106 The Times Magazinehe best beauty buys
need no longer break
the bank – at last
high-street stores
are offering great
skincare, make-up
and haircare that is easy to track
down, try and repeat buy.1
THE SHEER SKIN
RETOUCHER
Garnier Oil-Free
Perfecting Care
All-in-1 BB Cream
SPF25 (£9.99; boots.com)
This is a great budget
soft-focus BB cream (blemish
balm). It is sheer, oil-free, evens
skin tone, gives a demi-matte
finish, blurs pores and has an
SPF25. As a caveat it only comes
in five shades (Garnier, make
more), but as it’s so sheer
it covers a wider range of
skin shades.2
THE GENTLE
CREAM CLEANSER
Hada Labo Tokyo
Gentle Hydrating
Cleanser (£13.45;
superdrug.com)
You can always go
budget for your cleanser: just
be sure it is a gentle rinse-off
cream and you can save yourmoney for your vitamin C
and A serums. This ticks every
box brilliantly. Team with a
cloth and it will even get rid
of stubborn eye make-up.3
SUPERCHARGED
MOISTURISER
Curél Intensive
Moisture Facial
Cream (£19.50; boots.com)
A great moisturiser should help
repair your skin’s barrier function
(the ability to keep irritants out
and water in), and this is loaded
with ceramides, the mortar to
your skin’s analogous brick wall.
Little wonder that this brilliant
range is Japan’s bestselling
sensitive skin brand.4
SAVE AND SMELL
SEXY SCENT
Zara Vibrant Leather
for Her eau de parfum
(£17.99; zara.com)
How Zara manages to
develop such stunning
scents, make them look
expensive and yet retail
them under £20 is a mystery,
but this latest (one of four
new scents) is a floral chypre,
which means it’s full-on sexy
leather and patchouli with
a sweet currant top note.
Sniff them out.5
THE BUDGET
BLEMISH BUSTER
Revolution Skincare
2% BHA Salicylic
Acid Toner (£9.99;
superdrug.com)
Two per cent salicylic
acid is a great place
to start if you have
blackheads, blocked pores, teens
with troubled skins or hormonal
breakouts. This is so reasonably
priced it can be decanted into a
spray and used on chest and back
breakouts too. The salicylic acid is
attracted to oil in skin to exfoliate
your pores as you sleep.6
THE CULT
CLASSIC
Egyptian Magic
all-purpose skin
cream (£13; johnlewis.com)
There is a reason that this skin
soother with just six ingredients
has achieved cult status – it
works. The thick unguent
contains olive oil, beeswax,
honey, bee pollen, royal jelly
and propolis, known antioxidants
and anti-inflammatory ingredients.
Great for cuts, scrapes, itchy
rashes and shaving nicks
and grazes. Keep it in your
medicine cabinet7
LONGER LUSHER LASHES
Max Factor Divine Lashes
Mascara (£12; sainsburys.co.uk)
Again, I am going to put my
beauty editor’s neck on the line
and say that budget mascaras are
just as good as their high-end
cousins. This is a great non-
clogging, lash-lengthening but
importantly separating mascara
that’s easy to build without
clumps or smudges.8
DRY SKIN SAVIOUR
Eucerin
UreaRepair Plus 10%
Urea Lotion (£13.99;
superdrug.com)
Don’t fall for new-is-
better and overlook the
quiet skin hero at the
back of the shelf. This
classic body lotion gives
your skin a hefty dose of urea, a
chemical found naturally in the
skin that can decline with age
and dry skin problems. It helps
your skin to stop TEWL
(transepidermal water loss),
in other words the water
evaporating from your skin;
essential once the heating
goes on and temperatures
outside drop in the cold,
windy weather.9
THE HERO HYDRATOR
Me+ Hyaluronic
Booster (£16.99;
superdrug.com)
The beauty buzzword
of 2021 was hyaluronic
acid, a sugar that sits
within the skin to trap and lock
in water. This 100ml serum is a
brilliant non-sticky, budget buy.
Apply to damp skin before your
moisturiser and SPF. Use it over
your lips and right around your
eyes to stay hydrated all day.10
THE CLEANER
Primark Come
Clean cloths (£2.50
for three; in store only)
Just like Winston
Wolf in Pulp Fiction,
these cloths will
supercharge any skin cleaning
and remove signs of slept-in-
your-make-up crimes from the
night before. Seriously, microfibre
cloths will help you to dispense
with eye make-up, single-use
cotton pads and double cleansing.
Just be sure to wash in a
Guppyfriend microfibre wash
bag (£29.99; lakeland.co.uk)
to stop particles getting into
your wastewater.11
THE BUDGET DUPE
BUT BETTER
Lacura Multi-Peptide
Moisturiser
(£6.99; aldi.co.uk)
This is part of what is
known as the Drunk
Elephant dupe range from Aldi- except that it’s not. It’s more
inspired by than a copy and,
for example, this peptide gel
moisturiser is for many skins
better than the original.
Lighter, less occlusive and
really good value for money.
12
THE MONEY-SAVING
FOUNDATION
e.l.f. Camo CC Cream
(£14; boots.com)T
ANGELA MARKLEW/THE LICENSING PROJECT
Aldi moisturiser, Zara perfume – Nadine Baggott finds the top beauty bargains
Pout! 20 BEST BUYS UNDER £20