Am I Done Buying ‘New’ Makeup?

What my  beauty no-buy taught me about my makeup habits.

Since Kimberly Clark posted her first anti-haul video on Youtube, it seems one of the biggest beauty trends has been not buying into beauty trends. She intended to make a point about anti-consumerism and realizing you don’t need every new release on the market. By now your favorite members of the beauty community have posted their own anti-haul content, including myself. I personally love it. The same way I get information on products I’m interested in buying, I can also get reasons that I maybe don’t need something as well.

Coming off of that anti-consumerist mindset, I periodically will put myself on beauty no-buys. These are specific periods of time that I don’t allow myself to purchase new makeup or beauty products. There are some exceptions for me: I allow myself to make repurchases of products I run out of and genuinely don’t have a back up of any kind. I can proudly say that since January, I’ve only purchased 2 bottles of dry shampoo and two bottles of body lotion.

I like to do these no buys for a few reasons. I have so much makeup, and I want to use it before it is unusable. And it saves me a little (ok a lot) of money. For reference, I’m a VIB Rouge member at Sephora ($1000+ per year) AND an Ulta Platinum member ($450+ per year) through 2018. And that doesn’t include impromptu trips to Target’s beauty section. I spend an embarrassingly high amount of money on beauty products, and sometimes I just need to cool it.

This last no-buy period; however, really made me sit back and think, “Hm, am I done buying new makeup?” It was a bold question to ask myself as a beauty lover. And I was a little startled. Let me explain what I mean.

The outcome of 2018’s no-buy:

I started this particular no-buy after a very generous Christmas. I went a little overboard for Christmas presents, and I just felt like I needed to reel in my spending a bit. I wanted to challenge myself to empty products I already have going and use what I have in reserve, instead of continuously buying products that sit in a drawer.

Five months seems like a long time to go without buying new makeup, but a challenge is supposed to be challenging, ya know? I used up 13 products, mostly skincare. But I’ve gotten to work on a few makeup products as well. If you’d like to see those empties, let me know. I have some thoughts.

Lessons I Learned from Not Buying New Makeup:

When I’m excited to try a new product, I usually use colors and techniques I may not use regularly otherwise. I don’t mind that. I like the excitement of using new products and getting creative. However, when you limit yourself to what you are able to use (i.e.: your personal makeup collection) without the option of adding anything else, you really start to pick up on your makeup habits. I surely did.

• I like neutral eye shadows. As much as I want to say I love colorful eye shadows, I’m a warm neutral girl at heart. There is definitely a time and a place for me to play around with my Juvia’s Place Masquerade palette, but for everyday, I’m never going to reach for those colorful palettes. During this no buy, the eye shadow palette I reached for most was the Glambition palette from Marc Jacobs. It has everything I need for a neutral, natural look for day all the way to something smokey for evening.

 

• I really like light to medium coverage foundation. In attempt to use up product, I tried to cycle through a few of my foundations. While I still will have one or two full coverage foundations on hand for when I need them, I do not like them day to day. Recently, I’ve been reaching for my Glossier Skin Tint or another tinted moisturizer, or I’ll use a BeautyBlender to add a sheer layer of stick foundation. I like my freckles to show through, and I like to see my skin.

 

• I love illuminating primers. I used up a few illuminating priming products during this no buy including the Becca Backlight Priming Filter, the FAB Coconut Skin Primer, and the Glam Glow Illuminating Moisturizer. They all feel hydrating and add a champagne, lit from within glow to your skin with or without makeup. I LOVE them. When I use up the last of the FAB moisturizer, I’ll be buying a full size of one of them. I love the finish it leaves on my skin.

 

• I also love setting sprays. I don’t really notice they make my makeup last longer or anything, I just like how it makes my skin feel. I feel like it meshes all of the product together on my face, and adds a hydration that my skin eats up. I’ve been working through the Rosewater spray from Mario Badescu and used up a Colourpop crystal infused spray.

 

• I have everything I need. During this no-buy, never once did I feel like I was missing something. Any time I needed to add a pop of glitter or color to my look, I had it. If I wanted full vs. light coverage in my face, I had that, too. I really realized that I do have everything I need, and brands really haven’t been offering me products I don’t have. They’re just using marketing tactics to make me think I don’t have it.

 

What does this have to do with my last anti-haul?

When I’m compiling lists for my anti-hauls, they’re generally products I see and immediately think “Oh, no. Not buying that.” For my last anti-haul, I kind of struggled. There were a handful of things I knew I definitely wasn’t going to buy. But most of the products were just unappealing. I wouldn’t say I’d never buy them. I simply saw them and thought, “I have that in my collection already. I don’t need it.”

To put it simply, since participating in my last no-buy, I haven’t been inclined to buy makeup unless I really am interested. I still watch Youtube and read beauty blogs, and they are still constantly talking about new releases. I love that. I like hearing about new product. I like getting the information and reading reviews. It helps me decide if purchasing it is worth it for me. But I’m less inclined to purchase something, as of late, simply because I’m excited about the hype.

Am I really done buying new makeup?

No. I think you probably could guess that answer. I’d say the answer is: I’m done buying makeup for the sake of having it. I only want to have the products I like and want to use in my collection. I don’t need my space cluttered with a lot of products I don’t want to use. If something really intrigues me, excites me, needs replaced, of course I’ll still purchase. But I don’t feel like I need to buy 5 new foundation, just for the sake of saying I have them anymore. It’s a little liberating. And it’s comforting knowing when I look into my makeup collection, I like all of the products I am looking at.

 

Do you feel pressured to have a huge makeup collection though you only use a handful of products? Let’s discuss in the comments.