As a former makeup artist, Erin Brown developed a love of expensive cosmetics early on. But with the sinking of the economy and the birth of her first child, she’s found herself turning to cheaper brands while trying for similar results.

Among the changes — shifting from expensive shampoo to dollar-store bottles, making her own face scrub from household ingredients and switching out some of her more expensive makeup items for similarly performing low-cost brands.

“I used to be a high-end makeup junkie,” says Brown, a personal trainer and life coach living in Lawrence. “And for some things I still don’t skimp, but my favorite drug store makeup is Maybelline Great Lash mascara, Cover Girl concealer, ELF translucent powder and lip glosses. ELF products are all $1 to 3 apiece and the product is really good for the price.”

Brown isn’t alone. A study by Prevention magazine found that in 2010, 16 percent of women have changed beauty brands and 14 percent stopped using a product altogether because of its price. Of the few things women will pay more for, the study found that most women could find a discernible difference between eye cream brands (65 percent), day cream (64 percent) and body cream (54 percent).

Lawrence’s Christy Craig says when she switched to cheaper brands to save money, she actually felt like she ended up spending more money on some things, especially moisturizer, because the cheaper product didn’t work as well as its more expensive predecessor. The Kansas University graduate student says that sent her right back to her original faves.

“I had to buy the lotion or the face wash or the face moisturizer more often because I had to use more, it seemed,” says Craig, who says she was concerned about the waste associated with so many bottles. “I mean, I didn’t do a quantitative analysis of it, so I don’t know for sure, but it seemed like I was buying it a lot more often and I only buy the fancy or more expensive products like once a year.”

Instead, to save money while not cutting quality, Craig says she started buying more of her favorite items in bulk, online with free shipping, or only when she had a gift card or coupon. For example, she buys huge bottles of nice shampoo that will last her more than a year.

That said, when she does save money by buying cheaper products, she says she still applies the same standards despite the cost.

“Even if I switch to the cheaper products,” she says, “I still want them to be animal-friendly and as earth-friendly as possible.”

Brown says it’s important to her not to skimp on stuff that she knows works, especially when it comes to her skin.

“I’ve always had problem skin and the only thing I’ve found that really works for me is LUSH,” she says of the skin care line, which has a store in Overland Park. “I use their Coalface soap, vanishing cream moisturizer and their foundation as well.”

Brown also says she can’t part with her favorite M.A.C. eyeliner and eye makeup, but otherwise she says she believes her money has better places to go than to a $22 lip gloss.

“I love makeup and hair and getting dolled up, but it can’t be where my money goes all the time,” Brown says. “My primary financial priority after keeping the lights on and the roof over our head is making sure my family consistently has good healthy foods. I used to eat Totino’s party pizzas and get my hair done all the time. Now, I spend my money on what goes in my body rather than what I put on it.”