Do you buy products you know don’t work for you? For example, is a product’s pretty packaging something that might get you to buy something or a color you know just won’t be right for you?
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Not really. I buy makeup to wear it, not look at it! Plus, there is too much makeup that i want to be spending money on makeup that doesn’t work.
That’s a good attitude 🙂 I know I’m guilty of buying colors I hardly wear (like bright pinks or bold reds), because they look so pretty in their tubes.
it took me months to figure out that Stila, no matter how cute the palettes, would never work on me. Same for clinique eye shadows. Shiny,neat packaging and pretty in the pans, but no color payoff once it went on my brown skin. MAC and Nars — the two lines with the least flashy packaging, oddly enough — have worked best for me.
That’s awful to hear, Gina! It’s too bad that you couldn’t get the color pay off you were looking for.
I don’t intentionally buy things I think will look bad on me, but I have purchased beautiful colors that I loved, but suspected I would hardly ever wear. Examples of this are Pharoah, Moonflower, Waternymph, and Sushi Flower, as well as really really dark wine lipstick.
Yes, I think that definitely describes both you AND me. I managed to skip most of McQueen, because I just knew I would never wear the colors (that and I had similar ones).
I agree with Kristin.
I might try something that I’m not sure will work, but if I know it won’t work for me I won’t buy it.
It’s great that you’re willing to try something out, but you can pass on something you already know won’t!
YES. I BOUGHT THE ENTIRE COLLECTION OF THE FLASHTRONIC MINERALIZED EYESHADOWS AND IT WAS A WASTE. – except for jupiter and quarry
Aww, that’s no good!! Why weren’t you impressed?
See I think that it’s funny that people seem to dislike them.. I have mercurial and ether and I use them all the time! mercurial is one of my favourites and I’ll be so sad when it’s gone D:
You aren’t alone, Kat! Tons of people LOVED them!
I would never buy something that I definately would not use. I may use it as an excuse to branch out, but right now I don’t have a lot of money so I only buy stuff that I know I will like. I guess the exception is a palette, if I like all but one of the colours (or two if it’s large) and the packaging or presentation is nice I may opt for it…
Hey Kat!
I’m with you on the palettes – if it’s just one or two shades, I might still get it anyway.
Heck no! If I KNOW something doesn’t work for me I’m not going to waste my money buying it again. Orange lipstick has never, nor will it ever, look good on me. No matter how cool the packaging.
LOL! I felt that exact way when MAC put out a blue lipstick in C-Shock. I was like, “MUST RESIST!” knowing I would never use it.
i admit it — i am TOTALLY guilty of buying shades of eyeshadow and lipstick that will never work for me, only because i love the way it looks in the tube. for example, Parrot is out with the Originals collection, and even though i know the color will look sickly on me, i want to buy it anyways…………..
………thank god for Makeup Alley!! oh, and someone PLEASE remind me NOT to by Bare Minerals anymore. why do i keep thinking that the next time will be the time it actually works and doesn’t just cake up on my skin?!?!?
LOL, Courtney. I have a similar problem. I buy many lipsticks that look dreamy in the tube, but I know I will wear quite seldomly.
Never – I don’t think twice about turning away from a product/line that doesn’t work for me. Pretty packaging or fantastic marketing strategies will never persuade to buy a product – if the quality and color doesn’t meet my standards, I move on to something that will work.
Lucky you!! Great attitude, and it’s one I envy 🙂 I can pass on things I know will never, never, NEVER work on me – like a bright yellow lipstick, but I am ever-so-tempted.
I continue to be drawn to purple shadows, because I love the colour and sometimes buy them, even though i know i will look like I have a black eye if I wear them.. Just because it looks pretty in the pan, doesn’t mean it will look pretty on my face!
Aww, Stacey! You just have to find the right combination of purples/other colors. Trust me, there is a way! I used to look like a crybaby with pink on, but eventually I found a way to work it.
lol, yeah me too, i used to hate pinks until i paired it with purple. lol.
which purples do you own and what is your skintone? Maybe we can help you come up with something that will work for you! 🙂
It’s not such a simple question for me – I am fairly new to makeup and am discovering new ways to use things and apply them all the time. Every time something new comes out I assess the potential of it working out really well for me and then depending on if it is LE and how high the possibility of finding it in a CCO is, make my decision based on these things. I’ve had those situations where i didn’t think something would work for me, and have passed on it, only to want it again and find it selling for 2x retail value on ebay. (smoking eyes quad) lol I could probably write a 10 page essay on this
Hey Anna! Being new to makeup, I can easily see why it’s hard to resist things. I think once you figure out what will and won’t work out for you better (which just comes with experience), you’ll be on it!
I am guilty of always buying makeup I know I will never wear. I do this either just to collect or because of the buzz surrounding the product.
Ohh, Katie! Don’t tell me you have brand new products though, you have at least try everything once! 🙂
most of what i own work for me but i will have to say msf. i don’t own any, i swatched one before and swatched similar ones like the bb shimmerbrick etc and the shimmer was too chunky for me, i find beauty powders easier to work with. BUT i’ve missed out of all the msf and i feel left out, i have to get at least one because they are so pretty. i thought just get one in a color i like and make myself satisfied.
Oh, Victoria, I know how you feel. I am not sold on MSFs… far from it, but yet I keep trying, insisting I can fall in love!
There’s new ones coming out on the 10th! Maybe you can find one which works for you 😀
oh i don’t care, i am going to be there in the morning and get this over and done with. i’m pretty good at holding myself back and thinking things through before i buy…. i think i’ve waited long enough.
lol, Victoria! I think I’ve tried with like, six MSFs thus far.
I buy tons of eyeshadows that I hardly wear.I buy some mac pigments too,but i don’t know why,they don’t stay on my skin for a long time :(.
Aww, have you tried using the pigments on top of a base like paint pots or Urban Decay Primer Potion? Or wet? You can also use them with water-based mixing medium. They’ll stay forever and a day that way!
Absolutely not. Isn’t that why we are looking for our HG’s? lol.
LOL, that’s so very true, Carole!
I admit in the past I have bought some stuff just because the packaging was too pretty to resist! But I have learned my lesson that not all good things come in pretty packagings. Also, I seem to be influened by other people’s desire for a certain product even if I know deep down that I don’t really need it and it may also look nice on them but not on me. An example would be beauty powders…they may have some purpose for some but to me, it’s something totally unnecessary…it’s just another step to my make-up ritual that I might even have to skip due to my busy schedule. But since I’ve been reading a lot of raves bout it and have seen pics of ppl using it I’m starting to get really curious bout it and might even buy one on impulse if I pass by a MAC store.
Hey Janis! I know what you mean about being influenced by others. Sometimes we can’t help but buy into a product that is getting all the raves, because we are hopeful that it may just work for us!
I say that I am so guilty for buying products that do not work for and I know that they won’t but I can’t resist. For some reason I cannot wear the Rimmel line and since I am a big blush fanatic I think I may have bought every single blush that they have and hated every last one. They look really ashy on my face. I also love the colors in the Milani collection but once an eyeshadow or blush cracks it’s over! The entire pot will just collapse into pieces, but I think I may have bought at least 6 eyeshadows and 6 blushes and had the same results. The good thing about MAC is that if I buy something and months later I don’t like it I just pack it up and send it to my mom and latley we have been swapping blushes and so forth.
Kathleena
Oh, wow, you bought them all and none have worked? That really sucks, Kathleena!
That’s so cute that you and your mom swap! 🙂