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.

That's what I do.
Freebies, samples, gifts with purchase.
i rarely buy mascara. I never use eyeliner.

I find a huge difference in eyeliners. Some glide on very easily and give a lovely smooth line, others are like drawing on your eyelid with an HB pencil!

i think you should set your self a budget, then if you need to ask for advice you won't feel confused by what the lady offers you
try boots no 7 they do nice tinted moisturisers and foundations I have goo d skin and stick with the moisture or radiance foundation they are normally £9.50 I think but last a while
or body shop is good they do bb creams which are similar to tinted moisturisers
body shop also have more time to do a free make over then no7 so when you have some time pop in there have a look and it's not so pressurised then somewhere like debenhams or house of fraser. x

I don't see the point in spending loads on eye liner,most of the cheap ones are just as good.That said,I use shadow to line instead (only use liner on nights out now if I bother) as it's much more relaxed looking and you can do whatever you want with it.

I never spend much on mascara either,I don't find it worth it tbh.Maybelline great lash is great,less than a fiver and a cult product.

Foundation is the hardest one to get right and the one I would spend more on.

Maybe have a look at the Benefit kits too,especially if wanting shadow.Big beautiful Eyes gives a nice day time look and includes concealer (Booing) an liner shadow aswell as two brushes.I've just used mine up and am waiting for Peek a bright eyes to arrive.

Also,to get an idea,Bobbi Brown have an online 'ask a make up artist' which you can upload a photo for and they'll help you based on that.I'm doing it in a minute before I order the foundation and blush I'm considering.

That said,mascara wise,my other fave mascara is Benefit Badgal,but it can smudge a bit in hot weather.

I m going to buck trend and say Laura mercier. I love this stuff and they show nicely how to apply it.
Their primer is brilliant and I use their foundation for winter and tinted moisturiser.
As a handy back up Rimmel wake up (orange top) is great too

Another vote here for Bobbi Brown - brilliant for foundation/base - if you have the Debenhams vouchers then go there as they have BB and you can get a few bits for that although it expensive. If you can afford it and want to, I would recommend splashing out a bit to get a really good 'base'.

I visited them to get a new foundation and they were great - showed me how to apply and didn't do a hard sell.

However saying that I found the No7 'colour match' service to be very good. I really like the Stay Perfect Foundation (it does what it says) - that's about half the price of BB and other posh brands.

Things like lipstick/eyeshadow - there are good things at all price ranges. For cheapo eyeliner you cannot beat Rimmel IMO.

Also reckon Sali Hughes -as well as looking her up on Youtube, check out her beauty columns in the Guardian. She has pretty much every topic covered.

Have fun :)

The MAC people are brilliant. You can prebook an hour long session for £30 (or 90 mins for £50) which is redeemable against purchases. I learned so much from mine and got some good products too. Just give them a call if you have one nearby. I particularly love them because they all look like they have fun with makeup rather than just rocking the airhostess look. I promise I don't work for them. Just a massive fan. I finally know how to do under eye liner (brush and shadow not pencil). Should have gone 20 years ago!

I visited no7 yesterday and was very impressed with them no hard sell and my new foundation is perfect for my skin and at £14 a bottle friendly on my purse as well

Benefit are very good IME - a few years ago I had a wedding to go to and went round the beauty hall looking terrified and pathetic (I barely wear makeup but was a bridesmaid so wanted to look nice for my friend's photos), and eventually picked the Benefit counter because they didn't sneer at me! I said rather feebly that I wanted to look like myself only nice, and they showed me how to do a complete face of natural-looking makeup. I spent about £100 but that's because I had literally nothing and bought the whole basic kit in one go.