Fight back against over-priced cosmetics! Post your cheap but outstanding discoveries

sugarspunsister wrote: »

Coconut oil is brilliant for taming the frizz.... needs to unrefined coconut oil, I bought mine off eBay - but I'm gonna search holland & barratts for some if it's not too expensive :rolleyes: :j

OOo forgot this one, I have stopped using conditioner, and just use this instead as a pre-wash. I melt some in the palm of my hand and massage it into my roots, and then on the ends. It makes my hair feel thicker, and is supposed to be great for growth too - great tip!:T

A 500ml tub from Holland and Barratts is 9.99 - I was looking for it cheaper elsewhere, but this should last a while, and be cheaper than using conditioner I guess!

Ellidee wrote: »

Just wanted to say I have ordered the makeup and brushes as recommended by angel81uk . Looking forward to receiving them. Who makes the best blusher please angel ?

Hi I'm also interested in this one, I was never really into eyeshadow and blusher until I did a recent trip to New York with some girlfriends and we went to the makeup counters of benefit and mac.

Also I am going to buy the 88 palette makeup set that angel81uk recommends but what colours are recommended for eye and skin tones etc. as that is what I have found the MAC good for putting the colours together. I notice that Max Factor have a 1-2-3 step guide on their new range so are there simple steps to follow etc.

This post is excellent, I have already bought the Collection 2000 illuminator and will look at investing in some good brushes that you have recommended.

The free No. 17 Palette is also nice especially the green colour, and mixed with their emerald green eyeliner it is quite effective.

thanks again

Sexy_Legs wrote: »

...but what colours are recommended for eye and skin tones etc.

This is where it all starts to get a little more complicated! The top and bottom of it is no one seems to be able to agree! You've got those who say cool skin tones should stick to cool colours, some who say cool tones need warming up with warm colours, others who say a certain colour eye looks best with a certain colour shadow and then you've got others still who say make up is supposed to be fun and there are no rules!!!

Generally I'd say go with what ever you want, if you've got the confidence to wear what you like then you'll always look great no matter what you put on. If you want to start applying some rules then the basics would be those with darker hair can generally pull off darker or bolder colours than those with lighter hair. So if you've got dark brown/black hair you would look great with a really heavy, dark smoky eyed look. But if you applied the same colours to someone with light brown/dark blonde hair it would look OTT so you would need to tone it down a bit (perhaps use greys/mauves/greens instead of black). The exception would be someone with pale blonde hair and fair skin, the can look great in a dark smoky eye but it will look much bolder than on someone with dark hair. Then you've got to apply the rule the opposite way too.... pale pastels can look great on someone with light hair and pale skin, ok on someone in the middle but would make someone with dark hair look washed out.

Then we've got cool or warm colours, this can apply to hair colour and clothing as well as make up. Start by taking a good close look at the veins on the inside of your wrist... if the veins appear blueish then you've got cool colouring, if they have a more green tinge to them then you're warm and if there's a good mixture of both or you're somewhere in the middle then you're neutral. In general cool colours will suit those with a cool skin tone so choose foundation with pink undertones and colours that are more towards the blue end of the spectrum will look good (so think blues, greens, silvers, steel greys etc). If you've got warm colouring then choose a foundation with yellow undertones and go for colours towards the red end of the spectrum (browns, oranges, golds). Those with neutral colouring can use any colours they like, when it comes to foundation you'll generally need to mix an even amount of one with yellow undertones and one pink undertones as neutral foundation can be hard to find.

But once again there's the exceptions! This is where colour theory starts to come into play. But basically you've got complimentary colours and contrasting colours. Cool for cool and warm for warm is complimentary and is great for a day time or a more natural look. But if you want a bold look for a big night out then contrasting colours can look great, so if you're warm go for cool colours and if you're cool go for warm colours. You might need a bit of attitude to pull it off though so it's possibly not one for the more shy, retiring types! For the neutrals out there, the easiest way to get a bold evening look is to go for a darker or a stronger colour than you would during the day. If you're happy with that then stop here! If you want to choose eyeshadow depending on your eye colour then forget all about cool and warm (apart from using it to choose a foundation) and read on. But be prepared for a bit of a headache!

If you want to start talking about choosing an eyeshadow depending on your eye colour then I need to refer you to a colour wheel and things start to get complex! There's a simple one here http://www.connorwilson.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/color_wheel.jpg start by looking at the colours on the outside of the circle. We can probably all remember from our primary school days that there are 3 primary colours, red, blue and yellow and you will find those 3 colours spaced out evenly on the colour wheel. When you mix blue and yellow you get green (which you'll smack bang in the middle of blue and yellow on the colour wheel), red and yellow makes orange and blue and red make purple. Going back to making green for a moment you will see that the closer you get to blue on the wheel the more turquoise the green becomes because you're adding more blue than yellow. With me so far? Great! Now we need to use our imaginations a little bit here.... in a bigger colour wheel we'd have lots more colours in the outside of the circle that would be created by "mixing" more of one colour than the other.

Right, so on to how to use the colour wheel to choose a colour! Now I've got another colour wheel for you here with a bit more detail and some numbers to help me explain http://realcolorwheel.com/realcolorwheel.htm
start by finding the colour closest to your eye colour. Lets say my eyes are blue like something in number 21. If I wanted to wear a colour that will be quite subtle I'd choose an eyeshadow that was either side of 21, so in this case I'll count 4 spaces around the wheel and end up with with 17 or 24 , either would work well. If I wanted a really bold, contrasting colour though I'd go for something on the opposite side of the wheel to the subtle colours, so I'd choose 5 or 35. If my eyes were brown (lets go for the brown in the middle of number 1) if I wanted subtle I would go for 5 or 33, if I wanted bold I would go for 15 or 23. If my eyes were green like something in 33 subtle colours would be 1 or 29 and bold would be 11 or 19. Try to avoid using a colour that's too close to your eye colour though, it just looks boring (the only exception is brown, browns can look ok on brown eyes but colours nearby or opposite will look more striking).

Now add to add your hair into the equation! Remember what I said at the start about dark hair carrying off darker colours and light hair carrying off paler colours? Well look at the colour wheel again. The darker colours are in the centre of the circle (if you kept on going in the colours would become closer and closer to black) and the lighter colours are around the edge (if you carried on working out the would get closer to white. If your hair is somewhere in the middle then go for a colour in the middle!

But for the best results with eyeshadow you want to avoid using one flat colour all over the eyelid. By taking the above steps you've found your base colour. Apply that colour all over the eyelid... then on the colour wheel staying in the same number you want to go in a few rings to find a darker colour, apply that to the socket line and along the lashline. Then go out a few rings and find a lighter colour, apply a tiny amount of that to the inner corner of your eyes to lift and brighten. To confuse things even more for a bolder look you can choose another colour for the socket line. Instead of just going darker you can apply the rules of the colour wheel to find an alternative colour. To give you an example lets go back to my blue number 21 eyes. I've decided I'd like a bold look so I've gone with 35 as my base colour. To choose the colour for my socket line I want to either move 4 places round the wheel ( so 3 or 31) and choose a darker colour near the centre, or for a really full on high fashion type look I would go for a contrasting colour (remember contrasting means opposite) so I would choose 17. Blue eyes with lime green and purple eyeshadow?! Yes, I know it sounds crazy! They're not colours you would normally think to put together, but the way the colour wheel works means that those colours will actually work well together. You'd have to be a braver person than I am to wear it out though!!!

I told you it was complicated!!!! Don't you wish you'd never asked?! I for one can understand why some people say there are no rules, just go with what you like. It's much easier!

Angel81uk - I just wanted to thank you too! i used to use screenface ages ago, and I'd totally forgotten... i was just about to splash out on another laura mercier cake eyeliner, and i've just realised that i can just go to Charles Fox and spend around 4 pounds instead - sorted! LOL Big thanks from me!

I love love love finding cheaper alternatives/mixing things up - make up is so much FUN! hehehe

harryharp wrote: »

Thank you so much Angel81uk for being so helpful- I'm really pleased that you found this thread, because your contributions are invaluable, and very clearly explained. You're very kind to take the time to go into things in such great detail!

I think from what you said that I'm a warm colouring...I never knew that I had to choose a foundation with pinkish undertones (looking at what I've got at the moment I think I've always gone for something yellowish), so that's really useful.

I can vouch for what you said about powder blusher on cheeks if you have open pores- I have this on my cheeks, and am also prone to dry patches. I made the mistake of buying a powder blusher with sparkly bits in and it looks absolutely hideous!

That's very interesting about the colour wheel- I'm going to sit down with a cup of coffee later and try and get my head round it....

Thanks HH, it's always difficult trying to apply rules to make up. As I said we're all individuals so there are so many variable to take into consideration. For example with the whole foundation thing, in most cases even though you're a cool or a warm and will need to pick a pink or yellow based foundation you'll often need to mix in a drop or two of the other colour to make it look more natural. Then there's the fact that all the rules only really apply to someone who is completely au naturel, if you wear fake tan or dye your hair you normally need to throw the rule book out the window!

Hmm having read back what I posted last night I can see I've made an error with my cools and warms. Whoops! That'll teach me to write such an in depth post at almost 2 in the morning! I'll go back and change it now, but just to clarify things here if the veins on your wrist appear blue you're a cool colouring but will still need a pink colour, if they're green then you're warm and will need a more yellow based colour.