As a parent to a 14 year old who loves make-up, I seriously have my work cut out trying to make sure that Miss Frugal understands that just because something isn’t amazing simply because it has a hefty price tag attached.
She believes that because something costs ridiculously more than the so-called budget brands and it’s difficult to tell her otherwise – 14 years olds totally know best you know!
So when Magic Freebies shared some info with us about the make-up that some celebs wear, she was more than a little bit surprised to see some of the brands that she has in her make-up arsenal were also used by some celebrities. Magic Freebies also asked us to do a little bit of research and compare some of the cheaper brands of make-up to some of their more expensive counterparts and naturally both jumped at the chance although obviously for our own very different reasons. Me to hopefully teach a valuable life lesson and her to get her hands on some of the more expensive makeup she’s been eyeing up recently.
She took her role in this testing very seriously and quite happily tested cheaper brands that she would have previously turned her nose up at. Even she’ll tell you that she was a little surprised with at least one of the comparisons….
Lips
We compared the Kylie Jenner Matte Liquid Lipstick (as included in Kylie Jenner’s own make-up bag according to the article I linked to above) with an of RRP £12.85 with a couple of tubes of Matte lip gloss that we bought in Morrisons for £2 each by the Academy of Colour.
Miss Frugal tells me that Matte lipstick is the in thing right now although I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m not really keen – it seems to show up any and all imperfections when you’re putting it on and it makes my lips feel quite dry. Miss Frugal feels the exact opposite though and loves the matte finish and the Kylie Jenner range is one that she’s loved since she discovered it on Youtube. This is one that Miss Frugal bought herself from the Kylie Jenner online store and then followed it’s tracking data from the US to us here.
The middle one is the Kylie Jenner lip gloss.
Miss Frugal’s verdict on which one is better: You can tell that the Kylie Jenner one costs more as it’s a a much better quality. It goes on better, feels nicer on your lips and lasts much longer than the cheaper ones. The difference in price is definitely worth paying here.
Mum’s verdict on which one is better: Honestly, I can’t tell the difference! I’ve had a try of them both and the matte finish makes them both make me want to head for the vaseline to save my dry feeling lips!
Eyes
I nearly had a panic attack when I handed over the £38.50 for the Urban Decay ‘Naked 3’ Palette although I was impressed with the packaging and the number of shades you got. Miss Frugal was super excited about this as she had been after one for a very long time but even she hesitated at the huge price tag and always found something else to spend her money on. We wanted a cheaper brand to compare it to so when we spotted the spookily similar W7 ‘In the Nude’ Palette in B&M for just £3.49 we knew it was the ideal competitor.
The one on the right is the Naked 3 palette but honestly, you can’t tell the difference can you?
Miss Frugal’s verdict on which one is better: I do like the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette because it has slightly better pigment which means the colour is stronger and stays on longer. On the other hand, the W7 palette is almost identical and it costs so much 90% less than the Urban Decay palette and I really don’t think that the slight difference in quality is worth the huge difference. You can see from the photo how similar the could swatches are and I really would be happy with using the W7 palette for my make-up.
My verdict on which one is better: The photo above shows Miss Frugal’s eyes done with the W7 palette and I think they look fab. She’s still learning how to apply make-up but I think she’s done a great job here and the colours seem just right. I much prefer the cheaper palette because of the cost – there’s no other difference as far as I can work out.
Face
We actually popped into our local Boots for some advice on this one as Miss Frugal is looking for a foundation that is nice and light but still gives her some coverage. The lady at the Benefit counter actually recognised us from last time we were in buying mascara and sat Miss Frugal down for a chat about what she was after. The consensus between the two in the know (Miss Frugal and the Benefit lady) was that Benefit’s Big Easy BB cream with a price tag of £28.50 would do the job so I handed over the £28.50 and Miss Frugal walked away happy with her new BB cream AND some free concealer. As the idea was to compare a more expensive brand with a cheaper one, we also picked up a tube or Garnier BB Cream for £4.95.
Miss Frugal’s verdict on which one is better: There’s no comparison here because the Benefit BB cream gives a much better coverage. It lasts longer and when I apply it like the lady in the shop showed me then it’s really easy to blend so I don’t get any .
My verdict on which one is better: I’m going to be honest here and say that I much prefer the more expensive brand simply because of the lighter coverage it offers. The lady on the Benefit counter did say that this was a lovely light coverage and that really became apparent when we used the Garnier BB cream. Miss Frugal has lovely skin and I don’t think she needs anything on it but this is a great compromise in my eyes – light enough for me to be happy with with enough coverage for her to be pleased with. I alse love how easy it is to blend as I remember days when I went to school with orange on the edges of my face where I hadn’t blended it.
It was quite interesting seeing Miss Frugal try and compare the different brands and I know she loved every minute of it. As a mother, I want to encourage her to wear make-up only if she wants to wear it and not because she feels like she should and when she does wear it, I want her to know that it’s not the price tag that she should be looking for. This little exercise has really helped her to understand that a little better.
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