I have a serious love affair with Cosmic Raspberry, one of Bobbi Brown’s Rich Color lip shades. I love this color for so many reasons…it’s such a great pick me up, a pop of color for the face, it looks fantastic in pictures, and did I mention that bright matte lips are a fall 2012 trend? It’s most definitely my signature lip color and would seriously wear it to sleep if I could : ) A few weeks ago I went to a birthday party and was immediately drawn to one of the guests which I thought was sporting Cosmic Raspberry. To my surprise, she went into her hand bag to show me her “new obsession” which she bragged had fabulous staying power. She pulled out a CoverGirl Blastflipstick in “Pucker”. GASP…

I can honestly admit I’ve never purchased CoverGirl products (as the saying goes “never say never”…). Intrigued to say the least, I decided to stop at my local drugstore to pick one of these up. I must say, the darker color is incredibly similar to Cosmic Raspberry and does indeed have a long-wear quality as well as a beautiful matte finish. It’s a great alternative to spending the department store price if you are wanting to experiment with a new lip color for fall (it’s less than half the price!).

I just had to add this pic of my best friend Holly who purchased the CoverGirl version yesterday! She is a mom of two and does her makeup in under 3 minutes. She has fallen head over heels with this shade and feels that it really finishes off her look! I think she looks fab, don’t you agree?

Have you ladies found any frugal alternatives to some of your fave beauty products? Please do share!