Once again, I forgot to mention something :-) Erase Paste is by far THE WORST concealer I have ever had the displeasure of using. It cakes, it creases, it magnifies pores and dry patches. It's HORRIBLE gunk. I ended up throwing mine in the garbage because I was so disgusted with it after shelling out an absolutely obscene price for such rubbish. I rarely throw any product out, usually find SOME use for it. Erase Paste belongs nowhere but the garbage, plain and simple.
In regards to eye shadows, I used to be a die-hard MAC fan....til I tried other products and discovered that there are far better, cheaper products out there. The Maybelline Eye Studio shadows are actually good, which surprised me. But Wet n Wild eye shadow palettes blow them out of the water for an even lower price. If you haven't tried Wet n Wild since your highschool days, give them another shot. The quality of their eye products is simply astounding. I have several of their palettes - 3 pan and 8 pan Color Icon palletes - and like them a lot more than even my NARS eye shadows. $2.99 for 3 pan palettes, $4.99 for 8 pan palettes, and the sizes of each shadow in the palettes are very big, not some little dime-sized things. Far better pigmentation, better colors, spectacular quality, dead-on DUPES for many high-end brands which are absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and CHEAP as dirt. Unfortunately, they are not widely available in Canada, but if you're close to a border, hit Rite Aid, Fred Myers and Walgreens, all of which have a lot more of their line available. Other eye shadows which are far better than MAC are many online mineral companies which are much cheaper and higher quality. I haven't actually bought anything from MAC in a very long time, even though I regularly drop by there and hope to find something worth buying. Nothing has grabbed my attention at any MAC counter in the past 2 years at least, and I have actually returned many of my MAC products which I have gotten little to no use out of. NARS will also not see any more money from me in this lifetime after the discoveries I have made which make them a non-entity in my mind.

ELF Studio line has some products whch are very similar to NARS blushes and bronzers. I picked up an ELF blusher/bronzer combo in the US for $3 after spending $58 on a NARS limited edition blusher/bronzer/highlighter combo with Orgasm Blush/Laguna Bronzer/Albatros highlighter in it. I actually use the ELF product far more often than the NARS one I got. The colors are nearly identical - so much so that when they are on you cannot tell the difference - and the quality of the ELF Studio product is actually better than NARS. Boy was I peeved after discovering that! I also got an NYC Blushable Creme Stick in Plaza Pink. $3.99. It is identical to NARS Deep Throat powder blush, which I also own. Another fact that really peeved me. ELF can be found in Target in the US, so if you're close to the border and sometimes cross over to do shoping, definitely go grab some of their Studio line products. They are simply spectacular. The NYC blush sticks are also far better than the Maybelline moussse blushes, and silicone-free. They stay all day, do not cake or settle into the pores, do not cause break outs, work for all skin types, and look totally natural and sheer. They really are gorgeous, not to mention dirt cheap. I have noticed they are no longer available in my area in Canada, but still in Rite Aid and Walgreens in the US, so grab them while you can. Often at Buy 1 Get 1 50% OFF prices, which cannot be beat. NYX also has a new line of Studio products which have those grinders. Both blushes and face powder. The ingredients in the face powder are great, very similar in quality to Smashbox's Halo, and the blushes are very pigmented and smooth. Even their regular powder blushes, which are even cheaper, are spectacular. They can all be gotten at Cherry Culture, and even cheaper when they have their incredible sales on. Milani is also a great brand for baked blushes, baked bronzers and baked eye shadows. Great pigmentation, beautiful shades, smooth application, and beautiful finishes with all that I have tried. Check Walmart for those, or Cherry Culture, which has a larger selection of their products.

MUF HD powder is a total rip-off. It is nothing but silica powder. I buy this from my wholesaler for approximately $2.50 an ounce. I nearly wet myself when I checked MUF HD powder's ingredients and saw that it is nothing but silica. Not to mention, there are far better cosmtic micro-spheres which, when mixed with silica, makes a much better product that the MUF one. I mix silica spheres with silk powder a a bunch of other ingredients which make pores less visible, absorb oil without drying the skin, and actually keep dry skin hydrated and smooth. Far better than anything I have tried in stores on online. I haven't bought a face powder for the past 2 years because of that. Wouldn't spend a dime on the MUF powder. You are paying for NOTHING BUT the name and hype. MUF foundations broke me out so bad that it took weeks to heal up. Likewise NARS foundations. Why? Because they are full of silicone. I am now using a Monave cream to powder foundation which is loaded with nothing but great ingredeints which are actually healthy for the skin and which replaces at least 4 to 5 of my regular products. It covers like a dream, everything from my under eye area to my entire face, and matches my skin tone perfectly. No creasing, caking, magnifying pores, drying out the skin, accentuating dry patches, or making my skin more oily. It also works perfectly as an eye shadow primer and sun screen due to the titanium dioxide and zinc oxide in it. It isn't actually for sale yet as far as I know. I was given it to test and review before it was made available to the public and I have absolutely fallen in love. I no longer use concealer, primer, eye shadow primer, finishing mist, etc. Just that product and my own finishing powder to set it, which makes it last all day, even in extremely hot weather. It is also very light on the skin, yet covers imperfections perfectly. When I don't need that much coverage, I mix my powder mineral foundation with my moisturizer and use that as a 'tinted moisturizer' type product. It also doubles as a sun screen because of the same base ingredients, and as a product to even out my skin tone. My skin has never looked better.

After going on a cosmetics-buying bender this past year and spending thousands of $$, I have found that at least 85 to 90% of the high-end products are just over priced junk, really. They are all about the marketing and rubbish claims.

All the products mentioned in this article are fabulous! I particularly
love: NARS blushes & bronzers, MAC eye shadows & lipsticks, VS
Beauty Rush Gloss, Benefit's Erase Paste & Benetint. I would
recommend all of these products to EVERYONE who loves make up! I am
dying to try the Make Up For Ever HD powder. I love MUFE's lipsticks
and hear only good things about powders & foundations.

Awesome! Thanks for answering my questions...you ladies are great:)

@ILOVEMAKEUP It's translucent powder so regardless of your skin color it should not show up as white powder :) It's good for all skin types

@Cheaperbythedozen Get it soon! I'm sure it's a limited edition, and I think 100% of the proceeds go to charity. Yay celebrity endorsement!

Also, are HD powders good for any skin color?

@ILOVEMAKEUP
E.L.F. stands for Eyes Lips Face. They're an extremely affordable brand of cosmetics that almost exclusively sells their products online.

@ILOVEMAKEUP - e.l.f. is EyesLipsFace

http://www.eyeslipsface.com/

Very affordable makeup and they ship internationally!

I have Makeup For Ever's HD Powder and love it. I have had good experiences with Loreal's products and love Nars. I have been wanting to try that MAC lipstick.