Marks and Spencer Beauty 2010

When I think of M&S, I tend to think of those adverts, underwear and their food! It’s not a place I associate with my make-up purchasing.
I had a look at their summer beauty collections today and was left pleasantly surprised. Their entire range has been revamped and gone is the dull, sensible packaging I made a point of steering clear of and it’s now hello to the Chanel-esque quads, MAC Slimshine-alikes and pretty polishes. 
The new range goes by the name of Perfection and with over 200 shades, covers everything from foundations to nail polishes, to blushers and eyeshadows. Stand out products include Perfection Day & Night Mascara; a double ended mascara which gives well dressed lashes for day and full on glamour for after dark.


As I swatched away, I found the quality of the make-up to be surprisingly good. It’s also free of animal testing, which I know will go down well with those of you concerned about the origins of your cosmetics and skincare. All M&S Beauty is BUAV certified and authroised to carry the Leaping Bunny logo, which is the gold standard in cruelty-free cosmetics.

Foundation shades cater for English rose complexions, right through to darker caramel and coffee shades for black and asian skintones.

They’ve also released new look make-up brushes and two palettes which cost a respectable £9.50 and £15.

Click to enlarge

TV presenter Tess Daly, launched her make-up line Daly Body, at M&S last October and it became the fastest selling beauty range to launch there, with products flying off the shelf at the rate of one every 30 seconds. It’s back with a summer range of products, which include two bronzers (cream and powder based) and a skin shimmer. Prices in the Daly Body line range from £9.50-£15.

Tess Daly Beauty
Click to enlarge
Their skin care products have also undergone a makeover. All skincare groups are covered ranging from the Formula Essential Care which offers a regime for normal, sensitive and dry skin types to Formula Age Defence which tackles the first signs of ageing. Mature skins aged 60+ are not forgotten and caterd for with the Formula Age Restructure line.
I took advantage of the express manicures being offered and had my talons trimmed and painted in Essential Colours Nail Colour in Mint which costs a pocket friendly £2.50 which I’m loving. The formula isn’t the best, but if you have the patience to apply it carefully then you can make it work.

The Essential Colours range is full of brights, ranging from hot pink lipgloss to yellow polish and is cheap as chips priced from £2 – £5 
M&S have worked hard at becoming trendier and more appealing to its younger customers and this shows in the packaging and shade choices that I saw today. The entire line is affordable with the most expensive cosmetic item costing £12 from the Perfection range and the priciest skincare product from Formula coming in at £19.50.  I particularly liked their lip and nail products and will be checking those out again in my spare time.
Can you envisage yourself picking up a lipstick from M&S with your  sandwich? Check it out when you’re next in there, you may be surprised at what you find.
You can also view their products online too.

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12 Comments

  1. 15th April 2010 / 9:11 pm

    Never even though of buying makeup in M&S, will definitely be checking this out next time I'm in town. Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
    Natalie xxx

  2. 15th April 2010 / 9:23 pm

    I quite like browsing the make-up at M&S! So I'm interested in this new collection. x

  3. 15th April 2010 / 9:44 pm

    I used to work on the beauty counter at my M&S and have always been a fan of their make up, it's such great value for money 🙂

  4. 15th April 2010 / 9:49 pm

    Those eyeshadow quads look interesting and I'm definitely going to be checking out the nail polishes! Hey, if Asda can get it right…

    Thanks for sharing x

  5. 15th April 2010 / 9:50 pm

    Have to take a jaunt to M&S this wkend. Keep meaning to investigate the Daly range more. I like the idea of the palettes too. Hee hee, I always use to buy nail whitening tablets from M&S at xmas. A french manicure with no polish, yay! They used to have a stand with nifty, cheap, little beauty items like that in my local M&S. Very useful!

  6. 16th April 2010 / 8:53 am

    I love the Essential nail polishes! they are a bit thin but they don't chip for ages. Definitely going to check out the mint – looks ace on you x

  7. 16th April 2010 / 9:03 am

    oh the mint looks stunning on you! it looks a lot better applied properly as well. i have to say the more i wear this the more i love the colour so i think i'll stick with it and try applying with a thinner coat as you suggest
    x

  8. 16th April 2010 / 10:32 am

    The nail colour is lovely!

  9. 17th April 2010 / 9:39 pm

    Am liking the look of those quads. I was very impressed with their aloe vera body lotion so will definitely be having a closer look at their range of toiletries and make up in the future x

  10. 1st May 2010 / 9:45 am

    ill have to disagree with a few..

    best hairspray – redken forceful 23
    best daily face wash – marykay
    best eyeliner – black powder liner

    i haven't tried anything else you named, but
    i use Dove “therapy” shampoo and it makes my hair look beautiful.

  11. 23rd August 2010 / 12:57 am

    Love M&S essential make up range recently purchased 2 lip sticks 4rm there and I love them. Colour once applied was strong and I did not need 2 re apply the whole night. Left my lips feeling moisturised and for a cool of price £2.50 you can't go wrong. I Will definitely purchase more from this range.

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