I mostly wonder where they all come from, who is backing the brand, and why are they releasing. What do they offer that’s different? Why is their viewpoint interesting? There are so many new brands that it is hard to keep up/care about every single new one entering the market at this point.
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Exhausting and leaves me more and more uninterested. Even when trying a new brand it takes me while to jump on board. Colourpop comes to mind. I’ve only bought them recently. Pleasantly surprised but I don’t need it all even if it’s affordable! I was unsure about them bc I didn’t know if their formula would work w my skin. Anyway I know I have way too much makeup due to this explosion of beauty brands. Great that there is variety and it’s fun but increased consumerism and hording of makeup isn’t good. I’m on a no buy with a lot of products bc I just need to reign this all in a bit!
A little bit excited, a little bit annoyed, but mostly, just overwhelmed!
There are some genuinely good brands that offer solid quality in their products. Some fill a unique or underrepresented niche. Others, though, are not anything unique or innovative or even anything to write home about. In other words; there is a substantial glut of new brands that are overcrowding the market and most have nothing much to offer.
Honestly, I find it kind of tiring… while I love a new release, I don’t really think enough of these new brands (or the old ones, really) are setting themselves apart. How many nude liquid lipsticks do we really need? The market is so saturated with samey concepts and releases it makes me want to stop shopping altogether..
I really like the increase in brands and feel that competition is healthy. I do try and support smaller brands and/or Indie brands. I think it is important to support someone who has a passion for their product and if their product is good then I will continue supporting them. Christine is right in that there are so many new brands cropping up and if they bring something new to the table, something that is truly unique then they will likely succeed. Capitalism tends to weed out the really poor start ups. Look at ColourPop and how they entered the beauty market. They started with a couple of products, one of which was really innovative, super shock shadows and one that was more mainstream, lippie sticks. The super shock shadows were the bait and the lippie sticks were the hook. The lippie sticks were really just regular lipsticks but in a smaller amount so that people could afford to buy them and sometimes many of them. Their success with these two products allowed them to expand into product development that was actually more traditional, pressed shadows and liquid lipsticks. I think some of the bigger brands need the competition to stay on trend and to keep their prices in check.
About a year ago I started trying a few of the lesser known brands and I have found some real gem products. I now have a little collection of Nabla e/s, about 15 or so. I have purchased from Devinah Cosmetics, Fyrinnae Cosmetics and a couple of Etsy store brands. I purchased from Sleek many years ago and now they are available at Ulta. The same with Jouer. I like giving the “little guy” a chance.
I am actually the owner of a new cosmetic brand. I come from many years working in the beauty industry and have tried so many brands and formulas and learned so much about skin and beauty; I still found gaps in the industry. My products are exactly how I as a consumer, makeup artist and skin care specialist would desire in a product. My business partner and I have spent a long time discussing whether or not launching yet another beauty brand was even worth it but in the end we decided it most definitely was!! My company has a really beautiful marriage of beauty, healing, natural ingredients and fun! Our big release is a product that has the capability of eliminating TEN products! I feel that all the brands can be overwhelming and I hope the excessive dupe brands/products die down eventually but I still think there’s a chance that new brands can still bring some great products to the table. Hey maybe one day I’ll get to see Christine review some of my products!?
Good luck to you, Emma.
I have long given up trying to be up to date with new releases. I just browse stores and try whatever I stumble upon on.
I’m personally more worried about the quick releases, overused advertising ploys, and drops in quality from old favorites. Trying new brands is good if they are cruelty free and have better quality than the quickly churned out, mass marketed junk.
For me it’s all new. I only started messing around with makeup seriously about a month ago (I’m in my mid 30s), so every brand that’s not Revlon or Cover girl is a discovery. Color Pop is as unknown to me as Lime Crime as is Anastasia as is Basic Bitch. I’m relying a lot on Temptalia to guide me.
I agree – there are too many to keep up with and unless something truly earth-shaking comes along, or a line like Deciem launches and takes pride in selling products at reasonable rather than outrageous profit points, I’m content to stick with brands I know that that have been around a while. It really is “overload” to try to keep up and, in reality, how necessary is yet another pink blush or coral blush or anything just because it’s from some new brand?
Too many. Most of the new cheaper ones all look the same — same products, same colors, even similar packaging, just different names slapped on.
I don’t mind it. I like the access to different choices. Plus, it keeps the prices competitive. I’d rather have multiple products at lower prices, than a few with a monopoly. It can be overwhelming to keep up with it, though! I usually just follow the types of products that interest me.
I don’t bother with them unless they have a packaging or color that really grabs me. I don’t bother with beauty YouTuber’s brands at all, and 9 times out of 10 they are not good. And I don’t really trust collabs either.
Since it’s my personal policy to shop only beauty brands that are cruelty-free, my choices are automatically refined.
So, if 50 new beauty brands launched this week, and three of them were cruelty-free, then 47 of those brands would essentially not exist for me.
That aside, a new brand has to be able to distinguish itself from the “pack” in some way to motivate me to consider shopping it, since I tend to stick with tried-and-true favorites.
An example is NYX: They won me over by being inexpensive and offering a huge selection of shades. Their eyeshadows are about the only ones I freakin’ buy anymore, because they offer so many matte neutral singles, while everyone else is doing palettes, palettes, palettes, palettes, and more palettes. And the price allows me to buy freely.
And the quality keeps me coming back.
Then new brands are great for you! Most newer brands are cruelty free! Most brands that don’t sell in China don’t test on animals, but the bigger ones who do sell to China have to. It’s the law in China. So anything made in China but not sold there might very well be cruelty free, but if it’s sold in China, it’s not. The other thing to think about when buying brands like NYX is whether they are owned by companies that do test on animals. NYX is owned by L’Oreal, who does sell in China, although they have said that they are committed to finding cruelty-free alternatives to satisfy those requirements.
I’m not saying don’t buy – it’s just a matter of what you think. Personally, I think that choosing to buy only from the cruelty free lines of a bigger company like L’Oreal sends a message to the company, but only if enough people are doing it to make the impact. Something to think about, and glad to see people caring enough about cruelty free to put their money where their mouths are.
Bonnie said, “The other thing to think about when buying brands like NYX is whether they are owned by companies that do test on animals. ”
That is a very valid issue.
NYX is owned by animal-tester L’Oreal, and Too Faced is owned by animal-tester Estee Lauder, and I still buy from both NYX and Too Faced. I also make the occasional purchase from Urban Decay, which I believe is owned by L’Oreal.
I still do the majority of my considerable cosmetics buying from companies like Jane Iredale, Colourpop, Blinc, and EccoBella, but I applaud companies like Too Faced who stick to their principles when their parent company doesn’t.
Rave: Beauty is soooo much more fun than when I was a teen in the 80’s. Back then it was only prestige brands or drugstore. Drugstore was nearly always grbage & prestige could be pretty hit or miss too. Your only choice of foundation undertone was pink or orange. Yes, everyone’s makeup & hair looked like crap.
Rant: There are sooo many companies now in every price range with soooo many products it’s overwhelming. Quality nor originality don’t seem to be much of a concern either. Like how many highlighters does one need? How many times have I seem the same nude/smoky/contour/neutral/you name it/whatever palette from a dozen or so brands?
bibi, I, too, was a teenager/young adult in the ’80s, and I totally agree that makeup has improved exponentially since then.
There were no Sephora or Ulta stores, so it was either the drugstore, where the product quality was pretty uniformly horrible, or the department store, which was expensive and intimidating.
I can only imagine how much better my makeup would have looked if brands like NYX, Milani, e.l.f. and Wet ‘n’ Wild had been around them.
But I also agree that the sheer number of brands can get overwhelming.
Hi Carla,
Exactly! 😉
Wet-n-Wild has been around since the 70’s, though I get your overall point.
I honestly think that there are many people/ celebrities who see it as a great way to profit. Cosmetics is an industry with a huge mark up on products, and these products are often bought on a whim. A consumer may not need, for example, a new blush, but will buy a new blush pallet if it’s marketed right and they are in the mood to haul. So now new companies are coming out of the woodwork to cash in on these high profit, impulse purchases.
I agree. Those stands of mini-sized products near the cash registers at Ulta and Sephora are ridiculously enticing, but I do manage to avoid them. What looks like an impulse item, such as a travel-sized eyeshadow palette, can still cost a lot of money.
I agree with you 100%
If new companies can release products that are creative, of good quality, reasonably priced, and cruelty-free, I’m all for it. I don’t actively seek out new companies, but if I come across something that consistently stands out, such as in Temptalia reviews, I might give it a try. This is exactly how I found Colourpop, which makes my favorite liquid lipsticks.
I am exhausted… Palettes highlighters and liquid lipsticks… after every a day..
Between indifferent and annoyed
If their products are pretty and perform well then bring ’em on!
I don’t bother with them much, sometimes the new skincare lines I may try. if the ingredients are proven effective ones and the products are lower priced. These skincare lines are getting ridiculous in their prices for anti-aging products, like the older you get the more they soak you. I have imitated some of them by DIY and the cost is way cheaper, we are just paying for the name and the packaging. I want results not fancy jars with perfumed skincare in them and expensive magazine ads. None of them are permanent improvements. Other than skincare, I have forayed into different hair care lines and have been pretty happy with those products. I don’t bother with the new makeup lines, I have every color eyeshadow and lip product under the sun that work with my coloring. New brow products intrigue me, so I did try a new brand. Mascara-I have my favorites and stick to them. No new brands for me there.
I just looked on Nordstrom’s website, and it includes so many products I’ve never heard of and so many I’ve never tried. If I’m being honest, I could haul $3500 worth of products right now (from Nordstrom’s and others). I won’t, of course, but I think I could do it easily — in one day. I haven’t hauled in quite some time, and don’t plan to do so any time soon, but the market is just flooded with so much, I could go crazy, buying anything and everything from fragrance, skincare and color makeup that caught my eye. So many products. I could lose my mind, there’s so much to choose from.
But, is it a good thing to have so much to choose from? I don’t know. It feels like too much, as in supply must be close to surpassing demand. One thing’s for sure: I’ll be looking for the sales between pre-Thanksgiving and New Year’s this year.
I think Anne makes some good points; the sheer number of beauty products currently on the market is just overwhelming, and far outstrips “need.”
An entire industry is based on the premise that we consumers will never feel that we look “good enough.”
If we did, we’d stop wearing/buying makeup altogether, or buy only to replace those “good enough” products as we run out of them.
You know, kind of like toothpaste, toilet paper, and laundry detergent.
Yawn …
I dig it. I used to be very brand loyal. More and more it seems that brands have no quality control nor do they care about the customer feedback. (One that springs to mind is the new ABH eyeshadow palette. I am shocked at how poor the reviews are! If someone from ABH addressed this issue to the public, then I missed it.). Therefore I’m glad to have a plethora to choose from. The reviews on this site keep it real and help me keep my spending in check. Lol, although I’m fairly certain most of us on here already have enough makeup in our current stash to last us for several years. I can’t be the only one right!?!?
More than right. Lol!
I’m too covered from head to toe mostly drugstore a few old high ends which I’m donating getting too old and barely have used for such events as weddings only to match a piece of dress. I don’t mind the avalanche of makeup fir the fun of seeing new decor and shiny or pretty colors but I’m not falling into the abyss. I will buy whatever when it appeals to my needs. One thing I don’t like inakeup are products claiming they can do it all. Rarely can a cheek product do well on lips and vice versa. Very few can but very few and I’m disliking false youtubers being so overly pretentious and wearing so much huge fake eyelashes, too cakey faces, shine to the moon highliters. Lol. The youngest can get away with it I think on older than 30 unless having great skin and their personality goes with it is fine then. Many look rather ridiculous. So yes and no. Overwhelming at times.
I love the variety and it’s great to look at and ponder. Just because they are all there doesn’t mean we have to buy but yes, restraint can be hard! I am trying to build my collection based on what I want e.g. formula, shades, type rather than own every lipstick in a range now more than ever because I don’t want all of my money going into the make up abyss!! I like the choice and really welcome reviews of products both here and on YouTube. They can help narrow the choice and save me money. Make up wasn’t like this when I was younger, you just needed a few singles, blusher, mascara, eyeliner, lipstick, foundation and powder. Once you found nice shades that was it, job done! It’s all over the top now, a wee bit, but good fun if I don’t take it too seriously.
I am always looking for innovation, uniqueness and rarerities both in products, textures, finishes and performance. New brands with new concepts are fun.
Then there is the quality, who’s running the brand, ethics, easiness to use, do I really need it?
Most say that I own a large amount of makeup coz it is part of my work to have options and coz I love makeup, it is paint for me.
Yet it was long time ago since I purchased something new coz I see pretty much the same repeated all over again in a different packaging.
I approach new brands cautiously. I treat them with a wait and see attitude. If they are worthwhile they will stick around, if not they will be gone and forgotten before they have made enough of an impression.
I just wish that the brands that have been operating for awhile, particularly the HE offered more quality products. I guess because they don’t, lots of other brands have arrived to take their place. Here in Australia, we get only a fraction of the brands that you have available in the US. For you,it makes it tricky to know the ingredients, where they are sourced and how long they are going to be around.
On the other hand, brands like The Ordinary coming onto the market, are very, very welcome.
I don’t really pay much attention to them. I only come on here anymore for my daily beauty fix and I like tested, tried and true products so I don’t experiment much. I did branch out for a while to a few indie (at the time) brands and they just weren’t up to snuff for me. The customer service just doesn’t seem to be there with smaller brands and it may be because they are so busy or they are new and still sussing out what to do with certain customer satisfaction issues. Also I’m finicky about marketing – trendy or slang labels or ad campaigns are a turn off and most newer companies seem like they are targeting a much younger demographic. I feel aged out of a lot of indie brands.
I think competition sometimes is good for the consumer in certain markets but not so much with beauty brands. I find it overwhelming and I haven’t been interested in any of the new brands that have been popping up at all. I had a hard enough time keeping up with the existing ones and all their new releases and limited editions. I find it more boring then exciting. I own so much makeup now that I love but I hardly wear so unless there is a new release that is an A+ I am definitely not interested.
May I bring a bit of harsh reality here? I think this will be like the Internet or Real Estate market, which went into a huge bubble; and then went into a crash. Unfortunately, I think we are seeing the same pattern here.
I hope I’m wrong, but it just seems like the market is getting close to breaking point. Too many brands and products are going to ruin the market.
While I don’t agree with your comparisons, I do think there will be consequences eventually and indie brands will be the ones to pay the biggest price. Beauty as an industry is a consistent bet – regular growth and huge numbers in sales – but that doesn’t directly correlate into everyone making big profits. The R&D and manufacturing/personnel/promo costs that goes into it and are also high, so the bigger name brands are a decent investment for regular returns and slow growth, you won’t necessarily retire because of it. We’ve seen bigger companies invest into beauty and fail – Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Anna Sui (minimally hanging on), etc, so indie brands are going to continue to come and go like crazy. There’s a reason successful brands sell to the major groups like Estee Lauder and L’Oreal – to survive long-term, you need the resources behind you to get over the humps.
For me, I’m fine with the increased number of beauty brands overall – it’s a free market and it drives improvement and innovation. Do I watch and explore them regularly? No. These days my beauty choices are mainly 4 main brands that make up the majority of my products with other sprinkled in here and there, but that comes from trying and narrowing down what I like. I’m more apt to try new things in skincare, but even that is less about 50 different hot new brands of moisturizer and more about adjusting what my skin needs as I get older. So morning and night options for the summer and the same for winter, a few serum options for different needs, etc.
I don’t mind. I like variety, and I never know where I’ll find a new favorite. I don’t feel pressured to keep up with them all.
Kinda miss the old days when I went to Bullock’s and only had 5 or 6 brands to browse from. Tried and true brands that had been around forever but some of them have gone downhill as far as quality goes. Now I’m into cruelty-free and have learned about brands from Christine and since I order most make-up online I don’t get too overwhelmed. Their is so much too choose from it can be exhausting.
Also I can’t watch any you tubers raving about the products they try, it just seems so phony!
Same! Which is why I have stopped watching you tubers except for a select few.
Since I’m physically disabled, I buy my makeup online, so maybe I don’t fully realize just how many brands/products are available now; I haven’t been in an Ulta store since 2001, and I’ve *never* been in a Sephora.So online shopping is really all I know, and it works for me. I don’t find the number of brands to be a problem.
If there are too many brands for the market to support, the ones that can’t compete will improve or go away, and we’ll be left with fewer, better brands to choose from.
At least theoretically.
I get really worried when I see similar components from a smaller brand say Dose of Colors and Estee Edit come over with incredibly similar products with the same components.
I think it’s great, so long as you’re not obsessed with “keeping up.” It’s exciting to discover something new and wonderful that no one else has, and competition keeps quality there (I hope!). I see a lot of new brands on YouTube and in subscription boxes/bags.