Shall we share budget options that we've found to be as good as their expensive counterparts?

[SleepFreeZone]

I shall start by suggesting Nanoblur as an eyeshadow primer. I used to use Urban Decay and it was so expensive for a tiny tube and in the old bottles you could never get all the product out. So when j ran out I decided to try and find something different. I had lots of odd bits of stuff in my various make up bags and tried a few primers etc. I had some Nanoblur that I had bought for a special occasion and tried a tiny amount on my eyelids and OMG it works brilliantly. It will take me ages to work my way through the tube so it terms of economy it will be excellent long term and it works better than any of the other eyelid primers I've tried.

Pressed send too soon.

I also love Astral cream to remove make up and moisturise generally. Caviar day cream from Aldi is excellent and lasts ages.

It took me 20 years to find a cure for the Keratosis Pilaris that I had on my upper arms and ehem, buttocks 😳 Blimmin cracked heel cream would you believe!! Rub it in every few days and the annoying chicken skin appearance disappears to reveal beautiful soft smooth skin.

Pound shop mascara for me. I don't wear mascara often and it seems all much of a muchness.

My daughter has that KP on her arms, which heel cream do you use?

Bourjois healthy glow serum foundation is easily as good if not better than most of the chanel foundations. Medium coverage, looks like skin, great colour for celtic light skins. Not too yellow or pink. Rumoured to be made in same factory as chanel but 1/3 of cost.

Will try the nanoblur as primer thanks!!

I have one to avoid. ..
Boots own brand dry shampoo. Terrible. I am straight back to Batiste. Didn't even force myself to finish the bottle first which I normally always do.

Will have a think of good ones. Lanacane gel as a primer is a recommendation I got off MN and works very well for me and half he price.

Ooh also Sainsbo's happy naturals range of sls free shampoos and conditioners. Lovely and much better than other more expensive "natural" brands. Often on special offer too so only a couple of quid per bottle.

Aldi q10 creams are as good as nivea ones aldi £1.99 nivea£9.99 ive used expensive creams but the aldi night cream is my favourite

I love Liz Earle cleanse and polish and try to buy when on offer but the Superdrug Vitamin E range is a great alternative.

Oh this is exactly the thread I want. Not sure I've much to add though. Good tip about keratosis-worth a shot.

Don't know if it's still available, as it's ages since I bought some, but Lidl's Suddenly Madame Glamour perfume really does smell like Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle.

I am possibly not the best judge but I really like Nivea's BB cream. It is not to oily or dry and doesn't make me break out, also covers but feels lightweight (perhaps towards the heavier end of BB creams but I like the extra coverage). Very cheap and Ocado sell it half price sometimes too.

Crossfire mentions Superdrug's Vitamin E range as an alternative to Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish.

I was going to suggest Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser - seems very much like a dupe of the Liz Earle with a bit less menthol or similar tingly ingredient:

www.superdrug.com/Skincare/Superdrug-Naturally-Radiant-Hot-Cloth-Cleanser-150ml/p/516251

Much much cheaper than the original. I figure it's the scrubby cloth that does the real work, after the cream softens the dead skin on the surface.

I'm on a mega budget at the moment and bought Boots Botanics Purifying face scrub for £1.99 and it's brilliant. It's fairly gentle but makes my skin feel clean and bright. I'm a long time fan of Superdrug vitamin e range and I often by Nivea cream from poundland as it's brilliant for rough skin on elbows etc.

Joanna Lumley says she's a big fan of Astral as a facial moisturiser.

Simple eye-makeup remover liquid. As good as the big brands I have used eg Dior, Lancôme, etc

I find Boots no 7 concealer better than Touché Eclat.

Never found a decent budget mascara though!

sauvignon I was going to ask about alternatives to touche eclat. Have terrible dark circles given my non sleeping 6 month old but no spare cash on mat leave

Superdrug b mascara is fab, I've stopped buying lancome.

Superdrug bodybutters are fab too but I've never tried the bodyshop ones so maybe really their crap and I don't know any better.

Not better than Clinique but have found the boots natural collection £1.99 pressed powder to be great and very translucent in colour. No orange tinge

Rimmel eyeshadow. About £3.99 for four colours. Really good strong tones that stay on. Better than Benefit at four times the price for one colour.

Nivea Q10. Amazing moisturiser for dry sensitive skin. Non greasy with great elasticity, and often half price at £5/6 a pot in Superdrug, Boots or supermarket. The only other skin cream I've found that's as good is Occitane's Creme Divine at £74 a pot, so more than ten times the cost.

I've not yet found a good cheap perfume but Clarins Eau Ressourcante spray deodorant is cheaper than the Eau de Toilette and lasts just as long with same scent.

Lanacane anti chaff gel is exactly the same ingredients as smashbox primer.

Perfume parlour oils are amazing dupes of the real things - I have about 20 bottles!

I would be interested to know what cracked heel cream you use on your KP, so far the best thing I have used is Aldi 10% urea cream (similar to Eucerin but cheaper)

I agree that Aldi face creams are good.

I would be interested in mascara recommendations though. So far the cheapest good one I have found is max factor or number 7.

The cracked heel cream is Flexitol Heel Balm but I suspect any of the cracked hero creams with urea in will work just as well.

Funnily enough I actually have the Lidl perfume mentioned up thread and have no idea if it smells like Coco Mademoiselle. It is bloody strong though so only a small amount needed!

I recently bought some No.7 stuff as I was gifted a voucher. I really rate their eyeshadow pencils. I bought one that was a kind of nude colour and it's really pretty. I will definitely repurchase. Not convinced about their long life lip colour, think I preferred the 24hr one I normally buy. I also got an eyebrow pencil which is a good colour match for my eyebrows.

This is the eyeshadow pencil

Defo Astrali
I have used it since I was a child and I have amazing skin.

Body shop lip liner in Beech is a fantastic lip liner for nude lipsticks. Not a dupe per se but I've used it for years and not found a better one.

I agree about the Body Shop rec however I can't deal with going into the shop and getting leapt on. I have found a great alternative however I've used it so its now a nub and has no info on it. In going to have to go into Boots and try and track it down. I think it's Rimmel.