Hey brooklineu! Check out your thread in the Cool Sites forum, I, and a couple other ppl left some messages for you!!
I totally agree with you about the liners--both eye and lip. They are mostly the same ingredients anyway! My favortie eye liner is from L'oreal, Revlon makes some great ones too. Also, MASCARA oulght to be drugstoer, since you ought to replace it every 3 months anyway! Some drugstore brands IMHO beat out dept. store brands! i myself am partial to Maybelline's Great lash.
For lipstick--ughh L'oreal and revlon's scent make me nauseous
. I don't mind Maybelline's, go figure!
but I HAVE found the perfect lip liner through Clinique, which I never found at a drugstore. The lipliner is called "Neutralizer." It's the perfect "your lips" but better.
As for the Paula Begoun book--she does give great advice, but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE always take things with a grain of salt! I've heard she hasn't tried 90% of the products that she reviews! Plus, I've heard she touts her own brand of makeup--so don't always believe everything she says, some makeup Im sure is fabulous though she may not think so! For example, I love Maybelline Great Lash. Some people agree with me, some people hate it. So I think makeup, like many things in life, is subjective!