Liberated

Depending on who you believe (New Woman or Mintel), British women spend either £36 or £3000 on cosmetics a year. Neither sounds sensible to me. I reckon I’m pretty average and would suggest that £36 a month is rather closer to the mark. That’s around £432 a year, not including facials, haircuts, manicures and the like.

Once upon a time, I would have spent far less than that, both as a result of having less expendable income and needing cosmetics less - or at least feeling I needed them less. As I’ve got older, my perceived need for makeup has risen fairly dramatically, although I still prefer to keep it subtle. In my heart of hearts, I know that the creams, lotions and potions I can’t stop myself from buying won’t magically make me younger and that the more expensive creams aren’t really all that much better than the cheaper ones. I also know that decent makeup comes with a price. I have tried a million mascaras over the years and know that there is no equal to Lancôme in the mascara stakes.

As for the rest, it’s a bit of a crap shoot. Cheap foundation is rarely any good, but some of the more expensive brands can also fail spectacularly. I’ve never even thought about going for the ultra-expensive brands, so can’t comment on them.

Since I’ve discovered the amazingly lovely Lily Lolo mineral cosmetics, I’ve gone through a sea-change and I do hope it lasts. I’ve buckled down and thrown out virtually every bit of non-Lily Lolo make-up I have, keeping only two eyeshadow compacts that I particularly like: Lancôme’s Color Focus “4 Ombres” and “Best of” palettes, the latter of which I bought at the airport in Philly.

So, while I was in the mood and since I’d reached the end of my expensive potions and was working my way through a vast array of samples, I decided to dump the lot of those as well and find something natural and paraben free. I found a range called Jason at my local health food store and bought the Cocoa Butter, Ester-C Creme and Eye-lift. The latter burned a little the first time, but was better this morning, so I’ll continue to use it and see how it goes.

So that’s me, liberated from the evil grasp of the cosmetics giants. For the moment, at least.

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