I mean, if I had to, I’d give it all up, in the name of financial needs, but if I just need to reduce in key areas, I’d hold out on things like skincare, foundation, eyeshadow/face primer, eyeshadow, and cheek colors. I’d say brushes but since that’s not as much of a consumable product, I feel like I could go without having to buy a product a couple of decades anyway…
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Skimp on price or quality? I refuse to skimp on quality skincare. I could just stop buying makeup altogether if I had to.
Moisturizer. Hands down the most important part of any beauty regimen. I will pay Amy amount for a top of the line moisturizer.
I’m all about how a product performs for me, so I’m very open to lower price points. That being said, my mascara is one thing I repeatedly spend money on- Lancome Definicils Waterproof is my holy grail product for longevity and lengthening. I’ve spent lots of money trying to find a less expensive brand that works as well, and nothing has come close.
I rarely pay full price for products anyhow, shopping sales and searching for special promotions or deals on things I want/need.
Skincare. And, any products around the eyes — mascara, eyeshadow, liner, eyeshadow primer — because I’ve dealt with severe eye irritation related to makeup and I’m not doing that again.
There’s not much I’m willing to skimp on (which is why I haven’t yet answered that earlier question), although, like you, in an emergency of some sort, clearly I’d skimp or let go entirely (I’m thinking of those fleeing civil war, for example). But in the greater scheme of things, makeup and skin care and personal care products aren’t really high end (compared, say, to a weakness for European sports cars or museum quality art…) so I tend not to skimp if there is something that I really like and enjoy using.
Mariella, you make me laugh. I just love your perspective on things.
I’ve actually been gravitating towards DS/Budget brands lately… It’s not so much that I’m “skimping”, but since those brands have been really stepping it up, not only in quality/formula, but shade range, as well. I’ve just been curious about trying alot of products, and find the more expensive brands just not offering anything new, so I’ve been checking out lower pricepoints. That said, if I find a Holy Grail item, regardless of cost, I’m going to stick to that (ie, NARS Douceur blush, although I have picked up a few others…). Fortunately, there are amazing products on the price spectrum, so I have the ability to be flexible.
Probably eye primer? That has the best cost per use ratio for me these days.
Almost anything! Because I had to for many years, I am aware of the brands that do produce high quality goods at DS/LE pricing. Now, there are a few mid-end or HE/Lux HG products I currently use that are so good that I would be loathe to give them up. Especially in the skincare department, plus fragrances! But, I would do so if that became necessary.
Foundation. It’s the canvas for everything else and also the biggest potential source of irritation day in and day out. These days, there are just shocking tons of good lipsticks, blushes, highlighters, bronzers, mascaras, even some eyeshadows at low price-points, but I’ve yet to find a foundation that offers both the right finish and keeps my annoying sensitive skin healthy outside the high end. Worth it for both.
I’m still a sucker for a beautiful or unusual high-end lipstick, eye palette or unique cheek product, but it’s very much an acknowledged indulgence not a necessity. For skincare, I do currently splurge because I’m trying to calm down Mother Time (you can’t really fight her) with every tool chemists or nature might invent. But even there, there are plenty of basic moisturizers and even now things like The Ordinary at lower price points. It’s just the big guns like stem cells and rare ingredients where you have to pay up.
Like many, I feel that in a real crisis I could walk away without any of it, including skin care. I have chosen/had to do that in the past and know I could do it again if I had to for whatever reason. I didn’t purchase or use any makeup during the first 8-10 months of my daughters life because I was feeding her every 2 hours around the clock for those first 8-10 months. There just wasn’t enough time to do anything else. I also didn’t use any makeup or skin care during the acute treatment phase of my cancer treatment. I barely had energy for the things I had to do little own doing anything else. Today, the things I don’t skimp on are skin care, SPF and foundation. Of course, like I imagine most of us here on the blog, I could stop buying makeup today and still have enough for my lifetime and maybe even my daughters!
There’s nothing that I wouldn’t buy a drugstore version of if I found one I really liked that performed well… But currently, I never even LOOK at drugstore foundations. My foundation costs me $40, but it’s worth it to be able to walk into Sephora, grab the bottle, and know that it will match my pale cool-toned skin. There’d be too much guesswork in shopping the drugstore for foundation, since they so rarely have testers, and I’ve worn too many too-dark, too-yellow foundations and tinted moisturizers. No thank you!
I know exactly what you mean AJ – I am also porcelain with pink undertones and for years wore foundation with either neutral (ashy looking on me) or yellow (an orange ompa loompa by the end of the day). However I have found that L’Oreal, with their newish extended True Match range has produced a Rose Porcelain shade (0.5) with pink undertones and that is working really well on me.
Genevieve, from one porcelain gal to another, thanks for the recommendation! I will try it out.
Same here , Christine , skin care .& foundation . I can make everything else work . I use a skin blurring SPF primer ,
I do love my Hourglass powders though .?
Mascara and foundation. Although, like several others, I have gone without and could again. Going through cancer treatment a couple years ago and the related surgeries, sometimes i wore none. When a friend asked me what she could bring me in the hospital after my first surgery, and I told her my favorite mascara at the time (DS) and it was a welcome gift, because I forgot to pack makeup.
The products I refuse to skimp on are:
Eyeshadows – I have learnt my lesson from the past and apart from the delightful Maybelline Burgundy Bar and L’Oreal’s Infalliable single eyeshadows in paricular shades, have never bought eyeshadows from DS brands again. All my eye palettes are from mid to high end brands.
Although now we have that glorious range from SG, Dose of Colours, City Color and Colour Pop, who are at the lower end of the price spectrum, they are not DS brands.
Blushess – it’s very hard to get a decent blush from the DS brands available here in Aus. – so I have purchased from more mid end brands. I would love to try some of Colour Pop’s blushes, but not being able to swatch them myself before purchase makes it tricky to guess which one would suit me the most.
Moisturisers/Serums: Because I spend less dollars on cleansers, oils and scrubs, I tend to spend more on serums and night time moisturisers. However, I do look for sales.
The reality is that more niche brands are delivering better products than a lot of high end brands with expensive prices these days, so it is much easier to spend less than in the past.
I would not skimp on cleanser or SPF. I expect I could make anything else work if I needed to.
Nah. Ironically, when I was much younger (and stupider, I’d argue) I was ALL ABOUT Chanel this and Dior that and Guerlain everything else and it’s not like I went into credit card debt or lived on beans or anything but I had no qualms about spending big dollars on luxury beauty products. Now that I’m forty, financially secure and have a reasonable amount of disposable income, I find myself less inclined to spend on luxe brands, because I just can’t see the point when there are better quality options at much more affordable price points.
I will spend more on quality products or something really unique (like my Antipodes avocado night cream) but as long as it works well for me, I don’t really care what it costs. But I’m not going to spend $100+ when I can spend $20 for effectively the same thing, with the same ingredients. I swear the number of impressively branded and packing moisturizers that have water, glycerin, alcohol, silicones and squalene or some sort of plant oil as the top ingredients is just staggering.
I never skimp on skin care but that isn’t to say that I’m needlessly extravagant. I look for the best products to meet my needs and then it really doesn’t matter to me whether it is high end, drugstore, or from the dermatologist. The state of our complexion is what speaks of good health, vitality, and beauty and so to me, it is a worthy investment.
Foundation. I find good skincare doesn’t really have to be expensive, as so many women are lead to believe by brands.
Getting my nails done. I had to give up traditional acrylics after developing an allergy after 10+ years, but the newer, safer dipping-powder types work great. They are much more expensive, but as a nail-biter, I’m loathe to give up my pretty nails. I’ve stopped buying anything but the everyday basics in makeup, buy less clothes, and not buy jewelry in order to keep getting my nails done, and would do so again.
A few years ago, I would have said eyeshadow primers, eyeshadows, and foundations. Now, though, I think I could get by with Milani’s eye primer. Though it’s still not quite as good as UDPP or TFSI, it’s good enough. There are tons of great, inexpensive indie brand eyeshadows on the market now. I’ve found a few budget-friendly foundations that match my skintone, don’t oxidize, and don’t slide off my face: E.l.f. Flawless Finish, BH Cosmetics Naturally Flawless, and ColourPop No Filter Natural Matte Foundation.
I’m willing to skimp on skincare if the quality is still there. I think a lot of skincare is over-priced, anyway.
SPF- I live at 4,000ft in altitude so a nondrying (high altitude = arid climate), full spectrum, longlasting complete sunblock is very important to wear daily. I currently am layering Milani’s Prime & Protect SPF 30 under IT CC cream SPF 50 for daily use.
Concealer- I need a full coverage, very emollient concealer that lasts on my undereyes. I haven’t found anything better or cheaper than IT Bye Bye Undereye concealer.
Mascara- I have tried numerous DS mascaras only to have them flake and smear irritating my dry, sensitive, contact lens wearing eyes. I use IT Cosmetics Tightliner lash primer (as a primer or alone for daily wear) and either Chanel Le Volume or Lancome Definicils for special occasions. (I must say that Catrice’s Rock Couture mascara is pretty darn close to Chanel Le Volume though.)
Lipstick- Ok, I have tried numerous DS/budget lippies that are tolerable on my dry lips and look just as good as luxury brands. But I only buy 2-3 lipsticks a year and I so much prefer the ease of application, comfort, flavor, emollience, reliability and wear time of my Estee Lauder (Pink Parfait, Sugar Honey) & Lancome (Vintage Rose) lippies Plus EL & Lancome are available at most duty-free shops worldwide so they are always easy to find. Then again- maybe I am in a rut? 😉
Where do you live Bibi? Have you tried the La Roche Posay Ultra Light SPF 50+ sunscreen for face yet? I have sensitive skin, live in Melbourne Aus and we have just experienced the hottest summer ever for a long time and I never got sunburnt once. Not that I was out in the heat of the day, but even in the evenings and mornings, it was hot as.
So I can honestly say that this sunscreen is pretty good.
Hmm… Probably just my day moisturizer, and even that isn’t expensive. Clinique DDMG seems pricey, but the price per ounce of the larger size is SPECTACULAR compared to others. And the 4 oz container lasts me 1.5 years minimum!
I definitely don’t spend a lot of money on other things because it’s just not necessary. The reviews on here say it all, you don’t need to empty your wallet to get the best performing products.
Not really, which is part of the reason why my purchases are skewing more drugstore lately.
I guess the last thing I would skimp on would be my sunscreen. I generally buy my sunscreen from Japanese brands online, which comes a bit pricier than something I could buy at the drugstore, though it still comes out to less than luxury skincare prices.
Mascara. I have tried drugstore to high end but always settle on Chanel LeVolume. I will never skimp on mascara.
Skincare and foundation. Formula/ packaging is way superior and shade selection for foundation is a much better match for me. Drugstores always lean peachy on me.
I’m OK skimping on ANYTHING if I can get equal or the same results. I’m hard pressed right now to think of a true $$$ item in my arsenal. I suppose if I found something I really, really, REALLY LOVED, I’d be OK with paying extra but that has yet to be found after all my years of trying. Aveeno, Nivea, The Ordinary, Colourpop, Garnier, Simple, NYX, Revlon, L’oreal, No7 – they are all my staples. I have Clinique Cheekpops that are a tad into ME but I use so little of them that they will last forever. And then I’ll find a less expensive dupe 😀
I would say skincare, though I don’t currently use what most would consider expensive (with the exception of Biologique Receherche’s P50W, but the large bottle lasts me more than a year). I use a Paula’s Choice sunscreen which I will never give up — it isn’t the cheapest product, but it’s not even close in price to some of the mid and luxury brand sunscreen prices I’ve seen.
There’s nothing I own in makeup that I couldn’t live without, though ideally, I’d still want the option to do minimal color correction (not full face), and powder to set. If I lost everything I own and had to start over with few funds, I could do without anything except sunscreen; if I wanted to move on and give myself the option to put my best face forward, I could do it just by repurchasing ColourPop’s foundation stick in my shade, a setting powder, one decent skintone-but-two-shades-darker eyeshadow, a basic brown-black mascara, a soft warm pink blush, and some lip balm, and that would hold me for the rest of my life (with 4 or 5 brushes).
My 4 everyday products: Smashbox Look Less Tired concealer, Julep’s Brow Gel, UD Perversion Mascara, and The Balm’s shadow stick. I have very specific reasons for liking these particular products, and I won’t budge. I’m done trying to explore in these areas! Everything else–foundation, blush, lipstick, bronzer, highlight….I’m flexible. Even skincare, on which I have strict requirements for ingredients, is a flexible area because I haven’t found a particular brand’s product I just LOVE.
Fragrance. Frankly, I find most of the cheaper dupes of higher end fragrances don’t last nearly as long and often smell a bit off. I also kinda hate myself for dipping my toes in the water of niche perfumes. They’re even more expensive but totally worth it.