Walking home yesterday my eyes drifted to an advertisement at our local shopping centre. No my eyes had not deceived me because there in full colour was a sign that read '100's of beauty and health products for under a £1'. I almost crossed over the road to snap up such an amazing bargain, even though it would have left me late for my meeting. The store of course is well known and one can only surmise about the loss leader marketing skills of a major company. Their purchasing power and minimal mark up spells tremendous value for the customer and without question satisfies the bargain hunter. Shops once known for only groceries now sell not only fruit and vegetables, but health and beauty products and at a fraction of the price of many high street stores. These super stores stock cheap and discounted cosmetics such as Rimmel at amazingly low prices. But at that price is it cheap and nasty? Some avoid discounted cosmetics, yet other follow the Holy Grail for cheap bargains surfing the web hoping to find nail polish, lipsticks or any other beauty product at very affordable prices. In particular the Laval and La Femme range have caught my eye and for good reason. The truth is that as far as cheap cosmetics are concerned Laval and La Femme is cheaper than many other discounted brands. What is it in particular we like about these two?

First the range is diverse and modern. When it comes to nail polish or lipstick a diverse range of shades is essential and both of these companies achieve that. La Femme does offer a greater range of nail polishes, almost every shade and colour you could wish for, or indeed imagine. They have a desirable, yet very affordable neon nail polish selection and of course the standard glitter choices as well. Dark reds, pinks and blacks figure highly in their cosmetic range with some stores like The Crazy Trader offering them at under £1. No doubt this will satisfy the criteria of the most demanding bargain hunter looking for discounted cosmetics.

This store also offers reasonable postage beginning at £1.14 and ships to international destinations as well. Laval also offers a great colour range of lipstick and may actually have a slight edge on quality especially since they have introduced the classical range offering greater coverage and durability. Secondly, the quality is similar to many other discounted cosmetics offering acceptable quality at affordable prices. For example, both Laval and La Femme lipsticks can be bought for as little as 95p and in fact cheaper in some cases. Does the nail polish chip and crack, well yes, but then when you read the reviews of many other nail polishes that cost 10 times their price the same observation can be made there too.

The truth is that building up a good base before application and applying a hardener will make even budget brands as durable as many of their more expensive counterparts. What is even more important is that these brands including Laval and La Femme allow us to experiment with cheap cosmetics indulging in various colours at a fraction of the cost. We can change our colour as often as our mood, party all night long and still have change in our pockets now that's worth some consideration.