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Do you impulse buy beauty products?


Do you impulse buy beauty products? Have you found any favorites? Any advice on avoiding it?
Oh, yes, definitely! Sometimes it might be a cult favorite I’ve never tried and there’s a sale, and I think, “Well, why not!” In general, the best way is really avoiding just browsing when you know you shouldn’t be purchasing OR consciously putting something you want on a wish list, then revisiting it later – to see if you still want it.

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Carrie Avatar

Once in a while, but I’m so much better than I used to be, I think because I know my stash is in a good place now. As for avoiding impulse; I try to not buy online (too easy) and always wait for reviews. If that nag to get them doesn’t go away, then I pick it up!

Ann Avatar

Honestly rarely. It only happened 2 times that I can remember. One was the MSFN in Medium Dark which was too dark for me (when did MAC ever color match me right anyways). I just had to try this cult favorite but I was left unimpressed. Another was a really long time ago at a Bobbi Brown counter. Got a concealer that I think I paid way too much for. I normally research something extensively before buying and the few times I bought something impulsively I hated it.

xamyx Avatar

I typically only impulse buy DS products, especially if there’s a sale, or I have a coupon. However, there’s still a good chance it was something I had previously considered. For HE products, I keep an ongoing list, and try my best to stick to it.

Jen Avatar

I definitely impulse buy… but my impulse buying is when I see something on this blog and I immediately plan on when I’m going to the store to buy it, even if I really don’t need it because I don’t wear makeup that often… which is why I have an enormous stack of makeup that will last me my lifetime… luckily school has kept me busy so much now that I’ve stopped stalking your blog every night for new posts like I did when I worked full-time so I’ve cut down on the impulse buying a bit, lol…

Jessica Love Avatar

Yes, a Japanese brand eyeliner name Three Cosmetics. Their metallic eyeliners are out of the world but hell expensive. So had to avoid the greed.

Stacy Ann Avatar

Yes! I’m going to start implementing no buys so that I only buy what I really/ need. Like I can’t buy anything unless it’s on sale or I have a discount code during a month when I’m letting myself. Then on months I can’t buy beauty products, everything goes on a list for the next buy period and then I buy what still need/ want that’s within that month’s budget. It won’t be fun at first, but it’s a much needed step! Plus there is no way I’ll be running out of much in the near future!

xamyx Avatar

I keep a list, and it really does help. When I decide to buy, I also jot down how much I’m able to spend, keeping it a bit lower to allow for things like sales tax, second choices, etc., and pick the top items from the list that fit within that budget. I’m actually setting out to place an online order of things I can’t get in-store, and I’ve actually removed half the items that have been there for nearly a year.

Jan Avatar

Hmmmnnn – how many people see these responses? LOL. I do impulse buy. Sometimes it gets so bad that I have to put myself on a “No Buy” program to both clear the credit cards and clear usable space in the house.

Kellie Avatar

No! I am having a hard time resisting that new Smashbox palette, though. (Those mattes take the cake). I will be good and wait for swatches.

Mariella Avatar

Not too often, thanks to this site and Makeupalley – I almost always check out reviews before handing over my money, even when it would otherwise have been an “impulse buy”. I have quite a few exceptions but, luckily, they’ve all turned out to be good purchases.

Wwendalynne Avatar

I impulse buy a mere fraction of what I used to courtesy of Temptalia. A number of years ago prior to becoming a subscriber, I would find myself suckered into virtually every MAC and NARS release; couldn’t watch one go by without at least paying for a couple of lipsticks or an eyeshadow. Plus, items would jump into my cart during checkout at Sephora and the impulse haul would be completely over the top when at a Seohora or department store in person. During that time I found myself giving away piles and piles of completely unused or barely touched makeup to friends and family. I spent a lot of money on items I ending up not liking or even using.

Now I plan my buying seasonally and hand pick items from collections based on reviews. I too use a wishlist as a screening process. I frequently add items only to come back later and seriously pare the list down. I’ve also gotten over my ‘collection’ tendencies; the one in my head which told me I needed every available colour of a specific product. Still, there are moments when that concern of having an item completely sold out compels me to buy off the cuff. Fortunately, those items are relatively few and I really could give a rat’s a$$ if a MAC LE collection sells out before I have to chance to evaluate the purchase. The products I enjoy most tend to be part of the pro or permanent collection.

Apologies for the long post here, but it really got me thinking on how my buying strategies have changed. I also find myself now using the Temptalia swatch gallery a LOT. My stash has become filled with many many products I love and use and now I am at the stage where I have to consider I might be inadvertently buying colour dupes. I started noticing last year I have a tendency towards specific colour ranges. So not only do I consider the actual review of a product, but I also pull up dupes to see what might exist already in my stash and whether or not the item is significantly different enough to qualify as a ‘need’.

The End. 🙂

Christine Avatar

Thank you so much, Wendy!! <3 <3

Before blogging like I do now, I'd totally go into a MAC launch and buy WAY more than I would use or want. I think being more choosy and picking the best things is definitely the way to go. I use the wish list method for anything I tend to have a knee-jerk desire to buy, because usually if I try to sideline it... I'll forget about it for a bit. If that's the case, then I didn't REALLY want it!

I'm so glad you find the Swatch Gallery as useful as I do! It has always been my favorite part of Temptalia 😉 Aside from lovely readers like yourself, of course!!

Carla Avatar

I, too, have successfully used the “stall” strategy on myself.
Sometimes when I fixate on an item, I’ll distract myself, put the item out of my mind, and when I come back to it weeks later, my attitude has become, “Meh – I’ve lived without it this long – I guess I can keep living withut it permanently.”
The only trouble is, this doesn’t *always* work! 🙂

Wwendalynne Avatar

I can completely identify with that feeling of ‘must have’ compulsion. And yes, it does go away on its own accord following some mental distancing. I think wishlists are perfect for that. 😀

xamyx Avatar

Wishlists have been *extremely* successful for me. I’ve had several items on my list for nearly a year (in some cases), and now that I’m preparing a fairly hefty online haul, half of those items have fallen off. It also helps that the Holidays are coming up, and I’ve decided to beat the rush to make sure Santa brings my little one everything on her list, so finances have been a bit restrained. Next month, however…

zainab Avatar

Occasionally; eBay is my Achilles’ heel. Normally I try to walk away from things I like but don’t immediately love or anything that’s expensive- if I’m still thinking longingly about it later I buy it. I can only think of a couple of true impulse buys I’ve regretted- MAC Swish is my reminder not to buy things without testing/swatching them. The best solution I’ve found to inhibit impulse buys is to be saving up for something else…

Bella Avatar

All the time!

I usually plan when it comes to buying the basics (foundation, primer, mascara, etc.), but the vast majority of my eye and lip colors come from impulse buys, especially now that there are so many awesome, well priced indy brands.

Mindy Avatar

I’m getting better at not buying impulsively. If I really like something, I’ll think about it for a few days, and if I still want it I may go back and get it. I can usually go home and find 10 other items I already own just like it… LOL

Carla Avatar

Oh, heck, YES!
For example, just yesterday, I ordered Illamasqua “Shard” lipstick, for absolutely no better reason than the fact that I wanted it, and felt like buying something.
As if that’s not humiliating enough behavior from a 50-year-old college graduate, the ONLY reason I didn’t throw in “Sangers” as well, is that it was out of stock!
Why can’t I ever seem to get *enough?*

Jennisa Avatar

Rarely. As money is an object, I like to take my time and do careful research before I purchase anything (drugstore and high-end). Furthermore, most of my beauty buys are done online (there are only two MAC stores (none are PRO), and a really small selection of Clinique and Estee Lauder stuff in my country) so I really can’t take the chance to order things willy nilly. I research, I stalk, I think, I research and I stalk some more before I decide to buy!

Kristen Avatar

I’m sure I have, but now that my collection is so big, I research so much more lately. I don’t really impluse buy anymore. I research it, look up reviews, swatches and YouTube videos to see if I REALLY need it in my collection (which, most of the time I don’t, but that doesn’t always stop me LOL).

alyssa897 Avatar

There have only been a few products I have ever bought on impulse without first seeing a review or swatches on. One was a concealer duo from Essence. It was only $2 or $3 so I figured why not. The other two products were from NYX during a buy one get one half off sale at Ulta. A Full Coverage concealer (which I LOOOOVE) and the Stay Matte But Not Flat foundation which is horrible. Some times impulse buying is fun because you discover great products. 🙂

lat Avatar

My sister and I impulse buy nail polishes all the time. Which is probably why our collection is so HUGE. I never go shopping specifically for nail polish, but I almost always come home with it least one when I go shopping.

tzwiggy Avatar

YES! (Hello UD pencil liner vault, lol).

I usually don’t impulse buy permanent products, because I know I can always come back for them later, but LE products often get thrown into the shopping bag just because I’m so afraid I’ll miss out on a great product. I’m not as bad as I used to be, though.

Judith Avatar

No anymore but I’m recovering! I was completely addict on Make up for ever I have a lot of their make up.

I research everything on blogs and reviews sites before buying and I keep a wish list. I also have an excel file of all my stash which prevents me from buying countless among of dupes especially for lip and cheek products.

JudithDM Avatar

Impulse buying? Often, and like you I have found best to put it on a wish list or in my cart and think about it. I really don’t like returning cosmetics, even unused, so I want to be sure I like something. I have found buying online just doesn’t work, one really cannot see true color on a computer screen. Easy for me to look in person because I live in a big city and am surrounded by stores. If in a store for another reason probably best to avoid the cosmetics section, however easier said than done! And as for those gift with purchases, I rarely am tempted anymore. They and limited editions greatly contribute to impulse buying, and the companies are very well aware of this!!! What is tempting me these days are the subscription boxes! Ouch! I have done my research and if there is a healthy bar or pin or pony tail holder it is not for me. I got some amazing things in a recent Birchbox and GlossyBox and they are things I really like and am using!!! Too often the color things are not right for me, but I have friends who are happy to have them!!!

Tovah Avatar

Not so much anymore. With lipsticks over $20.00 and foundation at $50.00, I definitely am doing more research than ever before.

I love coming on your site to get the best info and swatches on the internet. It has definitely swayed me one way or the other.

Thanks for all the work you do!

Cyndi c Avatar

I have gotten better. Like many it seems, I used to have to have at least one thing from all the collections. Or worse, every color from a new item launch (maybelline color tattoos I’m looking at you). But I have way too much makeup than I can ever use and it’s shameful how much I have invested and will never use. I’m trying to shop my stash and use up what I have. I’ve also been trying to stay with brands I know work for me. I’m about 80% chanel now with a few others thrown in. I’m staying out of the drugstore because the prices are so low, it seems like nothing, but it all adds up. On top of all this, I’ve been bitten by the Louis Vuitton bug, so been saving like crazy.

abigailod Avatar

Limited Edition products typically get me into impulse buying, but on the flip side (thanks to Temptalia!) I zoom in on which LE products I want; so it doesnt feel like I’m going overboard, at least that’s what I tell myself! 😉

Susan Dowman Nevling Avatar

Yes, I often make impulse purchases of makeup and makeup accessories. My best impulse purchase was probably my first UD eye shadow of liner. I’m no an addict and love these products. I have to carry a list of shadows and liners to prevent re-purchasing a color I already have.
I also love gadgets and will by those as well. This includes brushes and applicators. My best impulse buy is the the Beauty Blender sponge.

Theodora Avatar

Your advice about a wish list is great. To me part of the fun is lusting after something you’ll eventually get to buy. Recently, though, I learned a hard lesson with Nicki 2 Lipglass. One day passing through I inquired and they said they had eight left. I wasn’t out of my current one and knew I’d be back soon. Four days later they told me everywhere (Macys and Mac) that they “had” to ship their inventory back because the campaign ended. That was the only non-red color I ever loved and even they admit that they have nothing that even comes close to it. About the same thing happened to me with Wonder Woman Lipglass. I guess you can’t take chances with LEs. 🙂

Laurel Avatar

For me, I tend to impulsively buy something I’ve had my eye on for a while. I was in sephora and I just threw the Marc Jacobs foundation into my cart after having a million samples and knowing I love it. I don’t buy “unknown” or “unresearched” products impulsively.

lydia Avatar

Nope. Uh-uh. Never. What…? What are you suggesting? No I’m not hyperventilating. Hehe. At least now I’m making much more informed impulse decisions. Thank you, Christina and all others who try products and are willing to share their experiences online. Makeup in general and longwear improvements in makeup have made it a new game for me in recent years. I also really appreciate how I’ve grown to understand how I want to present myself and what I want from makeup. And I still buy impulsively.

lydia Avatar

Oh, yeah, what I’m saying is that I’m always changing. As I age my skin changes, my tastes change, makeup changes. Makeup is fun. 🙂

Elizabeth F. Avatar

Drugstore nail polishes, the $1 or $3 Elf products, Jordana lip cosmetics, and basically any makeup product under three dollars is a huge temptation for me to try. They are so cheap that I’m not going to feel buyer’s remorse if they don’t work out for me. I have a lot of fun trying to find a new cheap thrill.

I’m a lot better about this type of spending now days because (like so many of the other posters) I research the product first, and the act of researching and reading about half a dozen review sites really help me manage my cosmetics cravings. 🙂

Amara Avatar

i am such an impulse buyer. but! lately i’ve been meaning to go through my polish, eyeshadow and samples since i’m having a girls night this weekend…. makes room for all the sephora x polishes and UD eyeshadows i have saved in my sephora ‘loves’ [anyone else wish sephora had a wish list? or can i just not find it?]

Karen Avatar

Once in a while but mostly I wait for reviews to come out. I was actually out and came across a few new products I hadn’t seen reviews for so I skipped them. Unless its a new shade of something you already love it’s better to wait for reviews and/or swatches.

Astrogherkin Avatar

I used to – my problem was that I would just go to look at the products and swatch them, but then I would feel like I have to buy something and end up buying way too much. Even drugstore purchases can become really steep, precisely because they are cheap we don’t realise how much and how often we’re buying them and how much it all amounts to. Internet purchases are the same – you don’t want to keep doing it, so you make a bulk purchase which amounts to a lot of money. And then you hear of a new release and you go back and make another bulk purchase.

Some of the blame definitely goes to marketing ploys that we get sucked into – even when we know they are marketing ploys. Youtube is just another advertising engine; just look at the language youtubers employ – it’s straight out of gimmicky advertising. Luckily I have never “impulse bought” any high-end things – only when there was a 40% sale (even then I bought too many things) or when I had had something on my wishlist for a long time.

I reached the point where I had so much makeup that I had never tried. I didn’t even wear makeup most of the time, I only bought it to collect, to have it. That’s when you know you have a problem. You’re not enjoying the makeup, you’re just buying up more and more to fill a void in your life. I had tried to control it by saying “only one purchase every month” or setting a budget per month but it didn’t work. The only thing I could do was go cold turkey on purchases. It gets easier as you stick with it, because you keep asking yourself, “So I didn’t buy that limited edition blush. So what? It’s not the end of the world” and you start to believe it. It’s like giving up cigarettes, which I’ve also done. It was the best thing I’ve done because now I am really enjoying using the makeup I have!

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