If it was exceptionally good, yes. If it was pretty good AND pretty pricey, yes. If I didn’t like it, and it’s mostly done, then I’m likely to recycle (if possible) and move on.
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It all depends on a few factors, specifically: if it was limited edition or an HG item that got DCC’d, you had better believe I’m going to use it the last of the last of whatever is left of it!!! But certain items such as mascara and other wet eye products do turn rancid, and for those I won’t chance it if its begun to turn. Likewise, something that just hasn’t become a “must-have” or “can’t live without it” type of product I won’t worry about using every last bit.
I think nearly everything I have that I manage to get near the end of is quite good, so yes, I would use up every last bit. If it wasn’t that good to begin with, then I just wouldn’t reach for it often, if at all, which means there is no way I would get near the end enough to scrape every last bit. Another exception is if the product has gone bad or changed in some way, in which case, I would toss. I rarely finish makeup, but haircare and skin care products are items I go through relatively quickly.
It depends on the product. If I loved it and it was pricy and/or limited edition/discontinued, then definitely. If it’s something I use regularly and is a permanent product, I make sure to get my money’s worth but nothing drastic. If it’s something that was only so-so, I may leave a few uses’ worth in the container and call it a day.
Only for one product ever in my life, but it’s totally worth it ! MAC Cremesheen Glass in “You’ve Got It” is my favorite lip product of all time, and it’s been discontinued, to my utter heartbreak. It’s a shiny neutral, kind of a slightly mauve-y griege, but it has very, very subtle micro-shimmer (or whatever you call it – ha !) in the most gorgeous green ! GREEN ! Sounds weird, I know, but it’s beautiful and makes me feel wonderful when I wear it !
I hoarded the only four I could find, as there are NO dupes even close to it, and when I get to the bottom I use any one of a number of tools I’ve fashioned to get the last bits out, including – all sterilized, of course ! – the rectangular-shaped tip of a coffee stirrer from my local coffee place and artfully bent Q-Tips.
I’m going to just have to come to terms with my “loss” once my stash is gone, as I DO wear it often – I’m not going to hang onto them for 20 years as that’s pretty gross, so I’m hoping they either reissue it or I find a suitable dupe.
The only other thing that comes close is UD’s 24/7 liner in “Perversion”. It’s so popular I can’t see it EVER being discontinued, but if they do I’m just going to stop wearing makeup altogether. Life without my Perversion is just not worth living ! 😉
Love the sound of that green. UD had a Rust l/s that had green microshimmer. Awesome, then I lost it. Scrounged down every piece of furniture, never found it. The lure of the green behind (doesn’t sound quite right) is wonderfully unexpected.
As to getting every last drop, I certainly do, with the Swoon tool from Big S. No more Q tips. It’s a tiny, pointy spatula which would be perfect for your use.
Thank you very much for the tip ! No more having to deal with Q-Tip fuzzes in my lipgloss ! You’re a doll !
There’s one on Amazon for about $25/free shipping, if you’re looking for another backup.
Aaaaaaaaand I just bought it. Wow, you guys here are AWESOME ! Thank you so much for the heads up !
No problem! I Google’s it to see what it looked like, and Amazon popped up. I saw it wasn’t much more than retail when shipping is a factor, so I thought I’d mention it. I’m glad you caught it!
3 Custom Color will make it for you. Send them a tube and they’ll recreate it and send you back your original. Problem solved!
OMG, you guys just keep getting more awesome ! I’m looking into it, as, yes, it’s pricey, but this is one of my “Desert Island Top Tens” !
I wonder how they’ll handle an order for one PINT of lip glass ?!
It is a bit pricey, but they do a really good job matching the color and you can get price breaks for ordering in larger batches than the two tube minimum. I’ve been really happy with them so far. They are fragrance free, so you won’t get the vanilla scent or whatever MAC uses, but the color should be a dead match.
If the gloss is that great, check ebay on a regular basis. I just this week saw (for $56) one of my favorite LE MAC lipsticks from 10 yrs ago.
Usually. I grew up poor; old habits die hard. I hate to waste anything. I won’t go to crazy lengths though. I’ll squeeze every last drop from a tube, for example. But I don’t cut open the tube and scrape it out unless it’s something I absolutely love and is really expensive.
Loved. So agree.Frugality is not a bad thing. Seagate so much. If it’s worth it, use what you can. Pride not shame. BRAVO OF Bravava
Frugality is definitely something to be proud of! Beats me how wasteful people generally are – makeup or otherwise!
I cut open tubes pretty frequently! Makes it easier to rinse out and recycle too, since you can’t recycle containers with stuff inside. 🙂
Very true about the recycling! I definitely clean out anything recyclable.
YUP! 🙂
I try to, ‘waste not, want not’ etc. If the packaging is really getting in the way of me using every last drop then I won’t usually go to great lengths to get it all out. The only time I will is if I really love the product and have nothing else that does the same job. These days I often have something else I can use in its place and I am trying to use what I have and not keep buying more makeup (not that I’ve been that successful so far but I am trying)! ?
If I truly love a product I will use every last drop. I had a blush from Sally Hansen’s collection with makeup artist Carmindy I absolutely loved, wished I bought like 20 backups but of course I didn’t, and I was like, I don’t care how long this will take me to use up, I am using every last single drop and I did. Literally. Every last spec of blush. It was the perfect brightening true pink blush. Nothing compares. If I love a product, I will scrape, squeeze every last bit out. If I am over a product and there is stuff left, I will pass it along to my daughter or toss
I definitely do if it involves pricey makeup/skincare items that I love, but if they are products I do not love, they hit the makeup/skincare graveyard typically even before they are finished. I hand off items which are new or barely touched to my donation peeps who know I am scrupulous about not sticking my fingers into things. I also hand off 99% of my samples thingees to them as well.
Nope! Can’t wait to toss stuff. By the time I hit pan, I’m looking forward to using something else.
You better believe it…unless it’s something like mascara that goes bad before I can use it all.
No, because I’m always moving on. I have a fairly large stash and so it is very unlikely that I’d ever use so much of the same product that I’d need to start scrapping. Besides, cosmetics age in respect to both the quality of the product and its fashion quota. There’s always something new and different to tempt me.
Right there with you! Foundation and skin care are the only things I finish. Other than that, “hitting pan” is a foreign concept.
I do my best to use things up, but if I don’t like the product I just give it a good squish and call it good.
If it’s something I use regularly and need to buy again or was expensive or LE and can’t get it again-YES! NARS pro prime eye primer will be the death of me with the packaging and this though!
I know what you mean about the NARS eye primer packaging – that was a drawback for me and one of the reasons why I switched to another eye primer.
I’m curious as to which one your using in it’s place? I can’t seem to find one that works the same for me. So, my not so great solution has been to keep it and other kinds around so it last longer,lol
The eye primers that I have had the most luck with are Urban Decay original, and MAC’s Prep and Prime 24 Hour Extend primer, with Urban Decay giving me anout 10-12 hours of wear before creasing and MAC’s lasting all day and into the night until I take it off. Both are a little bit tacky on my eyes (or maybe I am not waiting long enough for them to set?) so I either take a skin tone matte or satin shade or setting powder and swish it all over my lids before I apply my shadows.
Thanks! I have the same problem with UD being too tacky! I’ve not tried Mac’s yet. Thanks for the tip! ?
Welcome 🙂
Yeah, most of the time if it’s possible! Except if it has gone bad of course.
That depends on how much I liked it. I do it with skincare items usually.
Not really. When I can’t easily get product out of the tube/pan anymore, it’s time to toss!
Not necessarily. I have so many products to go through (that also keeps growing ?), that I’m so happy to have finished a product. Generally I do try to scrape all the foundation that I can. Blushes and eyeshadow takes me forever so probably not.
Ditto to what you said, Christine.
I have such a large stash and am always changing out makeup products I very rarely use anything up. If I try something and only feel so-so about it or just flat out dislike it, I give it away after the first use. All makeup has a shelf life so I toss products according to that as well. For products I love, I always, always buy a back-up. (So glad I bought a back-up of the LE D&G Sophia Loren lipstick – I will totally scrap the bottom of that when I get there!) The only products I do consistently use up are skincare and haircare; but they don’t require scraping to get the product out. I’ve started favoring buying minis of nail polish as I have never – and I mean ever – used an entire bottle of polish. Even doing a mani every week and a mani/pedi every week 8-9 months out of the year, I have way too much polish to ever possibly use it before it goes bad.
I do that every time I get to the end of my Caudalie vinosource moisturizing sorbet, which happens way too soon. That stuff is my HG moisturizer in the summer, but the price, $39, is just hideous. I trim off the end of the tube and scoop out the remainder with a tiny spatula. I guess I should order another tube before the Sephora sales ends!
Love. Caudilie products. Clean, refreshing and effective.not
overpriced. One of my holty grarales.I too love them.
I scrape every last but out. I am too fugal to not use it all. That being said, I will return or give away products that I cannot make work. Exception would be mascara and eye liner that dries up.
Love. Caudilie products. Clean, refreshing and effective.not
overpriced. One of my holty granules.
Never with lip sticks. I have so many and always keep them current. I almost licked the tray of my favorite blush when I found out it was discontinued. Never dry out a mascara and will blend foundations when near empty since they are so pricey. I only buy high end products now I’m older and have the extra money so I use all of what doesn’t expire too soon.
With the exception of lip gloss (and some lipsticks), yes. (Even then, I have been known to use my favorite lip gloss well past its prime, while I’m scraping the sides saying to myself, “just one more use…this was limited edition!”)
I even cut the end off tubes of lotion and scrape out the last couple of days’ worth. If I’m paying $50+/oz for a face cream, you better bet I’m using the last drop! 🙂
No, I always have backups of my favorites so I am eager to start on a new one!
Yes especially my skincare
I usually do, with the exception of mascara. I don’t obsess about every last drop, but I do have shadows and what not that I hit pan on and there is only a bit left in the corners. I will dig that out (with my brush) and use it up before I toss it out!
I do try to get every drop out of every product I buy. I even have a pan drawer of items that have hit pan, but are not quite empty and use those first. If it turns out that it is a discontinued item I try to prolong the inevitable of it running out.
Exactly what you said, Christine! 🙂
Off course! i dont know why shame it is to do that?? For my cream or my tooth paste its the same i cut it and use whats inside!!! Its the same product when you push it out or when you go in so WHY NOT?? Just try one time and you will surprise to see how much product still here when your think thats the end 🙂
For the last foundation i finish i open it for used what the pump wont to give me lol Guerlain parure de lumiere foundation my favorite so…so much love to loose even just a few!!
(sorry again for my english)
Oh my god, I also cut open those tubes to scrape out the insides like some sort of scavenging vulture.
Especially moisturizer. It’s expensive!
Glad to know others do too!
Ecological y speaking, I’m proud of your conservation. Brava!!l
Same here. Except when the product is gone bad or works terribly, I try to use it up, and usually there’s a lot of product in the packaging after it seems to be finished.
Yes! The same as you…
Yes!! Absolutely no doubt about it! L. No waste here and I usually surprised at how much is really at the end of any product! If I didn’t care for a product, I would usually bring it back and exchange it for something else, or get back store credit. However, if I can’t bring it back, I give it to one of my girlfriend’s and I tell them why I didn’t care for the product. What’s funny is that they wind up liking the product! Certain products are just made for some people and not others. But either way nothing goes to waste. 🙂
All skin is different. I’m 66 but little sun exposure. I need each other.different items from skin disorders , from friends with cancer and skin disease.dies.
We are making huge progess for so many skin conditions. We must share and help eother.
We can continue to improve.
Courage ladies
.
I absolutely do. I’ll cut the crimp off things like TFSI and use a small, thin spatula or a new, clean “lid stopper” from Second Cup (a Canadian thing, it’s sort of like a swizzle stick) to reach in and get weeks and weeks of product. I use binder clips to seal the crimp end air-tight. I use these same “lid stoppers” for anything in a tube or glass jar with a removable pump. With the Clarins Eye cream, I get hubby to twist off the “airless pump” and get at least 2 to 3 weeks more of use and at the price ($89 CDN, I think) I want to get every last bit.
My Bobbi Brown BB Cream gets every last bit of it squeezed out. LOVE the product (multitasking with great coverage) but…$46 USD is a lot in my budget. Same with her bronze Shimmerbrick! Luckily the products last a while, and I buy them for less at the Estee Lauder (CCO) outlets when I can get to them, or the Sephora F&F sales.
I definitely do if I loved the product or was adamant about using it up. For Jack Black lip balms, I will cut it open and scoop out the bits that are still left in there because once no more squeezes out, there’s always more in there. Same goes for moisturizers that come in squeeze tubes. If it was a difficult packaging to work with, like a stiff plastic or a glass bottle, I may not work as hard to get what’s left out.
To Scrape, or not to Scrape; That is the question.
Foundation and concealer definitely get used to the last molecule.
Also eyeliner, primer, and misc wares.
But anything that dries out or has overstayed it’s welcome gets chucked.
A majority of the things that get low of hit pan (especially if it the quality isn’t very high), I mix together in a new container. And then I have a new eyeshadow or blush made from the leftovers.
I am very frugal, so I RARELY throw anything out. A lot of times I sterilize it and trade with my friends.
If it was expensive, discontinued and I loved it – yep. Even some of my favourite lipsticks that have been d/c I have scrapped the last bit out of the tube. Serums and night moisturisers I do the same because they are often more expensive than anything else.
But I haven’t finished any eye shadows yet…
If I like it and it’s a tube, I cut the sealed end 1/3 off, use a palette scraper and remove every thing from that section to the lower section and use the cut portion for a lid. I bought some palette scrapers and ask for some in places I frequent. I find I get at least a week or two of product, usually serum or cover-up. It’s amazing how much product is available.
Cost is not a huge factor but effectiveness certainly is. If I like it, why waste. If I dislike it, money doesn’t matter. Not wealthy but my time is so valuable at my age and the health of the earth is far more important than beauty products.
Skin care, yes. Mascara, no. Everything else depends.
Pressed powder items usually (despite my best efforts) change texture from transferred skin oils, foundation, etc. Generally, by the time I get to “ring around the pan” stage, the powder isn’t performing well enough to justify using it all up; this is especially true of actual face powder, which I throw away when it becomes hard, dark and “impervious.”
I haven’t used up anything except foundation in makeup (to the last molecule I mean — see my comment about powders above), but mostly because I’ve really only gotten into makeup for real in about the past 5 years. Before that, I was haphazard in my choices, so I ended up with makeup that didn’t work, annoyed me to no end, and didn’t inspire me to finish it.
I have makeup I love now, and will eventually finish, but I’ve gotten so into makeup that I have a ton of choices, and it will take a long time to finish anything other than primer, foundation, and powder.
Yes. In fact I get quite annoyed if I can’t get all the product out. If a product has packaging that can’t be cut open for me to get all product out I won’t repurchase.
I try to… But not always possible.. Esp with blushes, bronzers and lipsticks. Btw… What is recycling of product which you mentioned.
90% of the time HELL YEAH. I want to use every last scrap and get my money’s worth. The only time I don’t is if I don’t particularly like a product or it’s just okay, then I just try to use it up and as soon as it’s getting hard to squeeze out or apply, change for a new product.
There’s a product called Every Drop. I have not used it myself but it seems cool for those who want to use everything in the package without cutting it or breaking it open. I am not sure if I can post the link but amazon has them if anyone is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/Every-Drop-Beauty-Spatula/dp/B0069VYSFM
Agree with Christine. If I loved it I will use it until there is nothing left. If something was expensive but was eh, I usually just give it to a friend when I tire of it. If it’s making me break out or irritating my eyes, I trash it. Too many dupes these days to be uncomfortable.
Usually I try to use up all of a product, specifically with Skin care, foundation and setting powder as I use those frequently enough that they tend not to expire before I get to the bottom.
However, if something has expired it gets tossed no matter how much is left.
Depends! Usually if I like it I will get every bit out.
As far as sense enables. With powders, blushes, etc as the pan becomes bigger it gets harder to get some product on the brush…. and then the edges crumble. When it takes too much time, effort and it gets messy, it’s time to move on.
As for lipstick or foundation – I put what’s left into a mini travel jar. And never use it…
If I love the product enough to use it up that far, then yes! I have one of those little spatulas made for that very use that I saw on Shark Tank (I forgot what they’re called). I use pretty expensive skin care (Perricone MD etc.), and it never ceases to amaze me how many more uses are left, especially in tubes and pump bottles.
Not if its mascara or some other product that goes bad or something I wasn’t all that crazy about. If it’s LE or discontinued I’d probably get that last bit to send to 3Custom Color.