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.

Declutter Tips: How to Destash and Streamline Your Collection

As the new year approaches, there are lots of us reflecting on the beauty items we acquired in 2017, and are feeling a bit sick or overwhelmed with the state of our beauty stashes. If you are looking to declutter and streamline your makeup collection, this post is for you.

I am by no means a minimalist. If you are I suggest you check out the blog and videos of The Anna Edit. She started out on YouTube as a beauty vlogger but has gradually moved to more lifestyle/fashion while transitioning to a very minimalist beauty collection. Her principles and "capsule wardrobe" ethos apply equally well to makeup, skincare, housewares, and fashion.

I am a beauty maximalist. I like to have options and I wear quite a bit of makeup on my face. I don't have a signature face that I wear on the daily, so I can't quite get by with a tiny collection. However, that's no excuse for hoarding or collecting useless products. The goal for me is to have a reasonable stash- and while my "reasonable" might not be the same as yours, there are still some good guidelines that every person can follow or learn from. Here are some tips and tricks that I have based on my experience with decluttering makeup many times over the years...


1. Do not rush to declutter or do it when emotionally compromised.

2. Separate your collection into "keep, maybe, and no" piles.

3. Come up with your own "hard limits" and "soft limits."

4. Place your "maybe" pile in a box and store in a closet for 1 month before trashing.

5. Return all products that you can. Sell any that are worth it. Throw away what's left. 

6. Do not declutter and then haul right after, or do it to "make room" for new things.

Do Not Declutter When Emotionally Compromised

I frequently hear people bemoaning the state of their bloated makeup collections, and in a guilt-wracked haze, they trash a huge number of products all at once. This is not a good idea. By decluttering as a means to punish yourself for your past mistakes, you will not learn your lesson, and you are doomed to repeat the error of overbuying. 

Bingeing on destashing/minimizing is just as harmful as bingeing on a shopping spree. You are taking the shortcut that you think will lead to happiness or satisfaction. But happiness doesn't ever come about as the result of actions taken in a single moment. Happiness is usually built on repetitive good habits. If you are feeling extremely upset, guilty, or overwhelmed, it is not a good time to go shopping or to tackle your makeup clutter. Do something relaxing and not drastic like taking a walk, a bath, or talking to a friend.

Decluttering is a task, not a journey of redemption, and it should be undertaken when clear-headed and rational. If you are having difficulties approaching your makeup destash with a level head, your first step should be to write out your makeup collection goals. Try to understand what you will use, what you will enjoy, and what you should own before literally dismantling your collection. Once you have made that list, sit on it for a week and see how your perspective changes. Then start your destash.

Separate Your Collection

Every person has holy grail, use-it-every-day items that they don't have to even think about keeping. Those should automatically just go back to your shelf/drawer without worrying. The difficulty comes in separating the products you might still want to keep, and the ones that you should absolutely get rid of. For someone who has a large, unthought-out collection, or trouble letting go, this gray area is the challenge.

When I go to a restaurant with a large menu and can't decide on what I want to eat, I first subtract all the low-hanging fruit options that I definitively don't want. You might only have 1 single lipstick you know you hate, or maybe you have 10 bronzers and you realized you never wear bronzer. Just separate those out right away to get some momentum.

Hard Limits and Soft Limits

What makes sense for one person to keep doesn't for another. All that means is you cannot use somebody's exact rules for yourself. If you wear red lipstick every single day, and you like to wear a different one based on the weather and your outfit, then for you 15 red lipsticks could be reasonable. Wearing each of them at least 5x a year could be your metric for keeping. But if you wear red lips only once a month, and you have 3 red colors that you haven't worn in over 2 months...then your rule for red lipsticks needs to be much stricter.

Your exact time limits and usage rates will vary based on the individual product, so it's helpful to write out a list of your personal rules. Example list, based on my collection and my makeup habits:

1. Lipsticks that have not been worn in over 60 days must go

2. Eyeshadows that have not been worn in over 3 months must go

3. Base products that have not been worn in over 30 days must go

4. Highlighters that have not been worn in over 60 days must go

It's better to come up with these rules first, write them down, and keep them in front of you when you're rummaging through your makeup pile. If you don't have some hard limits, you will always find yourself justifying the items you have some affection for.

If you feel that you are responsible and reasonable enough to handle it, you can also make a list of "soft" limits, which are a bit more wishy-washy and up to interpretation. If you are doubtful about your abilities here, nix the soft limits list and stick to hard limits. Example list of soft limits:

1. Keep 2 dark vampy lipsticks in collection, regardless of last time I wore them, as I will probably wear them in the autumn.

2. Destash 2 out of 3 "funky" highlight colors, keep the last 1 in case I have a costume or festive look to use it for.

3. Keep this lipstick I haven't worn in a year, with the understanding I must wear it at least twice in the next 2 weeks.

Fake Destash

A common fear for people approaching a decluttering project is that they'll all of a sudden need or want the product they threw in the trash, and they won't be able to get it back. Even though this situation almost never materializes, it's important to work with your fears rather than making this a painful process.

Something that has helped me and many other Nervous Nellies is to place your "maybe destash" items into a box, put that box in a hidden place (under the bed, in the closet, in your car trunk) and then not touch the box for a month.

If you find yourself wanting to use a product inside that box, you may remove it, but you may not sift through the box to shop around, and you may not impulsively repatriate your products into your everyday collection.

I recommend setting an alarm for 1 month from your declutter date, and keeping the box of maybes completely out of sight. What usually happens is that you completely forget that box, and you never even think of the products inside it. This can be a very comforting exercise, because it reassures you that you really don't need anything you put in the box. And if you truly end up needing it, well you can always grab it.

Some people extend this to 3 months or 6 months, and if you have the room to store something like that for a long period of time, that's fine. Remember that the longer you go with the item hidden and forgotten about, the higher the likelihood that you do not need it and never need it again.

Types of Destashing

In my opinion, the best thing a recovering makeup addict can do for their future (financial, emotional, etc) is to return every single unwanted item that they possibly can. In the USA this is easy as pie- any store with a membership program will allow you to return items without a receipt even, for between 30-60 days, usually for a refund, sometimes for store credit. Even drugstores will allow this, usually with receipt required but not always.

I know a lot of people have reservations about returning items, and I have written an extensive blog post on the subject. The TL;DR is that guilt over returns is entirely unnecessary, from my perspective, and that if you are currently battling an overshopping issue that affects your life and happiness, returns are a great tool to help you out of your problem.

There will be some products you cannot return. For those, you can choose to gift them, sell them, or trash them. In my opinion, the "gifting" option is quite a big waste of mental energy, and often contributes to denial over how much of a clutter problem you have. I have seen dozens of claims that beauty boxes are a "worthwhile investment" because you can give unwanted mini lipsticks/conditioner samples to friends as gifts. All this does is justify more spending in the future because you have the illusion of a safety net- in reality it's rare to give a used beauty item in a way that is satisfying to gifter and giftee. You are not saving money- if you give your friend nice, thoughtful gifts for Christmas anyway, a used deluxe sample of a random liquid lipstick is hardly going to cut down on your gift list that year. At best you are spending extra money on unwanted items that may work for another person. At worst, you are fooling yourself into acquiring more crap and lying to yourself about what your priorities are.

The exception to this rule is for very beautiful, high-end or expensive products that would genuinely stand alone as a thoughtful gift, that simply didn't work for you. Provided there is no big-time wear, those items can usually be sold or gifted. Because of the terrible resale value of most makeup, it doesn't make a lot of sense to post something for sale online unless the original price was more than $50. Nobody wants a $10 blush or $5 lipstick from an Internet stranger when they can buy it from the retailer for a similar price. Sell items if you feel you can recoup some cost, and give items to beauty-loving friends if they are beautiful or the person has expressed interest in them. Otherwise, trashing is the best option for used makeup.

When you throw a makeup item away, you teach yourself a valuable lesson about the consequences of spending money carelessly. If you feel a twinge of guilt or pain over throwing away something beautiful that you once wanted, you can store that emotion and recall it the next time you are about to buy something just for the heck of it. Maybe you bought that eyeshadow palette because it was deeply discounted, even though you knew you wouldn't get use from it. How much value was it, in the end, despite the discount price? Or perhaps you impulse-bought a lipstick from the drugstore because you had a terrible day at work, but you found the color and formula to be utter crap. Next time you're having a bad day, you might choose a healthier option like going for a walk, having a good necessary cry, or going out for coffee with a supportive friend.

Enjoy Your New Collection

At this point, you have the tools to create the best version of your current makeup collection. The easy trap to fall into is to now start fantasizing about an even better version of what you have. Now that you got rid of so many lipsticks, think of all the new ones that could fit into your drawer! Wrong. This is the time to breathe, "lean in" to what you own, and be invigorated by the fact that you know you love what you have. If you start to bring in new elements, you are only clouding your vision. Think of how crappy you felt the first time you realized you owned too much stuff that you didn't use. Now enjoy that that feeling is gone.

You can always buy new products in the future. But you decluttered for a reason- and that reason sure as hell wasn't "to be able to make room for more clutter." If you find yourself itching to replace old products, revisit the lists you wrote out for soft limits/hard limits. I find that once I've done a destash, a great distraction and reminder of just how awesome my collection already is, is to do a full makeup inventory! That means breaking out the ol' spreadsheet program and cataloging exactly what you own. Figure out what your goals are going forward and arrange your inventory in a way that furthers those goals.

If you want to use up products, keep track of how long you've owned your stuff, and how much progress you've made on each product. If you are determined to stick to a budget, write out all the dollar values of each product you own to grasp how much money is already tied up in your collection. There are so many ways to appreciate what you already have- so don't ruin your fresh and clean perspective by immediately buying more crap. 

Low Buy/Mindful Consumption Plan for 2018

Welcome back to my blog! I've taken a hiatus since May, sticking to Instagram and Reddit, but I'm back. I wanted to kick it off with a post about mindfulness in beauty going into the new year. I spent a lot on beauty items in 2017 and I want to have a plan going into 2018, as I played fast and loose with makeup and skincare this year. I kept to a strict low/no-buy for perfume in 2017 and majority of 2016, so that gives me confidence to plan these categories out.

What I struggle with:

• "Treat yoself" whenever I  have a crappy day or get bored

• Going down rabbit holes of finding the perfect X and buying something after a week of Charlie/Pepe Silvia research...only to realize I never needed or wanted that X thing in the first place.

• Buying things from my favorite brands, whenever they come out with something new or have something that remotely catches my eye (Tom Ford, Hourglass, Fyrinnae, Besame, NARS)

• Shopping as an activity- the worst part of this is once I start/get the ball rolling, I'm way more likely to keep going. I'm the person that has a 2 month gap in her Sephora order history, and then 5 orders in the span of 2 weeks. I want to start breaking myself of that tendency.

What I don't struggle with:

• Spending beyond my means (I always stay well within my Fun Budget, which doesn't even touch my Important Things Budget)

• Buying close color dupes (I can self TMO with the help of Temptalia's shade comparison tool)

• Shopping random brands (I tend to be strict about avoiding brands I have no experience with and can't swatch in-person)

2018 No Buy Schedule

January NO BUY

February OK to shop

March NO BUY

April Ok to shop (coincides with Sephora sale)

May Ok to shop

June NO BUY

July NO BUY

August NO BUY

September Ok to shop

October Ok to shop

November Ok to shop

December Ok to shop

• I am least prone to emotional buying in the summer months- I am most happy and sociable during this time, so compulsive shopping is already not a problem. I will take advantage of that headstart by doing a solid no buy during the summer.

• No buys are easier to stick to once I get going, so I don't want to intersperse too many "Ok to shop" months with no buys as I feel it'll throw me off. I'm going for multiple consecutive no buy months to reinforce the habit.

• I do well with time-bound challenges, so I think it will be easier to stick to no buys for 30, 60, 90 days rather than a strict dollar limit.

2018 General Guidelines

• No drugstore makeup, period, except replacements for the 1 or 2 drugstore items I use regularly

• Repurchases are fine, no stocking up majorly

• No shopping while in pajamas, in bed, or while watching TV (like snacking, shopping becomes easier the more comfy you feel)

• Using gift cards does count as breaking a no buy- I will not use gift cards during my no buy months. The act of shopping, period, makes me want to shop more, so even if it's free money, I'm still engaging in the addictive behavior.

• Stick to Sephora and Beautylish as much as possible- considering I don't shop drugstore beauty, there's no reason to shop at Ulta. Ulta's high shipping minimum tricks me into hauling more. It's also easier to minimize expenditures when they're spread across 6 or 7 retailers compared to only 1 or 2.

New Item Wishlist

Example of my "wishlist" for 2018

Instead of keeping a disorganized running list of things I want, I will have a more structured wishlist for 2018. There will be a mandatory cooling-off period for any new item of 4 weeks per piece. I am going to, to the best of my ability, avoid hauls and make single-item purchases. Because I nearly always shop on Sephora's site anyway, free shipping isn't an issue.

The above list shows product slots/categories that, in a vacuum, I can see myself wanting and acquiring in 2018. I wanted to do this before I got wind of what will actually be released in 2018, because that will only confuse me with shiny new pretties. This list represents only the number of "new to me" items I will allow myself to purchase. So I can continue to buy  7 or 8 units of my favorite Holy Grail cleanser in 2018- but what the list does is allow for me to try 2 new cleansers if I decide I want to.

I believe this itemized wishlist will suit my needs because I can sometimes go on category binges where I acquire 3 or 4 new things in one specific category slot all at once, and it always causes issues. Usually I end up not using each of the items enough, and it either sits around until it's too late to return, or it just feels shitty to have to return a bunch of these ill-planned purchases.

For my favorite color cosmetic categories, I'm being fairly generous. I'm hoping by having, for instance, 8 slots available for 2018 purchases of "single glitter shadows" that I think very hard about any glitter shadow I decide to buy, and I'll be a bit more discerning. I want to avoid category hauls at all costs, so if I have 8 "slots" available across 12 months, I'll mentally be prepared to allocate more gradually.

For my "basics" categories that have been settled for more than a year, I'm allowing 1 extra purchase- for instance I only own one brow product that I use every single day. I love it, it's Holy Grail- but if I decide I want to try something else, I can do that once in 2018. Same goes for highlighter and concealer.

Concluding Thoughts and More Resources

If this post resonates with you or makes you consider a no buy/low buy, then I suggest drawing up your own customized plan, as everyone's habits and weaknesses look different. An excellent resource is Reddit's Makeup Rehab subreddit, where users discuss their successes and failures and offer support.

If you struggle with social media encouraging your mindless consumption, it can be good practice to take a break entirely. If you think you can handle without going cold turkey, curate the people you follow. Unfollow all brands as well as large "influencers" who receive free products for reviewing purposes. Those will dull your ability to understand consumption in real dollar terms. Follow YouTubers and Instagrammers who focus on finishing their products, anti-hauls, and shopping their stashes. Some of my favorites:

Bad Outfit, Great Lipstick who can be found on Instagram @reneesanatomy

Kimberly Clark's Anti-Haul series on Youtube, which spawned a whole video format

Some social media hashtags to check out: #panningcommunity #projectpan #shopyourstash #projectuseitup #makeupempties #skincareempties #antihaul #panporn

What I'm Not Gonna Buy: Sephora Sale 2017

Inspired by the Queen of Anti-Hauls, Kimberly Clark (Clark...Clark), and the awesome and very-conscientious Renee over at Bad Outfit Great Lipstick, I put up an instagram post on the revelations I had about the blush haul I had planned for Sephora's upcoming (semi-annual) sale. Once I did, it got my Makeup Rehab juices flowing, and I felt like writing an extended cut of that post, including all the other shit I was contemplating adding to my collection, but ultimately decided against.

Bite Beauty Whiskey Lipstick

via Sephora.com

Why I Want It:

• It's very similar to a DIY shade I made on my own that is beautiful but wears horribly and fades immediately.

• It's part of my favorite lipstick formula line (the Amuse Bouche line.)

• It looks really nice on the brunette ladies I've seen wearing it.

Why I Don't Need It:

• I don't wear vampy lips in warmer months- even though my inner goth wants to, I stay in the nude-to-jewel toned shades until October. If I really want this shade, I can just as well buy it in the fall Sephora sale and enjoy using it immediately. 

• I have several dark lipsticks already, which are going to expire in the next few years, and every new lipstick I bring in is incremental "loss" of days I could be wearing all of those.

• I already own Bite Portobello, a true brown which looks ghastly on me alone, that I can easily mix with a red lipstick I own to get close to this shade.

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."

Resisting Eyeshadow Palette Hype

When I was first introduced to makeup around the age of 11 or 12, high end and midrange brands did not offer a ton of palettes, and the ones that were around were not the cornerstones of those brands. I got my first of the 2010s-hyped eyeshadow palettes my second year of college, the original Naked Palette from Urban Decay, and I used that bad boy every day for nearly 4 years. It was like my eyes (ha) had been opened to this whole new world of multiple eye looks and layering different shades in the same color family. The Naked palette was so popular because of its ease of use (all the shades were rather blendable and beginner-friendly) and its ability to flatter a fairly large range of skintones. Of course, there are many people who don't enjoy the Naked palette, but it definitely started what I think of as the modern-day Eyeshadow Palette with a capital E.P.

The Allure

Eyeshadow palettes are appealing for several reasons. First, they offer thrilling variety in a small package- usually the price tag is "reasonable" in midrange makeup terms, between $40 and $100, for multiple shades. People love to break down the price per oz for these palettes to show how much less expensive it is to buy one set of 10 shadows than to buy those same 10 shades individually at market price. A good deal (or the impression of one) is seductive to newbies and experienced makeup lovers alike.

Second, eyeshadow palettes are generally speaking very visually appealing. They are almost always organized around a central theme, and designed and laid out in a way that sparks ideas for creative combinations and is just overall lovely to look at. If you've ever heard of the somewhat nastily-named Cheerleader Effect, where a group of girls (or guys!) looks more attractive as a whole because they are grouped together, than they look individually, then you can start to understand why eyeshadow palettes seem to be so pretty on first glance. Pretty things look alright by themselves, but they look gorgeous when paired with 9 other pretty things. There's a "greater than the sum of its parts" thing at play here and it yields a love at first sight feeling which can wear off once you buy the palette and take it home.

Third, eyeshadow palettes do play into the collector's mentality that a lot of makeup users start to take on after a few months or years involved in the hobby. There's this idea that if you own all the hot eyeshadow palettes, you are in good company of makeup lovers who have it all. We can't deny the temptation and tendency for people to desire a sense of belonging to a community, especially when the members of that community promote their image and personal brand as something worth emulating.

The Nefariousness

Because makeup companies only really have to hook you on one special awesome shade per palette to potentially get you to purchase the whole thing, they have 10 opportunities to catch 10 unique customers, all who will be paying $50 for 10 eyeshadows, a "good deal" by all accounts. But those customers, if they weren't presented with the 10 shadow palette, would only be "worth" the $10 they would have paid for a single shadow in that one appealing color. That's why you'll often see a brand offer such a good price per oz with their palettes...it costs them basically nothing to produce the colored dust that goes into a palette, and it makes you much more likely to spend more money for the variety and "value" that you perceive as a customer.

It's tempting to go for "good deals" because everyone likes to feel like they're getting something for nothing. In a palette, you're sold the idea that you're paying for a few key shades and getting the other ones for free! But as economists like to smugly say (myself very smugly included): "There's no such thing as a free lunch." When you get something, you are giving up something in return, whether you're aware of it or not. In the case of buying a shadow palette, you are paying the company money you could have otherwise spent on...food, rent, savings, or another makeup item. You might be fine what you pay for it, but you aren't getting away with murder by paying a price that you perceive as a steal.

Sometimes the price you pay isn't represented by only the dollar outlay on the item. Sometimes the price is a certain amount of psychological burden. Many people who own too much makeup express feelings of being overwhelmed or wasteful. While everyone's threshold for consumption varies, if you personally are negatively affected by clutter, then all things considered, it's not a good thing to increase your consumption.

Because of this reasoning, I do not consider "free items" or free shades to be truly free. If someone were to offer me a sample in a mall, and I had no interest in it, what could be gained by taking it? Nothing. In the eternal words of Kanye West:

via buzzfeed.com

When to Buy a Palette

All things considered, why would you buy one? There are actually many instances where I think an eyeshadow palette can be a sensible and useful purchase. I'll show an example and explain my reasoning behind an actual palette purchase I made in real life...and an example where I was able to talk myself out of the palette purchase as it didn't make sense for me.

Pictured below is Lime Crime's Venus Palette, which I ended up purchasing after going through the thought process I'll outline.

via limecrime.com

I got this palette discounted and brand-new, which put the price at $22.50 for the whole thing.

The first step is to abandon the lies you tell yourself- that you will use that greige in the palette when all you like to wear is warm browns, that you need the champagne highlight shade when you already have 6 or 7 of them. Whatever shades are useless to you- they are automatically eliminated from the "value" of the palette. Don't attribute fake value to things that have none to you.

Right off the bat, I eliminated the "value" for Aura, Shell, and Muse. Aura looks exactly like every other pale champagney gold shadow out there- I own several. I wouldn't be getting any incremental extra eye possibilities/looks out of this shade. Muse is a near-perfect dupe for MUFE Morello Cherry which I already own and love. Since it overlaps almost entirely with the red matte I own, I can't use it for any new looks either. As for Shell, it's the pale pinky gold shade that I know from experience looks very bad on my skin tone and eye shape. While I technically liked and could use the first two shades, in the context of my existing collection, they aren't extremely useful or necessary for me. I would never purchase those colors if I found them in single form, since I already own them. For the last shade, I wouldn't buy it or use it period, even once I got the palette. It's not a repeat of something I own, because I hate the color.

8 shadows total - 3 useless shadows = 5 valuable shadows

Next, let's look at the shades which some might consider "bonus" value that aren't really what attracted me to the palette- here that would be the shade Venus, a satiny raspberry pink that's not really my style, but isn't abhorrent to me. It's not similar to anything I own. I'm going to count it as a half a shadow in terms of its value. That puts us at 4.5 potentially valuable shadows.

At this point let's take the base price and see if the price tag is worth the 4.5 shadows I'm getting (remember the 3 shadows I won't use do not count toward the perceived or actual value of the palette, I will not be calculating $/g)

$22.50 ÷ 4.5 shadows = $5.00 per useful shadow

At this point I have to decide if each of the shadows in the palette are worth a $5.00 price tag. For me, these shadows definitely qualified as "worth it." However, if I had had to pay the full price of $34.00 here's that calculation:

$34.00 ÷ 4.5 shadows = $7.50 per useful shadow

And yep that's still worth it to me. I was in the market for a rusty orangered shade, a very dark burnt brown, a violet-gray matte, and a medium bright coral matte. It just so happens that this palette is almost exactly what I wanted, and the price for these unique shades, which can be found as singles but at much higher price tags, is definitely worth it in this case.

What this calculation allowed me to do is see what I want and what I don't want from within a purchase, in order to rationalize and justify the true value and not be disappointed once I brought the product home. In addition, I depot all my eyeshadows and use them in travel palettes, which means I don't acquire baggage from unused/useless shadows. I throw them away or put them in storage. That option isn't available to everyone and should be factored into your calculations as those shades will take up space in your collection and lead to clutter and negative emotions in some cases.

When Not to Buy a Palette

This exercise isn't just a way for you to excuse buying eyeshadow- it's a tool to decide what's right for your collection and what's wrong. Here it is repeated for a palette which I ended up passing on.

Here is a picture of the Viseart Dark Matte Palette, which costs a whopping $80.00 and comes with a fabulous reputation for blendability and pigmentation.

via beautylish.com

For a while, I was totally convinced I would get this palette. All of my muted, matte, blendable dreams come true- right? I read nothing but rave reviews about the versatility and the quality of all the colors, which should mean that it offered 12 valuable, useful shadows! Well, you know enough about me to know that I'm just leading you on. I didn't buy this palette.

If I could use every single shadow in this palette, the breakdown would be:

$80.00 ÷ 12 shadows = $6.66 per useful shadow

I always hear people gushing over the price per shadow in the Viseart palettes- what a steal for such a high-end product. However, I wouldn't use all 12 of these shadows. First off, I do not wear blue eyeshadow- ever. I don't own a single other blue or blue-adjacent eyeshadow and it's not something I currently need in my collection. That eliminates the 2 blue matte shades in the lower left corner. 

12 shadows total - 2 useless shadows = 10 valuable shadows

Then we have the 3 brown/true-neutral shades in this palette. They are all slightly different in undertone but would all qualify as neutral medium brown mattes. I own 4-5 of those types of shades in my collection already. There's a chance that all of these browns would be great on my skintone, but why bother finding out? I already have so many for the purpose that I'd use these for. I can eliminate all of these- and most eyeshadow lovers with any semblance of a collection could do so as well. Good neutral shades are a dime a dozen, and it's odd to me that the 3 in this palette are so similar to each other. 

10 shadows - 3 more useless shadows = 7 valuable shadows

Now we're down to the meat of the palette- 7 shadows that I might use, that are either going to be unique or distinctly superior when compare to what I already own. What I am really eyeing here is the 2 darker orange shades and the lighter purple shade. I have dupes that I love using for the lighter orange and for the darker purple and red. Finally, there's the one sage green matte shade unaccounted for. I love the way it looks- it seems gorgeously pigmented and blendable. I definitely want something like it, but I hadn't even thought to look for it before I saw this palette, which means it's not a huge priority clearly. We'll count it as a half-useful shadow. I'd use it if I had it but I don't think I'd go out and search for a single right this minute. I also have a lighter khaki green matte that stands in for it when I do require a green matte.

7 shadows - 3.5 dupeable shadows = 3.5 valuable shadows

Our ultimate calculation, once I take out all the fluff and the lying to myself about what I'll use becomes this:

$80.00 ÷ 3.5 valuable shadows = $22.86 per shadow

If these shades were so incredibly unique that I couldn't find them anywhere else, I would consider still buying this palette for just these 3 shades. However, at nearly $23 a pop, I can find similar shades within even the most expensive single shadow lines (NARS, MUFE, etc) and so there's no reason for me to pay and acquire all the extra baggage of those useless-to-me shadows anyway. Add that to the fact that the Viseart palettes seem difficult to depot (they are made of plastic not cardboard) and I'm unlikely to want to keep this palette in my collection because the useful shades will be "crowded out" by all the useless ones.

Packaging and its Impact

There is an issue I did not factor into my calculations above because it's insignificant to me- packaging. I know that there are people out there who love pretty packaging, and I don't hold that against them. If you fall in that category, I would say you should come up with a dollar amount for how much good/attractive packaging is worth to you. Are you willing to pay an extra $5.00 per palette just for a beautiful layout and exterior? An extra $30.00? Where is the cutoff for you? Everyone likes pretty things, but you should figure out, within your budget and lifestyle, how much packaging is worth to you in terms of cold hard cash.

Formula Preferences

Because there are so many textures and variations within the category of eyeshadows (further segmented into finish- matte, shimmery, satin) there is a large spread of what people consider good formula and bad formula eyeshadow. My preferences aren't the same as everyone's, and the point here is to figure out what textures work best for your skin type and eye shape, and forget the rest.

A good way to stop yourself from making a rushed palette purchase is to first go test the formula out in-person. No matter how appealing the colors may be on a computer screen, if the shadows themselves are too densely pigmented/not pigmented enough/chalky/streaky/too glittery, the colors won't do you any good. 

When you buy a shadow palette, you are buying 10-15 shadows produced and approved by the same chemistry and marketing teams. That means that if the people on those teams have a different taste than you, or they consider a certain type of formula good that you hate, you will not only hate a few of the shadows in a palette, you may possibly detest every single one of them. 

I really love Urban Decay's shimmer formula. I find it dense, rich, and superbly long-wearing on my eyes. However, I hate their microglitter formula. It's the shimmer formula with chunky, horrible flakes of glitter thrown in for no good reason. I like their satin formula fairly well, but I don't really enjoy their mattes. In any given Urban Decay palette, I will likely find some of each of those 4 finishes. If I only really like 2 of the finishes that Urban Decay makes, I'm already compromising on my preferences just by allowing the company to bundle up multiple shadows for me. By buying single eyeshadows, I'm able to be more picky about what I allow into my collection.

Conclusions

We all have different tastes and lifestyles, which means the way I weigh value and perceive it will be different from yours. But everybody has a limit on what is reasonable consumption and ownership. You need to figure out what your ideal eyeshadow collection looks like, what gaps you want to fill, what gaps exist that you have no need to fill (not everyone needs every color in the rainbow) and how to best build toward that goal with the least clutter, the least unnecessary expenditure, and the most ease.

I do my eye makeup probably 3-4x per week, and I consider myself more on the maximalist end of the eyeshadow spectrum. I like to use 6-7 shadows per look, which means I do have a flexible, large collection. Even so, I think you'll see my shadow collection, which was built up very slowly and carefully, has less bloat than someone's who owns a wide variety of pre-made palettes. I don't say that to be snotty, but it is a point of pride for me. I enjoy indulging in fantastical colorful makeup looks without feeling that I had to sacrifice and enormous amount of money or space to allow me that flexibility.


Even though I enjoy a variety of eyeshadow colors, I do not have one of every type of shade, in every finish. I believe that I am only capable of wearing certain types of shadow (finish and shade) because of my skintone, my lifestyle, and my taste. My collection is not everyone's ideal collection- but it is mine, which is what matters. You do not need to collect them all- no one person (non-professional MUA or professional pretty person) is going to need every type of color. You do not become magically better at makeup when you acquire more colors. There's a finite limit to how many shadows you can reasonably enjoy and get use from- although that limit does vary from person to person!

Every shade of eyeshadow I own

To give an idea of the flexibility of my collection, here's the configuration of shadows I bring with me when I go away for a weekend:

Because I love me a boring neutral color scheme

When I plan a more colorful look the night before, I like to set out a small palette with just the shadows I need to avoid confusion or overwhelming colors in the morning:

Weirdly, what I need for a green smoky eye

And on any given day, when I just want to have an organized way to remember where everything is, I have my collection divided roughly by color category and purpose. I know from lots of experience that my most-worn eye looks are purple-themed. Purples make my eyes pop and my skintone sing. I have a whole large palette dedicated to purples. Besides that, I have a general neutrals palette where I keep the majority of my browns and tan shades.

Most are warm because I am warm-toned. I also have a more burnt, obviously-warm palette with yellows and oranges, as that's another colorful category I enjoy. And last I have a mixed palette of "other colors," which means the adventurous shades that I wear on occasion but not on a daily or even weekly basis (many of my neutral/cool shades are found here as they aren't my preferred color scheme.)

My eyeshadow collection and its "organization" most days

Because every single shadow I own has been removed from its original packaging (or I purchased it as a solitary pan) I can mix and match endlessly with no constraints. I find that to be so helpful for my consumption goals and my own sense of organization. I like not having to choose between a compact solution (for a short trip) and the color variety I want.

My favorite part of having such a mix and matchable group of eyeshadows is that I can recreate or imitate basically any newly-released palette I'm interested in.

Here's my "recreation" of the Anastasia Modern Renaissance Palette...

Too Faced Sweet Peach Palette...

Smashbox Cover Shot Smoky Palette...

Are these recreations perfect? Nope. Do I care? Hell no. The point is not to ape and duplicate every minute detail of every trend that comes along- it's to take inspiration from rightfully-popular and beautiful things in a way that's not unhealthy or overwhelming.

If you love this type of topic then please do visit Reddit's /r/MakeupRehab. The community there is extremely supportive and intelligent when discussing matters of consumption and overconsumption. Shopping habits can become unhealthy, and when your love for makeup starts to infringe on your happiness of your finances, you are going to have to set it straight.