What's the first thing you do with a new makeup purchase?
I wish I had a more elegant solution, but no elegant solution is really maintainable for me, so I effectively have a front entry way that has a side table full of products as they arrive and get unboxed. This is “I want to review soon,” while products that are “I will review this next!” get set aside on the kitchen island (sigh) and then taken to the photo room when I’m ready to photograph. If I have no expectation to review it ever, then I put it on a box marked for new + donation; if I want to review it but don’t see it happening soon, then it goes into mid-term storage by product. After that, it has to be photographed before I can swatch or test it (lip gloss is the only exception – if I’m super pressed for time).
— Christine
I swatch every color the second I get it in the mail and then set front and center on my makeup desk to use next time I put on makeup. If I don’t have makeup on already I will usually play with the face/lip products (blushes, highlighters, lipsticks, etc), but for eye makeup I just swatch and wait to use it in an eye look later.
This is such a sore spot with me. I realized yesterday that I prolly threw a brand new product with the box. ?♀️
Generally, I open the box at my vanity and review item by item the purchase(s) there. I didn’t follow my own protocol and unpacked my Beautylish gift card event order in my kitchen and ?♀️
Especially since it was in the immediate past, I’d wager they would replace the GCs, if you told them your story.
They have offered a refund or replacement ?
Since it was such a large scale promotion, it’s very likely the item may have never been packed. I placed a Sephora order just before a big sale (even paying full-price because I didn’t want any “issues” or shipping delays) a couple years ago, and one item was missing. I just emailed CS, and they offered to either credit or refundthe item, or send a new one. I also managed to negotiate a nominal account credit for a future order after explaining I purposely ordered before the sale to mitigate the chances of any problems.
They have offered a refund or replacement. I don’t see myself throwing out a box with something in it, just by habit of always fishing around when I receive them. So it is possible it was never there. In any event, Beautylish was fabulous and made me happy. Great customer service!!!!
helpful hint for everyone in future: never throw a box or bag away without breaking it down. i break every box down flat, but that is because i also recycle. i also pack paper bags flat, and wad plastic bags into a tight ball for recycling. i even tear envelopes in half before disposing to make sure there is no chance of that happening. there is always a receipt or packette sample hiding somewhere!
Excellent point! Typically my mud room (I live on a farm) serves as a staging area for recyclables where I break everything down. Also since I live on a farm, I purchase a lot online rather than driving back and forth to town. I was in the process of driving my garbage out in the back of my RTV down my very long laneway for weekly pickup and hence my ‘grab box empty it and go’. I completely bypassed my usual process that day.
my mom almost threw away a pearl ring one time bcuz her sister had put it in a brown paper bag. ???? so now the paranoia runs deep. lol
ps- i am very jealous of farmlife. that sounds like a dream!
I open it, swatch it, and look at it under all sorts of different lights. I find the lights at Sephora to be deceiving, lol. I know how something will really look when I look at it under my vanity lights, in natural outside light and in my bathroom.
This is my exact answer!
Admired, swatched on my arm, swooned over and usually used within the next look or two! Or at least that’s the typical process with color cosmetics.
I buy new make-up just to replace what I currently have in use. After I un-pack the package I track in an spreadsheet that item, when I purchased it and the manufacturer date based on the batch code (to know when it will `expire`). Then I put it in my back-up drawer, patiently waiting for my currently product in use to be finished or expire. I never swatch or otherwise use the product until I actually need it.
I am usually unpacking purchases late afternoon when I am actually thinking about taking my makeup off. After checking that it’s all there I leave it out on my vanity to use the next day and spend all evening looking forward to it and thinking about how I will use it.
I generally unpack it and put the information into my spreadsheet the same day. Sometimes I swatch them first, but this only happens if I get them on the weekend where it’s early enough in the day for me to see the swatches in natural light. I will leave the products on my vanity to use them in a look the next day.
Open it, make sure it didn’t get broken during shipping, and swatch it. Then I set it aside to use that week.
The first thing I do with a new makeup purchase is play with it! As I choose carefully, I will be obsessed with the new product for quite awhile and try and use it in many combinations, particularly if it is an eyeshadow palette.
This may sound a bit different but since I have to buy most beauty purchases on line I begin by smelling them. Certain scents just don’t work for me and if it isn’t mentioned on the site, I want to know before I do anything to it. The second thing is I look for ingredients simply because I want to make sure that nothing is added or taken away in comparison to the site list. Then I swatch and play. I try to swatch regardless of whether I am going to use it right away because I want to see if the shade is going to work for me. A lot of the time the shade as listed on the site is a lot different than what I receive and even the photos here on the blog are sometimes way off due to my monitor. The next time I buy a computer I will have to check out the colour comparison. In any event, I usually prefer the written description that Christine provides and then I look at the colour as shown on the monitor. I usually use all new products within a day or two at the most. I still go through these steps although I rarely by anything anymore that hasn’t been reviewed here on the site so I generally know if anything is reported to have a funky smell/taste.
Swatch it! If I have the time and opportunity, I’ll put it on right away to test it. If not, I definitely will as soon as I have the chance.
Often I take it out of the box, even at the mall, but if I don’t I do it at home (recycle the box) and then I either try it (lipstick for example) or if it’s a palette, I plan to test it before going to bed (even if I’m going to wash it off immediately afterwards). I don’t do this a 100% of the time, but often. 😉
Take photos of it that I never end up posting anywhere. I just love the look of untouched makeup.