Splurge or Save?
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It doesn’t matter if you’re a makeup newbie or a seasoned pro, we’ve all faced the decision on whether to buy the budget-friendly makeup or to splurge and go for the more expensive stuff. When faced with this choice, the question is, “is there really that big a difference between the cheaper and more pricey products?”
If you’re a casual makeup wearer, or on a tight budget, you might find splashing out on makeup isn’t a big priority for you. In this instance, it makes more sense to stick to low-cost, ‘drugstore’ brands. On the other hand, maybe you’re a frequent makeup wearer, or have more disposable income, and want to upgrade from a drugstore brand to a more expensive brand of a product you desire. But how can you tell if the difference is actually worth the additional money?
As mentioned in previous posts, we at MakeupLabs firmly believe that a product being more expensive does not automatically make it better than its lower-cost counterpart. For example, a lot of prestigious brands also own drugstore brands and sell similar products under both names. Often, the main difference between the makeup is not so much the product itself, but rather its packaging and marketing. However, we have purchased our fair share of cheap and expensive makeup and sometimes forking out the big bucks was worth it in the end. This leads us on to today’s blog post, when purchasing certain makeup products should you splurge or save?
Eyebrows
L’Oreal Paris Brow Artist Eyebrow Gel, Plump and Set (£5.91 on Amazon):
This eyebrow gel is pretty good! If you already have quite long eyebrow hairs, then this product is perfect for you. It subtly adds shade and gel setting to your eyebrow hairs, leaving them looking volumised and plumped. It is very easy to use, simply glide the brush across your eyebrows to apply the product.
Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade (£19 on Amazon):
This eyebrow pomade is full-pigment, waterproof, and available in eleven shades. We found it to be extremely long-lasting and its buildable formula enabled us to get the exact coverage we wanted. As it says on its packaging, this is a professional-quality product. It’s clearly well made and works wonders on our brows. We especially like its versatility in application, something an eyebrow pencil lacks.
Winner: Splurge
Although it’s a considerable price difference (almost £14!), the Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade is an eyebrow game changer. It is so easy to use and its versatility makes it perfect for any brow shape. A limitation of the L’Oreal gel is that it only makes your eyebrows look filled and volumised if you already have a decent amount of natural eyebrow hairs. Whereas the DipBrow can be used to fill patchy areas, mimic natural brow hairs, and line your brow shape. This is why we believe that for the best brows, it’s better to splurge!
Mascara
Maybelline Colossal Curl Bounce Mascara (£6.28 on Amazon):
This mascara gives you a bang for your buck! Its formula leaves your lashes curled upwards and in a strong hold for hours. It doesn’t smudge easily, minimises clumps, and doesn’t flake. It’s advertised as having 24-hour wear, whilst we don’t think that’s exactly true, it did last us pretty long! For the price, this mascara is very impressive.
Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara (£28 on Amazon):
Advertised as giving your eyelashes ‘outrageous volume’ this product is pretty decent. However, for a ** price difference, if we are being totally honest, we don’t think it’s massively better than the Maybelline Colossal Curl mascara. That being said, it did lift our lashes really well and also coated every single lash – avoiding clumpiness. This is something we particularly love about this product, as often we find our lashes get stuck together really quickly.
Winner: Save!
We think the Maybelline Colossal Curl Mascara is seriously good and it would take a very good expensive mascara to beat it. At more than 4 times the price, whilst great, the Estee Lauder mascara just isn’t worth the price difference given that they both advertise the same voluminous results.
Foundation
MaxFactor 3-in-1 Facefinity Liquid Foundation (£6.30 on Amazon):
At just over £6, this foundation has it all! It’s a three in one foundation with built in primer and concealer. Its formula is designed to give a flawless finish by first prepping the skin with its primer ingredient before giving a medium to full coverage with its concealer and foundation ingredients. We found it leaves our face with a matte finish but it’s not too dry on the skin. It also has SPF20 – and you know how much we love that extra sun protection!
Make Up For Ever Foundation (£57.26 on Amazon):
Now this foundation is a lot more expensive than the MaxFactor foundation. Interestingly, it was first made for movie and tv stars because it looks invisible on 4K camera quality and even to the naked eye. But this is what makes this foundation so good. It’s super lightweight and looks so natural on the skin. It gives a dewy finish which we particularly liked as it made our skin look really healthy and glowing.
Winner: Save!
This was a tough decision. We actually think that the Make Up For Ever foundation is better than the MaxFactor 3-in-1 foundation, but at almost ten times the price, we think that for most people the cheaper foundation does more than enough. If you want an affordable and good coverage foundation, then the MaxFactor 3-in-1 Foundation is ideal. But maybe if you’re ever looking to treat yourself, then you could splash out and go for the Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation. Albeit pricey, it really is brilliant and it’s highly recommended in the makeup industry.
