Do you try to force yourself to finish up products you dislike or that don’t work for you? Or do you get rid of them? Ignore them?
I might try to see if there’s a friend that it would work better on. If I didn’t like it, though, I don’t think I’d force myself to finish it.
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if I can return something that I don’t like, I’ll always return it. but I’ve got a small pile of non-returnable products in the bottom of my case that I just don’t like. I’ll eventually throw them out, but if I don’t like something, I won’t use it. forcing myself to use up a product I don’t like takes the fun out of makeup! and if it’s a skincare product, I’d rather have money go to waste than use something that breaks me out or irritates my skin or whatever.
I give it away (:
Nope, I give it away.
I try and see if I can use it for another purpose or if close friends may have use for it but otherwise I’ll just move on to something else.
No way! I love makeup and there’s no reason to make it unfun. If it’s something expensive, I’ll try to give it to a friend or family member, but otherwise, I have no problem just tossing it.
I definitely try, but I don’t succeed very often! I can almost never justify throwing away makeup, so I just save what I don’t like. I wish I had friends.
no id return it if i could and if not id give it to my sister lol
If it’s a product that breaks me out or I know I’m allergic to, I wouldn’t want to force myself to deal with the consequences and would rather pass it on to someone who might appreciate it more.
I’m not sure why I’d have it in the first place if it didn’t work for me or if it was something I didn’t like, lol. I take the time before purchasing to really make sure the product is something I’ll actually use. I tend not to buy products unless I’ve tested/sampled beforehand because I hate returning stuff. The only time I can remember returning a cosmetic product is when I’ve been given the wrong shade/product. If I have a legitimate reason to return, I have no problem doing so. If I’m just over a product, and I know I won’t use it anymore, I will give it to a family member or friend who wants it…if it’s sanitary to do so, anyway.
Side question: Am I the only one who gets annoyed by chronic returners? Or people who just return stuff with the stupidest reason? I understand returning stuff you bought at a drugstore if it sucks because you can’t test it beforehand. I understand returning something purchased online that couldn’t be tested in person. But people who go to the store and can sample and test products that don’t then just return all the time…bugs the crap out of me!
No, you are definitely not the only one who finds this annoying. I’ve returned makeup only three times. One because I accidentally ordered the wrong pallete, and I already had a backup, another time because the shadow was broken before I even left the mall, and I just recently returned the Sephora Moonbaked Pallettes because they irritated my eyes (I even tried them several times to be sure it wasn’t something else irritating my eyes). Chronic returning is a big reason cosmetic prices go up. Even without a tester available, some purchases are just common sense. For example, it is extremely rare to find an exact foundation match, so you may have to blend shades. Also, certain brands are known for certain characteristics, ie, Urban Decay. There were so many complaints on the Naked 2 pallette about the lack of matte shades, yet on UD’s site,the color descriptions were stated very clearly. Besides, UD is known for shimmer & glitter; apparently the matte shades weren’t big sellers, as they have been DC’d. And everyone knew there would be another Half Baked… So, because so many had to be the first to have this, only to subsequently return, some of us (who actually *wanted* this) had to wait awhile to get this. The same for LE products. If you don’t want a glittery, neon-yellow eyeshadow, for example, don’t buy it; leave it for someone who actually *will* wear it.
Personally, if I buy a color that doesn’t work, I blend it with something else and make it work. I also read color descriptions before ordering. I don’t wear blue eyeshadow, for example, so why would I buy it?
UHHHHHHHHHH! Don’t get me started. When you work in cosmetics long enough you see and hear things about returns that just blow your mind. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scammers out there who want something for nothing and in the end the loyal, non-crazy consumer is the one who suffers because markups climb.
Eh, I highly doubt people abusing the lenient US return policy has to do with the gradual mark-up. First of all, We do not have such a policy in Europe (once it’s opened, it’s yours: you can’t even return it if it breaks you out!) and our cosmetics are a) 30-50% more expensive on average, and b) prices increase at the same rate.
Personally, I’m very picky with what I buy, so I’ve never actually had to return a high-end product. I’d know no shame doing so if I payed something like 70$ for a product that I ended up not liking though.
When I have a chance I always get a sample!!! I hate returning makeup too!! So far I returned one item because it broke me out 🙁
Nope, not really. If I think it’d work on a friend, I’d gladly hand it over. If I don’t think it can possibly work on anyone, I chuck it!
Absolutely not. Normally, I’ll give a product a week or at least 2-3 uses; if it’s not a good fit, the item goes back to the seller, to a friend or out of my house through the trash or cleaning the container out and recycling it. Life is too short for product drama.
I do unless its actually causing me pain (burn/rash/breakout) I don’t have anyone to share my unloved products with and I just can’t bring myself to throw things away and waste the money
I pass on things I don’t like to friends or family. One of them will usually end up liking it. 🙂
It depends how much it cost me! If it cost a fortune I’d HAVE to finish it just because I couldn’t waste loads of money on a product and then not use it. But if it was cheap I probs wouldn’t mind just binning it.
If anything doesn’t look good on me I pass it on. Foundation especially. I rather it go to a good home then left forgotten and unused.
i wear these products whenever my make up doesn’t have to be perfect because i’m staying at home or whatever..
if a product does not work for me at all i give it to my sister or to a friend!
Yes, and it’s so hard. After being obsessed with makeup for only a year, the obsession has faded and I no longer want to wear makeup of any kind. I keep telling myself that I will use out all the eyeshadows that I have, but wearing makeup feels so wrong to me now that I don’t have it in my heart to do so, and I’m not close to any eyeshadow wearers who would willingly take them.
I still enjoy staring at makeup and reading good reviews, which is why I come here. XD
Eh, I go through phases where I care more about makeup than others. If you’re talking about an item that will still probably be okay to use if you randomly decide to pick it up a year or two from now, like a powder eyeshadow or a lipstick, I’d hang on to some of that stuff anyway. Especially if it’s higher quality. If it’ll stay okay stored well, there’s not a need to force yourself to wear it all or give it all away.
If it’s something like moisturizer or sunblock that broke me out, I’ll use it on my arms/legs where I will be least likely to break out. But if it’s an eyeshadow or blush that doesn’t suit me I’ll most likely ignore them and toss them out when they expire. I do try to see if I can give away things to my friends also.
If there is only a little left, or if it is something I can actually finish in a reasonable amount of time I will make myself use it.
However if it irritates my skin I would definitely give it away!
Definitely not – I like to used only my favorite stuff!
I’m considering having a blog sale or something with all my unused stuff, but if I decide not to, I’ll just give it away or throw it away.
I do push myself to be really sure the product’s not going to work, because I’ve had stuff sit unloved for ages and then gone back to it and realized it was brilliant in some way I didn’t appreciate at the time. If it’s just not going to work, I return it if possible, or else give it away.
Absolutely not. If I don’t like it or if it doesnt work for me I wont try to use it up. I might offer it away to someone it would suit more but I would never attempt to force myself to use anything that didnt work for me
Nope, I give ’em away if I can’t figure out a way to use them. Sometimes I keep “okay” products in a pouch and try to use them when I’m only putting makeup on a hurry to do errands or when I’m lazy so I don’t use up the ones I really like. But if the product really doesn’t work out for me, then I give it away to friends and family who are always very happy to get them for free. 🙂
Yes! And it is sooo annoying, I just hate throwing stuff out that I’ve spent money on. I am getting better at this lately though.. 🙂 Threw something out just this morning!
I actually always find another purpose for it, or if it is a product like a lip colour, i try mixing it with other lipsticks/lipglosses.
I try to return when/if I know I don’t like something so that’s not really my problem. My problem is I like one thing and then when something else comes out, I stop liking it.
I am trying to commit to Project 10-Pan.
If I can return the product, I will. I try not to return too often because I don’t feel it’s fair to the company, but I also don’t want to waste my money. I usually read a ton of reviews on products I want before buying them to avoid having to return them, but sometimes I buy a product and it just does not work out for me. If I have something I can’t return, I’ll either find someone to give it to or try to use it up. If a product has been sitting in my makeup drawer for 6mo-year and I haven’t used it, I’m okay with throwing it away.
If I can return it, I’ll return it. If not, I’ll try to sell/swap/give to Polish friend that can’t get American things there in Poland.
Never ! If my skin doesn’t like some beauty products, she has good reasons for it. When I want to finish up a product I use it as a moisturizer for my feet. When something doesn’t work I never use it twice on my face.
Nope I give it to my daughter or nieces.
In the past I’ve tried to, but the last year or two I’ve made an effort to get rid of all the barely-used products that take up otherwise useful space. When I was still in college I’d leave everything that was sanitary to share on the bathroom counter for my sorority sisters to help themselves; it invariably disappeared within days (or hours).
Now that I’ve graduated it’s harder, but I can usually pass it on to my younger sister, who is still in school and has a lower makeup budget. We’re both fair-skinned, but she’s cool-toned while I’m rather yellow, so many products that don’t work on me (like the $40 Hourglass eyeshadow duo that just wasn’t flattering) look fantastic on her. If she likes it, I can at least feel my money wasn’t totally wasted.
For washing skincare that doesn’t work for my face, it gets used on my back (since I have acne on my back…) or feet.
For lotions and moisturizers, all over body.
Inexpensive makeup that sucks (like crap pigmentation or just quality issues, not reaction-to-my-skin issues) is given away or used for days when I just feel like painting my face. LOL
Inexpensive makeup that breaks me out or gives me a reaction is given away or tossed.
Expensive makeup is returned if possible, but if it can’t be and the quality sucks, I will force myself to use it up. =/ If it breaks me out or something, I will give it away.
As for returns: I’ve returned items in the past if they caused irritation (happened once, my skin’s not sensitive) or didn’t live up to their claims (eyeshadow primer that creased and wore off within hours, expensive acne device that did not discernibly do anything). If I return something just because I changed my mind, it’s unused and unopened–after that, I figure I have to “eat” my mistake.
I can’t force myself to finish up products that I don’t like. I usually just try to give them to my mom or sister. If they don’t want it, into the garbage it goes! 😛
Depends on what it is and why it doesn’t work for me. If it’s just a skincare product, usually I will use it anyway unless it gives me a strange reaction (knock on wood that hasn’t happened yet), so I just suck it up and use it and look for a different product in the mean time. Usually with actual makeup, I haven’t come across anything I don’t like. If the color is “off” I will mix it with other colors to make it worthwhile.
I do not try to finish a product that doeesnt work for me, and i dont tend to return them back to the store either, so it just ends up hanging around. I do ziplock all my products in these bags i found that have a middle section, and you can fold it over likee lets say its lipsticks from one brand, ill put them in one half of the ziplock, and then the other half and then store them folded ths is a good way to keep the product from going bad i do that with all my products and you can also unzip the middle so that its a full ziplock bag, and put stuff in there, and then store it likee that as well i have an area where the products i either purchased and dont use or i have the same color i had purchased again, and dont bother to return i will keep that also in a ziplock bag and in a different location. But i have a growing makeeup draweer and theen on top of it plastic bins two of them i probably need an addditional one, to add to it, for more products. Cause have a shopping addiction to makeup and products. So thats what i do, i only throw away that which i have used all the product if a product doesnt work for me on thee first attempt i will not use it again and throw it in a ziplock to keep it freesh, as i do with all products, this seems to make products last, and ill give it to my mom or friends if they can use it, and i think its easy to get rid of the top layeer for lipsticks its a little tricky with powder, but usually ill know by swatching the powder if its correct and if ive only swatched with a clean hand, thats still a full good product, people can wipe that swatched area with alchol and use it, so If someone wants it or i have a double i will givee it away. Most people dont mind about thee swatch. or can wipe the lipstick with alcohol or cut it the top layer if they are concerned but i dont continue to use something that doesnt work, i might do that if it was someething real expensivee, but usually its not. I used to be concerned and buy brand name stuff from sephora but i stopped that, becausee the drugstore makeup is getting to be good quality stuff, and some the same if not better then high end, the only difference to drugstore and high end thesee days to me atleast is the packaging. And thats what your paying for.
The burberry lipstick it looks beautiful even thee way they cut the lipstick looks beautiful, The markings, i just looks great, and its a pretty color, however im sure you can find the exact same color at the drugstore that looks exactly the same on, but your paying for the packaging. Thats really what it ammounts to. Its not neccesarily true that the burbery makeup is better quality ive noticed most of the makeup sais designed in uk or usa, but made in china, and thats the case for drugstore also a few things at drugstore are made in italy or denmark, also i have to say about the fake mac products on ebay, people have raved about it, some have complained, however where do you think that mac has its products made? They are mass produced and they would charge a lot more if it was made in usa, so if its made in china you can bet that the knockoffs, are not very different from the original it just depends on the factory and their specifications. So is it really fake if its made by the same factories? No its usually extras, or the same exact thing, its not reeally diffeerent. And that is the samee with the coastal sceents palettes cause the ebay china palettes, seem to have the same exact colors in the same exact spots, and theres many youtube videeos comparing and the only difference is the name thats on the cover, the ones from china that are really cheap on ebay, have no name on the cover, and its the same placement of colors, its the same thing, anyone by thee way can have their name put on those palettes in fact thats how companies that make these palettes make money is they put their namee on the product that is madee in china and they get their packaging from china too. We learned this in fashion merchandising class. And this goes with designer clothing, and a lot of other things that you would be shocked to know where it really comes from and whats its really worth pricewise. Cause people are selling these things under certain brand name for 400X more then what they originally cost to make wholesale. So those companies are making a lot of mmoney off a product that cost very little to make.
No, if I don’t like a product I throw it away or give it away to friends or teenies.
Nope. I always find a family or friend who likes it!
I try to find a way to use it or give it away to a friend or my mom or sister 🙂
No way, I’m too old and I need all the help I can get in order to look good! I might try to pawn the product off on my mother or sister, but this usually fails.
I usually try to return it if I can. If not, I’ll keep it and see if I can somehow make it work. Oftentimes, products grow on me and I find myself loving something I thought I was going to end up keeping in my collection ’til the end of time. Haha.
Actually I do force myself just because I own so few full-sized products, that it feels odd to return something that I’ve spent so much time researching. For example, the MUFE HD Foundation. While the color is quite perfect (117) and the finish is beautiful (satin-matte), the longevity just doesn’t cut it for full work days (9-10 hours). After about 4-5 hours, even with powder, it will separate and I will look like a greasy mess that needs touching up every hour or so aftewards. Therefore, I try to use this foundation when I’m going out at night time with friends, where I’m out maybe 5 hours maximum.
My friend at Sephora, after hearing this debacle, encouraged me to return or even exchange it, since the wear-time is just awful. I’m debating it, but I’m thinking about mixing the HD with other foundations to improve the longevity. Maybe the EL Double Wear or the MUFE Mat Velvet Plus, or the new Teint Idole 24H. Suggestions?
In skin and body care I generally try to use them up but I often use more product than necessary to finish it up sooner. Sometimes I repurpose a shower gel for deep cleansing my brushes or use a face moisturizer on my legs. I hate to be wasteful!
If it was a gift and I think/know the other person will gift me something similar again, I’ll try to let them know. They deserve to know – in a friendly manner – if I liked their gift or not. And I figure they will be more happy in the end too.
In make-up I’ll try to swap it away or give it family/friends.
Yes. Garnier bb cream is the one I’m using up right now, I have 3-4 days left. I know I’ll cry tears of relief when its done. How do I know this? Because I cried said tears when I finished my Laura Mercier secret brightening powder.
If it’s drugstore makeup I barely used and can’t return (eyeshadow, nail polish, blush, or lipstick) I give it to a friend I think would appreciate it.
For prestige cosmetics I try to do my homework by reading reviews and swatches on the internet. I’ll go to the store to try it on myself to see if it works for me. So I usually don’t return makeup I swatch myself. I have made some internet purchases I can’t test in real life that I’ve had to return or give away.
For skin care I’ll return or pass along if it’s not working for me. Sometimes I’ll donate opened beauty products I can’t pawn off/return to church rummage/garage sales there are people who will purchase them. Hey, it gets them off my hands!