The Cheapskate Way to Expensive Makeup

Happy Easter!  

I have been into makeup for a couple of years and have both access to cheaper and some more expensive brands. I love to compare both, see if the niche is aaaalways better (or not), and want to share some tips of how to do The Cheapskate Way to Expensive Makeup

1. Fast Technology and family 

 Huh? 

Fast technology, think how brilliant Armani Fusion Makeup foundation has been since 2012 and how L'oreal made a clone-tastic variety in 2013 by Nude Magique Eau de Teint (review here , here & here). Another one, how revolutionary was Kerastase Elixir Ultime and how fast it has been replicated by the zillions of other hairoils?

Family, brands like L'oreal often have a zillion subbrands that sell someting similar under a diffferent name & cheaper pricecard.  For example the beautiful Kerastase - I think that the L'oreal Professionel line can be just as good or even more expertised. They often have the same technologies and laboratories as Kerastase but are in slightly less polished bottles. They are often used abundantly by hairdressers and they know their stuff.

 2. Sample, Sampling Samplinged!

Buy your things at places that are often generous, bug ask the Sales Assistent what would suit your skin most: and add "your skin is sensitive so if she would have a sample to try out"...etc etc. Find online places that sell samples instead of full-sized. How often do you really empty a full eyeshadow palette or a perfume? Not that much, right? Samping gives a good way of experimenting.

The Perfumed Court - niche perfume Samples

The Body Needs - Mac pigment samples (I'm so passed MAC but I used to love them when my something in thirtysomething wasn't that much yet)

Various mineral Makeup shops have dupes of the popular stuff, and often they are less chemical/friendlier for skin: eg Alima , Silknaturals, MeowCosmetics, lucyminerals, or find even more at Phyrra's blog.

For organics head over to naturisimo.com as you can take 5 samples per order, or the sample service of beingcontent.com.

3. Pretty face & a pretty wallet = good enough

 You don't always have buy the pretty box! Various brands sell refills that you can easily use without ever have bought the original packaging.

4. You can't always get what you want, but know what you need!

Enabling of bloggers often might make you think you reaaaallly gonna need the $100 eyeshadow brush they recommend, and about a 100 more of the same line/expensive range! But  you might not even be into an intricate eye with 8 different eyeshadows. So a couple of brushes is enough. Or perhaps you enjoy your Dolce & Gabanna perfume just as much or even more than the $200 Byredo/Killian/Ineke varieties out there. There's a reason the drugstore perfumes are more popular so don't feel enabled into going niche because Ms. X does. 

Ps: I do love the eyeshadow brush posts from bloggers like sweetmakeuptemptations. It's like beautyblogger's porn: something you would never do yourself but still looks so lovely if you would have so many brushes with all the skills and perhaps the right canvas (face) as well.

5. Read, Read, Read, & take the best

You already stumbled upon my blog so I guess you read beautyblogs.  Take the best of a brand! Most brands have something they really excel in. Some have a kick-ass eyeliner or the most amazing lipstick. Just take the cream of the Crop.

6. Go Global

Beautystandards are (still) different from place to place, and so does each countries' expertise on the 'beauty-goal'. Japan is being innovative in brightening skincare. On the other side of the spectrum, the UK loves their bronzed godesses so you'll find a high expertise and selection of selftanners. "French women don't get Fat"? Thanks to their zillions of anti-cellulite creams. And for makeup the US is absolutely present. So more choice, more competition, more expertise & lower prices by each country on their 'beauty-goal'.

I think there are a lot of other ways to look good for not that much cash, so I might do a follow up on this one. Please comment if you have some fab advices on going cheaper with the same 'expensive face'-look.

Ps: have an amazing day and please enjoy your naughty food too: I adore chocolate and it's actually a superfood (without the sugar, but hey, can't have it all...)

Cheap delights: Amuse blush palette & LA girl lip palette

Happy Eastern, again! I was up early and I had not much to do, so my blog needed some updates. Did you eat lots of chocolate eggs yet?

I wanted to dedicate this post to the cheap and wonderful products I aquired since my last cherryculture haul. My first cheap suprise was the LA lip palette. I was enabled by Jojoba to buy the LA lip palette, which turned out to be pretty smashing! Jojoba already posted the best swatches of one of the palettes, Eternity, check it out on her blog (here).

I also bought Passion, which turned out to be a passionate palette of warm and cool colours. Actually, the mix of warm and cool colours is a bit confusing, as palettes normally are ór cool, ór warm, or neutral. I found Eternity to be neutral/cool, and very workeable for me. This palette is suitable for summer months, when I am sporting a (fakish) tan.

I made swatches and photographed them in full sunlight. The first three colours are really warm, actually they are truely Jamilla Camel colours, as I see her sporting lots of warmer colours (and looking good in them). And the last two are really cool toned berries.

A picture outside the sun. Feel free to click on the picture to enhance the view.

I was pretty gobsmacked by the softness of the lipsticks, they are really moisturizing and soft on the lips. They stayed on for a rather long time.

My favourite palette of the two is still Eternity, but I love this for mixing and for wearing in the summer months. For the $8 they are retailed you will get a set of 6 colours that are fun to experiment with, to step outside the box of your usual colour scheme.

Talking about cheap but effective: I bought the Amuse blush palette in Natural for a mere $3, and with the discount that was even a cheaper $2.40. In total, that would be $0.60 per blush colour! I did not expected miracles or even decent pigmentation from this palette, however, it is rather decent after all.

The first two colours on the left are actually the bottom colours: sorry for the confusion. The 3rd and 4rd colours are the upper colours. The pigmentation is really dense, and you can pick up lots of colour from a simple swipe with the fingers or brush. I was pleasantly suprised by this, as I expected a hard surface.

The first two colours (or the bottom from the palette) are neutral toned and a bit rosy. I love the first one, that is such a me-colour, so stunning. The second is wonderful as well. The third colour is a warm brick-like colour, which was not too flattering on me. However, I love the amount of shimmer and dimension in every blush, not too glittery nor to flat or matte.

The swatches in direct sunlight. The fourth colour is a bit peachy and works with my skintone as well. Isn't that lovely: three winners in a palette! What a deal, what a steal!

The only downside of this palette is the cheap case, and the blushes have a slight old-lady-ish scent. Nothing obtrusive, though.

It makes me curious for the other Amuse cheek palettes as well: they have a set named Pinky and one named Dusty Rose. I could not see the colours too well on cherryculture's webpage. However, I guess the colours are suited to their names, although the lower colours on the left look like bronzer types. Mmm, I will put them on my wishlist for my next order.

We have a Primark!

Wow, how could I have missed this news? Since the beginning of December our country is the happy owner of a Primark as well. Just in time for the credit crunch shoppers...


Primark was my little haven during my stay in Liverpool last year. It is absolutely not snobworthy, because the shop caters for the Cheap and Cheerful: think dresses for 12 euro...bags for 7 euro, etc.

Ok, I have to travel about an hour by train to reach the store, as it is in the South of the Netherlands...but it beats going to London/Liverpool/Glasgow by air (although that option is more fun....). Or, as I did yesterday...convinced my boyfriend to drive me to the place.

Aww, my cutie pie did that...we came back with a modest haul. He bought a sweater and some pants...Here is the bag....

Yup, we have our own bags with the adress on top..

My damage: a flimsy top with art deco decoration on the bottom (cheapy 13 euro)

It looks a bit like the template of my blog, except it being in different colours...

Some cheap boots that look not so cheap...(16 euros)

I like the way you can wear them...turned down or turned up...And the heels are the same colour as the boot itself...

Lovely to have found a British Franchise in our little country. I just loveeee British shops!