To save or to splurge....

Just been asked on Twitter about foundations and to recommend one. One question I didn't ask (due to character space –  good thing amount I chat), was the lady in questions budget. So thought I would type up this quick note on my personal experience of what's best to save on and best to splurge on. I've covered just the very basic products, and as its Saturday afternoon and I'm just waiting for the washing to finish forgive any typos etc….

Foundation

Always worth spending on what you can afford. Get the best match you can find. Cheap foundations often have cheap ingredients and whilst the majority of cheaper brands don't leave you with the old orange look like they used to, I find its always better to go for the best. Foundations are that, your foundation, you can't build on one that's not right!

Mascara

Go as cheap as you like. I've used literally hundreds over years and some of the most expensive brands do absolutely zilch. I recently bought an American brand for couple dollars and its the best.

Eyeliner

Personally I think the more expensive ones are better. They're softer, don't crumble and don't drag the delicate eye area. Cheaper ones can be hard and brittle. However, the exception is liquid eyeliner and glitter eyeliner's. Collection 2000 are one of the cheapest and I love their glitter eyeliners.

Eyeshadow

Jury is out on this one. Usually the expensive ones have more pigment, so in turn last longer and I'm a typical MAC/Chanel/Christian Dior devotee.  However, I also love some of the cheaper brands, such as Barry M and those fabulous sleek palettes from Superdrug.

Brushes

Spend, spend and spend. How you apply makes all the difference. I sometimes visit art shops for fantastic brushes, otherwise I stick to MAC.

Blusher

You don't need to spend out on blusher or bronzer. I have two favourites, Barry M and Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer, both on opposite end of scales as far as budget concerned.

Lipstick/Lipliner

Again you don't need to spend, once upon a time I spent, like many make up artist the lengthy process of blot, apply layer of powder over lipstick, blot again etc, but now with so many good long lasting formulas and a whole variety of glosses/shimmers/mattes etc you can go as cheap as you like. The same with lipliner, so long as it doesn't drag when you test it and glides then buy it.

So let me know what you think. The great thing about being Beauty Editor is whilst I work for a paper, I'm not held to any one cosmetic or skin care company, so I can give an honest opinion.