Lets get this out the way… I love high end make up. I own a LOT of high end make up. I make no apologies for this, I work hard and buy make up. I have super super sensitive skin and have truly tried most high street offerings of products and have suffered some of the most painful and traumatising breakouts and reactions possible.
I try not to feature very much high end products as I know my readers like to read about a more purse friendly products, and who wouldn’t. I love a bargain and if I can find a gem for £2 rather than £32, by god am I going to keep buying the £2 one ( example : Natural Collection waterproof mascara is the ONLY waterproof I will consider wearing!)
In general I hate Primark.. With a passion that is usually reserved for not very nice people.. But occasionally, just occasionally I will fight my way through the masses to visit the accessories area of Primark. It was here, months and months ago that I first discovered Primark make up. I picked up a liquid lipstick and fell in love. I believe it was £2 and was just brilliant. Sadly, I have tried to buy more of these lippies but like most other stock, once they’ve gone they’ve gone.
On our wonderful Girls Day Out northern blogger bash in Leeds, I found myself again wandering round the make up stands in Primark. This time I came away with 2 leopard print bronzers and a leopard print bronze gloss pen.
We all know I love leopard print right?
Each item was a bargainous £1! £1! Blimey! These had 1 of 2 choices… to be great or absolutely rubbish… which way were they going to go?
The bronzers are humungous aren’t they? They are larger than the palm of my manhands! They do look a bit scary on first look though, the gold foil powder used to highlight the leopards spots is downright scary if you aren’t super light handed until it has blended in but if you apply lightly you are rewarded with a super pigmented, bronzing powder. The gold foil powder provides an ultra shimmer but underneath you have a lovely yellow or pink toned bronzer, depending which one you buy.
I found out the hard way about the foiled powder so after my first go with it, I used a cotton pad to dust away most of the top layer which left me with the rich warm colour underneath. I really couldn’t decide which of the 2 bronzers to buy which is why, thanks to my purchasing enabler of the day, I had to buy both… along with the lipgloss.
The lipgloss is a moderate product.. Not the best but by a long way from the worst I’ve ever tried. A lovely glimmery bronzey gold shade which is perfect for Summer or wearing during the day for a sheer shimmery colour to pair with a natural look or even a smokey eye.
What I don’t understand is peoples hesitation to try cheaper make up. I know I love high end but I am always willing to try these bargains out providing they match my needs. We all love MUA and George from Asda right well what’s so different to Primark make up? It’s clearly taken a lot of inspiration from brands such as Benefit and Too Faced so if the original products are out of your price range then why not try the primark version? They have to be safe for use, so for the sake of £1-£2 why not take a shot?
Is it a brand image thing? If they had a proper cosmetics stand displaying products in a traditional manner rather than in clear baggies (like H&M may I add) would you be more likely to buy them? Would testers help?
You can find bargain make up everywhere these days if you know where to look and have perserverance!
– Supermarkets – Often reduce old season unused stock down to great prices to ensure it is sold
– Cheapsmells.com – cosmetics on there are always at a great price
– The cosmetics company store – Cheaper MAC, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder amongst others that fall under the mother company of Estee Lauder. Bodycare, toiletries, hair and perfume also sold
– Cheapsmells.com – cosmetics on there are always at a great price
– The cosmetics company store – Cheaper MAC, Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder amongst others that fall under the mother company of Estee Lauder. Bodycare, toiletries, hair and perfume also sold
– ASOS – Bargains are always to be found on ASOS, from end of season stock, to “odd” colours and hard to find goodies. Free delivery to boot too!
I do recommend avoiding Ebay due to the sheer volume of fake counterfit goods, if you want to read more about this, you can read Fi’s post about it here on her blog www.makeupsavvy.co.uk about fake products.
Yeah as annoying as Primark is it did have some bargains, shame that the make up has been discontinued though.
I am very much a bargain hunter, but I do still lust after higher end products. x
Nooo, have they? I must have got some of the last stock then back at the end of August!