My Party Preparation Pack: Cosmetics Edition

Did you know that the average woman spends hundreds of pounds getting ready for the party season and on just beauty products alone? It's easy to think holy crud-mole that's insane...but we've all been there, it's so easily done! This finding was uncovered by Most Wanted, the fabulous lifestyle magazine accompanying VoucherCodes.co.uk, who are dedicated to giving customers a smarter shopping experience with tips, tricks and discounts. They've challenged me to put together the ultimate party preparation pack in under £60, so that you can get everything you need to prepare for the party season for well under £100. You might remember that I did this challenge last year and put together a complete pack for bath and body preparation, this year I've focussed on cosmetics and getting the perfect party look.

It was so much fun taking part in this challenge, I'm guilty of premium beauty shopping around this time of year and the bill soon adds up, so it was a bit of a personal wake up call as well! My main focus is my makeup around this time of year, so my pack is purely cosmetics based (with a few tools thrown in to make your job even easier). I want to show you that there are great high street alternatives to some of the most popular premium cosmetics and that you can create a premium look on a budget. I've got tonnes of ideas about how to save money this party season, spend less, and enjoy more!
FOR THE FACE

For my base and face I chose alternatives to super popular products and some of my personal favourites. I find it so tricky to find foundation that suits me on the high street, but I bit the bullet and looked for an alternative to my absolute beloved Estée Lauder Doublewear foundation, I love it because it gives me total, buildable coverage with a matte finish that lasts all day. Priced at £28.50, it's a definite luxury! The best alternative I found on the high street was L'Oreal True Match foundation, which still gives good coverage, a semi-matte finish and lasts at least six hours. There's a huge shade range just like double wear (although maybe not quite as extensive) and the shade closest to you will smart match itself perfectly - I'm Vanilla. I apply this with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush which is a just-as-good alternative for the Urban Decay Optical Blurring Brush, I actually prefer it! Next I apply the The Eraser from Maybelline, this is an amazing concealer that definitely rivals my Dr.Perricone No Concealer Concealer, which has never been beaten by anything before in terms of coverage and finish. I use The Eraser under my eyes and pat it in with my fingers, and gently pat a little over any blemishes. If you choose a shade slightly lighter than your foundation - I chose Light - then it will also act as a great under-eye brightener, I think it's a fab alternative to my YSL Touche Eclat illuminator too! To contour, highlight and add colour to my cheeks I had to pick up the Sleek Contour Palette, it contains a contour colour, a highlight and a blush! This all in one palette means you're not having to splash out on individual products for your cheeks which could add up quickly. It makes a great alternative to the Illamasqua Sculpting Duo which is going to be a huge hit this season for highlighting and contouring but comes with a premium price tag. I apply all three cheek products using the Real Techniques Finishing Brush, its small head means that I get precision application of highlighter and contour and can swirl the blush on to create a soft glow. I really think the Real Techniques brushes are a great alternative to MAC brushes, I love my MAC brushes but they are so so so expensive, my top pick of the high street will always be real Techniques. If you want to save even more money then you can definitely use washed fingers to smooth on foundation, pat in concealer and blend out shadows. To finish the face I add a slick of Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick, my shade is #02, I think they make a great alternative to any MAC lipstick because they're so smooth and creamy and last quite a long while on your lips. Best of all you don't need a lip brush for precision application, just go straight in from the bullet.
FOR THE EYES

I think it goes without saying that the must-have premium beauty product for eyes is any Naked Palette by Urban Decay, coming in at over £40 per palette though almost my entire budget would have been blown in one! It's no secret that a great alternative is the MUA Heaven and Earth palette, which has a mix of 12 plum, nude and shimmer hues. It doesn't rival the quality of the Naked palettes but the shades are similar and ideal for creating looks that are just as good. The brush in the box is great for popping in your bag for touch ups, I prefer to use my Real Techniques Shadow Brush for packing on colour and blending it out. As an alternative the the luxury liner I usually wear which is the YSL Shocking Liner, I picked up the Bourjois Liner Feutre which delivers the blackest fluidline that really stays put! To finish off the look I went back to my first ever mascara - Maybelline Great Lash Mascara. This is a really good alternative to Volume De Chanel Mascara, as you can build a couple of layers to get perfectly fanned out, bold lashes with volume and length. I think the Urban Decay Primer Potion will sell really well this party season, you really can't beat priming your eyes to get long lasting, better colour makeup. A tip I really couldn't wait to share with you is how to create your own primer that's just as good and doesn't break the bank. Mix a penny sized blob of concealer on the back of your hand with half a penny sized circle of kohl liner, mix until they form a grey mulch and then pat onto the lid. The wax in the liner and creaminess of the concealer will create the longest lasting base that really clings your shadow into place. It's two products with two completely different uses that come together to create something really rather useful, and I bet you've got both in your draw already!
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER...

Here's my look using all the products in my preparation pack - I've used absolutely nothing else on my face and no other tools for application than what's in my pack, it hasn't been edited in any way either so you can really see the full performance of the products. And I've got to say, I really don't think you could tell whether this was a premium or a budget look! I've gone for soft feminine elegance with this look, but if you wanted to add extra glamour then I'd pick one of the red lipstick shades to give your look a real focus point.
MY MONEY SAVING TIPS Some of my best money saving tips not just for the party season but all year round are to shop smart and savvy, and really think about what you are shopping for. Make a list of what you need, set yourself a budget and stick to it - you'll be surprised how much smarter you shop and how much more you focus on in-store offers and discounts. Take a look at the premium products you are lusting after, just like I did, then pop to a high street store and see if there's something similar up for grabs at a snip of the price. Definitely make sure you pick up points cards for all the stores you shop in regularly - the points rack up fast and there's always opportunities for earning extra points and even for getting discounts on things you buy relatively often. When shopping for my pack I earnt over 450 Boots points (that's £4.50 back on my shopping...instant, fuss-free cash back which I can spend on replenishing my products in future) and a couple of Superdrug card points too. I would also recommend holding back with some of your shopping, if you've got a bit of time wait a little while and see if the products you want come up in some sort of offer like a 3 for 2 deal or buy one get one half price. All the products in this post came in a 3 for 2 offer which meant a lot of them were actually completely free, everyone loves a freebie. I also got £3 off my purchases by using a discount voucher that I had saved in my purse from using the Boots Advantage Card Machine - always check this machine before you shop because you can get extra points and discounts too.
If you haven't got the time or ability to pop to the shops this party season, then you can shop online as an alternative. You can redeem your card points online now with most high street stores and I always advise googling for discount codes and free delivery codes. I don't think I've ever searched VoucherCodes.co.uk and not found a useful voucher for my online shopping. One final tip I have is to do a swap-shop with your friends - I love doing this and do it with clothes too (just be sure to give them a wash if you're swapping clothes and sanitise your cosmetics where you can). I meet up with my girlfriends and bring along all the products I've maybe swatched or used once or twice and don't like or never use, they do the same and then we swap and share our makeup. It's a great way to try something new without wasting something you've already got that you may not like. It's good to know your unloved cosmetics are going to a new home and you can walk away with lots of lovely things too...absolutely free!
My party preparation pack totted up to £52.94 - which left me with a little extra spending money to grab a coffee after all that shopping.

*£60 was given to me by Most Wanted to purchase any products I liked to complete this challenge. All views, opinions and choices are entirely my own. *