My 73-Year-Old Mom Is Proof That These Cheap Makeup Products Look Expensive

If you're a Who What Wear Beauty regular, you're likely already familiar with my 73-year-old, *very* badass mom, Elise Marquam Jahns. And if you're new to the vertical, welcome! My mom

is 73, a professional makeup artist, a beauty YouTuber, and, perhaps most notably, immune to aging (at least aesthetically speaking). Okay, obviously I'm kidding, and in reality, my mom refreshingly embraces her age and the natural aging process. (She's never had an injection or even a professional facial!) That said, she has better skin than I do (unfair but true), and she regularly schools me in her whip-smart makeup techniques and product suggestions. One such example? She is a savant when it comes to bargain shopping—be it fashion or beauty—and just one look at her perfectly applied makeup yields proof that one need not spend a fortune on skincare and makeup products to look totally amazing.

To be completely honest, I used to be a total snob when it came to makeup, and for a long time when I was growing up, my mom always preferred prestige formulas as well. It hasn't been until recently that she has embraced more affordable formulas and integrated them into her YouTube content and day-to-day beauty routine. (See her full drugstore makeup tutorial here!) Even though I've been slower than my mom in adopting a regular queue of budget beauty must-haves, I can never help marveling at her makeup. So I asked if she could give me the full breakdown of her go-to drugstore-makeup look, including the specific formulas and tips she swears by.