British Girls £9K Make-Up Shopping Spree

Girls will be made up to hear they spend nearly £9,000 on cosmetics over their lifetime, according to new research by Superdrug.

The study shows women aged 16 and over shop for new make up such as mascara, foundation and lipstick at least five times a year, spending a minimum of £26.24 on each occasion.

That equates to £131.20 of make up a year - and a staggering £8,528 over the female adult lifetime of 65 years.

But girls are likely to say their war paint is worth every penny, as 70 per cent would NEVER leave the house 'au natural'.

The poll of 3,000 women was conducted to celebrate Superdrug's new £1 make up range, Make Up Academy which lands in store in April.

Sara Wolverson, Superdrug Beauty Director said: "it's no suprise that the cost of all our lipsticks and essential make up adds up to such a staggering figure.

"Women use make up as a tool to boost their confidence and as a way to make themselves feel fashionable and youthful.

"Our customers are always on the look out for a great deal when it comes to their cosmetics buys, but it's important to remember that Make Up Academy isn't just a bargain it's actually great little products in a fantastic flattering collection of colours.

"When we launched our £1 skin care collection we exceeded all our sales projections as customers bought it, tried it and liked it, then went back and bought some more.

"The products werea sell out through word of mouth not because a multi-million pound advertising campaign. We're predicting a similar sales pattern for this new range, the days of thinking £15 is a fair price to pay for a lipstick are well and truly over."

The poll reveals 68 per cent of women feel more confident in their full make up - and rarely let people see them without it.

Incredibly, a fifth of the nation's boyfriends won't have seen their other half without powder and paint - even in bed.

Indeed, a fifth of girls won't even bare all to girlfriends, and 16 per cent prefer to face mum and dad with a full face on.

So it stands to reason girls spend nearly 20 minutes a day perfecting their look - totalling an incredible 330 WHOLE DAYS over a lifetime.

And a third of women wouldn't even consider leaving the house without their full make up kit in tow - carrying spare lip balms, eye liners, depdprants and hair brushes.

A quarter of women think their friends, family and colleagues would be suprised at how ugly they are without their make up on.

And 71 per cent of girls acknowledge they are much prettier when wearing eye shadows, mascaras and lip tint.

The average girl shops for make up five times a year, but a third are most likely to treat themselves when a special event or party is coming up.

The Superdrug spokeswoman added: "Our research shows that 22 per cent of women think that £1 is the ideal price to pay for a new lipstick, so we're going to be making a lot of women very happy with our new launch.

Every item in the Make Up Academy range is £1, including eyeshadow, mascara, eye liner, powder and blusher. We estimate that by switching to this range customers can save over £5,000 in their lifetime which is a serious amount of money.

Make Up Academy is the UK's first make up range where everything in the range is £1.

TOP 10 MAKE UP MUST HAVES

1. Mascara
2. Foundation
3. Kip balm
4. Eye liner
5. Concealer
6. Lipstick
7. Blusher
8. Eye shadow
9. Powder
10. Lip gloss