Overall, not so much! I feel like with the slow down in releases (more in the middle of the year), I was able to explore some new, more indie brands that I might not have had time for.
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Absolutely. I pay a lot more attention to indie brands and have become much more interested in bold colorful looks.
I am demanding far less perfection of myself than I have in the past and that filters down to makeup as well. I am bare-faced most days. Makeup has become more of a select pleasure rather than a daily grind.
I used to be seriously on top of myself in terms of lashes, nails, hair with my next appointments always booked a couple of months in advance. Covid has me not willing to take the increased exposure risk for something non-necessary. And besides.. My piano fingers are far happier without the nails.
Also wanted to add I am narrowing the gap between what I need and what I want. I cherry pick with a more discerning eye.
I was also on top of myself with my brow grooming (every 2-3 weeks) and haircuts (every 3 months). If I touch my eyebrows, I damage them. 😅
Since the pandemic started I only had my eyebrows groomed and shaped (except plucking the extra hairs myself) and a haircut (my hair ends were severely split) once each, and I somewhat regret both.
It’s a hard take, because on one side I want to support this type of local businesses, but going through it I just realized how risky they are, even with all safety measures. And I barely got a simple haircut, can’t imagine for people having more complex things done.
I’m not afraid for myself, I’m young and healthy… but I’m just one of those people who couldn’t live with themselves if they knew they spread the diseases to someone with complications.
I’ve been buying much less this year, especially lip products. My wearing of and interest in makeup has really gone down over the last year. Being home 99% of the time since April has gradually put me in too much of a funk to bother.
Same feelings here, like where am I supposed to wear it anyways? I’ve bought half of my usual amount this year as a direct result.
Big hugs. It’s been a really rough year for you aside from COVID. Hopefully, next year will be better for all of us.
Oh Rachel, that makes me sad! In the beginning I was feeling the same way but as this has drug on (and on, and on) I started digging into things I hadn’t used and wearing bold stuff around the house just to make myself happy! I hope you find your joy again soon. Hugs.
Thank you, Dannell! I’m sure it will return once the vaccine is available and it’s safer to go out. I’m also going to start therapy next year after our insurance switches. I’m glad you’re rediscovering your collection, and it makes you happy. It gives me hope!
2020 bites! I thought I got rid of the grief in my life when I ditched the man.. I love being single and living alone, but Covid is a whole ‘nuther level. 🤗
It really is! At least things should be getting better soon for all of us. (And the man just would have made this all worse!)
👍👍👍🤣
It’s absolutely changed, to the point that I recently de-stashed a large bulk of my makeup pile.
Thanks to masks, quarantines, and just general depression, I’ve pivoted my focus toward skincare, and I’ve begun favoring cosmetics with skin-friendly ingredients built into it (like the Kosas lip oils and La Mer’s foundation). I’ve even begun a less is more approach to application, with the hope that the finished look LOOKS like skin (aside from my smoky eye, I still do smoky eyes because it’s all I know haha!).
In January I was still a full coverage queen. Now, I’m happy with light coverage – or even just a dusting of powder over my SPF and calling it sufficient.
Oh yeah, most definitely more eye focused than lip focused due to our current situation of being in the midst of a global pandemic necessitating mask wearing. I do still wear lip color, though. Either a dry-down liquid matte lipstick or a sheer, glossy nude lip.
Also, I’ve had to take even better care of my complexion than before due to “maskne”. That’s been a real pain in the butt, because I’m 61 and really not expecting my skin to act 16!
Yes, I’m prioritizing Black-owned indie brands, and I’ve found some wonderful gems!
Ooh! Please share! I’m always on the lookout for new Black-owned businesses to buy from!
Thankfully, I lam in a deep love affair with Pat McGrath, so even when I’m not going Indie, I am still supporting a Black woman.
Still I would love some more feedback and reviews of Black-owned Indies if you have the time!
Hey Katie, absolutely!
JD Glow has been incredible for years, especially with their pressed multichromes. Umm and No Way are my favorites. If you want any shadow recs, let me know! I’m happy to share.
Marena Beaute has incredibly pigmented products made for darker skin. The shades are deep and luscious.
Ace Beaute is my latest discovery, and I’m in love! I found my perfect rainbow palette, and it’s tropical and bright: the Slice of Paradise palette. When the RBK x Colourpop palette came out, I was interested but then saw a similar palette with a lot more vibrant oomph: the Flair palette. I bought both Ace palettes on BF, recently received them, and have been bathing in color! I strongly recommend this fabulous brand!
Thank you!!
I’ve stopped wearing mascara daily – too much trouble to take off at the end of the day. I’ve decided that on Zoom calls, with glasses on, it doesn’t make much difference. I just line my eyes for a bit of definition. Moving away from concealer – just putting on a little extra CC cream if needed. I’ve taken eyeshadow down a notch – evening out my lid color w/ CC cream/powder & darkening my crease, unless I’m really in the mood for more. Still do contour and have fallen in love with blush & coordinating it more intentionally w/ lips (I rarely am outside w/ strangers, so masking doesn’t interfere.) . Sometimes there’ll be more, but I now consider myself ‘done’ after these basics. Do I look worse? I’m thinking not. Do I have less fun/ less creativity in my life? It doesn’t feel that way.
My usage has not changed very much. I like putting on makeup so I am wearing it everyday although I am focusing on what remains visible when wearing a mask. I am trying to be more mindful about purchases, however, generally buying less and shopping indie brands and small stores when I can. To the extent I need to go big, I am preferring Nordstrom over Sephulta because they have begun accepting empties for recycling.
I still wear makeup every week day, because I need for my mental sanity and productivity to have that moment to switch to work from home mode. But I don’t wear lipstick anymore and I don’t apply makeup during weekends because there’s no events to go to. Otherwise, my routine and approach is the same. I had a streamlined routine and collection even pre-pandemic.
My feelings exactly. Putting on makeup every weekday makes me feel like I have a purpose plus it is the one time of day that I feel like life is normal.
And we appreciate the dip in to the indies!!!
I decided to try panning products since I wasn’t going out to buy new ones and it’s really made me realize how product much even minis contain. That’s really made me cut back on even wanting to buy new stuff since I already have more than I can realistically use.
My approach to wearing makeup/beauty this year hasn’t really changed. I still wore a ‘full face’ every single day, simply because I was not going to let this virus or our long, long lockdowns defeat my spirit.
I like how makeup makes me feel colourful, bright and energetic -my only concession was to not always wear mascara (a hassle to get off and besides, I wear glasses).
I enjoyed playing with my makeup and creating different combinations of eyeshadows to wear, using Christine’s suggestions in creative combos (which I have saved).
I didn’t purchase any new makeup, I decided I would use what I have.
My look used to be mascara, highlighter, and a fun and/or neutral lip. Now it’s, “Wow I can’t be bothered to use this stuff during a pandemic,” and I haven’t bought any lip products almost all year. I miss sparkly glosses!
I did a full face of makeup for Thanksgiving dinner which was the first time since March. Something I used to really enjoy doing seemed like such a chore. Some nights, I don’t even have the motivation to wash my face. I have kept up with my skin care and regular hair cut and color. Nails were the first thing to go. Even though I can go into Ulta and Sephora the enjoyment of the shopping experience is gone. I don’t know if that will ever come back now that I am basically feral.
Oh yes, for sure ! It changed a lot !
It went from “compulsive buying stuff I saw and found pretty” to “compulsivly putting it in wishlits, and waiting for change of mind, review, and/or sales, and most importantly thinking about how I will use it for real, and if it will suits me and what I like to do with my make-up”.
It didn’t change really because of a more strict budget (I now have rent to pay, but I still have money to spare for my hobbies (Lego and Make-up) after the rent and the bills, I’m not counting pennies, and I have the luck to work in a field that kinda thrive in the after-crisis wolrd, we just had to survive the hardest part, and we did, so, I’m lucky for that. I’m just more reasonnable in my pulsions.
I also discovered BeautyBay, and their own brand, and, not being a pro MUA, and not even using make-up daily (I have some phase before when I was wearing makeup everyday, and phase when I was looking like a goblin, it didn’t really matters in my field of work ; Lead Dev/IT, and recently, I’m happy when I go outside to go visit my mom when she needs me, and I wear makeup just for that !), I like their formula, it’s enough for me, and it’s so affordable. I’m kinda sad that Christine doesn’t go for these brands, or some other affordable brands (like Sample Beauty, I purchased some palettes recently, affordable, and enough quality for my skills). Maybe they would all get Ds or Fs though, and I would made me sad at the end of the day, but, it’s enough for me, the colors are pretty, and it makes me happy because I can have all those beautiful palettes and not going broke !
In France at least, BeautyBay have more affordable brands than Sephora here. I never go to other stores like Marionnaud or Nocibé, their range of products doesn’t suits me that much (pretty much have the same offer than Sephora). And I don’t buy when I don’t know the duties and taxes in advance too (I learned that lesson a fear years ago, never again), so, it eliminates a lot of indies from the US for example.
I recently declutter 10 palettes from my first phase, given to my MIL, who gave some to her young niece (with little to no make-up, and not really the monye for, she had Tarte and Huda Beauty Palettes for the most, so, not the worst).
I have to say I discovered Holo Taco, and I really love their products, and you pay taxes and duties directly, no surprises, I like that. And I tried my first PMG products, the Celestial Palettes, and one quad, just to try it, but I khow I will never buy a 125 euros palette for 10 pans in the futures, I wanted to jump on the hype train, and profits from the Black Friday sales. For the giggles, I purchased the two the same day, My Holo Taco packages arrived last week, I’m still waiting for the PMG one…
So yeah, my approached changed a lot this year.
This year, my approach to beauty has been more simple and geared toward skincare. It’s been mostly drugstore skincare. For zoom calls, I’ve been doing brows, tinted spf, MLBB lip, and bronzer: I might start trying to cut my own hair, as I live with older people and don’t want to risk passing COVID onto them.