Remember when Collection 2000 was a crummy budget line that nobody but your granny used? OK maybe I’m being harsh, but there’s no denying that C2000 have turned their image right around in the last few years. Their colour range and packaging are now vying for Rimmel and Boots 17’s low-budget cheap-and-cheerful crown. They’ve revamped everything, with the exception of their cheap prices. And with times as they are, that’s a highly attractive strategy.

Their latest addition is Lasting Perfection, a range of foundations and concealers that claim to last through 16 hours of wear.The foundation comes in a surprisingly weighty and sturdy glass pump bottle, and the concealer is in a tube with a doe-foot wand. There are 6 foundation shades and 4 concealers. It’s a pretty narrow range of pale shades, but with a good spectrum of warm and cool casts within that selection. The foundation retails at 5.38, the concealer at 3.91, and for these prices I wasn’t expecting miracles.

But… I purchased the concealer, and so far I’ve been delighted with it. It has a creamy, easy to blend consistency and the wear is excellent, plenty of cover to get you through the working day and into the evening. I’d go out on a limb and say it’s comparable to MAC’s Select Moisturecover in consistency and coverage. I’m not much of a foundation wearer, but if the quality is similar I’ll definitely be picking up a bottle of the foundation for special occasions.

Verdict: Top marks for this outstanding bargain!

What’s more - you can currently win £700 worth of Collection 2000 products by entering the contest on their website

EDIT - it seems that Boots have seen the error of their ways and are now offering collect in store free whatever size your order! Go to the Boots main page to see the new details.

Here’s a thing - spend £25 on Boots.com and you can have your bits and bobs delivered to your local store. Free of charge.

This is a definite improvement on their old system, where you had to pay the regular delivery charge for this service, however much you spent.

This is a good way of getting your Urban Decay, Clarins, Clinique, Too Faced etc. delivered to you locally for free if you don’t have a counter nearby.

They could have lowered the minimum charge, but let’s be honest, it’s not difficult to think up ways to spend £25 in Boots now, is it?

This month’s women’s magazines bring a bumper crop of high-end beauty freebies.

July’s Glamour magazine (from June 4th - why do magazines do that?) comes with a 4g sample of BadGAL mascara by Benefit. The sample is worth £9, but the magazine costs just £2. And you get something to read on the bus. Nice.

This month’s Harper’s Bazaar (£3.99) comes with three samples of cult (and extremely expensive) Nude skin products. Once you’ve sampled, take the backing card from the sachets to SpaceNK to claim a free Nude skin oil vial worth £15.

Finally, Red magazine are offering a free black and white makeup bag by Cowshed to tempt you.

(tip-offs from www.moneysavingexpert.com, with many thanks!)