High End vs High Street Makeup

13/05/2025


As a girl who loves nothing more than a browse in her local boots, I can't always bring myself to check my bank balance after a shopping trip. Makeup is expensive, especially when your favourite influencers are recommending a handful of products, each over £20 pounds. As an ex-boots beauty specialist who has tried hundreds of products from brands ranging from Dior to Natural Collection, I have perfected my advice on what makeup to splurge on, and what steps you can save money on.

High End

In my experience, foundation, concealer, and eyeshadow are the products where the price reflects the quality of the product. I have found the colour range for foundation and concealers in high end brands is more varied than its high street sisters. On top of this, the premium beauty experience at boots comes with shade matching services and the opportunity to take samples home to try. When it comes to eyeshadow, I often find high street products to be chalky, not long lasting and unpigmented, whereas a brand which lies in between high street and high end, such as Beauty Bay or Morphe sell fantastic palettes in all different colours to suit everyone's needs.


Some products I would recommend:

Dior Forever Skin Glow/ Dior Forever Matte, Fenty Beauty foundations and concealers

, Morphe/ Beauty Bay eyeshadows


High Street

For me, it isn't worth going high end for the other makeup categories. Yes, you can find some amazing products in premium beauty, however high street makeup has really come into its own over the years and has produced some incredible products for a fraction of the price.

Some products I would recommend:

Rimmel Sculpting Palette, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder ,Makeup Revolution Eyebrow products, Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, Loreal Bambi Eyes mascara, Nyx lip products and liquid eyeshadows

I will end this post with the following note: you don't need to spend hundreds of pounds to create your perfect makeup routine. Although I would recommend spending a bit more on base products, there are so many amazing high street products to try that you're bound to find something you love.

Go on then – what are you waiting for!