No, I don’t think so–still blogging full-time, so I don’t expect to really slow down or rev up the reviews. I think I said it last year, but I really don’t think I’ve found any more ways to streamline my process and can’t imagine producing more content than I did in 2017.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I want to buy less and only buy things I know I will use frequently. No buying a black lipstick that I know I’ll wear maybe once. No hot pink eyeshadow just because it’s a “gap” in my collection. Etc. No eyeshadows at all in fact! I did better this year than years past, but this year I want to be even more discerning.
” . . . because it’s a “gap” in my collection.” Good point – I’ve bought a few things this year because of that very reason and I still haven’t worn any of it. For some weird reason, I was feeling like I needed to “round out” my collection and get yellows and royal blues. I’ll probably de-stash those in another 6 months. ?
I also want to buy less eyeshadow palettes! I recently made my own palette, and I realized that that’s a more effective way to get colors I will use! I always end up using maybe 3-4 colors from palettes a lot and that’s it.
I’m going to cut back on my beauty spending in 2018 because I’ve come to realise that I like the nerdy side of make up – researching products, packaging, etc vs. actually creating interesting ‘looks’.
I’m also banned from buying red lipstick until I finish at least 1 in my sizeable but little-used red lipstick collection.
I bought a lot this year (and finally learned to love blush!). In 2018, I plan to slow my spending and use more of what I have/try my first Project Pan. My one exception to this will be the Agent Carter collection from Besame Cosmetics — I’m buying anything I can get my hands on for that!
Absolutely and unequivocally YES. 2018 will be a self-imposed low-buy year. Of course, I will still be purchasing refills of necessary items, ie; mascara, eye liner, foundation, powder. Also, certain upcoming special releases like MAC Aaliyah collection, which I fervently petitioned for. Possibly, the Chanel palette for spring. Otherwise, I will be scaling back on an epic scale. Financially wise, and also sanity saving. What actually *did* spur the buying frenzy to begin with, you may wonder? 3 back to back, separated by only a 18 months each, major losses. April 12, 2008, my Mom died, Nov. 6th 2009, my 1st grandchild Skyler died, April 2011, my son’s 15 y.o. sister in law, Iva Herman, was brutally murdered by her ex-boyfriend in a case that rocked the Valley. Now it’s time for me to accept these and move ahead. Filling my life with stuff won’t bring them back or undo the shock and pain, I’ve had to come to terms with my escapism. Sorry for my super emo comment, but I’m keeping it real.
Oh my god, has there been a verdict in that case? I looked it up but couldn’t find anything. How sad and infuriating. Hope you don’t mind my asking.
Her name was Iva Rae Herman, her killer has been sentenced to life without parole due to the extreme brutality of the murder. I messed up on all the years above, which has all 3 events happening one year earlier than posted above.
http://www.azfamily.com/story/15298972/teen-sentenced-in-death-of-his-former-girlfriend?clienttype=printable
Good. I am very glad justice was served.
Thank you for sharing. I can connect so deeply to your story and your words- filling a lose with stuff is chasing something i can’t catch and distracting from real healing. My loses are different, but grief and violence hits so hard.
My thoughts are with you. I’m rooting for you!!!
You suffered a great deal of pain Nancy and purchasing makeup items was a way of dealing with the monumental losses your endured, this is perfectly understandable to me. How horrific were those losses – at least you turned to something joyful to mitigate the pain.
Nothing will bring them back, it’s true, but at least through makeup you found a way to deal with the pain. What a brave and resilient person you are Nancy, I really admire you.
Genevieve, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your kind words. I am truly touched and encouraged by what you said! I never recognized the immensity of it all until pretty recently. That I had just numbed out inside, and was using this particular habit to keep myself tuned out. And yet, I still kept the resurrection hope firmly in my heart, that God will bring them back to life. It keeps me going!
My absolute pleasure Nancy – you’ve been dealt a very tough hand and have come through it with your dignity intact. God’s Grace is with you.
(((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))))) I know you’ve been through so much the last few years. Good for you to recognize emotional spending and nip it in the bud.
Oh Rachel, I know you sure do, my friend! We’ve both seen more than our share of what life can dish out, haven’t we? Time for me to stop using buying stuff as a crutch to numb out. I really hope to succeed. (((((Hugs))))) back!
i’m so sorry to hear of these tragic events that happened to your family, Nancy.
While nothing of that epic scale has happened to me, this year has been very tiring emotionally, health-wise and career-wise for me. nothing much really helped until i bought something to cheer myself up. retail therapy at its best. i try to buy smallish items like eyeliners and lipsticks but they still add up.
wishing you and your family all the best.
Nancy, so very sorry for your losses. Everyone has their own greiving process, and I don’t think anyone on here would judge you for trying to soften the pain with some pretty things. Wishing you peace and blessings for the new year.
Nancy, so so sorry for your losses and pain. That you used makeup as a balm and kept your sanity was so understandable, and perhaps also even wise. Glad you feel you are finding your way out.
Nancy, what an incredibly horrible series of years gor you and no recovery time in between. I am sincerely sorry that you experienced that.
Thank you ALL so much for your support and understanding as to what sent me down the rabbit hole, and why I’ve got to get things under control. Yes, our family has been hit HARD multiple times, but as bad as it is, there is FAR worse that has happened to many millions of people globally. Those affect me deeply, too. As it should. Makeup and clothes shopping addiction is an emotional crutch, a coping methodology. At least it’s fairly innocuous, I told myself. After all, I’ve witnessed others coping with these 3 back to back tragic losses in much more life-altering, damaging ways, and thankfully, one of them is fighting very hard to get his life back on track. At 31, his eyes look like a wizened 50 something y.o. He’s seen far too much.
I never intended for my comment or this thread to become so maudlin. Especially on a day that many are celebrating a major holiday, I never meant to bring anyone down, and I’m very sorry if I have. Love and peace to you all!
Oh, Nancy. I’m do very sorry for your losses.
Nancy,
Oh, I am so sorry for your losses. Using makeup and beauty as a safe haven and a way to deal with your grief makes so much sense. I have done that before as well, and it provided much comfort. God bless you and your family; you are in my thoughts.
Oh! So sorry Nancy, to hear about all your losses Nancy. Loosing a mom must be the hardest I’m afraid when day comes and I lose mine she is 80 but your grandson also and the 15 year old? I wish you healing, lots of healing and yes, you deserve to spoil yourself a bit. Maybe start a new hobby would help to keep your mind off the pain a bit? Take your time and be kind to yourself during this difficult process.
I don’t think so. I’m aware of how much I buy and collect, but not sure my buying habits will change all that much. I thought I didn’t fall for the LE hype, but I still most certainly do. All that I’ve bought for the past 2 years (aside from building up my nail collection) is LE or backups of LE, with a few staples here and there. I like to collect (and use it) but I don’t want anything to go to waste, so I need to be more discerning with lip products (or anything creme, for that matter).
I’ll try to stay on track I’ve been on lately, such as overall spending less but spending better in terms of quality; being more discerning about what is a need, a mood, or an impulse; prioritizing skin care. Recently I improved my storage systems and seeing all my stuff in one place was an eye opener; I’ll keep up this system for sure.
Over time I will be replacing everything with cruelty free products but I doubt I will use fewer products overall. I enjoy it too much. I will probably change my buying strategy, however. I have always made purchases in a way that maximized my ability to get free samples and promotional products but since so many of those are from brands that I do not want to support any longer, I will not be buying with freebies in mind. That may well lead to less shopping overall.
No. I wear it daily. I know what I like. I’m on a no buy for certain things and using up lots of things from eyeliners to lotions to concealers etc. I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone with ABH Modern Renaissance and Subculture. I’ve even worn glitter. I can’t see myself changing any more. The color of the year is a hideous purple so I won’t be jumping on that train…
No my approach to beauty products won’t really change next year – I will continue to rotate my stash and be conservative in what I buy – which is not too difficult as many of the current popular shades don’t really suit me.
My motto will continue to be to buy any skin care or base beauty products that I use, as much as possible, on sale.
I hope everyone here has a lovely Christmas and my daughter in law was thrilled to bits with her ‘beauty bag’ for Christmas.
Yes. I find myself buying less mainstream and more indie every year, and I think that will be true for 2018. I’m becoming bored and disappointed in even my favorite brands. There are not many holes in my collection. I’m enjoying revisiting old favorite indie companies and exploring new ones to find the kinds of products, colors, and finishes that I want.
Overall, I’ve been spending less every year, regardless of from where. I plan to continue that. Unless Ultra Violet being named Pantone’s Color of the Year brings about some new stellar purple palettes. 😉
Yes . Absolutely spend less money . 2017 was a year of revamping my entire makeup collection . 2018 will be a low buy year. It seems like products came out at a particularly high frenzy pace this year .
i intend to use up what i have. now, i just buy and store, thinking i’ll use it “one day”. that day will be 2018. no more storing. i scare myself looking at my stash sometimes. i just need to find more willpower from somewhere to stop myself from buying stuff. unsubscribing to all the various feeds and blogs help, though temptalia will always stay. after all, i need honest reviews of the very few items i allow myself to buy next year. ?
i’ll also be more discerning when buying base products. anything that has spf or sunscreen ingredients will not be considered as i’ve realised this year that i’m sensitive to it and will have breakouts.
Yes.
Buy makeup that you only NEED.
Don’t buy even if it’s hyped up.
If its good it’ll become permanent.
It’s not the end of the world if I don’t buy it.
My makeup collection is getting out of hand. Control is required in 2018.
And Yes, I talking to myself LOL.
In 2017 I liberated myself from time-consuming skin care routines, dozens of eyeshadows, lipsticks, blushes, highlighters, everything. I was honest with myself about the time and $$$ I’d been wasting on cleanser, day moisture, serums, Vitamin C, day eye creams, night creams, night serums, exfoliators, night eye creams and masks and realized that I truly could not see THAT much of an improvement in my skin. I was buying, using and buying again, ever hoping to see something dramatic. I decided to do what my 81-year-old beautiful Mother has been telling me to do for all of my adult life. I began using coconut oil to remove my makeup and cleanse my skin. I use Oil of Olay night cream and a natural coffee bean eye cream every night. In the morning, I wash with a soft terry cloth and a bit of natural oatmeal bar soap. I tone my skin with rose water, moisturize with a natural milk light moisture lotion and apply sunscreen. I use a very small amount of the same coffee eye cream. Twice a week, I exfoliate with whole rolled oats, a drop of coconut oil and enough milk to make it somewhat spreadable. Using a soft terry washcloth, I gently exfoliate my face. My skin has never looked better, more even toned and dewy, NOT GREASY! I chose 4 favorite eyeshadow colors, 2 eyeliners colors, 2 blushes, 1 bronzer, powder, mascara, 2 shades of lipstick and a clear gloss. Everything else hit the trash. I get myself looking like I want in 5-10 minutes, everything I put on my face is my favorite color and most complementary to my skin tone. The time and the hundreds of dollars I’ve saved are, as I said, “LIBERATING”! In 2018, I don’t plan on changing one single thing.
Your post is so inspiring, thank you! I look at the drawer(s) full of skin care products I have and realize I don’t use most of them, don’t like many of the ones I have used, and keep reaching for the same few items over and over. Just because I paid a lot for, say, an eye serum, doesn’t mean it’s the best and I HAVE to finish it.
For 2018 I’m going to de-stash things I don’t use or like and will not go out and re-buy them, thinking that somehow time has made them better. I’m going to stop buying new foundations and mascara because I’ve found my Holy Grails and don’t need to waste money buying more.
I’m glad my comment gave you a nudge, Susan. I was “listening to the hype” about the newest and definitely the best products ever and believing that finally, I was going to find my HG!
I cannot tell you how freeing it is to approach my daily and nightly skin care routines and my makeup application knowing I will only spend a few minutes to have naturally clean and glowing skin and that my makeup will always leave me looking finished and ready to greet the day!
Hope everyone has had a wonderful, happy and safe holiday with family and friends. I am going to post my answer but don’t know when or if it will go live as I hope that Christine is having a wonderful holiday with her family.
My New Year’s resolution is to not be a VIB Rouge next year. I am going to significantly cut back on my spending but I have learned something about myself over the past couple of years and that is that I love high end makeup. I don’t know what it is as I am sure there are good quality products at the drugstore but I rarely find anything that appeals to me, works for me or gives me the pleasure that I get from my HE purchases. I know this is crazy but I would rather cut back on spending overall and save the money I do want to spend to buy really beautiful, quality products. So, I am looking for things that are aesthetically pleasing, work well for me at my age with my mature skin and with my skin tone, etc. and that I would like to have in my collection.
I’ve already scaled down my exisiting collection to only things I actually use and with that in mind for future purchases I’ll be being very picky with what I add. I’m so over the mountains of stuff that will never get used.
I plan to make this a low buy year or at least make it more sane than in past years. My collection is huge and could probably make up my entire town if color matching wasn’t required. I. DO. NOT. NEED. EVERY. PALETTE. MADE.
First of all, hugs to Nancy!!!! I can’t imagine losses like yours and in the time frame they were in. Just sending you so much love!!!
Secondly, I did a huge downsize this year of my out of control collection and I committed to buying only cruelty free. I was hoping to not be VIB Rouge, but I didn’t swing that, however it did take me until October to hit it and normally I’m in that ballgame way earlier! So going forward, I really want to continue to keep my collection at a “medium” size. I will always have more makeup than most but I want it to be manageable! I hope to focus on formula for lip products, more so than color. NO EYESHADOW. NONE. No highlighters, unless I get rid of something in return. I hope to buy more mini sized things, so that I actually have the chance of finishing something. So, nothing majorly different, just trying to keep my collection fun and not overwhelming!
Lindsey, virtual ((((hugs)))) readily accepted!
Going on a low-buy and taming ones collection is something that I believe you’ll succeed at! There *is* something strangely satisfying about saying “no!” to oneself and then walking away from a purchase, I’m finding out.
Yes girl!!! The self-edit is definitely self-empowering!!!
Yes, most definitely. I practically built an entire collection of eyeshadows and got very carried away by so many makeup sales and all the colors, finishes, brands, etc.
The only products I’m looking at buying for the next year are: blushes (I could use some more variety), mascara/eyeliner, and brushes. I want to invest in a few (maybe 3-4) higher-end brushes for my collection.
I’ve joined Makeup Rehab on Reddit in the hopes they will help keep me on track. ? I just need some time to set some goals for myself. I will still appreciate reading your reviews to purchase items for friends, and also just because I love reading about beauty products.
Absolutely. Saying goodbye to Sephora Rouge! Well I won’t buy based on keeping that status anymore. I’ll likely still end up with it in 2018, but that’ll be it for me. I’ll be using more of what I have and spending a lot less on makeup. My skin is getting drier for some reason so there will be purchases in skin care. I think spending less time browsing social media is going to help with that. I’ll also likely be pursing a graduate degree so a lot less time for everything!
I want to focus on pairing down my stash and work on a Project Pan for 2018. Time to select my choices for the year!
I think I’m going to start adding more to my esthetician/derm budget and decrease spending on over the counter skin care and cosmetics.
In 2018 I will be majoring in skin care. I already have tons of every little thing my heart has desired every color of the rainbow in eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks, highlighters, a few foundations, eye and lip liners. I did ordered a few more eyeshadows before the year ends but I need to be firm and stop with my purchases. I do keep my stash neat and super organized and love to rotate daily that way I feel I keep it fun and do use my items. Is not going to be easy I react like an enthusiastic child like Dorothy the fish drawn by colors and pretty packaging! But I need to be firm or get myself a straight jacket while browsing those dangerous makeup isles. I’m hoping to be strong. It actually has felt great to walk away from a few purchases I feel stronger afterwards. I still will be checking sites on beauty because I love it and relaxes me but don’t need to add a single more thing.
I think deeply inside me I got a bit carried away into beauty purchasing after having stopped running my marathons. I did 10 full 26.2’s and it was so much fun and plain crazy addicting! Met lots of the nicest people in that beautiful Santa Monica Beach and Venice as well we run all over the place. Is crazy but so much fun! I still run but only up to 8 miles these days not injured or anything but afraid of overdoing it and busting my knees or else although nothing hurts yet. So to fill that void I got more heavily into makeup and clothing as well, we all do it for some (sometimes unknown reasons I discovered which was mine). Maybe I’ll train for another one yet when I’m nearing 60 and shock my family and closest friends. Lol! They say I’m crazy anyways and will ruin my legs but is not true. Worst thing is not to move. 2018 I’m going back to that beautiful beach and do more of what I’m missing so much and less if not, none makeup shopping for an entire year. Only skin care, foundation and the very basic.
Happy New Year to you all! This have always been a nice wonderful group! Don’t we wish we could all meet personally? I wish so! Would be so much fun! Have a blessed, peaceful and healthy Happy New Year! ?
I tried to do a low buy this year which was an epic failure. I hit Rouge for the second year in a row. I have learned that I love the research portion of cosmetics the most. Reading blogs and watching YouTube brings me great joy. For 2018 I am only going to buy things on sale, unless it is a replacement of an HG product. With the sephora sales and individual companies sales it is getting easier to save a little money in Canada. We will never ever have the deals that America gets, but even saving some money is good. This will also force me to really think about my purchases and not to impulse buy. I want to make travel a priority and with what I spend on makeup we could go away each year. Funny that almost all of our goals is to spend less and think more.