These five pretty pots landed on my doormat yesterday. Yes, my beauty cupboard is already bulging with jewelled-filled bottles, but at a pound a piece, I'd have to have been relentlessly stringent not to have ordered them. I'm a sucker for a cheap bottle of polish.

Asos are notorious for their sales, they practically give goodies away - slashing prices by up to 80% at times. And although one often has to sift through pages and pages of e-junk, the result can be a beauty or fashion haul that the high street just cannot compete with.

However, has this internet discount culture turned us into e-snobs, reluctant to dish out cash in high street stores? Yes, admittedly, we search for bargains in the same way as we do when shopping 'offline' - we view masses of items, reject with a fastidious eye, but shamelessly seize the pieces we love with a quick click. Add to basket? I already have! But has the internet spoiled us?

Seemingly, we Google ourselves silly, refusing to stop until we're met with the cheapest product. We are now unwilling to pay full price. Trust me, I know. Did I pay full price for my new Hunter wellies? Oh hell no. Like others before me, I hit the high street to try them on, judged the colour, tested the quality. I then raced home, logged on, and click, click, click. Hello discount Hunters.

Are the permanent sale sections, then, of sites like Asos (whose outlet page frequently boasts sellout pieces) and other online discount boutiques - see Achica, Cheap Smells, and cocosa.com - a tribute to our ceasless nose for a bargain? How would our shops look with a permanent sale section? And how can an online retailer cope without one?

Increasingly, internet shopping is about nabbing a bargain, but will this leave the high street out in the cold? In order for 'real' shopping to compete with the bargain-abyss that is the internet, the high street needs to up its game. Sack snobby sales assistant, merchandise stores effectively, and litter shops with other services. Topshop has got it right. Ten minute blowdrys? Check. Nail bar? You bet. Styling services? Of course. But, I'm afraid, I remain addicted to the thrill of internet shopping. Nothing perks up a Monday morning more than a bit of fashion-porn landing on your desk in the form of new shoes. Long live the dot com.

Left to right: MAC Studio Tech Foundation, Urban Decay De-Slick Powder, Kiehl's Blue Herbal Gel Cleanser, Jan Marini Bioglycolic Cleanser, Soap and Glory No Clogs Allowed Cleansing Mask, Kiehl's UV Defense Moisturiser, iS Clinical Active Serum

My beauty cupboard is loaded with half-used moisturisers, box-fresh powders and barely-used cleansers, all promising to produce perfect skin; yet repeatedly, these products are shunned in favour of what I deem to be beauty's big news. 

After years spent struggling with my skin, a trip to the dermatologist added Jan Marini Cleansers and iS Clinical super serums to my skincare repertoire. The perfect way to wrap up your skin care regime, the active serum blasts blemishes, soothes angry red marks and produces a glow that no amount of multivitamins could. 

As every beauty-ista knows, SPF is essential for staying wrinkle free, and yet many formulas are heavy, sticky, and upon application induce the fear that one's pores may be clogged until kingdom come. This is where Kiehl's Ultra Light UV Defense kicks SPF arse. Lightweight, yet deliciously rich, the moisturiser protects skin from the sun while simultaneously welcoming primer, foundation and blusher.

It's taken years for me to determine which beauty buys mean business...which products do you consider headline-worthy?