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Have you ever been in a makeup rut?


Have you ever been in a makeup rut? If not, how do you keep yourself out of one? If so, how did you get yourself out?

Oh, of course! One of the best things about the beauty industry is that there is always something new and exciting just around the corner, so for me, it is often some new product (or new-to-me) that will get me out of any funk I’m in. Then there’s always games you can play with yourself – like close your eyes and grab a few random products, so then you can get your creative juices flowing to create a cohesive look out of what you grabbed.

Thanks to Alison for today’s question! Do you have a question idea? Submit yours here.

15 Comments

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xamyx Avatar

It depends what you mean by “rut”. If you mean not having any ideas what to do, then no. If you mean losing interest/motivation, then yes.

I have such a large stash that I’m never at a loss of ideas, and if I get bored with something, there’s always something that’s been “forgotten” about that I can pull out. I still haven’t even touched my UD Vice & Smoked palettes, and I’ve had those for nearly 2 months. I also have an arsenal of techniques that I’ve honed over the years, and I mix them up quite often. Sometimes I’ll go with an elaborate, full-face, other times I’ll just feel like something simple & basic.

However, there are days (or weeks) when I just don’t feel like wearing anything but sunscreen & lip balm, but I’m okay with it. I’m actually quite happy that I don’t feel I need to wear makeup every day. Then there are the days I’m just too busy, or tired, to bother although I may want to.

Veronica Avatar

Currently in one, haha. We have a dire staff shortage at my hospital, which means I’ve been working way too much overtime lately. I just haven’t had time or energy to play with anything in my collection beyond a few basics for more than a month. I have two brand new palettes sitting on my bureau untouched since I bought them two months ago. They stare at me with their tragically unopened packaging every time I open the drawer, whispering, “Let us love you.”

Lisa M. Avatar

I usually watch makeup hauls/reviews on youtube for inspiration, info, excitement. Sometimes when I watch a fav beauty guru of mine, a tutorial on a look that appeals to me, they make makeup seem so easy and effortless to apply, thats what keeps me so intrigued. the beauty and application of it. Looking at celeb photo’s are also inspirering.

Wwendalynne Avatar

How about for the entire decade of the 90’s. My work was more important, but I also wanted to look polished so I would grab the same old same old day after day..invariably some version of matte brown on my eyes and lips

xamyx Avatar

I worked in a bank with a very conservative dress-code for over 3 years, so I can relate. Still, once a week, or so, I’d sneak just a bit of red or purple eyeliner or shadow in the crease, or a vampy lip, severely blotted.

Wwendalynne Avatar

I was in the world of engineering and high tech catastrophe modelling systems. I ran the Canadian operation for a US firm. Yeah, my makeup was boring~! 😉 It is so wonderful now to be a self-employed farmer.. and wear red lipstick. Get this, one of my neighbours commented in a not so nice way on my on-line avatar because of the red lipstick. Doesn’t matter where you land or what you do, the world is full of judgmental putzes with nothing better to do with their time. .

JGR Avatar

I remember wearing the same taupe eyeshadow and nude lip gloss every day (that I wore makeup) for 3 months straight. Granted it was fall/winter, but still I think I could have been more creative. Eventually I got so tired of the look (and I ran out of taupe shadow and nude gloss), so instead of buying more I just used other colors that I had in my collection.

I still wear neutrals – I haven’t been able to try out brighter colors like green or purple yet, since I’m on a long-term buy-as-little-makeup-as-possible challenge – but I still like to change it up every once in a while. I’ve gotten out of my comfort zone to the point where I don’t really wear the same exact look two days in a row anymore, and I generally don’t repeat looks more than once a week.

Em Avatar

Actually I’m stuck in one right now. I’ve been so busy lately and traveling to see family because it is the holiday season, that I’ve gotten into the habit of wearing the same thing everyday. :/

KaseyCannuck Avatar

I’m in my current rut by choice. I LOVE Maybelline’s Bad to the Bronze Color Tattoo to the point that I rarely wear anything else as my base color. I will change up the crease color and eyeliner though, for a bit of variety.

Maren Avatar

I used to be, especially when my collection became too big to have a constant overview. Nowadays I use a tray and fill it with blushes, eyeshadows, lipsticks etc every 2 weeks and then I have to use each product from the tray at least once. The first plus is I shop my stash every 2 weeks and there are always products that I am excited to put in the tray, also it´s very easy with clothes and nails that way e.g. last time I “shopped” a lot of greens and burgundies, so I wear and paint my nails accordingly and this way I am never in a clothing and polish rut as well.(yes, I am matchy-matchy and am not fond of neonpink nails with Humid and Goldmine on the eyes;-)). I am very happy with this system.

Mariella Avatar

I’m sure the answer is yes but it’s a rut of my own making! I love neutral eye shadows – I’d say 85% of my collection is neutrals and neutral palettes. The looks that I like the best and I’m drawn to try to recreate are almost always neutrals, maybe once in a while with a hit of bright colour but it’s not the main feature of the look. For the most part, I’m just not that comfortable with really bright eye shadow looks or with peculiar colours on my lips or cheeks.

Laia Avatar

I am a bit in one because of my job, being in a masculine environment does not really create chances to think ‘out of the box’ in terms of makeup (or clothes while we are at it), but I try to change the eyeshadows I use often (as long as they are of a similar color – like taking some of the lighter beige shades of UD and TheBalm palettes and adding a darker brown on the crease), then apply some good black eyeliner, black mascara and for autumn winter, go to pink or plum colors for cheeks (changing to corals on spring/summer).

Jennie Avatar

Yes. When I met my fiance’s parents and family for a week. I tried to keep my makeup a little more casual so they wouldn’t think I was superficial (don’t really know them well enough to know how they’d take it). I couldn’t wait to get home and go wild, lol.

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