High end make up versus cheapo. Comments?

[PollyPerky]

I've always used reasonably high end products- Bobbi Brown, Dior, Lancome, Clinique mainly because I'm super pale and their foundations and blushers come in a good range of shades, and I've not found anything better than Lancome Hypnose.

However......I recently tried Revlon Colourstay foundation which is certainly ok for everyday and much cheaper than Dior Star @ £35. It doesn't give me the 'glow' factor but it seems to last a bit longer and is a better colour match.

Today I had an email from Bobbi Brown for their new eye and cheek palette: £95 for some mini eyeshadows and blushers. I did think WTF?! Their luxe lippie is £27- more than Dior. It's nice, but £27????

Are we being ripped off?

I don't mind paying for a good foundation but eyeshadows and lippie- is Rimmel or revlon just as good? My opinion is they are, but the colour range is the thing that's missing.

I used to use a lot of estee lauder and lancom, I now use mostly revlon, no7, body shop and loreal. I think the high end is better quality, no questions, but I'm not convinced it's worth three times the price. I just can't justify it anymore since having DC.
I find the really cheap brands a bit rubbish though, not all drug store make up is the same.

I think as I get older, yes, it’s worth spending more on good make up. I buy cheap stuff occasionally and usually end up replacing it with something more expensive.

I also have a healthy Space NK addiction 😂

I know a makeup artist who switched from Mac foundation to her brides to Revlon Colourstay because she said it was much longer lasting and left a nicer finish.

I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule that high end is necessarily better. I think I’ve tried every high end gel eyeliner going and now swear by Maybelline Lasting Drama gel over anything else. There’s some high end products worth their weight in gold and there’s some that are only expensive because of their brand name. I think half the fun is figuring out which! I love when I find a high street or drug store product that is amazing. Obsessed with NYX for that reason!

Also if it’s cheaper eyeshadow you’re interested in I would 100% recommend Morphe pallets. They’re around £16-£24 for a pallet of 35 colours and the pigment is every bit as strong as Huda or Anastasia. I have to say it’s better than a lot of my Mac pallets actually. There’s also 30% off the on Beauty Bay for Black Friday just now.

Quality of the product itself aside, I always buy high end because the quality of the packaging is just so much better. IME the hinges on compacts break and lids of mascara split on drug store brands, rendering them useless after about a week. So A total waste of money for me.

Expensive ones usually are way better than the cheap ones. Quality products when you talk about makeups are pricey indeed.

Expensive ones usually are way better than the cheap ones

How do you define 'quality'? I've not bought cheap for years so would find it hard to judge.

Don't forget that with £££ brands we pay for the assts in store, the packaging and the whole 'thing' of it being better by implication.

I’ve bought expensive and I’ve bought cheap, and whilst there may have been a difference in quality in the past, I can find no discernible difference now between posh stuff and Kiko/Bourjois/Maybelline etc.

In fact, the Kiko products I’ve bought have been better than the expensive stuff.

I think a lot of the high-priced "designer" makeup (eg Dior, Chanel) has been superceded in recent years by so-called cult brands (or mua brands) like Nars, Stila, Hourglass, becca, MUFE etc and also some pharmacy brand items (eg Bourjois foundation, revlon foundation, NYX, essence, rimmel nails and powders). Powders are becoming more refined and more pigmented generally not just in the high end products & liquids better wearing. I don't really look at price anymore, but reviews and samples, when I buy. Fwiw, I own loads of foundations () & always come back to revlon colorstay for everyday and Illamasqua or Armani for special events.

It all depends on the product for me. Rimmel's Wake Me Up foundation just really suits my skin. I have tried Chanel and Clinique foundations along with other high street ones and nothing else comes close. With eyeshadow, cheaper is fine for me as I only wear it when I'm going out so don't need long-lasting stuff. A pretty colour is enough for me and I love the Sleek eyeshadow palettes for this. With mascara, expensive definitely pays off in my opinion. Often cheaper ones are ok the first couple of days, then quickly become goopy. So I suppose it all depends on what suits your skin and which products are more important to you.

I think Colourstay is a stand-out product but I've generally found the higher end ranges are better quality and have better tones. I think you have to shop around just as much though, I've made some expensive mistakes.

It depends by what you mean by 'colour range.' Sleek and L'Oreal foundations come in a vast array of shades, NYX lipsticks come in every colour of the rainbow (and then some.) I am very, very pale and have a hard time finding foundation as most brands do about eight shades and don't cater to the extreme ends of the spectrum. And I like unusual lipstick shades, I get excited by blues and greys and greens. Saying that, Revlon have a vast range of more 'normal' lipstick colours and the quality is excellent. they also last a hell of a lot longer on my lips than the MAC lipsticks I own do.

Also don’t forget with the high end you are paying for the multi million pound contract of the celebrity who endorses it.

I buy high end primer but use a cheap foundation (Maybelline matte & poreless) but I really don't think lipsticks match up the same. I buy MAC so it's not crazy expensive but defy has more wear than some Rimmel ones. I think you can really tell the difference with some things x

I pay no mind to brand. I just try things out, list to recommendations ...and then its trial (and sometimes expensive!) error.

The only higher end products I swear by are:

Clinique chubby sticks
YSL lipliner (creamy with great staying power)
Nas bronzer
Estee Lauder double wear for full coverage on nights out (great staying power).

Otherwise I'm a high street/bargain girl:

Loreal mascara
Rimmel eyeliner
Bourjois CC cream for everyday skin coverage
Bourjois concealer
Barry M highlighter

There are zero products I've not been able to find great versions of in the affordable drugstore brands. It's all about knowing which brand does which items well. It's much more fun for me to find great items at an affordable price than it would be to spend loads on one single item from a beauty counter that still might not be that good. It's a bigger risk.

For liquid eyeliner I've never found anything better than Rimmel Glam Eyes. I read a review by sali Hughes that said it outperforms even Chanel, Dior, Bobbi brown versions.

Loads of people swear by Rimmel's face powder, I've been using it a decade and everything else I've tried pales in comparison. Even the urban decay de slick powder which is five times the price or more.

I love urban decay eyeshadow but sleek's are comparable. So buttery and pigmented and blendable.

Soap and glory and rimmel's Kate moss line do brilliant lipsticks.

Rimmel's eyebrow pencils are brilliant and £3

As others have mentioned, revlon and rimmel do brilliant foundation

Sleek blusher is amazing and they have a perfect dupe for NARS orgasm

No difference in expensive and cheap lip balm at all.

Barry m do great liquid lips!

Collection concealer has a cult like following, loads of people say it's as good as tarte shape tape and urban decay naked concealer

Soap and glory eye pencils have great pay off on the waterline and last all day

And L'Oréal paradise lash mascara is amazing, I prefer it to benefit bad gal

Honestly there's no need to spend more than a fiver on most products to get something brilliant. Just do your research and read a range of blogs and reviews. I have been burned by buying an expensive counter product that's been shit (the UD heavy metal glitter eyeliners for example are thin watery and smudgy and barely show any glitter up, whereas the collection glitter liquid liners are AMAAAAAZING in every way). It's not worth the risk cos if you get a duff for £30 you can't return it, better to get a duff for £3!

For high end you're paying for a brand, weighted packaging, a full time staff member, the illusion of luxury, adverts in magazines. It's just not worth it. The stuff inside isn't necessarily better and it's usually people being sucked into the glamour of it that will claim it's always better.

I do splurge on UD eyeshadow palettes as I use them daily and get loads of wear from them and love the shades and design. But other than that I'm such a drugstore girl.

I find it really varies.

Some of the best products have been cheapies. Superdrug used to do an anti spot serum that was wonderful.

I’ve found cheaper and better alternatives to Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit and the eyebrow pomade. Better for me at any rate they may well not be for others.

I’m really liking Fenty foundation - best colour match I’ve ever had. More of an expensive brand but still reasonable.

In 32 years of make up wearing I've tried every pale foundation you can imagine at every price point. Currently wearing Rimmel (the one with the red lid) and finding it performs better for me than (to list just a few) Mac, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown and Chanel. I think it's just trial and error and finding what works for you. The expensive ones are fun to buy and look nicer on the shelf but are no guarantee of quality in my bitter experience (Laura Mercier Silk Creme being a particularly unwearable disappointment, grrrr) !

9 times out of ten I prefer high end for eyeshadows and lipsticks, I really really want good colour payoff. What I hate is a beautiful colour in the palette but a watery sad looking colour on the skin (L'Oréal).
Lipstick must feel secure on my lips and not as if it's about to drop down my face when I eat or drink (Rimmel Colour Renew).
Eyeliners, lipliners and mascaras need to perform well but I'm as happy with L'Oréal, Rimmel, Maxfactor as I am with Benefit and Dior.
I'm really really fussy with nail polish as I cannot handle smudged messy polish and I haven't got the time to wait for hours for it to dry!

it depends by what you mean by 'colour range.' Sleek and L'Oreal foundations come in a vast array of shades

Not really. I think L'oreal has about 9 shades. Bobbi Brown has 24 in many of their foundations.

My make up bag is mainly B Brown except for foundation and mascara. I use their concealer, blusher, eye shadow, illuminating powder, lippy and eye liner. I just think they are £££ for what they appear to be. Their Luxe lippy was £24 or £25 and now it is £27. I can afford all of this but resent being ripped off.

As an aside, does anyone find that Boots have a really crap range of Soap and Glory and Rimmel? My local branch is small but even a bigger branch in a couple of cities didn't even have any testers for S&G lippies and the actual lippies were always out of stock. I really hate it when they have stock but no testers- can't they open a lippie or foundation as a tester?

If there's not a tester I just open one up, it's naughty but if I want to see it that much then I usually buy it too!

People need to stop saying 'drugstore'.

Drugstore is how bloggers/reviewers differentiate between them. I'm not sure of another word?

I find it hit and miss. Sometimes I've bought very expensive products and thought they were rubbish and sometimes very cheap which have been good.

On the whole, I do think you get better quality when you spend more.