Why I Buy High...

No, I'm not talking about going shopping whilst 'blazed' (sorry, couldn't resist this title)... Today, I'm writing about why I choose to buy the majority of my products from the higher end of the price spectrum. It's a little bit of a controversial topic, I feel, and not something that everyone approves of. If I had a By Terry lipstick for every time I've gone on and on to my poor long-suffering friends and family about the improved quality and whatnot, I'd have a full set of MUJI drawers stacked up high full of 'em.

For me, makeup is a hobby. It's what I choose to indulge in, and if I had a way of showing how I spent my money, I can guarantee that the vast majority of it would go on cosmetics. I'm not especially fussy about what I buy, I have no preference between buying bases, cheek products, eyeshadows, skincare or lipsticks, but I think that I choose my products wisely and have stopped making superfluous purchases... Okay, so there's always room for another lipstick.

As an extension of this, I am perfectly happy to buy from the aisles of Boots and Superdrug - the UK 'drugstores' - as I am from SpaceNK or Cult Beauty and the likes. But. Look in my makeup collection and the vast majority comes from such high end retailers. Yes, this means that the products I buy from these shops tend to be a lot more expensive for the same amount of product I would be able to buy from Revlon or Maybelline, say. And yes, sometimes they turn out to be utter duds. I am the first person to say that buying high end by no means guarantees high quality. But. From my experience, 9/10 times, it actually does...

I'm a big believer in the idea that you get what you pay for. As far as I can see, it's a rule that works for food, for furniture, for clothes and for makeup. Yes, 'drugstore' formulations are improving all the time and the technologies are fast catching up, and yes, you can buy fantastic eye products from Rimmel and killer lip products from Revlon... But compared to the likes of Urban Decay, NARS and YSL Beauty? I see no comparison.

I'm well aware of the fact that when you buy from a high end brand, you buy into the branding as much as anything else, especially in the cases of fashion houses that have expanded into the cosmetics industry IMO, but the quality of the products does tend to match my expectations. There are some amazing bases in my makeup collection that I found in Boots, the Garnier Oil Free BB Cream for Oily/Combination Skin springs instantly to mind, but on the flip side of that, my all time favourites are high end (NARS' tinted moisturiser, the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation, Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser Oil Free... I could go on). And don't even get me started on low end skincare...

The fact that I can still remember the feeling when I got my first ever high end product - a travel sized bottle of Moroccanoil Light Treatment, that I still have FYI - says a lot about buying high end, for me at least. It's an experience as much as anything else. I realise that I may well have just come across as the biggest makeup snob evaaa in writing this post, but I feel that it's actually quite an interesting topic. Ultimately, I buy high end because I feel that the price is more often than not reflected in the quality, or the unique-ness of the product and honestly? I'd take a high end five-product-face over a full on drugstore lineup any day and everyday.

The Eyes Have It...

I'm a big fan of 'letting my eyes do all the talking'. A nicely blended neutral eye with lashings of mascara just does it for me. These products lend themselves to a shimmery, nectar toned wash of colour with some punchy definition from the mascara, making them great for when you just have to pop out for a cheeky drink after work...

I accidentally ended up purchasing the new No. 7 Stay Prefect Shade and Define eyeshadow pen. I genuinely popped into Boots to grab some mouthwash and a diet coke (yes, I'm well aware of the irony of that statement), and left with this also in my shopping bag, thanks to a £3 off voucher. I have the shade Pink Pearl and it just beautiful. It's quite sheer, but adds a beautiful iridescence, sparkle and glow to the eyelid, making it great for slapping on alone or using as a base to bring out the best of other eye products. Oh, and it also happens to be probably the best long-lasting cream eye product I've ever tried. Nothing lasts like this does. Nothing. It's love.

Next, I take the pink toned shade from the 17 Eyeshadow Trio in the shade Enraged all over the lid. This colour is great for brightening and quite frankly, it's just beautiful. I the follow this with the golden tone under my lower lash line, to add a smidgen of definition and balance, then add the chocolatey shade to add depth... Then I get blending like nobody's business. Considering how cheap these products are, they are incredibly pigmented and blendable, so this isn't particularly difficult.

Once all of this is said and done, I like to go in with a coat (or three) or a good black mascara on well-curled lashes (my curlers are Tweezerman for Benefit, and whilst they're nothing to write home about perhaps, they are pretty darn good). My pick for this would be the eye-wateringly expensive YSL Beauty Volume Effet Faux Cils Shocking Mascara. This stuff is, in a word, potent. It's my go-to night out mascara and I can find it to be a little bit too much for the daytime, but it really depends on your taste. Either way, a little goes a long way and this stuff is da' bomb.

Looking for a casual springtime eye? I think you just found it...