Is there any difference between cheap and expensive cosmetics? What do you spend more money on? What basic brands are better than anything else?

[LaviniaLee]

Are more expensive cosmetics (e.g. shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser, makeup) worth the extra money, do you think?

I often wonder how much of it is about branding, and whether there is not much difference between cheap and expensive stuff. Maybe it's made in the same factories with the same ingredients? Is E45 moisturising cream as good as anything else?

I tend to buy standard brands and I like them. However,I do pay for expensive mascara (because it's the only one I can find that doesn't smudge and washes off easily), and primer.

I have bought a few high-end leave-in conditioners from the hairdresser (thinking it will address all my frizz problems ), but I'm not sure if they make much difference.

If you think expensive brands are better for some things, what are they?

If you think a cheap standard brand is the best thing around, what is it?

YSL Lash Clash is AMAZING! Worth every penny.
I’ve tried most of them tbh. Had 32 at one point 😂
Always loved YSL faux cils but also loved L’Oréal miss hippie.

Primark foundation! Covers malasma it’s in a glass bottle like Lauder etc but £5 ish. Lasts all day haven’t used in summer yet but I’m very impressed so far. Also a little bit goes a long way. Best of all they had my right colour match.
I kid u not I’ve bought really expensive stuff and this was a wtf moment when I used it.
I also have skin that’s easily irritated there Hyaluronic skin cleanse stuff is brill and retinol stuff. I highly recommend. Budget beauty but excellent quality it absorbs into skin.

Sali Hughes has just done a post on Instagram today using products all bought from the high street - I think it was Superdrug

I come back to No7 skincare time and again; currently using and getting good results from the Future Renew range. I've always assumed that the amount of money they have for R&D must be significant, and by the time you've factored in all the 3 for 2s and vouchers, it's not expensive. M&S skincare is also very good quality for the money, especially the Ultimate Sleep Cream.

Cruelty free is really important to me. I don't even look at brands that are sketchy on that front.

Agree with all of this.

I used buy Estee lauder, Clinique etc but now think we have so many brilliant high quality high street brands. Loreal, Maybelline, Revlon, Kiko, Rimmel, max factor... I feel like it's the golden era of high st beauty.

Shampoo - my experience is it depends on how robust your hair is, and that that can change over time.

In my 20s I could use anything and my hair was glossy, noticed no benefit from salon stuff.

Now I'm post 35 with kids I have to spend a bit more. It might not make a noticeable difference on the individual wash, but over time my hair dries out on the cheap stuff whereas since I've started spending more on shampoo my hair has regained what it lost.

(TK Maxx is great for shampoos!)

I tend to use the shampoos without sulphates

I also like Aveda but it is expensive

I love skincare and make up and have used very expensive brands over the years. I don't think it's how expensive it is necessarily just what suits your skin type.

I now use no.7 future renew serum, day cream and night cream. I've noticed a significant difference in my skin. I use cerave cleansers and under eye cream.

I rate medik8 crystal retinol.

For foundation I use several depending on day/ night use. I love the sculpted by Aimee tinted moisturiser but use Charlotte tilbury for more coverage. MAC eyeshadows and lancomd mascara. I love the VB contour stick and eye liners.

Shampoos and conditioners I can't notice any difference.

YSL Lash Clash is AMAZING! Worth every penny.
I’ve tried most of them tbh. Had 32 at one point 😂
Always loved YSL faux cils but also loved L’Oréal miss hippie.

Ooh may have to try that one. I loved the faux cils but is that the one that flakes now?

I use Clinique for foundaton, lipstick and eyeliner. It is getting expensive - £34 for foundation, £26 for lipstick and £21 for eyeliner but it does last for ages and stays put more on my skin. I also have some No7 foundation and lipstick which I like but I still prefer Clinique.

For mascara and blusher I like N07. Their stay perfect mascara is better than Clinique in my view. Nail polish I like Essie and No7.

Skincare I use Liz Earle. The cleanse and polish lasts me ages. I have got a new No7 cream cleanser but that is running out very quickly.

I use Wella hair products from my hairdresser and again they last longer than cheaper ones but I do buy cheaper too. I always end up going back to Wella.

I LOVE reading these posts 😍

If anyone's found a good alternative for using the ANR that won't irritate sensitive rosacea skin that's prone to redness and dryness. I'd be forever grateful! X

Mine too, a lot of brands claim not to test but aren't actually cruelty free due to parent companies and selling in parts of China that require testing.

I Actually now prefer the brands they sell at Holland and barret , I get the serums and face oil and eye cream there

and I use the Waitrose cleansing balm

I will splurge a bit on treatments and better quality powders and tinted moisturisers though

i got a beauty advent calendar and the higher cost serums irritated my eyes

i think a decent routine matters more

I love this thread!
Since I was a teen, I have moisturised with Nivea blue tub and I still use it at age 39, I love it! The only other skin care I use is Liz Earle Hot cloth polish which I was given as a gift one year and was amazed by how good it was!

make up wise, I use a mix of Clinique, bobbie Brown and Charlotte Tilbury usually BUT the other day I had run out of mascara so brought a cheap one from Superdrug (can't think of the brand but was around £4) and it is amazing! Will definitely swop to this one in future.

Shower Gel I usually buy cheap (£1 a bottle of whatever is on offer) but I have been gifted some Bath and Body works ones and they last forever and feel much more luxurious so I may buy more of them when I am feeling flash 🤣
Shampoo and conditioner has again been whatever is cheapest but my friend has told me that she has recently tried Give me Cosmetics and that she will now be spending more on her hair care because this brand has made a massive difference to her hair so I am tempted to try it!

These posts are really interesting!

It's interesting that some of you think the difference between high street and high-end is less than it once was.

I have used clean & clear to clean my face since I was 14 - so over 20 years ago - and I haven't found anything i like better!

I think if money was no object, I would buy all beauty products from Charlotte Tilbury & L’Occitane 😂😂😂 alas, this is not the case.

I find simple skincare products good for the skin and generally effective - Aveeno cleanser, Naissance or Fushi Rosehip oil and good old Avon Anew with spf for the day and just Rosehip oil at night - I have used a whole range of eye creams - cheapo all the way through to L’Occitane (the best but cannot regularly afford) and I find No7 Protect & Perfect brilliant.

I love Elf blusher and eyebrow products - Elf is magic but I do splash out on Charlotte Tilbury mascara and lipstick because they are great quality - the best makeup brand imho.

Lush make fantastic products - their Lip Service balm is the best lip balm I have ever used.

Haircare very much depends on the health and physical makeup of your hair - Lidl products suit my hair but I also love Dr Organics - I find Keratase overpriced and disappointing but I’m sure it’s amazing for some.

Also - Weleda Skin food - amazing as an occasional night cream and regular hand cream.

L’Occitane the best.

Skincare is a sector that for many decades has practiced so-called vanity pricing. They'll do market studies before introducing a new product, and quite frequently there'll be more people willing to buy it at a higher, rather than lower price. So I tend to go for the basic ranges, except for dedicated dry skin products that are only produced by specialty medical suppliers.

@Chicca1970 I have to say, someone bought me some l'occitane hand cream as a present and i couldn't believe how good it was for my dry crackly cold hands.

@LaviniaLee try Neutrogena Norwegian formula. A tiny tube costs about £4 and has 300 applications. Two tubes saw me through the COVID years with the endless scrubbing and washing! (Doesn't smell gorgeous like L'Occitane obvs!)

@jamrolypolyandcustard there's a well known Korean serum that's identical to ANR called Missha Ampoule Night something or other. I've got a bottle somewhere, I'll dig it out for the full name. Costs about £20 for a 50ml (iirc) bottle.

That said, if your skin is sensitive to ANR then you'd probably like either LRP B5 serum or Vichy Probiotic Fractions. Both do the same as ANR (add moisture) but are also both very soothing. I love the Vichy.

@MadamVastra Dior Capture range! The scent of that would be enough to knock 30 years off me, let alone what was in the bottle. 😂 Loved it. Also the weird tea coloured lotion thing that was supposed to remove cellulite. Svelte. 🙄🙄🙄

Thank you so much!

Where did you purchase the Missha serum ? 😊

I invest in moisturiser, serums and spf.
Make up wise I'll spend on foundation and lipstick.
I buy a lot of Korean skincare .
There are some skincare ingredients which can improve your skin but mostly I think it's keeping out of the sun, not smoking and genes.

this made me smile! We can't be the only ones who remember it 😃

I think the difference between high street and expensive has really got smaller in the last 10 years.

For haircare, overall, I do think the brands are better but that there are more likely to be fairly good high street versions. But I have very thick, very coarse, very dry hair and whenever I've swapped to a high street brand for more than a few weeks, I feel and see the difference.

For skin care, I increasingly think the main difference is often in the experience vs the actual impact. eg, I use a ridiculously overpriced balm cleanser from Farmacy . I used to use plain almond oil and frankly, from a cleansing and how way skin felt/looked perspective, I don't think there was a big difference. But I find using the Farmacy product 1000x more enjoyable. I love the texture, I love the smell etc.

The other difference is that I think often the more expensive stuff isn't quite as more expensive as it seems because a lot of it lasts a LOT longer. I use L'oreal shampoo but I only buy a bottle every 6 months or so - I really don't need a lot. Ditto for the conditioner. Similarly, I use the Clarins double serum - the small one lasts me almost six months while my cheaper serums tend to last no more than 8 weeks. When it's the Ordinary, that is still a lot cheaper, but a lot of high street serums will be £15-£20 so it adds up if you're replacing them frequently. I used to use Claris moisturisers and they definitely last longer than the Elf and Nuetrogena ones I buy now (although still more expensive per day than the cheap ones, just not AS more expensive as it seems at a glance).

I use a range of low and high end and find that works best for me. I love superdrug's vitamin E micellar water and vitamin E serum (both smell divine too!) but also my Tatcha moisturiser which is eye wateringly expensive but have yet to find a dupe. Makeup wise, drugstore mascaras always perform best for me (eg maybelline sky high) but nars concealer cannot be replaced...