OK, now…I’m going to start doing something that may sound kinda cray to my fellow lovers of lotions and other beauty products, a.k.a. MY PEOPLE, but I don’t think I’m going to keep beauty backups around anymore.
Wait, wait! — I mean, I’ll have to make a few exceptions, like for the skin care I’ve used daily since the last Ice Age, like Kate Somerville Anti-Bac and my Clarins cream, but I don’t really think I need to keep that many other extras in the house. Most of them just sit around taking up wasted space and money.
Granted, it feels good to always be prepared in the event of a skin care or makeup emergency (they happen), especially for products I trust and love, but one thing I’ve learned about beauty products is that there’s always usually something comparable out there that’s probably as good as if not better. Newer technology, new colors, new formulas — there’s almost always an alternative out there somewhere, and I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me sooner (it probably did, but I forgot), but my preferences are also constantly changing. What I love today, I might not love (or need) tomorrow.
My skin is also changing, my style is changing, my life is changing, my budget is changing, and some of the things I used to swear by a few years ago just don’t suit me anymore.
BTW, this revelation happened on a recent trip to Trader Joe’s.
Freakin’ TJ’s, man! I noticed that their rose hand cream is back in stock.
You may remember this, but when it launched last year, I lost my damn mind for it and bought five tubes, no joke!
Standing in the store this week and looking at that shelf filled with more boxes of the same hand cream, I thought — holy crap! — I still have most of the spare tubes I got last year, and they’re still unopened. I’ve only used two of them, and that’s because TJ’s released a ginger-scented hand cream a few months later, which I consequently fell in love with as well, so I got distracted. Then, of course, there were other hand creams and lotions from other brands that I wanted to try…
Basically, I didn’t have to hoard five tubes last year.
When I got home from the store, I checked the drawer where I keep my makeup and beauty product backups, and for the first time in years I really took stock of what was in there. I found three tubes of Make Up For Ever HD Concealer, which I used to love but no longer use because I rarely wear full-coverage these days. I also found an old Smashbox Photofinish Primer, BECCA Backlight Primer and an Hourglass Veil Primer.
Like, no kidding, there were so many things in there that have been there for years and haven’t been touched. I’ve wasted a lot of money on backups of things I no longer use that are now probably expired, and I’m not going to do that anymore.
My makeup style has changed so much over the past decade (I’ve been wearing less makeup because I’m tired and have time constraints), and I’m also at the point where I know that if something I love is going to get discontinued or changed in any meaningful way, life will go on, and I will be able to find something else to replace it.
Karen five years ago would be shocked, I’m sure, but I don’t want to keep backups around anymore unless I’m sure it’s for something I’ll use before too long. That’s my plan and I’m stickin’ to it!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I am a self diagnosed hoarder and I hope to follow the same rules that you plan to. It is so not necessary to have the exact same back ups of products because, like you said, even if they stop carrying it there will probably be something similar. And what if you change your mind and want to try something different but you feel like you have to use up what you have? That makes getting made up way less fun. Speaking of Trader Joe’s, I bought one of those ginger hand creams 3 months ago and haven’t even opened it because I have so many opened hand creams I’m trying to use up! Hoarder!
I agree with this except for the essentials, like soap, shampoo and the mega essential face products (for me that would be a cleansing oil, cleanser and moisturizer). I came to that conclusion recently, too. There will always be something else and our wants eventually change over time, too. The only makeup thing I have a back up for right now is face primer (mainly because it’s so hard to tell when you’re going to run out with this container) and mascara because my counter always seems to be out of my favorite and I snag it if it’s there.
Marie Kondo would approve. 😉 I’m concerned with how old products are. I have no idea how old they are when I buy them off the shelf; if I keep them around longer, will the ingredients still be good/as effective?
Two hoarding exceptions are floss and sunscreen (bc Hawaii). Our household can never have enough of [either of] the good stuff and they both get used quickly.
Oh gosh, I hoard floss and I’m not ashamed! My favorite right now is Cocofloss; I ran out of it a week ago and have been surviving on floss samples from the dentist.
Yeah, I’ve come to the same realization recently. I’m really trying to narrow everything down to one or two loves and trying to eliminate the rest. I sort of wish I had a back up of the original Urban Decay Naked palette because I’m in the corners on my second one and well, I haven’t found a neutral palette I love as much. Maybe I’ll just get single dupes for the colors I love the most.
I think you can buy it at Ulta right now!
Thanks Jade. I just checked and I did not see it listed on-line. There isn’t an Ulta nearby and I don’t need it enough that I would get in my car and drive 4o plus minutes just to find it. Yup, I’m lazy that way and I hate traffic and there is always traffic these days.
Ugh they had it like two weeks ago, but they probably sold out of it….
How about calling one of the UD freestanding stores? Here’s a store locator. I don’t know if they do this, but you might be able to buy something over the phone if you call in.
Thanks, as much as I love the original Naked, having gone through two of them. I think this is a sign I just need to move on. No makeup is worth the effort of driving around or calling around looking for it.
Backups of cosmetics? Never. Trends change, things go in and out of fashion, and my tastes and needs change. I don’t like duplicates of things sitting around because chances are good that by the time I’m ready to use them, the times and I have moved along. Backups of skin care? Well, that depends on whether or not it is a staple that I use regularly. If so, I like to take advantage of 20% off sales/coupons to stock up. If it is more of a special needs product, I only purchase what I’ll reasonably use.
This is a quote of the century, Karen: ??? if something I love is going to get discontinued or changed in any meaningful way, life will go on, and I will be able to find something else to replace it???
I should nail it at the doors or write down and keep it in my purse whenever I go beauty-shopping!?
I mean, it’s so hard. I totally understand the temptation! I’m by nature someone who likes to hoard and also someone who loves trying new things… It’s a dangerous combination, LOL!
Wow, bold words! I might agree with you but apparently the fragrance love of my life is no longer being manufactured. If I’d known it was on borrowed time, I would have stashed an extra bottle or two in my beauty baskets.
But, on the other hand, products don’t last forever.
Good luck with it!
Well ya can’t mention the fragrance love of your life without telling us the name, girlfriend!
OMG my TJs better have that rose hand cream!
I hope they have it too! Gonna use some right now because I want to get through my backups. LOL
This speaks to me so much! I’m always convinced I need a backup, mostly for skincare, but by the time I run out of something I usually want to try something new anyways. It’s a problem.
The only back up I currently have is Kate Somerville’s “anti-bac”! That I can’t live without!
The only backups I buy are of staples – tinted moisturizer, eye primer, mascara, when there is a sale. I am at a point where I have tried multiple varieties of these the first two categories, and for the present am satisfied that these are my HG (Nars TM and eye primer.) But I only buy one extra at a time. I buy mascara during the Nordstrom buy 2, get 1 sale. I figure I can take advantage of the sales to get something I would use anyway.
Your post totally spoke to me! I’ve been thinking this same thing for a couple of weeks now. One thing I’ve always wanted to know is how all these beauty reviewers, including you, handle having so many duplicate products! I have two foundations now because I wanted to try a new one, and I feel guilty because I didn’t finish my first one first! I have been totally guilty of buying extras when there’s a sale. I have two It Cosmetics concealers, but now they’ve released the new colours and I’m not sure I even like it anymore! That’s why I’ve decided not to hoard anymore.
Hi Karen,
wow, I’m still moruning some discontinued products, but what can I do? Nothing. My rule is to have exactly one replacement piece for the things I use every day. For the simple reason that I have to travel and I pack the night before. Therefore, I don’t have to improvise in the morning of the trip and also have my trusty cosmetics with me on the trip.
Girl, you hit the nail on the head with Kate S’s Anti-Bac! I cannot live without it & currently am using my back-up. I need to order another asap! The only other back-ups I have is The Ordinary’s Rose Hip Seed Oil, Mac Brun for eyebrows, & Marc Jacobs eyeliner. Otherwise, I am not much of a back-up person. I have to be wearing the stuff every single day for a very long time before I will buy a back-up & even then I get indecisive. When I am through with the eyeliner next time, I think I am going to switch to a Chanel one because Marc Jacobs is the best I have found so far for an eyeliner with contact lenses but it still isn’t my holy grail status.
I came to the same conclusion when I moved homes a few years ago. The only backups I have are what I call essentials such as soap, one hand cream, cotton pads, shampoo and conditioner, one mascara and certain skincare products that I hate to run out of. I even decided that it was useless to buy mega sizes of shampoo and conditioner as I live alone and I may discover a new shampoo and conditioner. There are ALWAYS new products on the market, in fact, way too many that can cause anxiety and confusion!
I’m self medicating on this very issue-ation right meow. The financially destructive habit of cosmetic overbuying has been mentally shut down, and in its wake, I sit amongst an enormous collection of eyeshadows, lippies, blushes, foundations, hair oils, make up brushes, body lotions, scrubs, liners, lip glosses and an a-z list of skincare. All of which shows no promise of life everlasting. Half of the battle is won on the hoarding, because I DO NOT re-up until I run out, but at the same time I cannot part with the majority of my desperately-needed yet never-been-used eye enhancers and blemish warriors. I have spent enough money this lifetime on a collection of beauty products that would take 20 lifetimes to get through. All for it to sit nestled neatly in IKEA and Sterilte plastic drawers, as if the abscence of light will somehow preserve it a little while longer, but really only allowing me to forget what I already have. This is where I had my break through. All that product just sitting there useless, and becoming ever still. Throwing it away though would yeild dire consequences to the person who dares try – that heartless idiot would wish they had never done that. The importance of it has become a mere collection of something I once loved, and still do. But as I’ve just entered my 40’s, I am so much more aware that I don’t need 4 different sleeping masks, or five tubes of the latest “limited edition”. There will be others, and with cosmetics, they always come back.