Cheap Things! - What works and what doesn't!

Hey Everyone!


So I try a lot of cheaper products, I love a bargain and I'm always on the look out for good value products that work! As you would expect there are some that are good and there are some that are bad! So I thought I would make a little series on Cheap Things - What work and what doesn't! As I go along I'm always picking things up and so I will regularly post on what I have found - GOOD and BAD and I will featuring everything on makeup, skincare hair care...all things beauty related!


So this post will be the first of (hopefully) many! I'll start with two cheap products that work.....


The first thing I'm going to talk about is a blush that I picked up in Savers - the home, health and beauty bargain store. It has no brand and just came in plain packaging at the amazing price of 75p! It looks like this...

Apologies for the bad lighting in the pictures!

It is a really baby pink colour and has a matt finish, no shimmer or anything like that. The reason I like this product so much is because it is a super nice shade, I love the way it looks on my cheeks and it is nicely pigmented. It doesn't make you look like a doll the minute you apply it, it just gives a really natural look and it is buildable, so you can make whatever look you want from it. It's not particularly creamy but is still really easy to blend out. I LOVE IT!


The second thing I'm going to talk about is fake nails. Now I know a lot of people don't like glue on or stick on nails because they are not particularly good for your nails. I do use them every now and again though and I have found two types that work really well for me. The first is again from savers for 99p, I can't remember the brand but they are just clear plain nails that look like this...

The second are a french manicure style of nail from the "starbuy" brand, I think they were around £1/£2 and they are from a chain store called "Home Bargains". They look like this...

Both are easy to apply, the plain nails are great for painting any colour and giving a really sleek look and the second give a lovely french manicured look. They have good staying power, without being stubborn when you need to remove them.


*Bit of a disclaimer!* I don't use these very often, and whenever I do I make sure to give extra TLC to my nails afterwards. I always wait until the nails are naturally ready to come off, and if I can't I soak them in an acetone based nail varnish remover so they come off easily. After I use fake nails I always use a nail treatment to make sure that my nails remain strong and in good condition. As I said a lot of people don't like using these type of nails but if you do these are some really inexpensive options!


So now onto what doesn't work so well!


First off, it's kind of a general opinion but mentioning one brand in particular.....Cheap Foundations! I have never found a really inexpensive foundation that works. Now when I say cheap, I mean it! I'm talking £2-£5. The product I'm going to mention here is the 2true Smooth Matte Foundation. 

2true are a really inexpensive brand and they have some pretty good stuff, which is why I wanted to try their foundation. But alas like all other cheap foundations I've tried, it wasn't for me! The thing I find with cheaper foundations is that they tend to oxygenate really badly on my skin and give a dirty, no coverage look..not what you want! I'm singling out 2true here but in reality for me it's been all cheaper foundations, don't be discouraged from purchasing from this brand, like I said they have got some nice stuff! 


Lastly I'm going to talk about the Superdrug own brand Waxing Strips. They look like this..

I bought these for something silly like 99p, just to test them out. I used them only on my legs and followed the instructions exactly; warm up the strips, pull against direction of hair growth etc. I found that these strips removed some hair but left behind the majority. It definitely pulled at the skin, yet seemed to miss most of the hair, even though it was all the same length and all long enough. I'm not a huge home-waxing fan anyways but I have tried the Veet strips and found them much easier to use. Overall not impressed with these and wouldn't recommend.


That's it! I hope you enjoyed the first installment and if you made it to the end (WOO!) then leave me a comment or a tweet (twitter.com/bandmreview) and let me know if you would like to see more!


Peace and Love,
Karen X