Frugal Friday: Discount Rockstar (Featuring NYX Crimson Amulet Palette)

Today, just for fun, I thought I would try a look using almost exclusively drugstore (or the drugstore side of Ulta, anyway) products. It's hot and sticky and gross outside, so I went with a sleek ponytail hairstyle with a smoky brown eye. I hope you guys like it. (And please be kind about my photography and how messy my car is. Thank you, The Management)

Shirt: Old Navy. Necklace: Soixante Neuf for Open Sky. Earrings: JewelMint. Car: Hurricane Erin.

The ponytail is the easiest thing in the world. Blow-dry your hair as straight as you can get it (I like to use a good leave-in conditioner/heat protectant first), then run a little Fekkai Glossing Cream throughout. Gather up your bangs/front section, and tease the underside for a little height and pin in place or use a barrette. Then create a ponytail, as usual, and slick down any flyaways with a little Pantene Classic Hairspray. If you want to fancy it up a bit, wrap a lock of hair around the ponytail and secure in place with a bobby pin.

The makeup isn't much more difficult. Start with E.L.F. Tinted Moisturizer, then grab your NYX Crimson Amulet palette (if you don't have one, see if you can still snap one up. It's one of my absolute essentials, now) and pop a little HD Eye Primer on each lid and blend up to the to the brow. I like to add a little under each eye, as well.  

Next, you're going to need the bottom half of the eyeshadow palette. Going left to right, the second shade on the bottom row is your all-over color. The third shade on the top row goes in your crease. The second shade on the top row goes in your outer corner, adds further definition to the crease, and runs under the lower lashes. Finally, the dark brown shade that's second on the middle row completely lines your eyes--upper lashes, lower lashes, and inner corners. Wing it out a bit on the outer corners. For the waterline and a little added definition, I used Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Pencil in Whiskey. It's not bargain, but it's all I had. Your brown and inner corner highlight is the first shade on the bottom row.

I pulled out the only other high-end product in this look, next. I used Benefit's Boi-ing Concealer to clean up around the eyes and cover blemishes and redness. Again, it's pretty much all I had, outside of my film kit. E.L.F.'s Eyebrow Kit in Medium filled in and defined my brows, and a coat of Maybelline Falsies waterproof mascara coated top and bottom lashes.

Alrighty! On to the rest! Apply the matte pink shade at the very top of your NYX Crimson Amulet palette to your cheeks, starting about an inch away from  your nose. You don't want too much on the apples. Then dust the highlighter on the cheekbones. Finish the look with a swipe of Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey on the lips.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend!