powders with one another. The shade I chose is a beautiful, medium-tan brown with warm, red undertones, mimicking how skin would naturally tan from the sun. However, if you have fair or cool undertones,  the lighter “Blonde” shade will most likely suit you better. This product reminds me a lot of the NYC “Sunny” Bronzer, and although that one blends a little easier, I still really like using this one.

• Bourjois Healthy Mix Anti-Fatigue Foundation in “56 Light Bronze”: I fell in love with this light-weight, radiant, ‘my-skin-but-better’ foundation immediately after trying it! It covers redness really well, looks more beautiful throughout the day, and looks and feels so beautiful and healthy. The store I went to only had five or six shades to choose from and my shade, which matches me fairly well, was the darkest one they carried which is ridiculous, but they do have more shades online. Overall, if you come across this foundation, you must try it because it is a game-changer! Would you like for me to do a complete review of this foundation? If so please leave a comment down below!

• Bourjois Little Round Pot Blush in “85 Sienne”:  This underrated baked blush has a really smooth formula, and the sheer, yet very buildable amount of pigmentation means that you never end up with clown cheeks if you accidentally go in too heavy-handed. There is an extremely large selection of shades to choose from and this tan, rosy brown shade is perfect for adding warmth to the cheeks while still staying neutral. This blends like a dream, and plus the tiny packaging with the mirror and (useless) brush is adorable and well-thought-out.

• Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick in “17 Cool Brown”:  This is a beautiful, medium matte brown shade with warm, terracotta undertones, which is one of my favorite colors to wear for everyday. Unfortunately I was very disappointed with the overall formula. Although I appreciated that it felt really soft and had a non-drying, almost whipped texture, it was surprisingly sheer and because it transferred so much, it disappeared only a few minutes after applying it. I don’t mind if something marketed as a liquid lipstick does not dry down completely, but this felt more like a matte lip gloss (oxymoron, I know) and was definitely not opaque or long-wearing at all. This also has a very strange scent and looked patchy over even slightly dry lips, and overall, I would not recommend purchasing this product.

I hope you enjoyed reading about these unique and affordable products! As far as I know, all of these brands and products can be purchased in most European countries, not just France, and to those of my readers who are from Europe, I hope you enjoy reading about makeup that you can easily find where you live. What European makeup products are you interested in purchasing?

XOXO,
Makena

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