£20 Makeup Challenge

Right, so I’m sat in a Wetherspoons typing up this post. I’ve just had my lunch & am waiting to go to a concert my husband is playing the Mozart Clarinet Concerto in. After this, we are going out to ASK for dinner with his family. So I’m sure you can understand my horror when we arrived (I didn’t have time to put my makeup on in the morning as Dan had an early rehearsal so packed my makeup to put on in the Ladies!) and I had forgotten my makeup bag!!!!!!! PANIC!!!!!!!!

Dan said that I would just have to rely on my natural beauty (aaww!!). I said that it sounded like a good opportunity to do the £20 makeup challenge! Now for those of you who don’t know, the £20 makeup challenge started life in America as the $20 makeup challenge. It became the £20 challenge because makeup is more expensive in the UK. The idea is that that you’ve lost your makeup bag, say when you went on holiday, & you only have £20 to find a whole face worth of makeup. So let’s see how I did…

Let’s get the excuses out of the way first – today is Sunday & I am not in an area where all the shops are open. Superdrug is open (yay!), Boots is not (boo!). I know that I would have been able to get a better deal on my products in Boots as they currently have a 3 for 2 offer across their entire makeup ranges, where as with Superdrug it is contained within specific brands (3 for 2 on all Maybelline for example). I was also unable to get specific items I wanted to. I will note these, with the amounts I would have saved as we go along. The Superdrug I had access to was small & carried the following ranges:

MUA - ingredients found on individual products (some under plastic wrapping - helpful!)

Rimmel - ingredients booklet available containing most products (not new releases)

Maybelline - some ingredients on products

Bourjois - some ingredients on products

Collection - no ingredients available

Maxfactor - no ingredients available

Barry M - no ingredients available

As none of the brands had a full list of ingredients, I had to rely on those available & products I already knew are safe for me to use from previous research. I was lucky enough to have a number of lip products, as well as my Urban Decay '24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil' in Zero & my MAC 129SH in my bag, so didn’t need to purchase these.

Ok, so lets make a start with the face products…

PRIMER - £0.00

I don’t find that I need to use a primer so missed this step out in order to keep the cost down.

FOUNDATION – £10.99

I have wanted to try the Bourjois 'Healthy Mix Serum' for such a long time but could not justify purchasing it with two foundations to use up (I only wear foundation for special occasions), two BB creams & a tinted moisturiser. So rather than going for a slightly cheaper option, I chose the Bourjois in No. 51. This didn't have a list of ingredients available but I already knew I was able to use it. I also felt, with my sensitive skin that this was the best option as I have had problems with Rimmel foundations in the past (Granted it was rather a long time ago!).

CONCEALER – £3.99 (saving of £3.50)

I wanted to purchase the concealer to match the foundation, the Bourjois 'Healthy Mix Concealer' (£7.49). However this was one of the products I was unable to purchase. I arrived at the till to be told I had picked up a tester & that there weren't any more... back to the drawing board. I ended up with the Collection 'Illuminating Touch Brightening Concealer' in the shade Natural, No. 2. This is much more yellow toned than shade No. 1 which is very pink based (not ideal for my under eye circles!).

POWDER - £0.00
I don't set my foundation as I have very dry skin so saved myself some money here.

For my eyes...

PRIMER/CREME SHADOW - £4.99

This is a step you might be able to skip, but my eyeshadow has a tendency to crease. I purchased the Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Pink Gold. It holds eye shadow well & I can put it on as my lid colour, then define my crease & brow bone with powder eyeshadow. I do already own this product but use it a lot so felt it was justifiable. I am going to take one down & leave it with my capsule makeup collection at my parent's house.

EYESHADOW - £6.00
First I looked at the Rimmel trios (£6.49), which would give me both crease & brow shades. I then realised that the MUA Natural Too palette, which contains 12 colours I think, was on offer (£1.00 off) making it cheaper than a Rimmel trio. For £2.00 more I was able to get the new MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette. This includes 6 marbled eyeshadows, 2 blushers, a bronzer & a highlighter - score!!!

EYELINER - £0.00
Urban Decay '24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil' in Zero

MASCARA - £7.99
I have never had a good experience with Maybelline mascaras. I tried a number of different types and found them all to flake badly. Having watched YouTube videos for 2 & 1/2 years now & hearing rave reviews from so many people, I decided to give the brand another try. After all, if I can reduce the cost of my mascara then great! I think I may have been unlucky that the time I tried Maybelline mascaras was when I was living in student accommodation. My room was WAY too hot to the point where it caused the wood of my oboe to expand & contract so much it cracked!!! Anyway, back to mascara. I decided on 'The Falsies Flared'. If you have read my post on the Diorshow 'New Look' mascara, you'll know I have very straight lashes & I like a good curl on them which can be difficult (or impossible) to achieve with some mascaras (If you want to read more about my thoughts on the 'New Look' mascara or my eyelashes & preferences, click here).

For my brows...

PENCIL - £0.00 (3 for 2 on Maybelline)
I looked at the Rimmel brow pencil as I know Khyla from Miss Budget Beauty (click here to visit her blog) really likes it. I chose my shade & then spotted the Maybelline 'Master Shape Brow Pencil' in Soft Brown. This was a better colour match for me, had a softer, waxier feeling so would apply more easily & was free in the 3 for 2 - score!!!

BROW GEL - £1.99 (additional 99p)
I usually use the MUA clear mascara to set my brows. There wasn't a space for it on the stand so I definitely didn't overlook it. My sister uses the Collection clear mascara for her brows. There weren't ingredients available for this but it was the only available option & I have a vague memory of using it a while ago so I purchased it. I wouldn't normally do this but needs must!

At this point it is worth noting that I should have got a free Collection product as they were on 3 for 2, but with trying to figure out a whole face of makeup out I missed this. The staff didn't point it out to me either (to be honest they seemed very indifferent!) so i missed out there!

For my lips...

LIPS - £0.00
I used my Urban Decay Lip Love in the shade Taunt

Tools...

EYELASH CURLERS - £3.49
The only mascara I can use without eyelash curlers is the Diorshow 'Iconic' mascara, so eyelash curlers are a MUST!!! I chose the QVS version.

EYESHADOW BRUSH - £1.99 (additional £1.99)
Unfortunately, the MUA 'The Artiste Collection' palette didn't say it came with applicators. If it had I wouldn't have, for the one day, purchased a brush! So I chose the Superdrug 'Blending Brush'. I think this is too stiff for a blending brush, but is good to pack colour onto the lid & apply a crease & brow highlight colour.

I found that I needed a pair of scissors to get into the packaging of the 'The Artiste Collection' palette, the eyelash curlers & the blending brush. I carry a pair of straight nail scissors with me for eyebrow touchups so didn't need to go back to Superdrug & purchase these.

So here's the finished look:

Apologies for the not ideal setting or photo quality, I had to rely on the lighting in the Ladies at Wetherspoons - not ideal I know!

In total I spent £41.43 - Eeeeek!!!!!!! I wanted to look my best for Dan's big day so purchased for this specific event.

If I did only have £20 available to me, I would leave out the:

Foundation (taking the total to £30.44)
Palette (£24.44)
Blending brush (£22.45)
Concealer (£18.46)

And purchase an MUA blusher for £1.00, making my total for:

Creme Eyeshadow
Eyeliner (in my handbag)
Mascara
Brow Pencil
Brow Gel
Lip Gloss (in my handbag)
Eyelash Curlers
Powder Brush (in my handbag)
Blusher

come to  £19.46!

To me this just goes to show how little £20 stretches, even at the drugstore/high street.

Tania x