...AND HERE ARE THIS YEAR’S ESTEEMED JUDGES

MILLIE KENDALL OBE

Millie, who is the CeO and founder of the British Beauty Council, has been involved in the industry for almost 40 years. She says:

IT’S easy to think that when you get to my age — 56 — you have to splurge on expensive products to get results, but that’s not the case. Some of my favourite bargain products are just as effective as more expensive counterparts.

Take Curel’s Intensive Moisture Facial Cream (£19.50, boots.com). If you put your fingers in the pot with your eyes closed, you wouldn’t know it wasn’t Tatcha’s Dewy Skin Cream, which is more than three times the price. It doesn’t have the same fragrance but it’s just as good.

There are also some great steals to be had if you look at brands that you might not think are targeted at you. My daughter and I both use the Byoma Creamy Jelly Cleanser (£9.99, byoma.com), which is quick and easy to use in the shower and a good all-round cleanser.

Similarly, 3ina Lipsticks (£13, uk.3ina.com) come in really great colours and the finish is a lovely semimatte. The 503, a wearable nude pink, has become a digital media viral sensation.

RUBY HAMMER MBE

Make-up artist and brand founder Ruby, 61, has been a beauty world go-to since the 1980s, and launched her own range, Ruby Hammer, in 2019. She says:

AS A professional make-up artist, and now the founder of my own range, I’ve tried hundreds of products. And while there are some premium products I think are worth the money, the High Street is packed with really great, affordable products.

Mascara is a basic staple. It should only last you three to six months as every time you open it you pump air into it so it dries out. You want something inexpensive enough to replace without hesitation. I’ve had Max Factor Masterpiece (£12.99, superdrug.com) in my kit since it launched. The brush grabs every lash and it lengthens, volumises and defines.

I won’t do ads or paid collaborations until I’ve tried something and know that it works. That was the case with No7 Future Renew Serum (£34.95, boots.com) —I tested it at its launch and I have to say it’s bloody good! Given the technology and clinical trials behind it, it’s a great price — although, like anything, the results are cumulative so you have to stick with it.

EMMA GUNAVARDHANA

Beauty journalist emma, 45, hosts the emma Guns Show podcast which has had more than 15 million global downloads (instagram.com/ emmaguns). She says:

I’VE been working in the beauty industry for more than 20 years and the changes I’ve seen have been seismic. More effective, affordable products are available, and brands such as Skin + Me (£29.99 for a subscription, skinandme.com), which offers prescription-by-post skincare, have been serious game-changers.

Once you have had the remote consultation, it takes all the guesswork out of standing at a beauty counter, it’s democratised dermatology, and my skin has been changed for the better since I started using it.

But there are also a handful of low-priced products that are classics for me. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (£12.99, superdrug.com) launched in 2010. It was discontinued in the UK in 2019 but returned three years later. It’s one of those foundations that makes skin look instantly healthy and radiant.

My favourite budget beauty buy is Vaseline (£1.80, boots.com). Stick a layer on your lips before you go to bed, and you will never struggle with dry lips again.

HANNAH BETTS

AFTER a quarter of a century writing about beauty, and 41 years wearing foundation (yes, I started aged 11), I know base has to be a perfect fit. I have found that in Glossier’s extraordinary Stretch Fluid Foundation (£34, ukglossier. com) — my product of 2023.

Apply it with my beauty-tool pick — Katherine Daniels Pure Pigment Foundation & Concealer Brush (£25, katherinedanielscosmetics.com).

My other product of the year I bought when on offer at £2 a shot, Studio London Flaunt Flawless Blusher (£5, superdrug.com). The rest of my stash is no less cheap as chips. My day cream is Hello Sunday: The Everyday One SPF 50 (£16, spacenk.com), which takes base beautifully; my flat-hair fix Batiste Dry Shampoo & Volume (now £2.83, boots.com).

I open up my eyes with Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal (£4.99, boots.com) on the lower rim, then Maybelline Colossal Curl Bounce Mascara (£11.99, boots.com). A Barry M Velvet Matte Longwear Lip Paint (£4.99, superdrug.com) is my latest power pout. Bargain bliss.