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Fight back against over-priced cosmetics! Post your cheap but outstanding discoveries
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I love Timotei sensations copper radiance henna extract shampoo and conditioner. Its for brown hair. I got it for 23p each bogof in boots:eek:
(clearance) unfortunately only got 1 shampoo and 2 conditioners. Hope its not discontinued! Smells lush and makes my hair lovely, soft and shiny:D I also love clean & clear blackhead clearing daily scrub, it really does work from the first use! £3.79 on 3 for 2 at boots at the mo:D
EDIT: blackhead scrub is actually only £3.28 so even better!'They only had one cow!'0 -
Has anyone found an oil-free moisturiser? I'm eking out my Clinique Moisture Surge, which my very badly behaved skin tolerates, but I would love to find a less expensive alternative.
Liz Earle Light. Not cheap as in the spirit of this thread but a lot cheaper then what you are paying0 -
Hi everyone
Anyone interested in the truth about the cosmetics industry should look up this website:
http://www.cosmeticscop.com/
She recommends products based on their formulations (ingredients list) not based on the company's misleading advertising claims. She has reviewed 1000s of products - skin care, hair care and make up.
What surprised me was that some of the expensive products have harmfull ingredients in them!!! Sometimes there are cheaper products with pretty much identical formulations to the really expensive ones - and she points these out.
Have a proper look around the website (she has her own range of products now- don't get put of by that - its not all about that). There is a wealth of usefull information. Just click on the 'learn' section on the left bar. I do not bother buying expensive products anymore - it really is all a con.
I hope you all find it as usefull as I have.0 -
I found the ELF stuff online, but is it only available online or is it instores as well?0
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I found the ELF stuff online, but is it only available online or is it instores as well?
You know for a similar price you could buy Elizabeth Arden/ Estee Lauder makeup from directcosmetics.
e.g
http://www.directcosmetics.com/results/products.cfm?ctype=EY&range=Elizabeth%20Arden0 -
Concealer - Most make up artists swear by their Dermacolor mini camouflage palettes which cost about £15 and gives you 16 different colours. It's only available in specialist stores or online so I recommend buying a mini palette to find the right colour for you. Once you've got the right colour you can buy the full size version for £2.40. It's a refill so it won't come in fancy packaging, but you can pick up a watercolour type palette to store it in for a couple of quid. It's a camouflage make up though so it's highly pigmented and will cover anything! If using under the eyes though you'll need to mix it with a bit of foundation as it's a very thick consistency. Forget all about Touche Eclat, as someone has already mentioned, it's NOT a concealer, it's an under eye brightener and not a very good one at that! To cover dark circles you want a concealer with a salmon pink tint to it (just like green concealer balances out red patches, salmon balances out dark circles).
Eyeshadow - Kryolan. Again it's a professional brand, so can only be found in specialist shops or online but it's worth it. The range has over 80 colours in matt or pearlescent finishes and it's highly pigmented so a little goes a very long way. A compact will cost you about £4.60 but again, if you can forget about the fancy packaging you can get refills for less than £3 which will fit into a palette. 1 MAC eyeshadow will cost you £10, but for £13 you can get a Kryolan Palette with 5 colours in it and once you run out you can refill it!
Eyeliner - Forget all about liquid eyeliners, buy yourself a cake eyeliner and a good brush. The initial outlay might be a little more expensive but it will last you a hell of a lot longer. Just put a couple of drops of water on to the eyeliner and use the brush to mix and apply it. Once again I use kryolan which costs about £4.60, but they're all pretty much the same. For eyeliner pencils there really isn't much to say. They all do the job just as well as each other so buy the cheapest you can find!
Thank you Angel81uk for your very helpful post. I love that you're a make-up artist (and therefore know what you're talking about), and don't use expensive brands!
I've managed to find mail-order websites of the 2 specialist brands you mentioned- Dermacolor (for concealer) and Kryolan (for eye make-up). They both seem to have a vast range, which may be a little bit bewildering to someone (me, anyway!!) who's not used to buying this sort of thing. There are a few 'mini-palettes' of concealers on the Dermacolor website- please could you tell us which one is best? Also, I'm not sure which eyeshadows you meant on the Kryolan website, and I can't find a cake eye-liner.
If you've got a minute to give us a few more pointers that would be fantastic!
Here are the links:
Dermacolor
Kryolan0 -
Hi Harryharp, my apologies for not including links in the first place! I normally buy all my kryolan and dermacolor (which is part of the kryolan range) from a shop called Charles Fox in covent garden as when I need something I need it urgently! Unfortunately they don't have an online store but they do supply via mail order for a reasonably modest delivery charge, just give them a call on 0207 240 3111 and ask for their catalogue. It's also worth ordering a Kryloan Catalogue from them for £2 so you can see the full range as the Charles Fox catalogue doesn't have many pictures and no colour charts!
When I'm buying online I tend to buy from http://www.show-bizcentre.com/2uk/ The prices aren't necessarily the cheapest I've found but they have the full range of products so you only have to pay one delivery charge rather than ordering from several sites. I'm afraid I can't give you a link to the individual products as the site doesn't allow that, however you can search by product number. The number for the dermacolor mini palette is 771006 and for the eyeshadows 705330 for the compacts, 705336 for the pre filled palette and 755330 for the refills. I've not seen empty palettes for sale on that website, but they can be ordered from Charles Fox. The cake eyeliner is 705321 and comes in a range of colours.
One thing I did forget to mention yesterday was brushes! One thing that will instantly improve your make up is a good brush to apply it with. The applicators that come in eyeshadows etc are great at putting the colour on, but they're terrible at blending it or making it look nice! Also, the professional make up ranges don't come with applicators at all so if you want to use them you'll need your own brushes. This is one area where it's important to choose wisely as a bad brush can really ruin things! But there's no need to buy in to the hype and buy MAC or Ruby & Millie brushes at £10 or more each.
Instead go to http://www.crownbrush.co.uk/ and look at their Studio range for great value. A good basic set will consist of 2 eyeshadow brushes (I would recommend C136-8 and a C138 for the socket line), an eyeliner brush (C250-1 or some people prefer an angled brush like C217), a concealer brush (C170-8), a blush/powder brush (C142) and a portable lip brush (C206 from the retractable/pump section). Out of those I'd say the most important are the eyeshadow brushes and the lip brush as they will make the most difference. But to buy the whole list and have a really good set will only cost around £20 including delivery! I would recommend calling them and checking stock levels though as it has been known for them to accept an order for brushes they don't have in stock.
For those who like to have a whole range of eyeshadow colours I can also recommend the make up palettes from crown brush http://www.crownbrush.co.uk/makeup_palettes.html. For £25 you can have 88 colours in a huge range of shades which means you'll have a colour for every season and will always have the right colour available for whatever the latest fashion shades are. Once again they're highly pigmented, blend well and wear well too. The shadows themselves are quite small (about the size of a 5 pence piece) but a little goes a long way. Would make a great gift for a fashion conscious, make up loving young woman too!0 -
That's really fantastic, thanks for being so detailed angel81! Will have a good look at all that and add it to the list later.0
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I am suprised no one has mentioned Poundland? Their makeup and beauty products are great bargains!:j you just have to be in there regulaly. They have a make-up section called "Brand Names" and you can get ALSORTS in there. mainly Rimmel items but I got a great Revlon Mascara the other day. and usually a lot of Sally hansen products too. yesterday I bought 2 scholl items in their too. My local one is York. Not sure if they are all as good as York's tho?
Love the posts! Thanks peeps! :T0 -
Let me recommend Boots Petroleum Jelly from the baby goods counter, priced at just under £2.00 for a big green tub (300ml). I have been using this as a moisturiser for years and years (more than I care to remember actually), for face, hands and body. Its really great, is hypo-allergenic, fragrance-free and is easy to apply without leaving the awful stickiness that Vaseline in a tub does.0
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