Avoiding Cheap Impulse Buys

Many beauty addicts got their start in the drugstore. My own interest in beauty was first piqued while tagging along with my mom to the pharmacy as a middle-schooler. I fell in love with the transformative promises of skincare, haircare, and makeup, and the drugstore is where I sadly picked up some of my less responsible spending habits.

I decided to completely forgo drugstore makeup in 2018 (and I managed to keep that resolution!) however that doesn't preclude me from being tempted by cheap stuff- whether online makeup brands, drugstore skincare, or deeply discounted higher-end products.

On the face of it, accumulating lots of cheap items doesn't present as problematic as splurging on expensive ones. However, if you're like me, you can justify an expensive haul made up of cheap items, simply because the volume of items acquired seems so impressive.

I can sensibly talk myself out of a single $45 purchase at Sephora, and turn around and spend $60 at Target because my "haul" is multiple products. In theory, getting more bang for your buck sounds great- but in most cases, the bang you get isn't all that amazing. My return/discard rate for drugstore purchases is much higher than the rate for high end purchases.

Pretend the potential purchase is the same price as comparable items in your collection. I've been guilty of buying a $6 highlighter when I own multiple $30 highlighters. And why? I guess to satisfy this itchy feeling that buying a cheap highlighter would be like getting away with murder. But the fact is- if I wasn't willing to invest similar amounts of money in a drugstore item as the expensive version, and I already own an expensive version, the low price tag shouldn't be tempting at all.

Keep a piggy bank. For larger purchases, you might not want to take hundreds of bucks out of your bank account and stash them around the house. But for cheap stuff, go ahead and force yourself to go to the bank, withdraw $20, put it in a piggy bank, and see if you really want to go take that money and spend it at CVS. Many people struggle with money not being tactile and palpable, and by sidestepping the seductive credit card convenience, you will reinforce to yourself that you are spending real dollars that could be spent on better things.

Consolidate drugstore visits. As much as possible, don't make multiple trips to the drugstore in a week. If you need to pick up a prescription, and you're not quite out of toothpaste yet, buy it when you're getting your meds, otherwise you're more likely to come in next week and be tempted by makeup all over again. When I go to the drugstore and only buy one necessity, I have this maddening urge to make the trip "worth it" by buying more stuff. I'm way less likely to browse lipsticks if I have my hands full of backup floss, a case of seltzer, and a new bottle of toilet cleaner.

Make a few ground rules. Maybe you need to avoid the drugstore altogether. Maybe you don't allow yourself to peruse a few tempting brands that constantly disappoint. Or maybe you have to restrict yourself to domestic drugstore makeup only- no eBay orders or international swaps for you! Just like a diet, there are many ways to approach overindulgence. There's no one size fits all solution, but you absolutely do need to give yourself some restrictions. Write a list, and post it somewhere you can see it. If you just have the rules floating in your head, it's easier to bend and break them.

Keep all your receipts. I know, it's a pain in the ass to keep the 5 foot long CVS receipts, but you have to do it. I'm personally more likely to return a $40 foundation to Sephora if I hate it, but I easily let 5 bottles of $8-$12 foundation from the drugstore pile up until I get sick of looking at them, then throw them away. I waste more money and storage space on drugstore makeup I'm too lazy to return, because the price per item is lower. Because most drugstores don't have a sophisticated beauty rewards program, unlike Sephora or Ulta you will always need to bring your receipt along. But at least in the USA you can absolutely return used makeup if you hate it, and you should take full advantage of the return policies in place without any guilt. I keep a cardboard box next to my vanity, and every time I make a new beauty purchase, I throw in the receipt or packing slip, along with the outer packaging if there is any. That way there's no hunting for scraps of paper when I find I need to return an item.

Free or Cheap Ways to Fix Winter Skin

I love the transition from hot weather to cold, but my skin decidedly does not. Whether I'm living in frigid Scotland or temperate California, my skin protests the changing seasons  by erupting in acne (often caused by dehydration) and exacerbated by indoor heating and dryness.

As long as I can remember, every winter that I've been aware of my own skim, I've gone into a moisturizer-buying frenzy when the temperatures dip. Black Friday and holiday sales/new releases only encourage that bad habit. I'm never more gripped by unsubstantiated and overblown marketing messaging than I am when my face is flaking off.

I've noticed a lot of my followers and mutuals on Instagram falling over themselves to bolster their routines with winter's arrival, and they often do so by splurging on new supposedly heavier-duty creams, high-tech treatments, and plsuh-sounding masks. But I've found, for the most part, that's not the most economical or efficient way to save your face. Here are the things that make the most difference for me, in the shortest amount of time, with the least financial outlay:

Get a humidifier 

Shit, get two humidifiers. Put one on your desk at work, and put one on your nightstand for when you sleep. My face starts cracking around my jawline like clockwork the 3rd week of October (coincides with my birthday, thanks for the gift, Universe, you REALLY shouldn't have) and usually I'm too lazy to set up the humidifier until a few weeks later. But when I do set it up, I'm always astounded at the difference I feel in my skin. It's not instantaneous, but within 3 days, I notice increased comfort throughout the day, better makeup weartime, and less irritation and sensitivity when using acids or masks. I live in California- we do not have harsh weather. But most people crank up the heat in their cars, offices, and homes when the temperature starts to drop below their comfort zone (in California, that's under 68 degrees) and indoor heating wrecks even the most resilient of moisture barriers. Don't cry about humidifiers being expensive when I saw your Instagram stories justifying your desperate Drunk Elephant moisturizer purchases! A $60 humidifier will last multiple winters and pay for itself.

Ointment up, girl 

Vaseline, Aquaphor, Cerave Healing Ointment, Biafine...there are so many options out there, and they all cost peanuts. During summer you might have the luxury of falling asleep with a whisper of gel-cream, or a light layer of hydrating toner on your face, but in the winter you need a heavy duty arsenal. I use my ointments as sleeping mask, spot "treatments" for dry spots even under makeup, and most importantly, I use them to bolster the strength of my existing every day face creams. By mixing a blob of Cerave Cream (nowhere near potent enough to carry my face through a winter's night) with a blob of Aquaphor, I can make my wimpy day moisturizer into a powerhouse night mask, without shelling out for three "sexy" new night creams that end up disappointing me or breaking me out. If you're not hardcore and you don't enjoy having a literal full face of Vaseline when you fall asleep, you're wrong, but you can do my sleeping mask trick as a final step.

Oil is your friend 

Seriously, if you're not already a facial oil convert, you're missing out. It's [current year] and you have no excuse. There's some debate as to whether facial oils work better when applied BEFORE creams or after. Especially during winter, I say porque no los dos, and I oil-sandwich my night cream and let it all soak in while I slumber. The trick with facial oils is to apply them to not-fully-dry skin (usually I'll press on a layer of toner or gel essence, wait for it to soak in 50-75%, then go in with my oil) and also to press into the skin sparingly. You can always go back and add a few drops, but my skin prefers less oil, layered, rather than a whole puddle of oil slapped on at once. Although my skin loves many lightweight oils like jojoba, green tea seed, and hemp oil in the summer, in the winter I focus on heavier oils like mineral, lanolin, and pomegranate oil. Pure oils are remarkably cheap, even "precious" ones like pomegranate oil. Once I've determined what my skin likes by buying small samples from Garden of Wisdom, I search for bulk suppliers to get the best $/oz. I buy $28 for a pound of pomegranate seed oil. Trust me when I say the investment in oils is worth it, and minimal when compared to purchasing ready made products. My favorite trick is to mix a bottle of 50/50 light and heavy oil (my current go-to combo is green tea seed + lanolin oil) and keep a bottle on my bathroom counter to mix into my routine anywhere I want. It's cheaper than store-bought oils, so you can be really generous and frequent with application. The thing I love most about pure oils is how versatile they are in my routine. I've mixed a few drops of facial oil with my toner as a first step when my skin was raw and dehydrated, but I needed my face to be less greasy for makeup prep. You can apply oil at any point in your routine, mixed or unmixed, and it will do something slightly different. Experiment with "timing" and ratios of oil:other skincare and you'll be amazed at how cheaply you can stretch your routine.

Use less, not more, skincare 

With this I'm specifically side-eyeing your (I'm sure) highly reasonable stack of acids, exfoliators, masks, and treatments. During the winter, your skin will tolerate less. That's just the truth. You're sick more often, you're exposed to harsh outdoor weather and indoor climate control, you're probably eating like crap and sleeping odd hours due to your circadian rhythms getting dicked by the lack of sunlight...give yourself a break. Give your skin a break. This doesn't mean you can't treat acne or aging concerns for half the year, but if your skin is rebelling, and you are throwing more products at it to make it behave, take a beat and think about removing  a few steps before you add more. I specifically back way off of BHA usage in the winter- most weeks using it only once instead of 3-4 times like my summer schedule. I also completely swear off all clay masks from October to March, even though I adore them. I tend to avoid all physical exfoliation in the winter. I lean heavily on diluted tea tree oil and azelaic acid as those are the two least-drying but still-effective acne-fighters in my routine. Even glycolic acid, which my normally hardy skin loves, needs to be used with caution because it can cause tightness and itchiness on skin sensitized by winter. The best part about this tip (toots own horn discreetly) is you're encouraged to spend less not more. You do not need to buy One Magical Thing, Darling to fix your face. You need to listen to your own needs and be patient, even if that's less sexy and satisfying than blowing your skincare budget on 5 new cool-sounding moisturizers.

Turn the thermostat down 

Hi Hungry, I'm Dad! Seriously, this may not be an option depending on where you live or who you share a living space with...but if you can at all avoid running the heat, do it. Not only will it save you money, it will also save your poor dehydrated skin. I run hot, I'll admit, but I bundle up in cozy pajamas and wool socks when I'm bumming around the house in wintertime. I never turn the heat on unless I have an overnight guest who runs cold, and because of where I live, that works for me. Of course this is not a cold turkey directive- if you live somewhere with a more punishing climate, you may need to run the heat. But think about reducing your usage whenever possible. Bundle up more, put an extra quilt on the bed, even use a heating pad or blanket in place of running the forced-air heater. Your skin will thank you.

Wash your hands way more

And keep an extra tube of your favorite cheap face cream as a hand cream. I will admit I tend to wash my hands less in the winter even though I touch my face more. Either from feeling cold, or being annoyed at extra breakouts or dryness, my hands definitely wander to my chin and cheeks more than they should. And clean hands will mitigate the damage to some degree. In addition, washing hands a crapton is the best way to avoid catching cold. Personally, I get sick every single time there's "something going around," but the winter that my mom did chemo, I was so terrified of infecting her with a bug that I washed my hands upwards of 10 times a day. And I didn't get sick that whole year.
I avoid washing my hands in winter for a few reasons- one is that the sensation of cold water is obviously bothersome. Solution: run the hot water if you can. Just do it. The other reason I avoid it is because my already-dry hands feel drier the more I wash. I solve this by keeping a tube of cheapo face cream by my keyboard. This way if I touch my face I don't leave greasy, breakout-inducing hand cream swatches everywhere. Face cream is sufficient for daytime hand dryness and won't provoke more breakouts if I do touch my face.

Wash your clothing and bedding more frequently 

In the summer, I tend to wear low necklines and use next to no bedding. In the winter, I'm bundled up in scarves, turtlenecks, and you better believe I have my duvet pulled up around my face when I fall asleep. All of these cozy, cuddly items gather dirt and grossness and should be treated as breakout hazards. So be sure to switch out your sweaters, coats, and bedding whenever possible, and spot clean if you can't run them through the machine.

Break up with "always never" rules 

Maybe you think your skin tolerates alcohol all the time- I've been known to insist that. Maybe you know for a fact that you can't use heavy sleeping packs. Changes beget more change. Changes in temperature and habits during winter might affect your skin in unknown ways. Don't be scared to experiment and push the limits a little with how heavy your routine is at night, how much and what products you use, etc. Your skin in summer is not the same as your skin in winter and I know it's scary to play by different rules, but it's better to face facts than to insist your alternate reality is the truth.

Be kind to yourself

I'm a filthy capitalist shill, not a corporate shill. Companies love to lump your bothersome winter problems into a cutesy self-care package that conveniently stuffs into a stocking for the holidays. The truth is, you have more important things to spend your cash on than 5 new moisturizers. Some common sense and holistic self-care (holistic here meaning with regard to your whole person and routine, not just skincare) will do more for your wellness this winter than an advent calendar of travel-sized hydrating lies.

How to Learn Makeup from YouTube Gurus

I started watching YouTube makeup videos when the community was still a fragile baby bird. It was mostly awkward teenagers using their webcams to record ultra-grainy, unedited videos, sharing their genuine excitement in a brand-new medium. That time is past now, and I do sometimes miss the homegrown authenticity, but of course there are many more recent videos I enjoy for their crisp images and fantastic editing.

I learned a great deal of what I know about makeup from simply watching YouTube tutorials. But today's saturated YouTube beauty field is very confusing for new makeup lovers who don't know where to start.

How to Watch YouTube Videos as a Beginner

Just watching some videos is not going to magically make you better at makeup. Just like sitting through a semester of archaeology lectures won't make you Indiana Jones. You gotta get your hands dirty, practice, and actually walk the walk. Most people watch beauty YouTube videos for entertainment. But if your goal right now is to get better at makeup, here's how.

• Watch beauty experts not just any pretty person with an eye-catching thumbnails. Your goal is to consume excellent material, because as a beginner, it can be hard to unlearn bad habits acquired from not so talented "gurus." There are various experts at different levels of professional development- but make sure not to stray too far into amateur pretty-19-year-old-lifestyle-vlogger territory. Beauty enthusiasts sharing their thoughts as a consumer are a valuable resource when you're more experienced in makeup- but for now they will be a distraction.

• Stay away from review videos, haul videos, and favorites videos (for now!) These are fun to watch, but they are counterproductive to your learning journey. You don't yet know your own product tastes or even what all these products are meant for, so don't make the mistake of being seduced into hauling a bunch of stuff you'll never use. Trust me- in a few months, you will look  back at your early wishlist and wonder what the heck you were thinking.

• Follow along with tutorials. When I started doing this, I saw my skills skyrocket much faster than I would have expected. Simply watching someone practice a motion while you follow along with your own tools and products is so helpful, it completely outranks practicing from your fuzzy memory of a tutorial you watched last night. I think most people don't do this- and its importance cannot be overstated. You can pause and rewind, so don't feel limited by the guru's speed or editing.

• Watch with an eye for categories not products. If you end up watching 5 tutorials and thinking each time wow I really need a matte brown pencil for the looks I want to accomplish, then now is the time to shop for a matte brown pencil. Do not decide you need Tarte Shape Tape just because one pretty lady used it, and it looked really nice on her. Most YT gurus make money from promoting product- period- so you cannot rely on what they use as gospel for what you should buy. As a beginner, you will acquire a not-so-perfect makeup stash and that is how you learn what you love. Buy as little as you possibly can, and be open to the idea that you will outgrow products as your tastes and skillset grow.

• Repetition is key. Practice from the same video or few videos for weeks at a time. Do not try a smoky eye on Monday, abandon it for the rest of the week, then try again next Monday and cry that your skills haven't evolved. You will build muscle memory and your own understanding of your face by doing the same techniques many days in a row. For now, you don't get to be Crazy Makeup Lady who wears a different look every day. You get to practice the same basic look for as many days in a row, from the same tutorials, as it takes to nail it down. Then you can use that acquired knowledge for the next look you tackle.

List of YouTubers to Trust

Okay, you're just taking one woman's opinion on this. But you gotta start somewhere! The whole point is to start with a basic, limited list, and as your tastes and skills develop, you don't have to take anybody's advice anymore- you can find what you love all on your own! This is a mix of professionals and amateurs- both have something to offer, but for the most part, seasoned professionals who have experience doing makeup on people other than themselves are your best bet.

Lisa Eldridge

Harriet Hadfield

Monika Blunder

Mary Greenwell

Charlotte Tilbury (this is a brand channel, so ignore the products as best you can, just follow along with techniques, as hers are sound)

Sharon Farrell

Pixiwoo

Pony

Karima McKimmie (an amateur who is extremely good at communicating techniques and concepts)

Jaclyn Hill

Samantha Ravndahl (although she's a generic vlogger now and skews more beauty guru than expert, she is another semi-amateur/semi-professional who is excellent at communicating technique)

My Favorite "Beginner Friendly" Videos

How to Apply Lipstick by Rebecca Shores

This is a pretty high-effort tutorial, considering lipstick can just be swiped on in 20 sec. But if you are new to lipcolor, struggling with application fundamentals, or trying to fix asymmetry, this will give you a flawless finish. And you can always tweak the techniques to suit your needs.

Natural Shimmery Summer Glow by Lisa Eldridge

Healthy, glowy, sunkissed- practically everyone wants to master this look.

In Depth Bridal Tutorial

You don't need to be planning a wedding to want a special-occasion, flawless, "glamorous natural" look in your pocket. Jaclyn Hill has a big personality, but it's her fundamental, careful technique and solid laymen's explanations that make her an excellent source.

Brows by Lisa Eldridge

There is no such thing as timeless- well- really natural makeup is probably timeless. But Lisa always balances trend and technique- she favors a brow look fixed more in personal flattery- not fixed to a specific dated trend (skinny 90s brows, bushy 80s brows, crisp 2010s brows etc.) For most people, brows are not an accent to be played with- they are more of a foundation piece. You want them to look basically the same most days, and you want them to be the best shape and color for your face. You might play with 10 different shadow placements and color schemes in a week, but it's likely your brow experimentation won't be a focus.

Mary Greenwell's Natural Makeup Masterclass

Again with natural makeup- don't roll your eyes at me! Great natural makeup skills underpin every single successful experimental/funky makeup style. If you don't know the rules of making makeup "pretty" you can never figure out the best ways to break those rules and create interesting makeup. Mary Greenwell has a no-nonsense style which relies a lot on hands, multi use products, and natural earth tones. Like all of the gurus I discussed, her videos are a wealth of information and you can't go wrong following along to any of her tutorials.

Sam Ravndahl's Halo Eye

A technique that is both intriguing and challenging to beginners, the halo eye is a high-impact eye looks that actually takes relatively little skill. However, it's a confusing placement and concept when you haven't tried it before- Sam's videos are excellent for shadow placement as she's very specific in her descriptions, and she zooms all the way in to show where and how she applies each color shadow.

Concluding Thoughts

Most people don't take advantage of the wondrous resource that is Beauty YouTube. They approach it as entertainment, and that's perfectly ok unless you're trying to improve your skills. If you are unhappy with your makeup skills, approach the project like a challenging class or subject in school. Use a variety of trusted resources, study and practice every day, and trust the process. You will not become an expert in a few weeks, but within a few months you can grow your knowledge a great deal. 

Makeup Marketing and Beauty Guru Culture

I have been watching "Beauty Gurus" on some form of social media for more than a decade now. Online beauty reviews and blogs have existed for a while, as well as makeup discussion forums like Specktra and later Reddit, but I think YouTube was the ideal platform to launch the current iteration of what we now know as a Beauty Guru (hereafter abbreviated as BG.)

Because makeup is a tactile and visual medium, words only go so far. If you can't be there in person with a makeup artist or fellow makeup lover, video is probably the next best thing. With the explosion in variety of social media platforms over the last several years, BGs have found wider audiences and even greater Internet (and sometimes IRL) fame.

In the past, BGs were either professional makeup artists with some spare time and a flair for video editing, or they were ordinary women/men who dedicated a lot of time to a hobby but maintained a separation between work/real life and their online presence. Before the space exploded, being an Internet BG was a fairly thankless labor of love. The people who had YouTube followings enjoyed a pretty devoted audience and possibly some ad revenue, but the BG machine didn't fully kick off until beauty companies got hip to how powerful a marketing tool these BGs could really be. Sponsored content in the form of free samples of lipstick turned into sponsored vacations, paid-for teeth whitening, and just gradually exbanded to become entrenched in BGs' lifestyles, rather than being confined to the neat little box of a beauty hobby. BGs drink startup artisanal coffee provided gratis from free coffee mugs with sponsor logos, wearing a robe that they reviewed and received affiliate kickback for. All while checking their social media with thousands of adoring followers, who feel a genuine affection for them and contribute to their overall sense of self.

The current climate/status of BGs as "influencers" (to use the sterile and slightly horrifying term) is a case of everyone wanting to have their cake and eat it too. Marketing is rooted in the practice of manipulating the human psyche to bring about desired behavior (in this case, the desired behavior is to buy.) I see a few common ideas about marketing at play in the current BG culture.

The "Trusted Consumer" Opinion

In this example, housewives in the 1950s all across America were sold on New Cleaning Product X because a woman whose life was just like their own told them Product X worked well. Well, our housewife thought, that woman looks just like my sister/mom/friend from down the street. I trust her because she seems like she understands my needs, because they're her needs too. And a million Average Jane commercials and advertisements were born. Companies constantly develop ways to strike that nerve and get their potential customers to feel that someone you trust vouches for it. This impulse ties in to people's group mentality, where acting clannish and having a trustworthy network makes them feel safe and like they belong to a supportive community.

The "Aspirational Figure" Endorsement

In this other method, there was the gorgeous actress, who the same housewife had only ever seen in soft-focus motion pictures and retouched magazine spreads. She was impossibly beautiful, cosmopolitan, and has everything our housewife dreams of, though she lives in Ohio, has an insurance salesman husband, and struggles with uneven skintone. But wait, the actress has now endorsed and credited Face Cream Y for her flawless complexion. Even if our housewife can't have the actress' entire life, she can obtain a small slice of it. And that  makes the purchase of Face Cream Y a transformative, hopeful act. It's rooted in the desire to be like someone else because you think their life is superior to yours in some way(s.) Humans react in patterns of behavior that allow us to be manipulated by certain tricks. This is not reserved for people of the past, or women, it's all of us.

The Modern Beauty Guru

So that brings us to today. We know for a fact that companies use BGs to market to us. We understand that they are often the personable mouthpiece for multiple faceless corporations. But are they The Trusted Consumer? Why yes, girl, they have man troubles, they eat pizza in their sweatpants, they struggle existentially. How terrifically relatable- they are just like you! But wait...aren't they also kind of celebrities? They get flown around on glamorous vacations, they have no ordinary 9-to-5 job, and they have impeccably-curated and polished appearances (excepting those #important notable exceptions when there's a #nomakeup hashtag floating around and participating to show vulnerability has a greater positive impact on their brand image than a few un-aspirational sunspots would.)

Beauty Guru Culture has transformed into this monolithic marketing machine that is basically the apex of manipulation. It inspires a Golden Ticket feel in ordeinary girls and women. Nowadays you might not imagine you'll ever be a movie star or like one- that hardly seems achievable...but you can easily imagine becoming like any of the thousands of "Internet-famous" gurus who have devoted fan followings, free shopping trips, handsome boyfriends, and overall "polished" and enviable lives. BGs and their sponsorships/brand partners are trying to have their cake and eat it too, by presenting figures who speak simultaneously to that "trusted compatriot" urge and to the aspirational "I want her life" vibe. We all want to feel connected to others. Sometimes we want the equivalent of a friend who will commiserate with our troubles. Sometimes we want someone to emulate, who will inspire us to become greater. Both of these aspects are manipulated expertly by companies who make good use of BG sponsorships and partnerships. BGs hit that sweet, enticing spot between "just like you" and "better than you."

Why I Don't Feel Guilty Using Return Policies

I see a lot of people expressing shame or guilt over returning items from cosmetics retailers like Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, etc. In my experience, there's nothing better than being a customer of a retailer with a generous return policy- there is value for me and value for the company.

The Economic Argument

A company that exists in a capitalist system will not offer services it cannot afford. If it does do this, over the course of a year, or several years, it will lose enough money that the company will either...

• Change its policies going forward
• Go out of business

There is no third option where a company continues to "suffer" abuse of its policies by customers, all the while refusing to change anything. There is such a thing as unsustainable corporate generosity (though it rarely goes unchecked for long) and of course, it's possible for a customer to game the system and get greater value from the company than what a person could reasonably expect to draw. But by virtue of the fact that it's unsustainable, a company has only the option to discontinue it, or to go out of business. If you continue to see Sephora flourishing, building new stores, and growing, you can be pretty sure they're not going out of business as a result of having a generous return policy.

The idea that there are millions of people "taking advantage" of Sephora's "generosity" is an unfounded and very funny way to look at a corporate entity operating within the laws and principles of a free market economy. 

Sephora doesn't do anything that Sephora doesn't think will further its bottom line. Any costs or outward expenditures by Sephora are damn sure undertaken with the understanding that any initial outlay will see a promised return in other forms. It costs money for Sephora to build stores- why don't they just have an online portal and fulfillment centers? Because Sephora anticipates the cost of building and maintaining the store will have a greater positive impact on their business than negative. Without retail stores, Sephora customers would have less confidence buying online- there's no opportunity to test or compare colors, not to mention that part of what Sephora promises is a certain "elevated" customer experience. It costs money for them to train employees, dress them in nice uniforms, maintain service standards, etc, and yet the company continues to bear these costs because it sees return in the form of customer satisfaction and loyalty which ultimately manifests in more revenue generated over time. 

A return policy is simply another expenditure for a company- it spends money in the form of lost revenue in refunds for returned product in order to ensure that each customer will spend more money over a period of time. Let's say I spent $1500 at Sephora in the year 2016. And I returned $400 worth of product. Sephora has decided, after taking customer behavior (past and ongoing) into account that on average, their customers' increased confidence/comfort from a return policy manifests in greater revenue than losses. While the actual revenue I generated as a customer may be only $1100 (not $1500- we subtract my returns from my total purchases) in fact in the absence of a return policy, I may have only spent $300 at Sephora. I may have been too frightened to spend lavishly, since I would have no recourse if I ended up hating my purchase. Sephora knows this. For them, it's worth it to bring me up from a $300 customer to an $1100 customer. It costs them $400 to do so, and generates $800 more revenue from me.

Of course this is a vast oversimplification- it doesn't take into account the markups on cosmetics (which are mind-blowingly impressive) and many other factors. But essentially the simplified breakdown demonstrates what I mean- Sephora isn't giving me the opportunity to return items out of the goodness of their corporate hearts. It certainly contributes to the "goodwill" the company has in the eye of its customers, but ultimately, if it cost Sephora more money to implement and offer its return policy than it netted them in additional revenue, they would eliminate the returns policy. 

As a customer, if you allow feelings of guilt to stop you from returning an item you don't need, you're wasting your time and energy. The company couldn't care less- you are one fraction of a percent of their overall customer base, and it has already taken your reluctance into account along with others' confidence to use the policy. Get over it- use the policy or lose the economic benefit that's built in for you. If you pay taxes, you know that "tax loopholes" are intended to be used. You aren't supposed to pay the maximum, over do more than is expected of you. You're not in a romantic relationship with Sephora, which means that shopping there is all you owe them. You don't have to act in their best interests- in a free market economy, businesses act in self-interest and they assume consumers will as well. If you don't, you're just in a corner singing kumbaya to yourself and losing economic value that you otherwise would be able to take advantage of.

The Environmental Argument

Of course there are other, and perfectly valid, reasons that someone might not want to overuse a return policy. In my opinion, the most significant one would be a reluctance to contribute to unnecessary waste. In the USA, returned cosmetics nearly always go straight in the trash. The company can't guarantee you didn't do something disgusting with the lipstick you returned while it was in your possession, so they can't take responsibility for what happens when another customer buys your used goods. Because of this reality, people feel that their purchase of a lipstick that is barely used and then trashed is morally indefensible. It's true- trash and waste do add up. That cannot be ignored. Throwing away items that took precious resources to create is not a good thing, even if economically, neither the company and the customer do not see immediate "costs."

In terms of this argument, I feel that it's up to the individual consumer to manage and adjust their consumption habits. I myself have been that person who bought 2 or 3 foundations that didn't work out, only to return them and have them trashed. That experience did not happen and then disappear from my psyche- in fact it informed the consumer I am today. Because I regret the wastefulness that resulted from my "reasonable" consumption habits, I altered my standard of what is reasonable. Nowadays, I do not find it acceptable personally to order a foundation, sight unseen, from an online entity. I will only purchase foundations I have personally tested in-store for color and formula purposes. While I have still had to return some items, even after they pass the minimum in-person testing process, the number is greatly reduced. For now, for me, the "cost" is acceptable. And that's a judgment each person makes for themselves, as we all have a different acceptable threshold.

I would also ask the average makeup consumer to take a critical look at the type and amount of waste generated by buying-then-returning vs. buying-then-consuming a product. Let's take a lipstick example. Here the environmental costs are:

• Resources and energy consumed to create the plastic tube
• Resources and energy consumed to create the external cardboard box
• Resources and energy consumed to ship the item to the store (or maybe to your home)
• Resources and energy consumed to create the actual lipstick portion

If you return your lipstick, here's what was "wasted" to use the absolute harshest term:

• Resources and energy consumed to create the plastic tube
• Resources and energy consumed to create the external cardboard box
• Resources and energy consumed to ship the item to the store (or maybe to your home)
• Resources and energy consumed to create the actual lipstick portion

Wow, much waste, very sad, right?

Let's look at the "virtuous" alternative of not returning, however. If you use the lipstick up, love it to death, and wear it every day for 6 months, here's what was "wasted:"

• Resources and energy consumed to create the plastic tube
• Resources and energy consumed to create the external cardboard box
• Resources and energy consumed to ship the item to the store (or maybe to your home)
• Resources and energy consumed to create the actual lipstick portion

In fact, you see the only true thing that you gain by using a lipstick up vs. trashing it is that you use the approximately 0.5 oz of wax and colorant instead of throwing it in the trash immediately. The rest of the packaging gets recycled or trashed regardless, whether the trashing occurs today or 6 months from now. The resources contained inside just the product portion of the lipstick are minor compared to the gas and plastic consumed to create the product and deliver it. We're talking 100% waste in the first example and maybe 99% waste in the second example.

Because makeup is undeniably a luxury, not a necessity, any and all economic and environmental costs are, to be frank, a waste. Just because you get some ephemeral satisfaction or self-esteem boost from being a consumer of makeup does not mean that it's a truly necessary product. And hey, who cares? That's a large portion of the materials we as humans produce and consume. We individually make a decision of what is an acceptable amount of consumption for each of us. Someone living off the grid and subsisting off the land has a different "acceptable" threshold than someone who lives in a high-rise in a city, commutes to their job, flies on planes, and buys packaged foods from the store. I personally don't have any interest in convincing or converting someone to my personal threshold. I truly believe it's a personal decision that can only be formed by thinking extensively about one's priorities and values.

However, in the end, I've decided I am morally ok with being a makeup consumer. That means that I am not denying the negative consequences of indulging in frivolities, but that I will also try to be aware of all the costs associated. What you decide is entirely up you, but just be careful not to base your reasoning on unfounded or fallacious arguments. It will only end up hurting and costing you in the long run. When companies and consumers act in self-interest, everyone is accounted for. If you feel a company fails to satisfy your desires and needs, your best act of self-interest is to abstain from purchasing from them. Not everyone overlaps in terms of generating value- not every single transaction is a good deal. You can walk away from bad deals at any time, which is what encourages people to create mutually beneficial deals/transactions.

Edited to add on 1/31/2017:

The Mental Health Argument

An important aspect I neglected to discuss is the concept of your mental health and consumption habits in relation to return policies. This is a very fuzzy area that requires self-reflection and a willingness to be honest with yourself. The fact is that having the "safety net" of a good return policy often encourages reckless purchasing, because you can get your money back risk-free. That can serve to sabotage your own mindfulness and consumption goals by creating a consequence-free zone around purchasing.

If you ever feel that you are buying anything to change your mood or as a necessary component of having a good day, remember that shopping is not self-care. Shopping is a shortcut which has nothing to do with treating yourself well. If you have issues of compulsive behavior or obsessive thoughts/emotions, those root causes should be addressed without the safety blanket of return policies. Just because you can return something doesn't mean you should. And just because you return something doesn't always mean it's healthy for your brain long-term.

I tend to do better (I hazard a guess most people do) when I have some level of self-imposed restriction. I think most of us like to operate within a framework of what we consider to be acceptable behavior. In the past I have found that OVERuse of return/exchange policies led me to rabidly purchase items and then quickly return them, without putting in any genuine thought to what I was consuming and why. Any unchecked reckless behavior should be examined for validity. That holds true even in the face of the arguments made in the earlier sections. I would definitely advise you to consider all the factors in the context of your own bad habits and decide how much you are personally "allowed" to take advantage of return policies!

Further Reading and Related Posts

If you are interested in further reading, I recommend Thomas Sowell's excellent Economic Facts and Fallacies. The section of his book dealing with the Zero Sum Fallacy is particularly pertinent to the economic portion of the above post.