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

green1970

My new best friend is nipple cream (pure medical grade lanolin) as a lip balm - it's brilliant and my lips feel better than they've ever done. Don't know how expensive it is but you only need the tiniest amount and I tried one of the Lansinoh sachets that we had lying around at work. All of us there love the stuff, it's amazing!

thehappybutterfly

I was reminiscing with my chums about our younger days and remembered I used to use felt tip pen as eyeliner! The good thing about pens were the range of colours - this was back in the day when all you got was black, brown and electric blue. Ah, electric blue eyeliner and mascara. And Twilight Teaser lipstick...... those were the days!

shandyclover

randm wrote: »

a lot of things on the front pages of this thread were from 2008 and a lot of new products have been released since then .As both superdrug and tesco have three for two across cosmetics and boots and superdrugs both have 10 points per £1 spend i thought i would come on here and resurrect this thread.

I am looking to get a thickening mascara which doesn't clump and has a good brush for seperation, a new semi lipstick in a colour/texture suitable for spring/summer, so not heavy but a fresh colour for fair skin if you have any colour reccs!not coral or peach shades as i have a yellow undertone.

(they have been advertising maybelline colour sensational lipstain which looks like a jelly type/ice pop type, but the reviews on mua are not very good.)

also a foundation- non oily /not fragranced. my collection 2000 one is getting a bit old. i only use a little to cover patchy areas.

perhaps an eyeliner, can the same one be used on the waterline? and what is best for a novice - a pencil, gel liner, felt tip pen type?

thanks for any advice!!:)

Have you had a deko in pound land/99p shops lately?

I was in Birmingham by chance few weeks ago waiting about to pick up DD. Came across ALMAY mascara on sale in one of those budget shops - my cousin who is a stewardess uses ALMAY a lot as she gets it in the US on her trips - not sure on how it's viewed but quality seems excellent. I have to be very careful with mascara but this one has caused no problems. Got two types, 'nourishing' and one of those '1-2-3 dial up type according to the effect you want - £2 for both.

They also had masses of Sally Hansen products - 3 in a bag - £1 for a bag. I thought Sally Hansen only did nail products but there were lippys and lip shines and blush. I ended up buying 3 bags to get the colours I wanted but got the perfect tawny rose colour I have been looking for for so long - in 2 lip shines and a lippy, and a lovely sheer cream blush that is perfect. So, in the end I paid £5 for 2 mascaras, 2 lip shines, 1 lippy, 1 blush, and 5 other lippys/lipglosses that I gave away to delighted mum/DD and friends, and from what I gather Almay and Sally Hansen are not cheap brands in the US.

scrappie_2

OOOOohhhh Twilight Teaser - now that does take me back!

My best friend loved a lipstick called Copper Knockers that Miss Selfridge sold. Isn't it strange the things you suddenly remember.

Desperatly trying to remember the name of the pale brown eyeshadow we both wore - treacle something?????

Vikki_74

randm wrote: »

I am looking to get a thickening mascara which doesn't clump and has a good brush for seperation

It's not the absolute cheapest stuff you can get (£12.50 although often on 3 for 2 &/or you can use the £5 off No.7 vouchers they give out with a purchase every so often) but I think Boots No.7 Lash Adapt mascara is excellent. It gives a good thickening effect with a couple of coats and never, ever seems to clump. You can even stick another coat on over the top later in the day - great for me if I'm going out after work and don't want to totally redo my make up - and it still looks good and doesn't go clumpy or flakey.

Rimmel Glam'Eyes Lash Flirt mascara is another one I really like. It's not quite as good for separation - especially with a new tube I sometimes have to give my lashes a quick comb through afterwards - but it does give really good length and volume. I've actually had someone complement me on my eyelashes when wearing it which is always a good sign! Not sure on the price as the first one I had was a freebie then I stocked up in the US (where for some reason Rimmel is loads cheaper than here?!) but I think it's about £7.

Vikki_74

shandyclover wrote: »

Have you had a deko in pound land/99p shops lately?

I was in Birmingham by chance few weeks ago waiting about to pick up DD. Came across ALMAY mascara on sale in one of those budget shops - my cousin who is a stewardess uses ALMAY a lot as she gets it in the US on her trips - not sure on how it's viewed but quality seems excellent. I have to be very careful with mascara but this one has caused no problems. Got two types, 'nourishing' and one of those '1-2-3 dial up type according to the effect you want - £2 for both.

They also had masses of Sally Hansen products - 3 in a bag - £1 for a bag. I thought Sally Hansen only did nail products but there were lippys and lip shines and blush. I ended up buying 3 bags to get the colours I wanted but got the perfect tawny rose colour I have been looking for for so long - in 2 lip shines and a lippy, and a lovely sheer cream blush that is perfect. So, in the end I paid £5 for 2 mascaras, 2 lip shines, 1 lippy, 1 blush, and 5 other lippys/lipglosses that I gave away to delighted mum/DD and friends, and from what I gather Almay and Sally Hansen are not cheap brands in the US.

Nice bargains! I got loads of make up bits from Poundland a while ago but haven't looked for ages as they seemed to have stopped having any decent brands...will have to pop back in and have a nosy.

And yes, both Almay and Sally Hansen are decent brands in the US. Almay stuff is around the same as L'Oreal, Revlon etc price-wise and really good if you have sensitive skin, eyes etc - I don't think I've ever tried their mascara but used to use a lot of their foundation and concealer products, very nice stuff.

Mayflower10cat

scrappie wrote: »

My best friend loved a lipstick called Copper Knockers that Miss Selfridge sold. Isn't it strange the things you suddenly remember.

Yes, that takes me back, too! A friend of mine adored their lipstick called 'Lily Pout' - on her it looked gorgeous but made me look washed out!

randm

glowgirl wrote: »

I have some suggestions

Mascara - not a thickening one but the new maybelline illegal lengths will thicken with 3 layers, outstanding length and excellent separation, No 17 in the pink tube is one of the best volumising ones I've used, separation is average.

Lipstick - by far the best is No 17 mirror shine, comparable to Chanel products and a lovely selection of colours, check out Belle for a pretty pink, sugar daddy for a brown/neutral colour.

Revlon colourstay is a good mid priced foundation, not sure if its fragrenced, the one for oily skin is highly pigmented so a little goes a long way and it mixes well with mositurisers etc for a different look, also heard good things about the body shop all in one compact powder foundation if you like that finish.

I tightline my eyes too and can highly recommend Rimmel waterproof eyeliner, its a twist up product that doesn't shift even when my eyes water, not a massive choice of colours I have the black and plum and they are excellent true colours and much better than my MAC pencils, we wont even talk about the price comparison;)

Good luck:)

Great help! is the mascara the peep show one (pale pink) or falsifeye(bright pink tube)? I just want a soft fluttery look, not spikey falsh lash effect!

clairibel

I'm always on the hunt for inexpensive natural animal friendly stuff, not that easy believe me.

Superdrug is cheap and is BUAV approved, i love the naturals range but it does have nasties in it. But they do a paraben free range.

Asda don't test either and inexpensive and lots of the stuff is pretty good but its trial and error. I use the Eco baby wipes for my face wipes, pretty natural and a lot for your money.

I also use Fragrance Direct a lot because they tend to have quite a few natural, cheap products and i stock up as postage is only £1.99 and you can get codes and cashback...very MSE.

glowgirl_2

randm wrote: »

Great help! is the mascara the peep show one (pale pink) or falsifeye(bright pink tube)? I just want a soft fluttery look, not spikey falsh lash effect!

Its the pale pink one:)