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How would you describe philosophy on your makeup collection?
Well, if I pretend I am not a blogger, then I’d say I’d want a collection with a fair number of options (colors, textures, finishes, etc.) but only products that were exceedingly high quality or otherwise unique (to me and whatever formula deficiencies I could overcome). I could never be a minimalist, but I wouldn’t want to have 40 shades of lipstick because I liked the formula if I hated half of them.
— Christine
Colors that suit me in formulations that are longer lasting but comfortable that tend to be more on the neutral side. I don’t really get out of my comfort zone unless I’m at a costume party and really just do bold looks on occasion.
Just what I want to keep in my collection. I could never be a minimalist either, but I am picky with what products I keep in my collection. My collection has expanded since I started exploring outside of my comfort zone. Not too much, but enough. I also do keep a handful of products I wear when to parties and when I go out, so there’s that.
I’m only attracted to unique, flattering shades. No orange, purple or brown lipsticks or blush. I love sparkle. I don’t care how old I get, I always love a little shimmer or subtle twinkling on some part of my face. No more palettes and I love good, solid packaging, such as Guerlain’s heavy gold lipstick tubes….but I won’t by makeup “just” for the packaging. The product inside has to be just as great as what is on the outside. I like “pretty” things. My favorite possession is my Estee Lauder gold Guardian Angel powder compact that my husband bought for me about 20 years ago.
I keep it small but complete. I want to love and use everything I purchase. I am NOT a collector of makeup. (I do collect miniature fragrances and have for years and years. They’re so cute and looking at them makes me happy.) When I had an out-of-control makeup collection quite a few years ago, it drove me crazy for lots of reasons — majority of it in storage, out-of -sight and neglected, never able to figure out a useful storage system, too many impulsive purchases, indefensible cost-to-benefit ratio, lots of ill performing products that I didn’t or couldn’t return, etc, etc, etc. I honestly felt like a hoarder who had an unhealthy addiction: My inner voice of reason was screaming stop, ‘no mas’. Anyway, I’ll never do that again. My collection is now small, definitely not minimalist and suits me perfectly.
It’s quite the mish-mash but, in general, it reflects how I like to look all the time – refined, natural-but-better, somewhat sophisticated and not especially trendy. I like neutrals with the occasional bit of colour for my eyes and cool toned shades for cheeks and lips. I leave things like nude and green lips to those who like to look trendy or garner attention for looking “different”. I go for more of a classic look over-all.
I think this is an interesting question and not something I have thought about before. I think my philosophy is very similar to yours, Christine. When I first started really collecting makeup I went for quantity over quality and consequently I had about 100 lipsticks of which I only wore a handful. Now I actually know what suits me and strive to find products that actually will work for me and fill holes in my collection. So, I am striving for a carefully curated collection of exceptional products that meet my skin type, tone, preferences and lifestyle. If they are multi-tasking products all the better.
I’m trying to downsize my collection. I got caught up in the whole youtube thing while I was in college and had way too much. I’m trying to be honest with myself about what I actually use. For example, since I started wearing glasses full time (law school wrecked my eyes), I hardly ever wear eyeshadow. I have so many palettes that I never touch.
It’s a mixture of practicality, a snapshot at how much I paid attention to “trends” at a given period in my life, and staying true to my likes as well as values.
I try to avoid brands that do not share the same values- if there seems to be no meaningful actions to be more diverse and inclusive and I’m aware, I try not to buy from the brand. Money, sadly, speaks and has power so I like to try and be thoughtful about where I spend it. At one point I avoided products that I couldn’t wear at work because I thought the cost wouldn’t be justifiable since I spent a lot of my time there . But for the most part I do regularly read blogs and watch YouTube videos so I am excited and aware of new developments. But at the same time I don’t participate in purchasing every hyped product or trying every trend.
I like to be open minded but my aesthetic more or less does not change, I just like to think I get better with my application technique and eye for creating looks.
The best I can find in the basics — best in formulation and general quality, availability (i.e., no LEs), and color and finish suiting me. I don’t skimp on these HGs; it costs what it costs (though I’ll be happy for a less expensive exact dupe for sure, and I’ll have a backup or two if I am concerned about something being discontinued.
The rest is pretty much playground space. Like, if I’m in the mood to try a sparkly pink or purple, ok, but it’s not likely to be a full on project to find the perfect one of those.
I don’t know that it’s that serious for me to have a philosophy. If I have one it’s to have flattering makeup. I don’t care about trends enough to buy into all of it. I think makeup that accentuates a persons natural beauty is best.
I am trying to learn falsies,red lips and wing liner but only if it falls into those guidelines. For example red, bright orange primary colors I don’t find flattering on my eyes trendy or not. Small amounts of tangerine, coral burnt red I can handle.
As far as the holiday drop my inclination is to buy nothing. I do like to have a nice mix of blush, and lipsticks, gloss for different looks which I favor pastels and neutrals. My eyes look best in medium to darker cooler colors. I can’t do much gold except in summer when my skin gets golden brown.
I find foundation the hardest thing to match. Even in a brand like Tarte the same names in different formulas don’t match.
I’ve only bought one thing in NARS, stila and 2 items in Tarte and too faced. Ever.
I am drawn to makeup that is youthful without being adolescent. Natural colors and a little radiance. If my skin looks glowing and I have lush eyelashes, I’m satisfied.
Honed. I understand what I like and what works for me a lot better than I did 10 years ago. My most important lessons have been learning how not to buy and donating items I do not use regardless of how much they cost.
I chose quality and joy of use over quantity. I don’t mind paying extra if that I’d really an item I really want and will cherish.
As for my collection, it is moderate. I have options, might need a couple blushes and lippies to round it perfectly but I don’t want to rush it. I mostly want to have variety for eyeshadow. That is my true weakness!
I’ve spent over a decade with makeup as the bulk of my recreational spending, so my collection is considerably bigger than it should reasonably be at this point. I have a lot of really good makeup, but I still enjoy buying it, so my philosophy is basically to buy the things I really want but ONLY the things I really want. I have everything I need to do almost anything I could want, and with so much wonderful stuff, I probably won’t reach for something I’m not actually excited about. This often translates to spending more, but less often.
Most of the time when I want a new product, I hold off on the impulse purchase and think it over for a few days at least, often a few months. I always try to ask myself, “How soon do I expect to actually wear that? After the first week, how often will I honestly reach for it?” I’m not going to reach for a coral-red, even the nicest one I’ve ever tried, more than once or twice in fall or winter. For that reason, I’m holding off on Givenchy Rouge Égérie until next spring. Givenchy Rouge Fetiche is also glorious, but I have like six gorgeous reds, so would I actually reach for it more than twice a month, tops? Probably not, so let’s wait until I use some of the ones I have up, or get tired of them and give them away.
I am super minimalist when it comes to some things. I only have a couple mascaras, one or two foundations, and limited blush. I have my face routine down to a 7 minute science. When it comes to eyeshadow, I like variety, but tend to stick with the same things (browns, gold, green, and purple). Now lip products, in particular lipstick, is a whole other story. I love limited edition tubes, and am always searching for the perfect colour. I try to not just buy things for the packaging, but sometimes it happens. I have really paired down my collection, and now I mostly have colours I love or packaging I adore, rather than things I just bought because I thought I may like it. I am still searching for my perfect every day lipstick though.
Lately, I like to stick to my favorites when it comes to makeup. I’ve cut done on colors that I only wear once in a while (read once or twice a year), because it just doesn’t seem worth buying. I’d rather stick to pieces that I can enjoy everyday. I’d rather experiment with technique than with different colors.
Natural Drama
I find this question to be terrifying, LoL! Especially when I see the clearly insane amount of makeup I’ve accumulated during the past 3-4 years. I do go for quality, higher graded items. That’s a given. As for shades, I wear quite a vast array of colors, but certain tones just clash horribly with my olive undertones! So, I do know enough to avoid that which doesn’t and likely never will work on me. If I had it to do over again, I don’t know that I would’ve done much differently?
My basic philosophy on my makeup collection shows that I am into colourful shades of eye and lip – strong jewel colours and bright lipsticks. which work well with my porcelain skin tones, blue/grey eyes and red hair. This also reflects my out going personality and dress style. I find I am not a fan of bronzers, higlighters and overly strong shades of blush, preferring my eyes and lipstick shades to be the dominant colours.
But I only use eye shadow shades that suit me: so no oranges, pinks, purples, blacks, caramel brown shades.
If I am wearing neutrals, which I am loving more over the past couple of years – I tend to opt for the cool toned and more refined look. And, using a soft touch lends to elegance.
Wouldn’t go as far as calling it philosophy, cause it’s simply checkboxes: ” Do I need it? Does it suit me? How much wear will I get from it? Is it really cool and different from anything else I have?” followed by the final frontier: “Get a hold of yourself, are you going to go through n [products] (insert any category here) in your life time at all?? What will you do with the old if you get a new one?” 🙂