Is This The End For Designer Make-up?

Seeing your Chanel bronzer stand proudly against your dressing table merged with Estée Lauder and endless Mac products is every girls dream. We all want a make-up bag filled with expensive items just because it looks so pretty.

For the most part, you do pay for what you get. I have a number of high end beauty products which reflect the price tag and I almost feel bad every time I use them; what about the cheaper stuff though? By cheaper I mean: Primark, Poundland, MUA etc.

It seems that this new generation of cheap, cheap make-up is making a permanent fixture in most of our make-up bags and travel kits and for very good reason. Not only are these products basically free, they’re so good! It’s easy to turn your nose up at such cheapness and simply assume the only people using these products are 8 year old girls trying out their first eye shadow, but you’d be wrong.

Here are a few pieces of make-up that I use that I absolutely love. With each product believe me when I say I have tried several different brands so I’ve had my fair share of makeup experience.

1) Bronzer

MUA – £1
Makeup Academy – Bronzer in shade 3

I first bought this bronzer a couple years back in Superdrug when I had run out of my Borjois ‘chocolate’ palette and didn’t hold much hope for it. For £1 I was expecting it to be quite bland and weak pigmented but it wasn’t at all. It’s the type of bronzer where you can never apply too much but still notice its colour. It comes in 3 shades and the one in the picture is the darkest.

I use it for an all over base before I contour and blend it down into my neck. It’s smooth and doesn’t stick like some, which leave a sort of dark patchy blob. Ideal. If you’re a clown.

2) Blusher

Primark – £2.50
Blusher in Fuchsia

I stumbled across this whilst I was doing my Christmas shopping not long ago. Primark is full of little stocking fillers at Christmas and their make-up range was a popular choice. I was only actually drawn to it because of its packaging. The gold case gave it a ‘prestige’ feel and when I opened it I couldn’t believe how bold the colour shades were. They have 3 shades in peach, light pink and fuchsia – mine is fuchsia. You have to be careful when applying because even the tiniest amount on your brush will colour your cheeks quite confidently, but then again that’s not a bad thing if you know how to apply your makeup. For £2.50 it’s a must have.

3) Eye shadow

Natural Collection – £1.99
Duo eye shadow in Mink/Sable

Natural Collection has been around ever since I can remember so this isn’t anything new – however still a beauty bargain most people overlook. The eye shadow collections come out really well against primed skin even though they do look a little pale in the packaging. I use the duo cream and brown as a base before doing fancier colours or on its own when I’m at work. For £1.99 it’s the type of product where if it smashes or you lose it you’re not exactly going to cry. Thanks to Ohtofeelpretty for the photo – check out her review of the product.

4) Lipstick

Poundland – £1
Lipstick collection

Init, I know what you’re thinking…Poundland!? Sounds like a sick joke right. But no, honestly… it’s quite good! I only ever go into Poundland when I’ve run out of kitchen cleaner or toothpaste but it seems the budget store is stocking more of our favourite items than we thought. I don’t often buy lipstick, it’s not a product I like to spend money on so with a price of £1 I thought I’d live a little and try them out. They’re quite matte which is ideal as that’s the look everyone is going for lately and they aren’t too heavy. With a few swirls around the lips you’ve got a subtle colour – regardless of which colour you chose. I like this because some deeper colours need such attention paid to avoid looking like your granny after a successful game of bingo so these don’t take up too much time at all.

There are some beauty products which I cant scrimp on price with – like mascara. I use a Clinique High Impact Extreme Volume which costs £18. I luckily have long lashes anyway and I like them to look bold thick and long so I enjoy the comb wand as oppose to most brushes which I feel don’t grip my lashes at all.

But yeah – heeeeeey. How good?! Makeup which is virtually free because let’s be honest, a pound or two doesn’t exist in the shopping world. We never notice that come out of our bank do we. I suggest going to look at these brands and trying them for yourself – I’m such a fussy mare when it comes to makeup and what looks good on me so I feel I’m a good example for the success of these products.

 Do you own any makeup which rivals the above? Have you tried and tested them before and agree, or disagree? Get in touch in the comments below 🙂