Make up counter ladies terrify me. Who will be gentle on me?

[bountyicecream]

I wear very little make up but know I look better and feel better with it on.

I'm rubbish at doing it and don't know what suits me, so my New Years resolution is to brave the scary looking perfect ladies on the counter for advice and to treat myself to a whole new but basic set.

The question is, who should I let loose on me? I don't want ripping off. I don't want to buy loads, just the essentials and I still want to look like me.

Depends on the amount you want to spend and wether you mean the high end products. For cheapish decent stuff I like body shop make up and the staff in my local branch are lovely and very helpful without being intimidating. I quite like Clinique too but it is a bit pricier. Apparently Benefit good too. Pop into debenhams or house of Fraser and have a wander round and see whats on offer and which counter seems the least scary.

I like Bare Essentials in Debenhams. I just got foundation and eyeshadow. Wasn't too scary.

You could try space nk. They are often helpful and will try various brands on you, not just stuff from one counter. I also really like NARS and find their counter ladies generally nice.

I'm thinking up to £50 max as my total purchase. Is that realistic?

I've always loved the ladies at the Chanel counter.

Bobbie Brown...

Always found them really helpful. Just be very clear that you wish to wear only a small amount of make-up and for it not to be too heavy. Say you're after a tinted moisturiser 5 min make up look and not foundation 15 min look! IYSWIM.

Don't buy anything until you've worn it for a few hours in daylight.
Except lipstick.
That's pretty safe.
The rest - wait and see how it settles and how it looks.

Bobbi brown have been lovely to both me and dsis as complete beginners. I find Lancôme a bit patronising, but like their stuff, clinique and clarins ok and origins usually lovely

For £50 I would try boots no 7. The ladies there aren't too orange looking and there are often 3 for 2 offers.

Will they show me what to do too?

For that price range I've found Boots no7, and Body Shop have both been nice, helpful and not orange.

Also neither have done a hard sell which is good too. I have sensitive skin so don't like to buy straight away and like another poster said best to see how you look in day light and let product settle.

Ask.
Say you want to buy but don't know how to use it and would they mind showing you.
If they want to sell they will.
Just don't be pressured into buying.

Boots is good & you also get £5 off vouchers for no.7 during the year when you buy usual things that you buy.
I also went to bare minerals and it was lovely not intimating at all. There products are great for the skin too.

The staff in Body Shop are always very helpful and often they will give advice and let you test things out (they used to do free make overs from time to time but not sure if they still do), I don't wear make up unless im going out for a meal or drinks (which is very rarely), I buy quite neutral colours (nothing too bright).

I second Bobbi Briwn. But tbh, I would do a bit of research before you go. Sali Hughes does really good videos on loads of different make-up topics, they're on The Guardian website. You can have a flick through the ones you think might be relevant to you, e.g., tinted moisturiser, mascara, natural eyeshadow and lipgloss say, to at least have an idea of what you're looking for before you go. She is also really helpful on the best way to apply things, I really rate her a lot. If I'm looking to buy something I've never bought before, e.g., I recently realised I needed a primer to help my make-up last the day, I always check her videos before going to buy anything. Good luck!

I find bobbi brown really good and they've always been happy to give tutorials and even if I pop back at a later date with questions. £50 won't get you very far though. I only buy powder and blusher from there but that would come to almost that amount.

My Aunty got done up at the Benefit counter. There was no obligation to buy and she got a little bag of samples to try the look out herself.

Just go to dior or chanel counter and tell them you have no idea, they will be delighted to get you started and at least you know you are getting very good advice.

Thanks everyone. And the YouTube recommendation is fab :)

I'm going to go in, in the first week of January on a rare day to myself that I have free

Yet another vote for Bobbi Brown. Or Space NK. Have always found both really helpful.

Bobbi Brown are great but as others have said, you won't get much for £50.
No7 in Boots do free appointments and as someone else said, with the vouchers you should get a good deal.

Also check out Lisa Eldridge on Youtube, she does really good tutorial videos! Good luck and keep us updated x

I opened my pay cheque slip today and had £35 debenhams vouchers in there too :) So hopefully with my other £50 then that will get me decent starter kit anyway.

Is there any point in buying expensive mascara or eyeliner? Is there much difference in the brands and types? I was wondering about buying cheaper mascara and eyeliner (Avon maybe?) and then spending my money on foundation, lipstick, eyeshadow etc.

I would actually say decent mascara and eyeliner are more important than eyeshadows or lippie. My everyday makeup doesn't include eyeshadow as a rule, and on me cheap mascara often bleeds badly

There are some decent cheaper lipsticks/glosses around

I'd say the foundation is the most important one to get perfect and the one to spend on if necessary.

If you are near a boots, debenhams etc you could see if any of them have these sets left - www.debenhams.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/prod_10701_10001_123053004199_-1

The mascara is very good and the eyeliner pencil is a good one too. The mascara alone is normally £22.

Cheaper lipsticks are very good now.
Revlon and L'Oreal do good shades and textures.
It's worth trying around.
You don't need a many shades of eyeshadow, but buy separately. Palettes are usually a waste of money.

Oh that's interesting. I always thought they were basically black crayon and paint and so not much difference apart from the packaging. I've actually users free mascara off the front of a magazine for years