Are you a cosmetics snob? Make up gurus over here.

[ameliagrey]

I am having a re-think. For years I have bought mid-upper range products, mainly because my skin sometimes has the odd bit of eczema, so my make up bag is mainly Clinique. I also have some Dior, Lancome, Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown.

However, now I am in need of some blusher and thinking- why spend £20+ on Clinique for a silver case, mirror i won't use and a useless brush when Rimmel does one for £3.99?

Is there really any difference?

I used ot loooooove Prescriptives blusher- perfect shade and lovely texture. L Mercier blusher is great, but limited shades lately, so what about cheap end? Any difference?

I don't think you can go wrong with MAC products really - last well, fab colours and high street prices.

You're supposed to replace mascara quite often, I think, as it can harbour germs. TBH I wear so much mascara I need to buy a new one every three months or so anyway!

Me too steam

I'm defintely a cosmetics snob.

I buy MAC, Nars, Laura Mercier, Chanel etc etc...

In my experience - bar a few exceptions - you tend to get what you pay for.

Agree re mascara - it dries out very quickly so I don't buy expensive ones. I like Masterpiece Max by Max Factor, about £10 - I've tried loads and never found any nearly as good for all-round lenghthening, thickening and non-clumping/smudging.

I spend loads of time watching Pixiwoo tutorials on YouTube. If they recommend a cheap product, I trust them enough to know it's probably good. They often recommend Bourjois blusher and Sleek Makeup eyeshadow palettes from Superdrug (apparently the colours are very highly pigmented).

Bourjois blush is the same or better than Chanel ( I use both daily). The Chanel brush is crap, the Bourjois one has been going strong for 3 years.
Dior foundation breaks me out, cheapie Revlon doesn't - both have the same staying power and coverage.
I dont see much difference between Chanel and Max Factor lipsticks - Chanel has more nuanced shade range but also a sickly smell.
Eucerin eye cream is better than Dior for sure.

I think foundation is def worth spending more on. I use Bobbi brown, and feel that it lasts well during the day, whereas cheaper no7 etc tend to have disappeared come 2pm.

Cheaper eyeshadows (usually stock up on no.7 when they have the £5 vouchers in boots), blusher normally benefit, got posie-tint and the other on free with magazine a few months back. Oh you can't beat rimmel nail varnish either.

Cheaper bronzer is fine too.

Tend to spend more on mascara too as otherwise I look panda-esque by mid morning

I have never been able to find a foundation that stays put on my combination skin and doesn't give me cake face (estee lauder)
Have tried chanel vitalumiere , lancome idole, diorskin , makeupforever foundations and loads of tinted mouisturisers.

ggirl, have you tried the EL double wear light? Less cakey. Or the Vichy Dermablend, only the teeniest amount needed though. The Rimmel 25 hr is also pretty good, and only a few quid. Application method makes a difference too. Stippling it on with a flat top brush helps. And a decent primer. . .? 95% of foundations I've tried slide off my face. Primer, stippling and blotting paper all help though.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Bourjois is made by Chanel. I think Dior used to do cosmetics for M and S too back in the day - not sure if that is still the case though.

Tis Bobbi brown skin I use. It's lovely.

Lipstick / lipstain, cream eyeshadow and cream blusher need to be decent quality for me. I like Nars, Clinique, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, the odd bit of Stila and Laura Mercier.

But there are some cheap things I swear by: Loreal Telescopic mascara, Boots No.7 foundation, Rimmel eye liner, for example.

I think you have to experiment, especially with cheaper products.

QuinnFabray-may buy one of those stippling brushes .Haven't tried EL doublewear light will assk for a sample next time . Have some of the normal doublewear in a sample , wonder if I mix it with some daycream ??

Another vote for Benefit Posietint here. I normally dislike benefit products - find them to be style over substance - but Posietint makes my cheeks look nicely glowing and blends well. I always get comments on how well I look when I use it compared to any of my other blushers.

I have wasted money on Benefit - never again!

If you have skin problems, can I suggest you stick with products that work - 'new' ones might set off problems.
I write about skincare for women with problem skin caused by cancer drugs whose side effects target skin, and can be horrendous.
My advice is generally buy the best product you can for skincare and moisturising - then you can buy less expensive products for what you plonk on top. There are very good clinically-trialled products from abroad, such as La Roche Posay, etc. and Clinique are good too - but sadly our dermatologists will try and tell you "it's your age" when you skin breaks out from drugs.

More info on www.after-cancer.com if anyone has this problem with cancer or other drug side effects.
Verite

Another ByTerry blusher fan here!

The best by far mascara is ByTerribly - fantastic, bu it is £30 a go. But, it goes on beautifully.

The best blushers EVER are the benefit ones. I would not consider buying another brand since I thought I would switch to a virgin vie one and could tell the difference immediatly

Valium yes, I know what you mean. I love posietint but it doesn't win back my trust in the rest of Benefit's products.

It was only that I got a free mini-size version in a magazine that I decided to buy it.

YY most of Benefit is absolutely rubbish. I'm a big fan of posietint and also That Gal. I think the rest of it is crap though.

QuinnFabray Igot a sample of ELdoublewear light today, have just put it on and it's lovely,so much better than the normal strength, will see how it lasts

Also bought some Revlon Colourstay foundation and colourstay eyeliner pencils as even my EL doublewear pencils run.

Am shameless cosmetic junkie

I've never liked anything I've bought from Benefit.

ggirl in what way is it better? I'm on my second bottle of Doublewear. It's only that a BB that I've bought more than once.

I resent spending a lot on make up when the portion sizes are sooo huge and I get bored with them in a matter of weeks. So cheaper for me, is fine

best eye shadows I've ever bought are Sleek from Superdrug, cheap as chips , tiny little pots of colour so all good

Oh, glad you like it! I just find it quicker and easier to put on than normal doublewear. I find it takes a bit of time and effort to make DW look nice and natural, and I still always feel like it's a bit too much. DW light is foolproof, looks more natural, but still has the staying power. Not such full coverage though, so depends what you want in a foundation.

I like certain brands for certain products.
Foundation - Estee Lauder Double Wear
Primer - face, MAC. Eyes, Urban Decay
Blusher - NARS
Bronzer - MAC or Too Faced
Eyeshadow - I use anything, MUA, MAC, 88 palettes
Mascara - whatevers on offer