If it’s something I can actually use and feel like I’ll go through, I may get a backup, but I usually just move on. I’ve found that I’m slow to get through backups no matter what, and I also tend to use more recently released products when I do get to return to things anyway.
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!
Every time (or so it seems) that something gets d/c’d, it seems to happen without me even knowing it (MAC Constructivist and Typographic and Copperplate are just 3 recent examples, as is the Origins eye cream I’ve loved for years) so I didn’t even have the chance to stock up (though stocking up on a Paint Pot is risky). But if something isn’t going to expire (like the eye creams with SPF that I lamented the other day) or dry out/go bad AND if I know about it, I’d probably buy a back up (though I don’t know that I’d go as far as stockpiling).
Years ago, I stocked up on a DS foundation that I had been using for more than a decade when I found out it was being discontinued, but then I discovered something a zillion times better (EL Double Wear) and never used them. Waste of money. 🙁
That’s exactly my fear of getting backups!
Usually, I just move on, as dupes or something better comes along. If it’s something I really love and isn’t easily duped, I sometimes buy a back up, especially if it goes on sale during discontinuation. For example, I bought backups of UD Electric, Naked Basics, and Gwen Stefani palettes. I have a few lipsticks I’ve bought back ups for. I bought a couple back ups of Wet n Wild Reserve Your Cabana because there aren’t any close dupes for it. When Almay i-Color Mascara in Raisin Quartz was DC’d, I bought 3-4 back ups.
Usually I move on, but I did make an exception and drive halfway across the state to buy three last tubes of YSL Sheer Candy Glossy Balm in Sweet Fig (#7).
Over the years I probably repurchased that product in that color, what, a dozen times…? So I was pretty attached. I’m at the bottom of my last tube now. Farewell, my Sweet Fig.
Sweet Fig was one of my HG products, Tessa! That entire line actually was fabulous. I was crushed when it was discontinued. Even though I enjoy the Volupte Shine line, subsequent iterations of the Sheer Candy balm are NOT the same. I have yet to find a dupe for that ticks off all the boxes in terms of color, depth, texture, longevity, and versatility.
I’m on my last tube of Sweet Fig too and I treasure it like a priceless artifact.
Thank you so much for saying! I feel strangely validated. There are so many sorta-kinda-similar options, but as you say, no other product quite ticks all the same boxes in the same ways.
Yes, the Sheer Candy line was the best. The ones with the lips in them have almost no color payoff and the Volupte Shines can be too pigmented depending on color. The Liquid Color Balms are pretty nice but the color range isn’t the best for me. I have a backup of Mouthwatering Berry which is my favorite fall and winter shade.
If it’s HG, which doesn’t happen often, I will preemptively stockpile. For example, I have 4 backups of NARS Douceur blush, because I didn’t know what the situation was, and just added 1 or 2 pans to my NARS orders. I bought a backup of L’Oreal GlamBronze, which I knew was LE, but still used the first sparingly; however, it seems it was brought back, just under a new name, so I’ve been using it alot. I also have several WnW Reserve Your Cabana, but that was mainly because for a while, they were either OOS or broken, so if I stumbled on one, I picked it up. More recently, and it’s actually a relatively new product, I bought 2 additional backups of LA Girl Pro Foundation Mixing Pigment in blue & white, because I don’t want to ever be without them. Sometimes, if it’s a “staple” product, like setting powder or brow pencils, I may grab several if I catch a really good sale, but only if I know I’ll like the product.
This question actually inspired me to sort through my “backup bins”, LOL! Now I’m curious to what is currently still in them… There’s only two, and they’re about the size of a shoebox, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to take anything out…
Ooh, this is a tough one.
I think I would have to move on. Going through backups would just be stressful, knowing that I’m always inching closer to running out. I would try to find a replacement using the little I had left as a comparison (which is what I did with the last of my Mat Velvet foundation.)
I’m really sad Make Up For Ever discontinued the Mat Velvet Foundation! (Seriously, why do brands like “fixing something that ain’t broke”?) I didn’t know about it until they launched the Matte Velvet Skin Foundation. Do you know how it compares? And did you manage to find a dupe for Mat Velvet?
They reformulated and renamed it to like Matte Coverage, but it’s not really the same at all, and the colors are totally different.
I switched over to Too Faced Peach Perfect foundation, and I actually found a color match AND it’s better than the Mat Velvet; trust me i was surprised too lol it doesn’t rub off on my phone as much as the MUFE one did, and it lasts longer on my oily skin. I would check it out if you get the chance!
Ooh that sounds great! Thanks for your suggestion!
I would say 95% of the time I move on now, but there is definitely a time in my life I would have hoarded multiple back-ups. I’ve finally learned that I will usually find something I like just as much eventually and I’m at the point where I have so many things in my make-up and perfume collection that I should be using anyway.
However, I did recently buy two back-ups off ebay of MAC’s Cosmic Force blush. It’s just so hard to find a nude blush that doesn’t go too warm. And I will buy back-up bottles of LE or soon to be discontinued scents from BPAL, but I’m also at the point where that is pretty rare. There’s pretty much only three general catalog scents I would do that for out of hundreds and for an LE it’s something I would have to find myself wearing a lot (like this year I ended up wearing the same scent almost all winter long which is almost unheard of for me, so I bought two back-up bottles before it went away this spring).
The thumbnail in this post triggered me! haha I have been peeved about Tom Ford discontinuing a blush called Savage for years now. I think I last purchased it in 2013, so it really has been a long minute. I’m certainly not short of other blushes; however, it was my favorite shade that the brand put out. I hope that one day it’ll return, but I don’t think I’ll see that day…. Meh, there’s not shortage of other blushes that I enjoy.
It all depends on whether or not I know or think it might be discontinued! UD discontinued my favorite eyeliner and didn’t announce it. It was just suddenly marked down around the time they were repackaging some stuff. I was like, okay. This is probably being discontinued so I bought five eyeliners at the way lower price and guess what? It was discontinued! I was so glad I stocked up because it gave me time to find a new eyeliner while I was going through those five now forever gone liners.
I also stocked up on my favorite lip gloss when Wet and Wild was discontinuing it. I’ve yet to find a replacement but boy did I baby those lip glosses lol.
Both! I like to get 2 or 3 backups depending on availability. Creams/liquids/lipsticks will go in the fridge, the rest (powders) get stored in my back up bins.
As for finding something new, I am not necessarily on the hunt but I am on the look out. I am more discriminating about what I will get back ups for because there’s just been an explosion of new brands and different products. I don’t have to even look for anything anymore, just come to Temptalia and I can easily find my replacement, ha!
When I first got back into make up, I was still using colors and techniques from the early aughts and it just looked wrong on me. My face had changed and I have more of a hooded eye, crows feet, etc. That coupled with the inevitability that techniques and looks go out of trend means that perfect eye shadow or lip liner I might have been living for 5 years ago and stocked up on means I need to learn to re-purpose it or it gets safely donated. I will always stock up on neutrals-for-me and classic colors (i.e. red lipstick, neutral brown eye shadow, anything peach, etc.), though.
Stock up if I learn of the DC in time to do so!
Otherwise, I fume for a bit, then go about the process of finding an equivalent product, if that’s possible.
As a result, I do have backups of UD Catfight, Streak Revolution versions, MAC Royally Riotous l/s, x Aaliyah Li Li’s Motor City, Marque Ultimate l/s, VG Taraji l/s (fuchsia version), Sephora Contour Eye Pencil in Fairytale, Go For A Ride, Purple Stilettos, Diving In Malaysia, and WnW Reserve Your Cabana.?
Very sad that I didn’t get to snatch up a few pots of Essence Midnight In Paris Gel Liner, though. I’m on the dregs of my last pot. Refreshing it with Inglot Duraline. ?
I move on. Nothing dates or ages a woman faster than clinging to products that are no longer relevant. Formulations are ever improving and colors, pigmentation, finishes, etc. are constantly evolving. So, should our looks IMHO. There’s always something new and wonderful coming along to replace old loves.
Well said, Eileen!
I’ve learned the hard way to just move on ,. When Dior discontinued a lipstick Muse 444 that I felt I couldn’t live without , I hunted down every one I could .
Then I just moved on and realized there were lots of dupe for it .
I’ve learned to just let go , there’s always something to replace it .
Well said, Mary. I’m with you on this. Whenever a beloved product gets discontinued or I run out of a limited edition product I adore (e.g. MAC Stunner lipstick), I always, always find a better dupe no matter how heartbroken I am at first. It’s akin to the end of a romantic relationship: there’s always someone else for you out there, and sometimes that ‘someone’ may be better.
I agree with `a better dupe`… cosmetic formulas evolve in time and theoretically new products should performs better than discontinued items. But it’s also the matter of preference… there are some re-formulated products that fails to match the original.
I try to buy backups. I still have backups of the Tony and Tina eyeliners. I used the navy one this week and I hadn’t used it for a while and it just wowed me! I haven’t found anything that has come close to replacing them so when I find something I love you betcha I stock up!
It depends on whether there is advanced warning that the product is going to be d/c and whether or not there is some stock still available or not. It also depends on the product.
If it is an eyeshadow, I know that I probably have plenty in my stash that are dupes for the favourite item, eg Amber in the Lorac Pro Metals palette that I have sadly hit pan on.
A lipstick shade is actually much harder to replace, as sometimes the ‘newer’ versions are not quite the same. A stock up is required – eg Milani’s Cinnamon Spice, EA Bronze Cocoa
A blush is hard to replace as well because the exact shade maybe out of fashion. For example, I find a lot of peachy blushes these days have orangey undertones, which I dislike. Therefore I would stock up on my favourite.
Foundations – again a stock up is required because it may well be very difficult to get the exact shade you like again. I have stocked up on my HE favourite – Clarins’s Everlasting foundation in Linen because it was d/c and I am now onto my last bottle.
It depends on the product. Very few makeup products reach HG status for me, so I just move on. Skincare is a different matter because it usually takes a long time for me to find something that truly works, so when I do, I will try to stock up if I know ahead of time that it will be DC’d (which I usually don’t).
Got back-ups of UD Moondust palette, Electric palette, NARS Danger Control palette just because I love them and I don’t regret that because as time goes on I still find them genuinely unique and get pleasure from wearing them and playing with them. Wish I had a back-up of UD Kaleidoscope. Got a back up for one shade from NARS Studio Cheek Palette!! And now I’m hitting pan on that! But it’s this one shade that’s so perfect, if I put it on people instantly start saying, “You’re so beautiful.”, “You look so healthy!”, “You look so lovely.” I mean, beat that! It’s Studio Cheek #1 and it’s my makeup quest to dupe it. Nothing has, lol, but through the swatch gallery my next contestant is Lorac Panorama.
I always stock up on shades of MAC Liquidlast eyeliner. It’s the ONLY eyeliner that will stay on my hooded, allergy watery eyes. A few lip colors: MAC Ruffian Red, MAC Heaux retro-matte, NARS Timanfaya and Iberico before I knew they were permanent.
Yes, new things are always coming out, but sometimes it’s the way my body mixes with the product, and how it responds to heat and humidity and time. Some products are just exactly what you want. And I think that’s fine. I find a road trip to get the last few tubes of a certain lipstick to be an epically romantic high-femme journey. I’d love to see that as the background premise in a Femme Easyrider-type movie, Lmao!
I just decided that if I ever find out a product I love is getting discontinued I will definitely buy as many back ups that I can afford. I loved two lipsticks and both got discontinued with me knowing and I still miss them!
without me knowing…
I usually just move on, with so many brands and products available there is always a good replacement. If I stock-up, it’s just one more item (not multiple), especially if the brand is having a sale for discontinued items. For skincare and complexion products (or anything that expires / goes bad faster) I might think twice before repurchasing, since a discontinued product has more changes to be manufactured a long time ago and has already stayed in a deposit self some time.
I will buy A back-up but never more than one; helps me get through the break-up with a favorite. I hate wading through dupes to find a replacement, sometimes you find something better or you don’t (which males me sad).
Usually I find out that they are discontinued when it is impossible to re-stock them 🙂 Not a big deal, on to the newer, better things usually, let the search for the replacement begin!
What you said. One backup. And that’s if I’m actually going through the product. I have fallen into the trap of buying up the stock if it’s discontinued and I never go through it all. So one backup for my peace of mind and that’s it.
The only discontinued item I have ever wished I had a lot more of is Victoria’s Secret Supermodel perfume. I ran through all my stash except one last bottle. But I didn’t
know at the time that it was getting discontinued.
I think I might also feel that way about Cover Fx Illuminating Setting Spray. I order a new one of those the same day I crack one open. And the OG Fix+. I usually order one of those when I’m about halfway through my current bottle. In fact, they are both in my Ulta cart waiting for me to buy with the current discount.
If it’s something like a blush or powder that would take me 2-4 years to use, buy a back up.
If it’s a foundation, cleanser or similar “consumable” I hoard for the apocalypse.