Ultimate make up for 16yr old

[Barbeasty]

My niece is coming to ours for Christmas, and I'm making my own crackers.

For my 15 nearly 16yr old niece I'm thinking of putting some make up in as the gift. Maybe nail varnish, mascara or lip gloss.

What are the makes to go for?

My dd likes Benefit. Thank God she earns her own money!!

When you're 16 it's all about the fun of experimenting so I certainly wouldn't spend much £s.

I'd definitely get some things from MUA and Sleek, good products at a good price. The liquid eyeliners from 2True are really cheap and really great also.

My 17 year old twins both like MUA. Great prices for playing around with.

Thanks.

My plan is to try and find a bargain in a brand that will impress her, hence thinking about it now.

I'm awful with make up, and have a combination of stuff I got for my wedding nearing our 11th anniversary and freebies from a friend who used to write for magazines. So all advice gratefully received!

Sleek and MUA are both available in Superdrug. Some of the products are only £1 and are actually really good quality.

The Body Shop are still 40% off at the moment too if that's any help.

I also say MUA. I have really really sensitive skin that reacts to lots of things and it is the ONLY cheap brand of make up I don't react to. It really is good quality for the price, especially things like the £1 lipsticks and blushers. The nail polishes are not the best out of the range but on the hand, are not the worst ones I've ever used and are decent enough for fashion colours

Have you looked at ELF online?

Maybelline Baby Lips- subtle, nice to your lips and fab packaging.

Essence and Catrice are generally very good. And very affordable. I think I pay around £2 for an Essence nail polish and around £4 for a nail polish from Catrice. They are worth the money - they last as well on my nails as Chanel, Dior, Guerlain, OPI and similar higher end brands.
They tend to also have limited editions that are quite interesting - paper eye lashes, great powders and so on.

Bourjois generally is very good - although a bit more expensive. They currently have a Java rice powder which is a shimmery powder. It's packaged in a nice retro-style pot and is very cool. It's this one: www.boots.com/en/Bourjois-Java-Rice-Loose-powder_1376978/

Ciate nail polishes are good too.

Topshop are supposed to have very good makeup now. I haven't tried it though. Their nail polishes are around £5

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics have very good lip tars - it's basically liquid lipstick and gloss. They are around £12 and available from Selfridges. Not sure if you can get them anywhere else in the UK.

I've heard good things about Eyeko mascaras, but they aren't super cheap - around £15-18 from Selfridges.

EOS lipbalms are also supposed to be good.

Real Techniques brushes (Boots/Superdrug) are good too. But if she doesn't actually wear makeup, then it's a bit pointless, I guess.

Oh, and Sleek is really good! I've only tried the blushers and eyeshadows, and I'm finding that they last as well as more expensive brands.
The blushers are a bit more difficult to blend as they are very pigmented, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

My DD likes OPI minis.
Small enough for her to use and not leave a gluggy half bottle
Tiny brush for her tiny nails
And good quality so they don't chip off the next day

(I've had OPI Bubblebath on my toenails since mid August . Still hanging on. )