Spend vs Save: Tata Harper or Burt's Bees Cleansing Oil

How you choose to spend your money is such a personal thing, some people love their designer clothes, others like to spend their money on exotic travel.

For me I have always liked spending my money on my make up and skin care. Fashions change but well looked after skin never goes out of style. 

I like my skincare expensive and high end but like most of us this isn't something I can afford all the time. Instead I compromise and mix in lower end products with my more expensive ones.

Whilst I 100% agree with Caroline Hirons that there is no such thing as a dupe in skincare (you often get what you pay for in terms of research and ingredients) that doesn't mean that there aren't great products to be found at the more affordable level. This is more true of some brands than others.

When we started saving to buy our house I had to cut all unnecessary spending and that my meant I couldn't afford to replace some of my high end favourites when they ran out.

I started trying more affordable alternatives and have found some excellent products that I had never tried before, including this wonderful Burt's Bees oil.

Starting off with the more expensive of the two though:

Tata Harpers Nourishing Oil Cleanser - £68.00

There's no getting away from the fact the price tag for this is eye watering. So much so I'm not sure I will ever be able to replace it when it runs out.

This cleansing oil though is beautiful and it smells divine and I like to imagine I am at an expensive spa. I feel so calm and relaxed when I use this (which admittedly is sparingly because it's so expensive). It leaves skin incredibly soft and clean.

I use this morning or evening but I have to admit I have only ever used this as a second cleanse. 

While I am sure this would effortlessly remove make up I do not want to waste it on that and prefer to use other (cheaper) products for that task. 

It is very gentle and I imagine it would work well for almost everyone. 

I save this oil for when I need a mood lift or my skin is in need of rescuing and luckily a little goes a long way!

Burt's Bees Facial Cleansing Oil - £16.99

The Burt's Bees cleaning oil is significantly more affordable than the Tata Harper version and as a result I use it far more often.

I have used this product to remove make up and it takes even waterproof eye make up off effortlessly. It's also wonderful in the morning or as a second cleanse.

Like the Tata Harper oil this leaves skin soft and is incredibly gentle. Because its an oil you do not get the uncomfortable 'tight' feeling that other cleansers can cause.  

You only need two to three pumps of this to remove a whole face of make up so it lasts a long time.

Despite it's cheaper price tag this still smells and feels lovely (although not quite as lovely as the Tata Harper one). 

The Burt's Bees oil is definitely more of the workhorse in my collection and I have recommended it to several people.

Although it isn't exactly cheap at £17 it is frequently on offer and is far easier to get hold of than the Tata Harper oil.

Overall verdict?

Although I adore the Tata Harper oil I'm not sure that it's cost can be justified when the Burt's Bees version performs as well and costs a fraction of the price. 

If you have the budget then definitely treat yourself to the Tata Harper oil as it is wonderful but for the rest of us the Burt's Bees one does the same job and is much kinder to your wallet. 

Have you ever tried either of these? Or do you have an even cheaper alternative than the Burt's Bees version? Let me know in the comments!