We know that the quality of professional nail care products are far superior to what you can buy in the likes of Boots and Argos.

Is it the same for Skin Care brands - there is a vast array of skin care brands on the market from cheapy own brands to quite expensive luxury ranges available on the high street.

I am assuming that the top of the range professional products are way better than the cheapy own label products but is there much to choose between say the high end High Street brands and the "Wholeasaler" beauty ranges.

Until about 5 years ago I used high street products, however the seduction of QVC got me into professional products and I must admit they have kept my skin much better.

I have used
Decleor - liked their oils but wasnt much impressed with the rest of the range
Liz Earle - liked cleanse and polish hated everything else
Gatineau - really like this brand particularly the Exfoliator and the Floracil Eye make up remover is the best I have tried
Elemis - I like just about everything in the range

I have tried more but can't remember it's too late at night lol

hth's

I think salons that carry more than one brand will defnitely give you a good choice of products and custmise their reccomendations to completely suit the client. Its fine to use everything of one brand if its doing the job well, but usually we are not suited to EVERYTHING so we need choices, and we need information on these choices before we part with money. If you have problems with a product its so much nicer to go back to the salon and get the sort of advice and time a department store may not give.

I do know that department stores can be just as friendly and knowledgable about their products but this cannot compare with that of a salon.

I am no expert but I have been using decleor products ever since my visit to Aqua Sana at centreparcs. Their products are fab as are Elemis but a little difficult to get hold of in my small town. Some of the larger department stores do them though.

However having recently had a make over at estee lauder in Debenhams as part of my wedding package I have now changed over to them. Their skin care and make up are excellent and the skincare I find is just a little more luxurious feeling than decleor.

I've tried some of the following ranges...

Liz Earle - love the cleanse & polish
Clarins - nice
Clinique - too harsh
Elemis - lovely
nimue - great (esp the exfoliating enzyme)

and just 'normal' off the counter stuff.

Havent REALLY noticed that the mega £££££££ is so much better than the cheaper stuff.

I would love to try, dior, chanel etc, estee lauder .....at some point.

AMb xxx

No, I don't believe you can generally say that professional brands are better than 'high street' brands or vice versa. I do believe you can specifically say that certain brands are better than others, but being either a professional or 'high street' brand has no bearing on their quality.

I remember someone (can't remember who!) on here saying something which implied she assumed that professional brands spend far more on research than 'high street' brands, which is quite untrue! When you buy (for example) Chanel you are buying millions of pounds and many years worth of research. Not saying this isn't true of professional brands, but it is hard to compete with the bank-busting power of Chanel/Creme de la Mer/Aveda. Although some huge brand names spend loads on research and still get it totally wrong, and I mean totally!

It's all trial and error at the end of the day, finding which products work for you.

Just to give another statistic that I heard - Boots is the number one in the skincare and makeup sales in the UK - bet you dont know who is number 2.

Tesco or Debenhams ?!!

I think that high street skin care has good/bad/cheap/expensive products just the same as salon products.

There are certain wholesale products i wouldn't put on my face even if they were free & vice versa with high street products.

Infact Dove & Simple both high street ranges now both have there own professional ranges in their new salons.

Ooh fab trivia Fiona

Well as long as you're not just talking about Boots own-brand products, my guess would be on Superdrug because they sell practically all the same stuff anyway!

Well surprise, surprise, but I do believe it is Avon and that is why they are doing lots more advertising because they want the number one spot.

Ooh interesting! Let the battle commence

Avon number two?! My only assumption would be that they are convenience shopping - you browse the catalogue and have them all delivered a few weeks later with a few samples thrown in?

My personal experience is that my skin seems to have become more sensitive as I get older, whereas, in my 20s, I could have slapped anything from the High Street on, and it would work wonders --- I cant do that now. So for me, its the top of the range at the mo - Nimue, Estee Lauder, MAC and Lancome.

I guess its always best to look at the ingredients of a product before you buy... Nimue, for example have quite alot of natural products like tea tree and is also suitable for black skin and works well for me.

If you were to read the ingredients listed on store brand lines against professional lines, you would notice a big difference (although there are some exceptions). Store bought brands tend to be full of alcohol and fillers and preservatives... none of which are good for our skin. But some work and some don't (both store bought and professional).