How has your relationship with beauty changed over the last year?
It’s become almost nonexistent, which makes me feel guilty sometimes.
— Christine
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I still love buying and using makeup.
I don’t feel the overwhelming need to buy almost EVERYTHING I see here at Temptalia or on MUA, even if it gets a stellar review. I have more makeup and skin care than I can realistically use up in the years remaining to me (I’m just a shade over 70) and I remind myself that I’m not a beauty blogger so I really do not need all the latest product when I already have so much. Right now, I’m more in “replenishing” mode – buying products that I use regularly and am on the verge of finishing (okay, I also repurchase products I fear will be discontinued “soon” as that is happening more and more).
By MUA do you mean Makeup Alley? What a blast from the past.. time for a stroll down memory lane 😍
Mariella, I have decided to try the IT Cosmetics CC Cream that you love and wear. It is a whole $73 here per tube…a rip off I know. However at the new Sephora in a major shopping centre near to my place yesterday – they had just opened, they had 20% off everything and I bought the last tube of Fair Porcelain. I was able to test it out and it seems great. I never would have looked at this except that you had mentioned it so many times on this blog.
Hahaha – just consider it “pay back” (in a good way) for Charlotte Tilbury’s The Rebel quad! I hope you like it; I love a decent product that combines colour and sunscreen (and a bit of moisture too in the warmer weather, which I know you’re entering into).
Yes Mariella – I did think of that when I bought it! I haven’t tried it yet because our weather is so hot and humid at the moment, so I am going nowhere apart from purchasing some groceries, but I will this weekend.
With the IT Cosmetics CC Cream I truly found my go-to for everyday complexion. I don’t remember how many I finished already but I really hope this one will never be discontinued !
So happy to read this, Aurore! I’ve loved it for years but since the company was sold and so many (maybe too many) new products introduced and old faves (like with so many other companies) discontinued, I worry that it might be one of the next companies to cease operations. I sure hope not. I also know that the IT CC Cream seems to be a very alienating product – people either love it or really hate it. I’m glad to read a message from another “lover”.
A little better than the last three, where it was practically down to nothing. I’m starting to get back into it again. For example, I really enjoyed going all out for a recent concert I attended.
There was a moment where products were just not delivering and I quit bothering much because it just made me look older, no matter the product or technique. So I kept to a top Tight line, Mascara, Concealer, Brow gel and loads of Sunscreen.
In the past year —
As products have become more sophisticated and results are improving, a glam look for evening is back on the menu.
With age; it takes a few minutes to find the constantly shifting sands of beauty.
So, every day it’s a careful adjustment.
#1 technical change- the less I use the better it looks, and I had never personally Had to focus on that.
#2 in general- I find myself focused on the EXACT color, no ‘close’ colors. In everything, I’m becoming specific.
I feel as color ranges have expanded, I can ask for perfect matches or you do not get my money. –
Though I am still mixing foundations as Olive complexion’s are still woefully under represented in foundation ranges.
In a Current study — 90% of Olive skin foundation users are disappointed with their foundation.
For my Fellow Olives, and those that work in our(makeup) industry.
(Who knew a fine arts education would come in so handy.. )
Olive is nOT Medium- it certainly Can be
Olive is nOT Neutral- it certainly Can be
Olive is a skin Tone. – you can call it An Overtone
Olive is nOT an Undertone = Warm/Cool/Neutral – or a mix (ie: I am a Neutral leaning Cool)
Olive has nothing to do with Depth of color
With much love and appreciation for Temptalia.
Wishing All here a wonderful Holiday Season.
a~~
I think I’ve had it with makeup that turns orange on my skin. I’m tired of trying to make these colors work.
Cameron, I have the same problem with foundation. I’ve found that Lancome Teint Idole doesn’t oxidize on me. If you live near a Sephora or department store that sells it, it might be worth trying a sample.
It’s any makeup actually… the olive in my skin neutralizes some colors and things end up turning orange because they are way too warm. I didn’t know this wasn’t normal until recently, now I can’t stand it.
Makeup wise: Mostly just when I need to go somewhere! Like, anywhere but home just sitting around with my face done just isn’t something that I am inclined to do at all lately.
However, when it comes to skincare? That’s something that I do religiously daily/nightly. Still want to take care of my skin regardless of whether anybody sees me or not!
I still love looking at the shades and still get something here and there. But things have changed. This time last year I had a fiancé, so I wanted to try this and that wanting to be beautiful in my new marriage. Sigh, it didn’t happen, and I had an extremely painful breakup. Still, I want to groom more nicely again. It’s very important, I think. So, I’ve begun looking around again at beauty items. I never buy things before checking here first!
I only buy on a need only basis now, I will never use what I have and I don’t wear makeup very much anymore 🙁
I’m with you, it’s almost nonexistent. I still buy a palette now and then if it catches my eye but it’s more of a collector piece than something I use which is rather silly, really.
FOMO does not set in as easily as it used to. Also my tastes have changed. They have become more refined as I have the patience to research products on my own.
Me too Mariella, it’s easier to not have FOMO when one does have a selection of products that work nicely, and can be combined in new ways to get a similar effect to the latest trend. For example, I’ve been using some of my powder cheek highlighters more for inner eye area, taking it up over the inner third eyelid. It’s more of a satiny-shimmer highlight, doesn’t accentuate skin texture as much as a flakie, and it’s easier to blend into crease and lid shades. I did this decades ago when we had limited shades in an eyeshadow palette, I’m sure every makeup afficianado has employed this trick, lol.
During the pandemic, beauty companies had such awesome sales on lipstick and I stocked up so much that I really can’t justify buying any for a while (although I do occasionally purchase a colored lip balm). I find that I reliably wear lipstick, but I have largely abandoned foundation and blush. (I’ve never been able to wear eye makeup due to sensitivity.)
Mixed feelings. For the better part of a year our home has been in upheaval due to renovating and repairs. Almost all of my makeup was stashed away and in the last few months we’ve been unpacking and had to organize everything differently because I changed a lot of our bedroom furniture. I am bored with the little (makeup) that I’ve been able to use and have been itching to get back to having access to my whole collection and setting up my weekly glam tray. With all of my makeup packed away this year, I bought new things and have been using that, and now with unpacking and organizing everything, I’m spoiled for choice. I’m looking at what I have and my preferences have changed so I need to declutter quite a bit. It feels like a chore and won’t be fun again for another month while I’m organizing anew and decluttering but then I hope to get back into enjoying what I have.
My relationship to beauty has changed for more laid-back, lazy approach. I have been still buying relatively much makeup this year, despite doing a 4-month no-buy. Looking back to my purchases now towards the end of this year, I feel ashamed how little I have used some of those products: I track the use of each product, and the numbers do not leave room for self-deception. I have negletted especially the eyeshadow palettes. Reflecting my diminishing interest towards eyeshadow (this used to be my no. 1 category), in the autumn I bought only blushes and lip products, before starting another no-buy in November. I now favor hydrating, low maintenance, easy to touch up without a mirror type of lip products instead of pigmented lipsticks. Blush is also very easy to swipe on, so easier to play with variety of colors compared to doing eye looks. I have also become more interested in fragrances, again can’t beat the ease of doing just a spritz or two. 🙂
If anything, it’s intensified. I love makeup and playing with color.
My relationship with makeup hasn’t really changed at all in the past year. I’m still interested and still do purchase new (to me) beauty products. But what I have found this yea, and it has been reflected in the products you have chosen to review Christine, is that the standards across the board from HE to DS have woefully slipped. Increased prices and poorer products has been the norm. Interestingly, the two eyeshadow palettes I have bought this year have been ones from the past (PMG’s Sublime Bronze 6 pan and Tom Ford’s Suspicion quad).
To Adonna above, who has been looking for the right olive toned foundation, I can commiserate with you. Even though I am a porcelain with pink undertones that brands say they cater to, they often don’t and there is never enough stock in the retail stores that I go to (Sephora and Mecca). For you, it must be a nightmare. Brands have still a long way to go.
I can understand Christine why your relationship with makeup is pretty non-existant nowadays. You poured everything you had into this blog and I know when you were working on the Temptalia SG palettes, it just about sucked the very life out of you. You were burnt out and exhausted. That’s why I am so thrilled that you have found another outlet in puppy fostering.
Ive had a lot of fun! This year, I bought a few of my first multichromes, duo chromes, and sparkly toppers from indie brands and loving them.
The other change is that I’ve been feeling very sick from morning sickness the last three months, so I’ve stopped wearing makeup daily. I miss it though and wear it when I’m feeling up to it! I’ve made a very small daily makeup basket to make it easier to do makeup quickly, and while I still love options, it’s helpful to have fewer choices.
I’m the same Christine. Since I’ve started working from home, I only wear makeup when we go out which is rare. I don’t have to have my camera on during video calls, so I just don’t bother with makeup. I haven’t bought anything new in quite a while.
It hasn’t changed much, though now I usually wait for sales greater than 10% to buy eyeshadow or lip products, and I don’t keep as many backups.
These days I go for the one-and-done look a lot more. Keeping it simple is a must for me, partly because I don’t have much time in the mornings, partly because I’m lazy, and partly because I’ve finally figured out what works and what doesn’t. Having a more streamlined makeup collection also helps to keep tabs on what I own, so I don’t waste time scrabbling around trying to find the right product.
I have a waning interest in eyeshadow palettes and I àm interested in less eyeshadow overall. I am preferring much simpler one or two shadow looks as opposed to all the different colors in a palettes. Also don’t want so many big bulky makeup pieces anymore. Beginning to think as I get older (I’m 45) that too shiny highlighter makes my face and eyes seem puffy and is aging. Same with shimmer shadows although that can be done, but more subtle. Can’t wear metallics much anymore, it is too heavy and aging.
If by beauty you mean the beauty industry and makeup, like you, almost non existant, don’t care (and I don’t feel guilty, but it is sad with all the products I have). And if you mean doing myself up or do I feel more or less beautiful (or what constitutes “beauty” to me). I don’t care too much about my looks, I just want to lose weight around my stomach (ha!) and I’m leaning on more classic looks that I see others do, like simple eyes and bold lips. I am not pleased with the way my eyes have developed MGD (Meibomian gland dysfunction) and thus I’m wearing less eye makeup. I so enjoy the bold, colorful eyeshadow looks like you do Christine, so I’m missing that plus with age, they seem too much.