At this point, my motto is: plenty of fish in the sea! There are so many new products releasing from a variety of brands that a miss is just an opportunity to enjoy something else next time around. Also, dupe the vibes (less about exact dupes as it is about the theme or feel of a new product/collection) is nice way to get the idea without spending anything!
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I dupe things in my collection. If there is something I want but I don’t want to pay for it or I cannot afford , I take a picture of it, look for swatches and try to find a similar vibe in my collection. Nothing is really new nowadays and there are few things esp lipsticks, blush, highlighter and eyeshadow that are truly unique or what I don’t already have a million times over. With things like multichromes and glittery shadows, I simply have to be honest with how much I’m going to wear it and with them, I only need the few I have tbh. And even if something is LE, discontinued or sells out from a brand, there are million other brands offering the same thing or something similar of the same if not better quality for a competitive or better price. People act like Natasha Denona or Pat McGrath are so special bc they have multichromes etc but I guarantee indie brands do it better and for a much better price😉
I’m in a very privileged position to say I have more makeup than I can ever use in my entire lifetime, even after the big de-stash earlier this year. So fomo doesn’t work on me anymore. There is not a single brand offering a single product worthy of setting several alarms for so that I don’t miss out, and if a product is so limited and so wonderful that it is somehow worth owning, a dupe will be right around the corner. It’s supply and demand. If the demand is high, someone somewhere will supply it. Fomo isn’t real when you put that into consideration.
It took awhile to get to a place where I can look at every launch and say “don’t need it, not gonna buy it”. Cute packaging can sway me (like the recent Nars launch) but when I said I’d treat myself to a lipstick from that collection because I can’t help myself? I thought about it, realized I don’t need anything from that collection, and I moved on. And if I really missed out, well, it’s makeup. There will always be more makeup.
FOMO was more of an issue before the proliferation of brands with wide permanent ranges. Before 2017 or so, if it was “unique” or avant-garde and it wasn’t part of the permanent collection of a brand like MAC/MUFE/Inglot or Sugarpill/Lime Crime, it was hard to imagine the next time you’d see a good (blue, green, black, indigo, etc.).
Currently, we have enough brands available that target niche audiences by producing things that are “uncommon” that I feel comfortable in skipping a unique release – no feeling of missing out.
I have also become more aware of expiration dates as we see more low-preservative formulas. These aren’t my mother’s paraben-packed powders that perform adequately 25 years later! So if I don’t see myself using something in the next 6-12 months, I know I can wait until the next time a similar product is released (or wait for it to be on sale, or wait for my needs to change). 🙂
I completely agree with this – things have really changed in the modern era with a proliferation of brands and regular niche-market releases!
With the shorter expiration dates, I even find it’s not always worth buying an item on sale, since it might be nearing its expiration. I know when I am ready for a new lip product, there will always be something that suits my needs on the market. It wasn’t always the case.
Like many readers here, I have no shortage of product even after routine purges. I like to think of it in more dramatic terms of getting suckered in versus fear of missing out. This is the game I play in my own mind and find myself far less suggestible. It’s me against the evil makeup empire ✊
I cannot get swatch gallery to work by product.
Hi Wednesday,
Can you clarify? What browser? Device? Where are you going to do start? I’m not able to replicate it by using the Swatch Gallery on my phone, desktop (PC), logged in or out – I can go to the Swatch Gallery landing page, select ‘by product,’ and then search by a product successfully.
Hi Christine: running latest version of iOS on iPad using Safari as browser. I can select swatches by product, but then get no search parameters/bar to select. I have just signed out and signed back in. I have exited my browser, closed the tab, and still have problems. I have removed my add-on keyboard (because that is sometimes a problem), but still not working. I will momentarily delete browsing history…
Still not working after clearing browsing data. The first time I selected Swatch Gallery and By Product after clearing my cache, safari exited completely. Second and subsequent attempts result in same situation of no search criteria/search.
Works absolutely fine on my phone.
I successfully swapped the search from my iPhone to my iPad, but still cannot generate the search myself on my iPad.
Are you still having this issue? We haven’t been able to replicate it ourselves yet. Is the actual search box missing for “by product” on iPad?
It’s working fine now, Christine. 🤷♀️ Full moon gremlins…
It was the search box that was not popping up.. mia.. but now seemingly fine.
We couldn’t replicate, but my developer likely tried to tinker anyway 🙂
Usually by checking the Dupe List in an effort to talk myself out of buying something. Most of the time, I can dupe something I fall for. Other times, I can talk myself out of something with asking myself how often would I actually use the item or whether it’s even a practical addition to my stash.
95% of the time, the Temptalia Dupes list does the trick for me (along with the realization that the products I really flip over are ones for which I have an almost embarrassing number of dupes!)
I look back on stuff I purchased out of FOMO and ask myself was it really worth fretting over? And almost always the answer is no. Good deals on products I’ll use I try and jump on, but trying to get LE stuff just because it’s LE has turned out to be more hassle then it’s worth.
I’ve unsubscribed and unfollowed from all of those brands that I used to keep track of sales, launches, etc. And I don’t (or haven’t) watched the one makeup youtuber or nail art channels that I used to watch in quite awhile.
I don’t shop my collection for dupes because I find that I still want The New Thing and not the dupe, but looking at all that I have is a wake up call and often reminds me of what I haven’t used in awhile. The re-directing my focus helps 😄
MAC, Pat McGrath, Natasha Denona and Tom Ford still turn my head, though, and I still argue with myself. Sometimes I get The New Thing, sometimes I pass.
I don’t really suffer from FOMO because what I usually like is not limited edition and can be purchased at any time (like CT’s The Rebel 2020). Given that my eyeshadow preferences lie within a narrow range, I can often dupe a number of shades within my own collection quite easily. And that is what I prefer to do most of the time, unless something comes along and blows me away, like ND Glam…
I just wait for your reviews, go through my dupes, and wait a few weeks to see if the new shiny is still calling my name. Usually by then another squirrel will come by, cause that is just what they are, squirrels meant to distract.
Eh. I spent most of my life dirt poor, so FOMO is something I easily brush aside. Something else will come along. So much “limited edition” stuff ends up being made permanent or re-released that I don’t sweat it. Now, I’m lucky enough that I have a great makeup collection. I can dupe most things. I surprised myself by forgoing the Melt Beetlejuice release, and that one was HARD to pass up. But I avoided reviews and anyone talking about it, and after a week or so I didn’t care.
I just go and look at all my makeup and then I know I’ll never be able to use it all so what’s the point in purchasing another product and that usually works. This doesn’t work with eyeliners for some reason!?
Play around with what I already have. Like if I’m lusting over a new lipstick, I go swatch what I have or apply one to wear around the house. Scratches the itch for me, and I’m usually over the “fomo” after a week or so.
Makeup lust in general has faded for me. I ‘ve gotten much more aware of products spoiling, how long it takes to use stuff up, and just the never-use-up-able amount I already have. All of that makes me much more willing to forego a momentary infatuation/fantasy.
There’s been very few products that I get so excited about that I’m afraid I’ll lose my chance at them. If I think to look for dupes or wait long enough for reviews they can sway my interest in a new product but often I’ll wishlist it and most likely forget about it.
i try to stay away from the internet on launch day, if they do a restock or it gets more permanent and i am still thinking about it i’ll consider it but if it doesnt returns im sure dupes will come sooner than later. its hard though!