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Monday 17 September 2012

High end vs High street beauty debate, my September savings

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of communication, if you follow me on twitter @emshelx you will know that I moved into my University accomodation this weekend, and it's all been sooo hectic. So I will try and do as much posting as I can this week, amongst my nights out and introduction lectures! I've realised that I never really write about low end products, okay, I do, but what I mean is that I usually tend to buy more high end products, which is stupid of me because everyone loves a bargain right? okay, so I will admit that I can be a bit of a 'make up snob' when it comes to essentials like foundations, I do always fall for expensive is best - But recently i've realised, that is completely wrong. Maybe I'm just paying for the name, eg. Chanel isn't a make up brand really, it's a fashion brand, so why do they charge £40+ for foundation when other places can charge £3.00, do they put crystals inside it to make it that expensive? What actually is it that makes these high end brands so expensive because it's usually the high end make up, especially foundations which contain more damaging/artificial ingredients than cheaper brands, which usually use more natural products which benefit the skin. Aah, it's a difficult debate but I personally believe that with most high end cosmetics brands (can't believe i'm saying this), that you are paying for the brand name over the efficiency of the item. I think I can safely say that after my recent purchases.  Recently, whilst in a local supermarket, Tesco, I wanted to have a look at the make up that they do. All i've heard is good stuff about lower end brands such as MUA,ELF AND VIVO brands which actually, if it wasn't for blogs I would have never even looked at, or never even bought.  In Tesco, they stock a lot of VIVO, a brand that I'd never personally heard of until I saw it on the Tesco shelves. I instantly picked it up because for the price that it is, it's worth a try. Even the packaging is high end, it's proffessional and modern. Just what you expect from the likes of Estee Lauder and other expensive make up brands. If someone was to see the brand in my make up bag, I don't think they'd think, wow that's really cheap tacky make up, I actually think they'd assume it was expensive, because the packaging suggests that it is high end.


The first product that I bought from VIVO's range is the eye brow pallette. This palette is extremely nifty as it doubles up as eye shadow and eye brow colours, you also get a double ended brush which is okay to do your eye brows with, and a mascara type brush to gel your eye brows down and keep them neat. This was £5.00 which for me is quite expensive for a brand in Tesco, but I love how compact it is, there is even a mirror inside and it's all packaged together nicely, instead of you having to carry round 5 different eye brow items. When you compare that £5.00 to the prices that high end brow palettes are I think it becomes obvious that actually, £5.00 isn't that bad. Especially for something so compact and good. The colours are really good as well as they are neural, but still come in a range of shades, these shades can of course be blended, to create the perfect brow or eye shadow colours. I was really happy when I found this because Benefit do similar palettes which I was hoping to buy, but they're at least £20, which is shocking when really, eyebrow palettes are just the same as eye shadow compacts. So when you compare that you could buy 4 of the VIVO palette for the same price as one from Benefit? And I reckon they're exactly the same... it makes me want to buy everything from brands such as VIVO.
The next item really is a basic item, because it's so basic and because I ALWAYS manage to lose tiny things like eye liner pencils, why do I insist on buying them from places like MAC, where they cost about £15.00... all it is is a pencil? So I decided to buy myself one from VIVO when I was in Tesco, I think it was around £1.50 AND it includes a smudging brush on one end, what a bargain. I decided to get it in brown because I'd rather wear brown on my eyes nowdays as I feel black is too harsh for my skin tone.  However, at this price I could buy every colour. The blending brush works really well surprisingly, it smudges the line really effectively to say how cheap the product was. Imagine how expensive it would be for a 2 in 1 product like this from any high end cosmetics brand? I have seen similar pencils like this by MUA, although they are only £1.00 and they include a sharpener on one end, which is perfect because I always lose my pencil sharpeners.


Last but certainly not least, the VIVO colour block, amazingly it was only £3.00, a special introductory offer.  Although, it will only be £5.00 at full price. That's cheaper than a Starbucks. For even one of these colours from any other cosmetic brand it would be at least £5, yet this whole block cost me a mere £3.00. I really wanted to buy a new eye palette from Clarins, the one I wanted was around £40.00 and included around 3 colours. This is really good, okay the brush isn't that great but who cares, getting a brush with it really is just a bonus. These are definitely the colours that I was looking for as I wanted to recreate the autumn shaded sultry eye that a make up artist did for me at Shu Uemera, but without the price tag. Many people who I have shown this beautiful palette to have compared it to Urban Decay's Naked Palette, of course, that is a favourite with bloggers - minus the horrible price tag. Maybe this is the new naked palette? You do get dark colours as well which I like as it makes the perfect kit for a sultry eye look. They did do other colours as well, I just chose to buy this one. Maybe i'm gonna have to go grab the other colours?


How do you feel about low end/high end products? What is your high end must have and what's the best bargain item that you've found? What do you want to try?
I may set myself a task, to only use 'cheap' make up for a month. Let's see how I get on..

Em x x x
Remember you can speak to me on twitter too!
Mwah 
xxxx

25 comments:

  1. Nice colors.^^
    Lovely greets Nessa

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  2. What other cheap brand of products would you recommend?
    www.make-upbysophiedowning.blogspot.com

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  3. What other cheap brand of products would you recommend?
    www.make-upbysophiedowning.blogspot.com

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  4. Hope things are going well with school so far! This is a really great post - it's always nice to know which products are fantastic, and which are worth the extra money!
    the-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com

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  5. The eyeshadows really remind me of the MUA undressed palette which was also £3, both look so similar to urban decays naked palette! Good bargains, would you reccomend any cheap primers/foundations? Xxxx
    fashionlifelovefaith.blogspot.co.ul

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  6. I love Vivo, I recently bought a lipstick and a baked blush after loving the baked bronzer! I want to try the eyshadow pallette, it looks lush! x

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  7. great post! thanks for sharing! :)

    hope you can drop by my blog and if you like it, follow it as well. looking forward for more of your posts!

    xoxo, Chamee

    http://misslitratista.blogspot.com

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  8. wow, I'm glad I found this post! I'm definitely going to be going to buy some VIVO stuff :)
    eleanorgrace95.blogspot.co.uk
    xxx

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  9. Havent bought any VIVO products yet but I've tried some george at ASDA cosmetics which were okay considering the price tag as well as MUA cosmetics which I absolutely love and cant get enough of! All of their things are of great quality and they're a real bargain! I do get your point though, sometimes it just makes sense to invest in pricier cosmetics but I wouldnt be willing to pay for the brand name only! xx

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  10. I have that eyebrow kit and a baked blusher from VIVO too and the quality is so good! The eye shadows look really nice too.
    I think you can always find a cheaper alternative to high end stuff.. you just have to look around! x

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  11. Great post I've never tried vivo but the pigments look great on the eyeshadows! xx
    loveontopxo.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. Have never personally used vivo but i heard there fab, the make up brand isn't owned by tescos but i still feel as thought the prices are very affordable compared to some. They have a facebook page and run some great competitions from time to time and also have a online store. You should check them out. This is a great blog x

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  13. Love the colours!
    I have never used Vivo definatly need to try them out though!

    Jess x x
    www.a-beautifulsecret.blogspot.co.uk

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  14. Great review! Haven't tried any VIVO products yet!
    Victoria, x
    http://vikbeauty.blogspot.co.uk

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  15. Since I've been on Job seekers I've really learnt how to economize. I absolutely adore ELF. The only thing I'm particularly fussy about is foundation.
    Tara x
    http://a-littlebee.blogspot.co.uk/

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  16. Wow those colours are amazing!

    I would definately be keen to try out Vivo's products :-)

    I'm following you now and I always follow back my newest followers, check me out:

    http://tattoosandvintagediamonds.blogspot.co.nz/

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  17. this is such a good post, some of those colours look beautiful!

    from helen at www.thelovecatsinc.com // @thelovecatsinc

    ps. enter my giveaway (click one page back) to win a MAC lipstick and 5 models own polishes! be quick as it ends soon :)

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  18. thanks for the comparison between these two products! :) to answer your question, i don't really categorize the products i use according to whether or not they are high-end -- i guess what's more important to me is the quality and how it works for me. :D

    <3, Mimi
    http://whatmimiwrites.blogspot.com/
    Spirit Ink Tattoos Giveaway
    Too Much Soul Giveaway

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  19. love this post-- i definitely need a lesson on eye makeup! love your blog and we are your newest followers- follow back at chaseandem.blogspot.com XO

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  20. Great post!

    http://dashofglamm.blogspot.com/

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  21. Great blog. Never tried VIVO products before but definatly will try them now :)

    Toni xx

    Follow you, hope you follow back

    http://toniloujones.blogspot.co.uk/

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  22. I love Vivo products, they are amazing value for money and work really well. Even their foundation is great and is only £2.59 per bottle!

    Stories of an English rose

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