I know everyone has felt bogged down by the recession, especially those of you in the UK where it all appears to be doom and gloom. But you don't have to feel like you are missing out on your makeup/hair/beauty fixes when there are so many great finds out there for less than a tenner (£10).
Fashionable, Bang on Trend Nail Varnish for £2.95??
All you need to do is go and hit up your local Barry M store for the funkiest, "of the moment" nail colours. Barry M are simply exceeding themselves every time they bring out a new colour. The varnish is such excellent quality too (I'm talking as someone who has splashed cash on Chanel's varnishes and been not too impressed with the formula). Every time I wear a Barry M nail colour I receive compliments. If you can't find Barry M's products, luckily for you they also sell online just click on the link http://www.barrym.com/. The best part? They cost just £2.95 and regularly do offers of 2 colours for £5.
MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack Dupe for £3.99
Sleek Make Up sell an ink pot in Dominatrix (love the name!) which is a much cheaper dupe (copy) of MAC's famous Blacktrack Fluidline. The formula is slightly less creamy than MAC but with my little trick of scooping a little on to the back of your hand to warm it up prior to using it and it transforms into the creamiest, inkiest eyeliner you could wish for. Sleek cosmetics are available at Superdrug and carry a great range of makeup for a very reasonable price. And for all you dark skinned ladies out there, the range was initially created for dark skintones so their colour selection of facial products is excellent!
Drugstore Contour Kit for £5.99
Contouring your face is a great way to mimic high cheekbones, a slimmer face or even a smaller nose with just makeup. For makeup newbies, practise in contouring is definately key to perfecting the art of contouring, and the last thing you want to do is to splash out on some expensive contouring kit (which are generally hard to find anyway). The answer? Sleek Makeup have created a gorgeous little kit that comes in 3 shades - light, medium and dark that retails for just £5.99! It also contains a fairly handy little explanatory guide to contouring. It consists of a finely milled matte bronze shade and a shimmery peachy/creamy colour for highlight. If this just sounds like somthing you may be interested, keep a look out for my contouring and highlighting tutorial.
Eldora False Lashes
Although MAC false lashes are under £10 (I believe they retail at £8 a pair), even with the best of care, they can only be used a few times. Luckily for you, I am going to let you all into a little secret known as Eldora Lashes. They are an online company specialising in false lashes. They have over 200 pairs of lashes from the most natural wispiest lashes, to full on Carnival lashes! Prices generally range around £2-£3 and they deliver to the UK - Bargain!
Trim your own hair?? Seriously..
I was recently admiring my beautiful friend's perfectly formed long fringe and she promptly told me she had cut it herself! She is not a hairdresser by the way, she had just found the greatest little tool from Boots known as a razor comb and had been using that to get her fringe exactly as she wanted it and also to neaten up feathered layers framing her face. This little beauty is only £4.95 and can save you on a couple of trips to the hairdresser for sure! You basically hold the front sections of your hair taut and angle the comb down the hair and it precisely feathers away your hair. Now please my Cherubs, do not attempt this unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing and do not underestimate the sharpness of this comb!
Lather and Exfoliate in One Swift (and cheap) Move
You may recall me harping on about the gorgeous products at LUSH, and particularly the Sugar Babe body scrub. I do love it and it is holding up surprisingly well considering it melts rapidly under hot water, however, I have discovered another little gem while out doing my grocery shopping at Sainsburys. The Active Naturals Mango and Avocado Exfoliating Soap is a sweet, fruity smelling soap, with bumpy, massaging nodules on the underside and scrubby, natural exfoliating grains within the soap itself. As it is a solid soap it does not melt away under the water as many scrubs do and due to its size and shape, aswell as those handy little nodules, you can get maximum scrubbage power! With this product, you can save not only money as it costs just £1.28, but also time and space as you basically get a scrub and a cleanser in one. Lovely! Apparently it comes in a couple of different flavours - coconut and lime anyone? YUM!
Under Eye Concealer for under a Fiver
I have no recollection of buying this concealer but I am sure it was back in the days before I really got interested in makeup, in which case I probably put no thought into it except that it probably looked like it would do the job. In my utter ignorance, I hit the jackpot! This concealer is wonderful! It is light and moisturising and although they only make this in two shades (Ivory and Soft Beige), the Soft Beige is very close to NC42, perhaps a shade lighter and therefore works perfectly for me on my NC42 skin. I have a real problem with the skin under my eyes which are very sensitive and dry, however, this stuff works really well as a lightweight concealer with great coverage yet is kind to my skin. I apply this using my MAC 224 brush in very light circular motions.
Extra, Extra, Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover for around £3 a litre..Talking of the under the eye area, did you know that the skin under the eye contains almost no sweat glands and therefore produces almost no natural oils? Hence why this are can be prone to wrinkles, dryness and itching. I have learnt the hard way to treat this area of skin very gently, having spent years removing eye makeup using vigorous rubbing, harsh makeup remover wipes and alcohol based makeup remover until the skin is now dry and irritable : (
I now use the best oil based eye makeup remover in the world, it is made of pure, natural and organic products only, you can find it anywhere and it costs around £3 for a LITRE bottle - have you guessed what it is yet?? OLIVE OIL! No, not the expensive green tinted extra virgin, but the cheaper, lighter, virgin or just pure olive oil. In one swipe it removes waterproof eye makeup, it does not irritate the skin and as an added bonus it conditions your eyelashes. Just put a teeny amount on a cotton ball and very gently swipe away the makeup. Simply rinse afterwards with warm water and Bob's your uncle!
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