Over the past 10 years, makeup quality has improved vastly. Not only are brands catering to a wider range of shades and tones, but prices have lowered considerably, with more affordable brands, such as Makeup Revolution, providing good quality products for considerably less than luxury brands. Being a makeup artist, I regularly use a variety of different products from a multitude of brands and very recently, when I was looking through my kit to see what needed to be replaced, I noticed that while I had started to save money with some products, there were certain things I would continue to pay a premium price for. As it’s a question I am often asked, here is a list of products, I believe you should either splurge on or save on:
1) Skincare – Save
Skin care is one of the areas which has seen massive inroads in relation to affordability over the past few years. The brand, the Ordinary, quite literally, changed the beauty industry, by offering quality skincare at affordable prices. My general rule of thumb is, unless I’m using it regularly or it has to stay on my face all day, I don’t spend large amounts of money. Things like cleansers, I will by from the cheaper end, while I’ll spend more money on products such as moisturiser and SPF.
2) Foundation – Splurge
As with skincare, foundation is the base for which your makeup will sit on. Exceptions do exist, but I have never carried a cheaper foundation in my kit for this reason. I feel its one of the most important steps in your makeup routine and as such, it is really important that you pick the right foundation product. If you choose incorrectly, your makeup will not sit or look right. I find that with a cheaper foundation, you have to work harder with it to make it look as flattering as more expensive brands. Also, and while this changing, most high street brands have a limited amount of shade range. Therefore, it makes more sense for me to stock foundations in my kit from premium brands as I get much better results.
Mascara – Save
When picking mascara it is not actually the product you should be concerned with, but the brush you will be using to apply it with. The bigger and thicker the brusher, the more definition you will see and vice versa. I have yet to find a mascara from a premium brand that works significantly better than one from a lower price point.
Lipstick – Save
Lipsticks are another product in the cosmetic industry that have come a long way in the most recent decade. As lipstick will need to be reapplied regardless of what brand you choose, I don’t really see much point in overspending on it.
Eye shadow – Splurge and Save
This is a tricky one as the concern with most eyeshadows is the amount of fall-out they create i.e the powder that falls underneath your eyes when you are applying eyeshadow. The more expensive an eye shadow, usually, the less likely the chance of this happening, however, this isn’t always the case. I do find that the more expensive the eye shadow, the better the pigment which means increased colour and longer lasting. However, when it comes to products like glitters and loose pigments, I have found no difference from premium brands to cheaper ones as they all perform relatively similarly. If pushed, I would suggest to anyone to spend the most money on neutrals which they would be using more often, then perhaps look at cheaper brands for things that are more of a trend to make the most from their money.
As makeup brands continue to cater for those with less of a budget, primarily because their target audience is the teenage market due to the influence of social media, more affordable options will continue to filter down to the mass market. This will hopefully lead to brands becoming more inclusive with their shade ranges and allow us to make better purchasing in the long run.