Reader Spotlight: Aly

Time for another installment of Reader Spotlight! Today I bring you an interview with Aly from the blog Wonderland Beauty. Aly is an absolute sweetheart and has the distinction of being the only reader (to my knowledge) to have read all 3,000+ posts published on this blog to date. Aly emailed me before I even thought to start the Reader Spotlight series to let me know that she had made her way through my archives going all the way back to my very first blog post in 2009 and, needless to say, it left me speechless! I'm still speechless when I think about it, and I am immensely honored to have her as part of this little community. That said, let's get to know Aly a little bit better!

Q: How long have you been reading Nouveau Cheap?

I've been reading Nouveau Cheap since the end of 2010. I've actually gone back and read all of the posts you've made before then, though. :)

Q: Do you remember how you initially found this blog?

I remember hearing about it from a few other bloggers and I had been doing Google searches for reviews of things, stumbled across G's fabulous blog, and I've been a follower ever since!

Q: Have you ever purchased a drugstore product because of a review on this blog? If so, how did it work for you?

Yes! Every time G. gives a review on a product and likes it, it's mine within the next week or so! Normally whatever G. loves, I love! I've tried so many products from her recommendations, elf Tinted Moisturizer, Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters, Sinful Colors polishes, Wet n Wild eyeshadows, etc, etc, etc!

Q: Name your top five drugstore beauty brands.

Hmmmmm this is a tough one but I think I'll go with Maybelline, Wet n Wild, elf, and Revlon.

Q: What are some of your Holy Grail drugstore beauty products?

I absolutely love Physicians Formula Youthful Wear powder, it's the best powder I've been able to find to keep me matte for hours, even better than my MAC powders. I also really love Garnier Under Eye Dark Circle Roller, it's an amazing concealer for my puffy under eye area, I use it nearly everyday! I also love Wet n Wild eyeshadow palettes (Who doesn't?) because they give amazing pigmentation, & they are soooo cheap! Revlon Lip Butters, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks and Revlon Color Burst glosses are all amazing-- Revlon makes the best drugstore lippies! A few other favorites would be Jordana FabuLiner, Maybelline Color Tattoos, LOreal Color Riche Balms, and Nyx Blushes and Eyeshadows.

Q: What's your go-to lip color shade?

I love red lipsticks, I think a classic red lipstick is an essential to every girl. I hate to recommend a non-drugstore product, but my favorite red lipstick is MAC Russian Red. I would love to find a cheapie alternative, because $15 for a lipstick is kind of crazy, but I haven't found a good drugstore red lipstick that is as good as Russian Red!

Q: Approximately how many bottles of nail polish do you own?

I would say around 150 new ones. I have about 200 other ones, all of which are very old, from the early 90's & are unusable. I keep them for sentiments sake ;)

Q: What was your most recent drugstore beauty purchase?

I just bought Sally Hansen Insta Dri nail polish in "Cobalt Blue" on Saturday, it was such an amazing color--I swear it was screaming from it's shelf for me to buy it. So, I did.

Q: What are some drugstore beauty products that haven't worked for you (and why)?

I personally don't like Maybelline Cream eyeshadows (I love Color Tattoos, but the cream shadows in the quad palette are the ones I'm talking about) because they crease on me pretty badly, and the colors weren't very pigmented. I also don't really dig Wet n Wild Idol Eyes cream eyeshadow sticks, they crease on me within the hour and I just don't think the colors are something I couldn't find elsewhere.

Q: If you could create a limited edition drugstore beauty collection, what would it contain?

My limited edition collection would have to be inspired by Alice in Wonderland, I just loooooove everything related to that story, hence "Wonderland" beauty as my blog name!  My collection would also feature a big range of highlighters for skin, because I have yet to find the perfect one. I would also have a ton of red lipsticks in all different shades, eyeshadow palettes with mattes AND shimmers, and of course nail polishes!

Q. Would you like to share a picture with us (of you, your makeup stash, a pet, etc.)?

 I've included one below that's most recent of me, wearing "Russian Red" of course! :)

Thanks so much, Aly, for the great interview and the picture of your pretty face! PS: Have you tried NYC Retro Red as a dupe for MAC Russian Red? It's pretty darned close, in my opinion, and just $1.99 (and it's 40% off at Rite Aid this week!). Retro Red is my favorite red lipstick from the drugstore and worth a shot even if you don't find it a perfect match for Russian Red!