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How do you feel about the amount of beauty collections/launches that happen each year? Too few? Too many? Just right?
I am constantly overwhelmed, and I think as a customer, I would feel lost very often! It seems like every brand is coming out with a little more each year.
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It feels like overkill to me. No one consumer needs as much as gets put out in any given year. So much comes out that I always wonder if it’s worth buying that or if I should wait for something better!
I agree. The other brands comes out basically seasonal collections which is reasonably. That means their permanent collection doesn’t neglected. MAC comes out with TOO MANY collections, I agree that it must overwhelm Christine, because much of her work has to do with keeping up with their limited edition collections. Their permanent products get neglect. I also agree that their quality is down graded with them. They need to reduced to 4 to 5 a year.
MAC annoys me to no end. I’m fine with the other brands.
Ditto!
I agree, especially since it means that a lot of Christine’s time is spent reviewing their collections (which often don’t perform too well) instead of focusing on other products such as permanent ones. I fully respect Christine’s choices and work ethic, I am just annoyed at MAC for being so overwhelming.
MAC definitely needs to focus on quality over quantity these days. Too bad they aren’t seeming to get the message so long as their special packaging sells out.
Same here!
I’ve given up on trying to keep up with anything. There’s way to much to wrap my head around!
I find them overwhelming. MAC in particular seems to swamp us with collections that are almost impossible to keep up with unless you can spend $500 or more a month on makeup. I would like to see fewer collections/launches but more products of high quality. I also find it just frazzles me when so many collections come out (not just from MAC but from all the companies). I just feel like my head is swimming from trying to take it all in, figure out which items I truly need or really want. It’s all more than a bit too much. Choice is good but being inundated isn’t so good.
I agree with all that you said about quality vs quantity.
Another problem I have is the limited edition stuff. It’s VERY annoying really like a product/shade only to have it discontinued. However, I my taste in makeup is on the conservative side…..
It’s overwhelming. Obviously you can’t get everything, and you always have to consider the stock you have. I mean you can not keeping buying foundations (or eyeshadows or lipsticks or whatever) no matter how good they look because you already have 3 or 4 or 5 (or more) at home.
Do we really need that much? I looove makeup but I can’t keep up, honestly.
This is the main reason I’ve made a concerted effort to stay loyal to a handful of brands. For one, I’ve found them all to be consistent, and I also find they don’t inundate the collections with LE items, or more than 4-5 collections a year.
I’ve become very loyal to NARS for the aforementioned reasons. With few exceptions, each new product gets placed among the permanent range, which gives me time to check out the product for myself. UD also does well; although they release LE palettes, they tend to be available for a decent amount of time, and they often include mainly permanent shades, or shades that will eventually be released as singles.
Conversely, I all but avoid brands like MAC, which have a collection out every other week, and other brands that have collections made up of entirely LE products.
I feel like, when there are more than 5 to 6 releases by a brand a year, that it can be overwhelming.
It doesnt matter how many collections each brand may come out each year. One has to have self-control to buy makeup, clothes, furniture, gadgets etc. I frankly like all the collections that come out even if MAC comes out with a ridiculous number of collections. It gives me choices and make companies competitive to produce the best for the consumers. I may go to the store to look, test and swatch or take a sample home, but it does not mean I am going to buy the product. After a while, we all choose our favorites and what works for us and even that may change….or when the SA at Sephora insults me. That is why I love makeup. You can always change the brand and the color in a flash….unlike tattoos.
Therein lies the problem… Not *all* brands focus on “quality”. In my opinion, if it’s not good enough to make it into the permanent range, and a brand has to *rely* on cheap marketing tactics in order to sell a product, the brand as a whole just isn’t worth my time. If they want my money, the *least* they can do is afford me the opportunity to try the product, and actually purchase it.
Honestly? Could they put the time into quality and creativity over quantity?
I am almost afraid to walk into a store. The sales ladies are all ready to pounce and I rarely find something truly interesting and new to buy. You know we all have enough of items we like now in our stashes that we really only “need” the truly improved, spectacular or innovative. I sometimes find myself buying items just because I feel sorry for them. And then I give them away after two weeks.
So many that it’s losing its magic for me.
Mac for sure need to stop lol
I definitely thing there are too many “new” launches. It’s hard to keep up with the many new lines…especially when they’re not any big change/very new
It’s overwhelming even for a regular beauty addict : too many collections, sometimes no artistic dimension, always the same story but I love makeup so…. Maybe rehab would help ? lol
I think there are constantly a lot of launches, and both as a blogger and as a consumer I have to pick which brands/launches I look into carefully! I love to read about everything just to have an idea, but I can’t try all of it! Here in Europe summer is very quiet though. Brands don’t launch anything before everybody is back from their summer holidays, so I’m going to kick back for a bit.
Over the past 2 years I really lost interest in new collections. There are too many new collections and companies. The whole blogging community spreads the information of new products / collections within seconds around the world.
I really like the variety as I’m very particular with the products I buy. I’m so pale that most colours ect look a bit weird on me. As long as the quality doesn’t suffer and there’s no crazy limited edition rush going on that is. In other words, don’t like how MAC handle it, but am fine with most other brands.
It does become overwhelming. So many new collections. So many limited edition collections. It can take me months before I can go back and try a product. With that, I’ve become more reliant on your blog to help me prioritize or sort through the material. I know for every collection there may only be one or two things I actually want and are worth the cost. With every new LE item I buy from MAC, the more I often realize how unsatisfying it is when you feel like you have one shot to buy an item and it’s a gamble on whether the quality lives up.
When a brand like Urban Decay releases a limited edition palette, I’m more likely to have my interest piqued. I can wait for reviews to show me it’s something I don’t have without feeling like I’ll miss out by waiting. I don’t want pressure. I want to know I’m getting quality items.
Feels like Mac comes out with a collection every 2 weeks. That is overkill. Prefer NARS collections which remain on the line for a while.
I’m fine with companies that have single seasonal releases. MAC’s multiple releases throughout the year actually has the opposite effect from what they probably intend – I have absolutely no interest now in their products, whereas I used to buy quite a bit from the brand.
Overwhelmed! especially with Mac, they come out with new collections at the drop of a hat.
It’s too much. I am very loyal to mac as far as lipstick and brushes go however the number of LE collections is just getting silly. There is two for summer alone so far and it’s only mid-June.
Unfortunately, this will continue because it works. Every LE collection causes a huge influx of customers caught up in the hype, they sell out like hot cakes. I am guilty myself. I still have Archie girl eyeshadow I never touched.
As a blogger, I feel totally lost and overwhelmed, because I just can’t keep up with all the testing. I start showing spring and instantly we are already waiting for summer. As a buyer, I just stopped buying MAC products altogether, because it is very difficult to score all the collections. I feel like I need to spend all my free time running around stores waiting for them to be on display. Annoying 🙁
It’s definitely overwhelming. I like the main collections that come out each season, but it’s the random ones in between that drive me crazy.
I prefer to hang my hat with the co’s that produce a handful of seasonal releases each year at best. The rest is getting easier and easier to avoid and I rationalize away a lot of potential purchases at this stage. The whole MAC scene has me completely turned off. I’m finding it more fun to employ some strategy and plan and gets my hands on the products I really want and less on the products that feel like a whim when I buy as they are so rarely satisfying in the long run.
Personally I like to see LE collections because I find it entertaining even if I´m not going to buy anything anyway since many LE collections are never launched here in my country, and we don´t have as many brands, we just have the main classic French brands, Chanel, Ysl, Guerlain, Givenchy, Dior, Lancôme, and then some American ones like Too faced, Estee Lauder, Bobbi Brown and Mac, and really we only get some of the collections from Mac not all, right now we have the Temperature Rising one and it has been here for two weeks or more and they still have many items it definitely doesn´t sell out fast here. For the other brands it may take a long time before something launches and the products linger for a long time. I only have one LE item from Mac and all the other makeup I have is from permanent lines.
Most beauty company’s have a good balance while launching new collections. MAC however goes way overboard. They will launch a new Limited Edition collection without rhyme or reason. I’ve stopped jumping onto the bandwagon regarding any of their new launches. I have my tried and true favorites from MAC, and I just stick to them.
I believe there are way too many collections. In the past I’ve been excited and was part of the rush to get the next new item. Over the last couple of months I’ve given away a lot of products to my friends. Now I really enjoy looking at the collections but I am very picky about what I will purchase. I lean more towards staple products and will only replace products that I love and have run out of.
I really dislike them, as basically all their products are going to be LE. And I have irrational hate, fear and trauma of LE. My first (and favorite) good blush ever, Chanel Mystery, was a LE and now I compare all blushes to it.
But constant launches are annoying for the reasons all the previous commenters stated, too.
I agree they can be very overwhelming and just plain annoying. I tend to stick to higher end brands that focus on just doing seasonal collections with very few additional releases. I really love Tom Ford, Le Metier de Beaute (although they were going crazy with the LE kaleidoscopes for a while), Nars, Guerlain, Giorgio Armani and YSL. For the most part their releases are very well edited, products are available when I go to purchase and I never feel the pressure to buy EVERYTHING. I can get a few things from whatever brand and then keep it moving. I also like that these brands typically release closer to the actually start of the season. It is crazy to me that Chanel already released their fall stuff. For god sakes, summer just officially started on Friday!!!
I love to read all of the product reviews! I don’t tend to purchase much, so my wallet is safe :).
Many more collections per season : ) and limited editions : (
It just make me think we get more choices, but we are actually attracted to buy more stuff (It can be good as more new formula is out.
The problem is, if we are not attached to the news, we can’t get one as lower stock comescwith more launch ss well.
I love variety and options! Even if the collection isn’t suited to me I enjoy looking at and testing new things! So glad I’m living in a time of various makeup options and collections. When my Mom was young there was very little makeup choices especially for women of color. Now the skies the limit!! Hope the beauty companies keep the creativity vast!
Honestly, when I first started getting into makeup I found it overwhelming. I found myself compelled to buy products because they were new and limited edition; I felt like if I didn’t buy something I would be missing out. Now that I’ve gotten older, I’ve become very picky. I’m not interested in the majority of collections that are released because they simply don’t offer things I would wear. I’ve pretty much stopped paying attention to collections except for fall or holiday ones. I don’t want to buy things I wouldn’t use and I don’t want to worry about whether or not I can get my hands on a LE item.
I like all the releases! My stash is so big that I’ve gotten extremely selective about what I buy, but the new collections give me something to look at and read about. I see it as entertainment–sorry if it makes a lot of work for you, Christine!
I think it is honestly too much. With all the collections that are coming out a brands more permanent products gets pushed to the back like with MAC and sometimes the quality goes down as well. And for people who are just getting into make up, it would be so overwhelming for them
For the most part it’s a marketing mechanism to get consumers to purchase more than they need. They advertise these products as limited edition, which if the consumer is loyal to that brand they feel the need to go get it, simply because it’s “limited edition”. Do we really need it however? No, but we do anyways- lol.
I agree with most posts here that MAC releases way too many collections a year. One month, I counted 3 collections. They may be small but adding that up is costly if you bought everything!
I usually just purchase what interests me from certain collections. If a collections colors, products don’t interest me I just don’t purchase it.
I have learned that you will go crazy just keeping up with all the collections out there. Just stick to the brands you like and pick from there! 🙂
I feel its too many and I’m often left disappointed as I can’t afford something I like from a collection as my budget is spent from the previous.
It’s getting to be 1 or 2 per month and I can’t keep up :0( I want to buy from the new mac but I prob won’t afford it :0(
As a customer I personally think brands should focus on bringing a couple of really good collections to the market each year (one or two each season) instead of overwhelming us with crap. This way they can focus on quality, research and packaging rather than creating a collection within one month which affects the quality.
There are way too much of them now. Variety is good, but limited editions that vanish fast? And that amount of them? Overwhelming, especially MAC xD I’ve been following launches for only like a year, but their new launches are like fast food. Same with perfume launches, countless flankers and spin offs, yet they can’t invent anything new! So, I’m fine with season launches, maybe even 4 in a year, but that’s maximum. Anything else is like creating hype and buzz, like, oooh it’s a LE! .. and making cash xD
I think it’s pretty ridiculous actually… But it works for them, they get people into a frenzy about limited edition products and they make their sales.