Anything better than MAC?

[LucyDavies1988]

Hey,

My friend is a MAC makeup artist so she swears by the stuff. Is there anything out there that's actually better? and perhaps cheaper too?

[La_nina]

Heyy I would generally say that mac is one of the better brands and the eyeshadow I use always seems to be excellent quality!
It can be expensive but I would say it's worth it especially if you can find it on ebay or something like that, some discount websites do it too, but be careful of fakes.
This is the website I always use and I've never had a problem with them. the prices are good too!! !Cosmetics2order

PaigeXX

[AsianMakeupDiaries]

Hi there
The better brands are unfortunately the more expensive fashion house brands like Dior or YSL. I worked in the cosmetics manufacturing industry with a chemist from YSL cosmetics. She developed their foundations. That's all she did, was foundations. There was a team of them. Most other, non-high-fashion/high-end brands don't have their own labs and/or outsource to other manufacturers. These cater to many different clients, cannot focus on one product as much, tend to redo formulas and sell to the next client.

Huge cosmetic houses like L'Oreal and Covergirl have their own labs and outsource to other manufacturers as well. These same manufacturers also produce for more expensive brands like Nars and Mac as well, so the quality is still in the same pool. It would depend on the formulas after that, whether the product is able to perform what it claims. So don't knock the drugstore brands. The $12 L'Oreal Lipstick may have been created in the same lab as the $30 Mac Lipstick. The only difference is the shade and texture, which was chosen by different people.

[MaggieMQ]

Hey,

My friend is a MAC makeup artist so she swears by the stuff. Is there anything out there that's actually better? and perhaps cheaper too?

Depends, but there are a lot of good brands out there. You just have to start looking.

[Kirsty@Rouge]

Take a look at Camerareadycosmetis.com.
The site is run by a Pro MUA and the products/brands are ones that are used by Pros worldwide. I bought some of the La Femme eyeshadows and Graftobian powder foundations for my Pro kit and they're great! The eyeshadows are bigger than MAC, great quality and about $3 each. I only bought matte colours so not sure how their shimmery shadows match up to MACs as the MAC shimmers are gorgeous!

Hope this is helpful :-)

[iheartmakeup123]

Hi! Like every brand, MAC has its hit and miss products. Naturally, they have the odd not so pigmented shadow or crap mascara. Of course there are brands that may have a replacement product with similar claims and live up to that claim better than MAC, and vice versa. In all honesty, its a matter of trial and error. But hey, that's the fun of beauty! iheartmakeup123

[MakeupJunkie580]

although mac is one of the most well known companies, and are a bit on the pricey side, there are other companies just as good for a better price. Check out sugarpill cosmetics, coastalscents.com. The first website is run by a mua who developed her own line, I own a few of the products and for the price you get a decent amount of product. Her pan sizes are bigger than mac and more pigmented. coastalscents.com is a website that sells makeup also and their products, I would say are comparable. The reason why their prices are cheaper is because they are an online only website so they can afford to sell us a great product for a great price. I would seriously recommend you check them out. I have a few of their palettes and absolutely love them!

[maybelline]

If you are in US in my subscription you have a link to free maybelline mascara

[Makeup Junkie]

I seriously haven't used MAC but I really want to because of all the positive reviews from beauty gurus in youtube. However, as mentioned by other users about it also has it's hits and misses. If you search in youtube, some beauty gurus don't like MAC very much so I believe it's a matter of preference. What I like may not be your cup of tea. But drugstore products are indeed a good choice as they are stepping up their game now. Mineral makeup is also really good because they not only use natural ingredients, they are safe on all skin types. You just have to try which ones work for you just like finding the right skin care product in a whole bunch in the market. Try different brands and explore.

[vogueboy]

Depends, but there are a lot of good brands out there. You just have to start looking.

Totally agreed here.