Expensive Mistakes….

I have quite a number of varied make-up friends on Twitter, Facebook and more oddly perhaps real life.
And for some reason today, they’ve all decided to have a good ole moan about what a waste of money MAC, Boobi Brown, YSL, Laura Mercier (bascially the high end) make-up brands are.

Now this isn’t strictly true, its a crazy generalisation in fact, however what is correct is that within all brands some of the products just aren’t worth the money. If a concealer costs you £20 and doesn’t conceal its not worth £20, equally if it cost you £2 and doesn’t conceal its not worth £2. What I’m trying to say (rather badly) is that if a make-up product simply doesn’t perform and do what it claims then its not worth ANY amount of money.

I’m a big fan of things that work, which is why you see all manner of brands on my blog. I love some high end things such as MAC eye shadows, great pay off, last a good length of time, easy to blend. However if NYX made the same shadows and they did all this I’d buy theirs instead because they are cheaper. It’s not rocket science.

On the flip side I love Revlon’s Color Stay foundation, it takes the tiniest amount to give me a good coverage, blends well without giving a flat finish and minimal transfer, its half the price of MAC’s Studio Fix which I don’t rate and I think makes my skin look dull. No brainer.

Take more time testing products, especially the higher end brands. Any counter with integrity will gladly give you a tester amount of their foundation which you can use for a few days. Book in for free no obligation makeovers, take a notepad and pen, jot down things you like in the store. Don’t buy. Now go about your day with the make-up on, in day light, office, home etc and at the end of the day make a new list and see what you’re still impressed with. Chances are a few of the things you “loved” and “just had to have” will be getting a big fat line scored through them.

In the chemists like Boots & Superdrug, swatch the testers on your hands. Leave and do other shopping, see how the colours look over the course of an hour or two. If you still like them after this amount of time go back and purchase.

Online, order sample sized jars or sample kits from make-up companies (most good ones now offer this), search for discount and free delivery codes. Peruse swap sites for things you think you might like but don’t want to spend money on in case they don’t suit you.

There’s only ever a few times where you really need to panic buy, for example you’re going out in 2 hours with the girls and you really can’t find your liquid eyeliner or red lipstick. Fair enough.
Any other time though you really should take time to think on purchases, that initial rush you feel about buying is just that. A rush of adrenalin, a giddy “shopaholic” trait. How often have you convinced yourself you need all 3 of the shades of lip gloss that such and such YouTube Guru, blogger, celeb was talking about? then got home and really just felt a bit bored and deflated about the whole thing because really if you’d taken the time to try them you’d have realised that colour might suit them but would never actually suit you?
How many times have you panic bought at auction on Ebay, paying way over what something is really worth and also not being 100% sure it suits you and is even the real deal?

We are the consumers, it’s our money and no-one holds a gun to our heads (though the counter girls can be pushy) and MAKES us spend all our money on these things.

C’mon girls, use your loaves

xox

P.S I say “really” a lot….

Tagged as: budget, high end brands, make-up, makeover, rant, testers