Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse after a beauty splurge? Did you end up returning? Share!
Yes, definitely! I’ve bought products with the intention of reviewing and then it just falls to the wayside because something newer and shinier has come in or more important and I’ve reviewed that… and then it’s six months later!
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Once. I bought one of the limited edition Dior eye palettes. But the Colors were really blah on me. Never really used it. I wish I had used that $80 for something else.
Ummm… Meteorites Voyage, anyone? $170 for a PRESSED POWDER? I’m still experiencing remorse to this day. But it’s oh so delightful!
I bought an expensive face cream off Amazon and when it came it wasn’t sealed. I’m pretty sure it was counterfeit. I’m in the process of getting my money back, but it’s ridiculously frustrating and annoying.
Actually, I believe Amazon would have backed you up.. This is more likely to happen on auction sites. I think they vary on customer satisfaction. Some have strict fraud policies but have never had to use them..
ugh yes… i have a TON of Urban Decay stuff that’s either entirely untouched, or hardly used. Literally thousands of dollars worth.
Post pics and I might buy some from you!
me too
Me too but I love and use it. It is one of my FAVS FOR EYE makeup.
Yes,
-my urban decay Ammo palette which was on sale for 10=15 bucks?
-Urban Decay eyeshadow pencils because I found out that I can’t wear makeup with gluten/wheat.
-Urban decay old lippies
-Two sephora lipsticks that I just never touch and smell weird
-Any makeup that is not gluten free basically 🙁
I had/have to give away 50% of my cosmetics collection after I found out I have a sensitivity to wheat/gluten which sucks because not a lot of gluten free makeup is affordable and works wonders on me unless it’s high end -___-
So sorry. I’m that way with nickel in jewelry or anything containing nickel touching my skin.Makes it hard.
Yes, a couple of times. Generally when I get the product home and it doesn’t perform as well as I thought it would or as it seemed at the counter. Since there are no returns in Australia that means I’m stuck with it. :/
Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation! I was colour matched and everything and it was the wrong colour and just looked horrible on my face. I managed to complete the whole bottle though, but will not be buying again.
Had exactly the same issue with double wear! It was was too cool toned for my skin tone. Thing I was matched to pale almond and it looked like I had a mask on. I used the whole bottle too, I mix most of the foundations I use into one perfect foundation! Haha, double wear, rich liquid and gleam cream usually.
That happened to me with MAC Studio Stick Foundation. I stopped at a MAC counter before work one day, and wore no makeup with the intention of being matched to a foundation. The SA “matched” me to NC30, which I thought was a bit odd, since every other foundation I’ve ever worn has been on the paler end of the spectrum, either the lightest or second lightest, or had the word “Porcelain” or “Ivory” in the name, but I bought it anyway. I aalso had the SA apply my foundation before I left, as the lighting in the bathroom at work was horrible, at best. When I got to work, I put the rest of my makeup on, and thought everything was fine, until I got downstairs and had coworkers & clients asking me if I was sick. The foundation was so yellow, and I looked jaundiced. I never got around to exchanging it (I actually really loved the formula), and by the time I went in to buy a lighter shade, I found it had been DCd. I managed to make it work with a Stila stick foundation that was a bit light & pink (Shade A), so it wasnvt a complete loss.
Amy, I broke out laughing at your story.. I had an eerily similar experience and was also NC30’d at a MAC counter which is a few yards wrong in level and also wrong base undertones for me as well. I think the culprit: the assumption made while checking the veins and looking for yellow on the skin that reps automatically make to place you in the warm category–Asian women know this is completely wrong–but its a catchall way to train people. Do you know how many times I’ve confronted a mirror looking like a Hep C sufferer or a deckhand from Deadliest Catch when being matched with foundation that is far too warm for my skin.
Oh man! That sounds so terrible. I’m lucky that the girls at the MAC here were really good at matching. They used my wrist, and put swatches of the lightest three colors on there, blended them out and then the one that actually you know, melded into my skintone, was the right one.
It was nice that they used all three shades next to one another because then you could clearly see which were wrong. The nw15 is what I got matched to. nc15 looked close but…weird.
I don’t think I’ve ever had this issue. I just spend so much time researching products (MOSTLY thanks to you).. and it usually takes about 3-4, sometimes 6 months for a product to come to India after its been released in the US or the UK. So I have that time to mull it over and decide if I really want it.
I only end up buying 20% of the products that make it to my wishlist.
I have buyers remorse for the majority of my makeup! I have spent thousands of dollars on all of my makeup and I don’t even come come close to using it all! I have so many palettes and other items I bought because I had to have it and they have t even been opened! I am a makeup junkie, and I get so embarrassed about it sometimes yet I continue to keep on buying! I am trying to break the habit!
When I was too stupid to know the mac nw nc shades I bought nw 25 and nc25 sff AND nw 25 & nc 25 Sep+ obviously had more money than sense when I made that order! Haha.
**sfp+ not Sep+
Once or twice ( for a YLS palette I don’t wear ), otherwise no !
I’ve returned some things but I have a Chanel lipstick I never use.
On a couple of things, the fake Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow palette I bought being the biggest. I kind of regret buying a few lipsticks, not because they’re bad, but just because I hardly use them and should have thought it through a bit more. I have a couple of eyeshadows I wished I could have swatched before buying them (because they don’t perform well). I’m not sure if I’d call Naked Basics a regret just yet, it’s more of a ‘why did I think I needed this right now’. I’m not sure if I regret Hourglass Diffused Light yet, it’s a better finishing powder than what I was using but it hasn’t wowed me $62 worth yet.
On the other hand a couple of past regrets have become favourites after I gave them a second chance.
I’ve had a few things here and there that I regret buying and wind up giving away, but thankfully, nothing exorbitantly expensive – yet. My biggest repeat error is that I consistently get taken in by shiny, metallic eyeshadows, only to realize that when I put them on that they look terrible on my hooded eyes, accentuating all the folds and making them look wrinkled (I’m 27!). So I’ve picked up a few of those and then had to give them away to friends with more forgiving eye shapes. 9_9
Also, Bobbi Brown concealer/corrector duo. Not because the product wasn’t good, but because I dropped it one day and completely shattered the corrector side, rendering it useless for my under eye circles. XD It’s still a great concealer, but the dark circles are what I really needed it for!
I’m confused – isn’t it a cream, so can’t you still just use it normally? Unless it fell out of the pan and onto the floor I don’t see how it’s ruined…? I have and love the corrector and I want you to be able to enjoy its magic too! :p
I did use it for awhile after it was crushed because I’d managed to mangle it back into a somewhat compact shape, but then my mother decided to her weekly sneak peek into my collection, opened the container, and promptly spilled all of the corrector onto the floor. I didn’t know it had happened until she casually mentioned in passing that she’d broken one of my cosmetics, at which point I realized that the odd yellow powder I’d seen ground into the bathroom carpet was $34 of pure tragedy. XD
The corrector is a cream product. They aren’t sold in a kit. You are talking about the yellow setting powder for the concealer. But yes I had the same thing happen to me. I just use my Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder. Its not as convenient but its good stuff.
Hnn, you’re right! I just flipped over the compact, and it is only labeled a setting powder. I would have thought it considered a corrector because the yellow diffuses the blue, but now I know, haha! 🙂
I still use the concealer for the occasional blemish, but I’ve switched to Benefit’s Lemon-Aid cream for my under eye circles. Set with Too Faced’s powder, I find that it creases a tad less in my under eye area (I have a lot of fine lines there due to my eye shape – probably more than most women my age). I’m thinking that once I use the concealer up, I may try BB’s cream correctors. Benefit’s is quite nice, but in the winter months, my skin is very fair and my dark circles stand out more, so I need something a little more powerful. :3 I’ll have to check out Laura Mercier’s powder, though – I’ve yet to try any of her products, it seems like a good place to start!
About the only thing that comes close is the MAC Early Morning mineralize blush I ordered sight unseen because it looked so perfect here in the swatches and description but which is a bit too warm for me (I should have ordered the more pink toned one that came out at the same time but Early Morning sounded perfect and I did want a “bit” of a change). I still use it and it’s not exactly “buyer’s remorse” but more “Geez, I wish I’d got the PINKER one”!
Absolutely! Pretty much anytime I spend more than $50 in one place. Haha.
Yep! My Nars stick concealer was creasing & cakey so I had to return it! And my Benefit Creaseless Cream shadow. Not that I don’t like it, I just don’t wear it a lot.
Ugh, where to begin?? Pretty much everything by Dior, their make-up just doesn’t wear well on me but looks so nice in the display. Deborah Lippmann nail polishes. I am the queen of impulse purchases!!
I don’t regret anything I have bought now that I think of it. But I have had products that I didn’t like at first that I regretted buying, but I have messed around with them and now they are my staples. Such as Revlon Colorstay foundation. At first it was way to thick and chalky, but now I mix it with moisturizer and I love it 🙂
Heck yes!
I once accidentally ordered an extra Smashbox eyebrow powder pot and when everything was said and done I couldn’t return it. Now I can’t try anything new for months because I’m only halfway through the FIRST pot and I don’t want to waste it.
I have this kind of feeling everytime I see that I always use the same 4 eyeshadows out of my 21 mac palette! I wish I had bought more neutrals instead of bright blues and greens that I will never ever wear lol
yes! In the past when I would find a particular product I really liked, I would have the tendency to want it in whole slew or the entire range of colours. I used to frequently over buy in these situations. I am finally able to nip that compulsion in the bud. Which brings me to buying backups.. another way to waste money for me personally, I’m usually onto something newer and rarely dip into the backup stash. There are exceptions to this, but they are very few.
I totally, totally agree with you on the back-ups part. A good example for me are lipsticks; there could be dupes and all that, but in my head, it’s never identical enough. But aside from the back-ups tendencies, I typically know what I want and what I think can work, and so far so good.
Omg. I used to be a huge back up junkie. I bought back up of party parrot. Now the new permanent one, red something is practically identical. I know better, but buying backups is v hard to resist.
Party Parrot – me too, I got sucked into it! I love it very, very dearly though so not guilty at all. =) But what perm shade is it identical too? I’m curious what you had in mind.
Yes. A few months ago I went into Sephora with the intent of buying a very specific illuminating powder (The Balm’s Mary Lou-manizer) only to find out they didn’t carry the brand any longer. I was determined to get SOMETHING because I had made the trip there and ended up getting talked into the Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder. In the store it looked nice and I was in kind of a hurry so I bought it. Upon trying it at home, I just knew that it wasn’t the right product for me and didn’t really give the look I wanted. I felt guilty returning it but I wasn’t just going to spend $36 on something I wasn’t even going to use! Luckily I was able to return and just got in store credit instead and bought something else that I knew I was going to use. Basically, long story short, do your research before you go to the store so you don’t end up buying something you probably won’t like!
I was taught to save as much money as possible, and that everything ‘not necessary’ was a waste of money and time. Now, whenever i purchase make-up, fragance, and other beauty product, I feel increidbly guilty! But out of all of those, my worst regret is buying so many bright lipsticks; I love how they look on others, but my lips are very full and they end up looking clownish :/
Eve Pearl foundation…everyone raved and raved but it just ended up a greasy mess on my oily skin. Worst foundation I have EVER tried including drugstore make up.
just recently i bought the new mac duo palette. i didn’t know how much it cost in the US so I bought it here in Saudi arabia for $61 then when I got home I checked the MAC website and it was only $8! :'(
Stula kitten. Too pale. Too frosty for my nc42. All lipglosses I ever bought, I don’t wear lipglosses anymore. Mac swish eyeshadow, frosty pink. Now I am a good girl, I do a lot a lot of research now.
Definitely. The Chanel Mouche de Beaute illuminating powder being the main one. It’s terrible and not even collectible because it’s so soft it’s ruined. Also, the Chanel Harmonie du Soir palette. I had buyer’s remorse for not getting it once released, so I paid a little extra through Izzy’s and it’s nothing all that special. I now wish I’d passed. Lol. Once more, probably the Rose Petals illuminating powder from Chantecaille. It’s nice, but I hardly wear it. I have not returned anything.
I have a lot of allergies so I’m used to giving away or returning products that give me a reaction. Probably the only buyer’s remorse is when I’m disappointed in a product’s performance or it doesn’t live up to the hype. I was a little disappointed with MUFE Black Tango palette at first but as I used it I started liking it. Marc Jacobs The Vamp palette all got praise all over and comparison to UD saying MJ had no fallout. I found they both do so not sooo much better than UD because of the higher price tag. All in all I like the Marc Jacobs shadows after using them so I would purchase another but I still love UD.
Oh my gosh yes!!! I am a total makeup junkie in every way. Especially shimmery, shiny products. I have an entire drawer of illuminators and another one of lip glosses…..sigh!!! I enjoy looking at them and keeping everything organized, but really, how often do I use most of these? Sadly, I have so many the answer is not very often. I have run out of room and thus am scaling back purchases but it ain’t easy!! Then there are all my free samples of EVERYTHING, but that is another topic :}.
Bobbi Brown Long Wear Cream Eye Shadows. I had a couple of favorite MAC Paint Pots already, and after I bought a couple of Maybelline Color Tattoos I never reach back for the Bobbi Brown ones.
Literally everything from the Mac All about Orange collection. It looked great on Christine but on me it looked awful. I returned it all to Nordstroms.
I cannot recall ever feeling buyers remorse after purchasing make-up, skin scare or hair care items. I do not have an unlimited amount of money to spend on these things but ave never felt guilt. I think that makes me a cosmetic sociopath. Oh well.
ARe you kidding me? I can’t remember why I even press the “place order” button and it’s like I’m having a black out because I don’t need to buy anything or spend money. Then the product arrives, I ask myself, “What was I thinking”, get the bill and end up returning it. I don’t open up the package if that happens.
Oh yes, especially when I started using make-up. Colors that looked off on me, when I already had similar stuff.
Yes, of course:
– mac matchmaster foundation. Waaay too dark for me. I can only wear it two weeks at the end of the summer, when I am tan. I bought it in winter. ¿what I was thinking about?
– MAC Interior life quad. I bought it before read Christine’s review. ¡¡¡WRONG!! It’s horrible.
I love the rest of my collection, but it’s way too much makeup for me to use so I regret spending so much money in cosmetics. Now, I’m trying not to buy anything, but it’s difficult ¡¡so many lovely things out there!!
As an MUA, people that do that drive me crazy! I spend a lot of time educating on products, making sure that everything is fully understood. If I get a vibe that could potentially happen I will discourage the purchase. If I see a pattern I won’t help repeat offenders ever! When those products come back, they have to be thrown in the trash! It makes me sick. That is what samples are for.
Yes the sparkly Fluidlines from MAC’s Glamourdaze? collection
there were three,Feminine Edge,Little Black bow,& something
else. I had to have all three because they were so gorgeous
in the pots, but they wound up flaking off & hurting my eyes.
I waited too long to return them so just forgot about it.
Also I picked up four Wet n Wild eyeshadow trios from
the summer Factory? collection in the white cases.
Christine posted a review on one that it was a dud, so
I did’nt want to take my chances on them. I also
got one from their Beauty Army? collection it is a dark
green based trio, another flop, looks good in the pan swatches
terribly. I also probably have at least 1,000+ in stuff I should
have returned because it sucked in some way….haha pardon
my crass terminology. I all ways forget to return stuff so I toss
it or give it away.
Yup – and it’s almost always MAC.
MAC is at the mid-range price point where I care, but the pocket pain is enough that I can accept an occasional splurge. It’s just the definition of “occasional” that gets a little warped for my wallet.
All of my hot pink lipsticks. This year my beauty resolution was to try to wear brighter lipstick/balm/gloss. Through my experimentation I have found that my neutral skin tone leans ever so slightly warm so that pinks don’t look good on my skintone and I much prefer orange/coral lips on me. Yet when I’m in the store I alawys think the hot pink lipsticks are the prettiest. I have about 20 hot pink lipsticks that are basically only useful for swatching purposes now. Also, I had a ton of Chanel makeup that I ended up returning (thanks nordstrom!) including two glossimers and an eyeshadow quad.
Omg I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been through that and that gut turning feeling. I practically go through it every time I buy makeup. I always think how many other things I could have bought with that $50 I just spent on an eyeshadow palette. Haha o gosh. Love this post by the way.
Sarah Sequins