For me it depends on what type of product I'm buying. Foundations, concealers, mascaras, blushers, I prefer to go with brands (I love Benefit and Clarins) because they tend to last longer,give better coverage, a better finished result, etc, but with products like eyeshadow, lipstick and lipgloss I'm more likely to try out budget buys because I like to have lots to choose from so buy quite a lot of them. I generally do think you get what you pay for, but having said all that I do think No.7 and also Avon have some very good products. Also I have an eyeshadow palette of 18 colours which I bought for 99p five years ago and I still use it now! The colours are fab, the eyeshadow doesn't just disappear after an hour - it was definitely my best ever beauty buy!