A closer look at the topics making the beauty world tick, each month

Last Saturday afternoon, over a bottle of rosé with girlfriends in the warm 3pm sunshine, talk turned to beauty. Like it so often does. I turn agony aunt, giving them cart blanche to ask me about about anything, from the best quality nail varnishes to whether their newly unveiled highlights are up to scratch. And as my friend bemoaned her costly biweekly manicure habit that she justifies with the £3.66 she spends on a tube of Nivea Day Cream, something major occured to me. The penny dropped. Our beauty shopping habits have evolved. No longer are we categorised by the stature of brand we align ourselves to (and the price tag which hangs off it), we're investing and economising, or, as the fashion industry has termed it, doing the 'high-low' (investing in a Celine Phantom bag but heading to Uniqlo for a navy crew neck jumper). And it's taking hold in beauty too. 

Ultimately, it’s about knowing when to spank it and when to save it. Simple maths. For instance, splashing £300 on your hair colourist because he did Alexa's hair once, or on Tom Ford’s Blush Nude Lipstick, because it really is the nude to end all nudes, even if it is £36. And then, saving a pretty penny on reasonably-priced local massage parlours or Maybelline’s iconic pink and green packaged Great Lash Mascara (which even after 40 years of existence remains one of the unbeaten heroes of the beauty world. It's just £4.99, people).

Seems just like common sense, right? Well, it hasn't always been this way. It seems it's one of the better things that the global recession of 2009 did for us. That was the tipping point in an era of frugal yet clever spending. And now, according to Mintel, almost 40% of UK adults say they're shopping around more to compare prices on beauty products and 14% are buying into more special offers than ever.

Despite this, Mintel’s latest research finds that shoppers are still prepared to pay extra for small luxuries, with a third of consumers prepared to pay more for good quality fragrances (Chanel sits in first place) and over one in five on skincare (23%) and cosmetics (21%). We may be better at cutting corners but beauty is still booming; total spend on beauty since 2009 has risen 8.5% year on year, going above and beyond pre-recessionary levels. 

Some interesting revelations came out of Olay's Big Beauty Poll of 2012 too. It noted that when we're pushed to cut back on beauty spending, 39% of women would forego body treatments while a mere 7% were prepared to sacrifice their anti-ageing skincare. Anti-ageing vs. preening? Clever girls know where their bread's buttered. Take shoe designer Kat Maconie for example - she thinks nothing of spending a few hundred pounds on her favourite Eve Lom creams and serums each month, yet swears by her in-office, £5 manicures. ‘A lovely lady called Kamela comes to my studio at the end of the day every Monday and does mani’s for whoever wants it. She only charges a fiver.’ 

The PR for Joseph, Alex Eagle, is another devotee of the cheap mani. ‘I head to a fuss-free nail bar in Chelsea Farmer’s Market to have my nails and toes done. It’s just around the corner from the Joseph HQ and I often go with a girlfriend so we can chat at the same time.’ And at a tenner a pop, that’s pretty good going. Yet her fortnightly facial habit with Malvina Fraser at KX Gym in Chelsea makes a not unsubstantial £300 dent in her bank balance, yet in Alex’s eyes is worth every penny. ‘I swear by my facials; Malvina incorporates acupuncture as well as potent cocktails of ingredients that leave my skin feeling amazing, so I feel its money well spent.’ At least her penchant for Andrews Bath Salts only sets her back a fiver.

The big department stores have been quick to rejig themselves, reflecting our more idiosyncratic beauty shopping habits, and particularly of note is Selfridges. ‘We opened the Beauty Workshop last year to cater to customers who like a bit of high-low / fast-slow beauty’, Selfridges’ Beauty Buying Manager Elizabeth Selvey tells me. ‘It’s your customer who wears Topshop jeans with a Chanel jacket, and for trend colours the fast brands really deliver, such as for a lip or nail colour that they’d only wear for a season.’ Yes, Chanel fragrance and Crème de la Mer still stand in number one spot on the Selfridges’ best-seller list, but hot on its heels comes Vaseline, that little, unassuming tin of petroleum jelly. Its limited edition Lip Therapy tins (the current one is champagne flavoured) are affordably priced at just £3.49 and cause in-store queues and sell out times to rival the Boxing Day sales. 

Thing is, beauty journalists have known the power of the beauty high-low for yonks. We'll adore a Revlon Colorstay Nail Enamel in Heavenly, £7.99 for its perfectly tempered sand hue, as much as La Pairie Longetivy Serum, £158. We've compared more lipsticks bullets and melting cleansers than Selfridges could ever dream of housing. And I get great pleasure from it too, knowing that my intricate bank of insider knowledge saves me a small fortune, allowing for splurges elsewhere.

My own high-low habits starts with a very inexpensive Cetaphil obsession – we’re talking £8.99 for a bottle that lasts at least 6 months – and it’s offset against an undying love for spas. But not just any spas... no, no, no. We’re talking far flung, luxury places like Babington House and the Amangalla in Sri Lanka (nothing compares to its marble lined chamber of heavenliness) where  airline flights, hotel stays and new Violet Lake bikinis are required. And rather ginormous spa bills to contend with, but I see it as an investment into not only my outer self but - excuse the psycho-babble - my soul too.

It makes me happy too, in the same way that the low price tag of my Cetaphil regime does in its own low cost way. And my favourite high-low trick of all comes courtesy of Sibi Bolan, creative director of Daniel Hersheson, and has a near free price tag: ‘Rinse your hair in sparkling water once a week and leave it for five minutes. It removes build-up of styling products and pollution.’ I find San Pellegrino works best; try it sometime.