If you pay cheap, you pay twice!

That's what my old Nan used to say anyway. As far as she was concerned, you have to be prepared to pay the cost for quality because quality lasts forever.

If you buy a tailored suit, you can wear it from your 30s to your 70s. Also, if you buy a well made pair of shoes, you can pass them onto your children and your children's children. That's why vintage designer garments are always a good buy. Often, vintage Chanel items go for about the same price second time around as they did the first time because the quality can stand the test of time.

So why did I decide to buy two mascara's for £1 in the supermarket. Us women really ought to know that if you buy cheap makeup, you're either wearing it for the next ten days because the pigment won't wash off or it starts smearing down your face the minute you leave the house.

I wore the cheap mascara for the first time yesterday and when I caught myself in the mirror when I got home, I almost screamed. I looked like a frightened raccoon.

To think I walked the length and breadth of the West End looking like a patient from the nut house.

I also remember laying eyes on a really cute guy on Oxford Street, just outside Topshop and he smiled at me. But now I realise he wasn't smiling, he was stifling a laugh!