Skincare Experts: Trust and Critical Thinking

The skincare hobbyist world is not what it was 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago. In the last few years, skincare as a hobby has exploded, and that explosion owes a lot to social media, the blogosphere, and forums like Reddit. Using these online tools, amateurs and experts alike can share knowledge and experiences with respect to skincare.

This has been a net-good for skincare hobbies, in my opinion. There are more products reviews for curious consumers, and more discussion and scientific analyses for wannabe skincare scholars. 15 years ago if you picked up a skincare item at the store, you would only have the opinion of a pushy salesperson to convince you to get it/not get it. Now you can google the product name and find dozens if not hundreds of detailed reviews and accounts of this product's efficacy.

There are hundreds of small-time bloggers, but there are also some prominent, next-level Skincare Gurus who, by virtue of their experience or their large following, enjoy a prominent expert status. In some cases, it's well-deserved and in others it's misplaced, but this post isn't about dissecting who is great and who sucks. Instead, I'm going to outline some best practices for judging opinions/reviews and placing them all in context in your index of skincare knowledge.

So you don't think I'm dissing general categories of people, I'll name some sources I personally pay attention to, and whose advice I find helpful, once taking into account the specific challenges I'll outline below. When writing this post, I particularly thought of Caroline Hirons (former esthetician and longtime consultant for beauty brands), Paula Begoun (former beauty journalist and current skincare brand owner), Sam Bunting (cosmetic dermatologist, TV personality), Jude Chao (blogger and experienced skincare hobbyist), Stephen Ko (cosmetic chemist), and Lisa Eldridge (makeup artist and expert, skincare enthusiast). And of course I'm including my fellow amateur skincare lovers on the Instagram and Reddit communities. I want to put those examples in your brain at the outset of this, because my criticisms and comments extend to all categories of skincare nerds.

Background/History

I love that I don't even have to leave my couch to read or hear the opinions of estheticians, doctors, and cosmetic chemists alike. The Internet allows people with a variety of industry backgrounds to chime in on a number of subjects. What would have taken hours and thousands of dollars for consultations/discussions is now available online from a variety of sources.There are also hundreds of genuinely well-meaning and cautious amateurs with no industry training who dispense genuinely good advice in a few corners of the Internet.

I think that only good things can come from exposure to such a vast sample of viewpoints and backgrounds. I don't prioritize one background over another. To me, an esthetician who worked for 30 years with a variety of clients likely has reliable and useful knowledge that you can't get from a dermatologist. And a brand owner's opinion should always be taken with a grain of salt, but someone who designs and sells skincare absolutely has information and suggestions that can assist you in your skincare explorations.

It only makes sense to balance your roster of skincare gurus. If you mainly follow amateur hobbyists on Instagram, try adding a few dermatologists or high-profile estheticians to your list. You will find the more opinions and recommendations you are exposed to, the more well-developed your perspective on skincare will be. Just because you saw a dermatologist and she fixed your major skin problems with a few recommendations, it doesn't mean that you won't learn useful things from other professionals (or laymen.)

The biases and knowledge specialties will vary depending on industry and background. A facialist likely has a different viewpoint or orientation toward acid peels compared to an amateur, and a dermatologist probably has strong feelings about retinoids that a brand owner for a company that produces mainly antioxidant-based skincare will not agree with. Personally, I love to listen to everyone, because there are kernels of truth and a good philosophy to be found in every category.

Among amateurs, the product and ingredient biases tend to be more split based on skin type. Because most of their knowledge comes from pure personal experience with their own faces, amateurs/non-professionals (like me!) will have recommendations based on what works for them. And that can be a good thing if you share skin frustrations, but it's always good to read opinions from people who have worked with a variety of skin types and issues. This is analogous to the difference in a YouTube Makeup Guru and a real world Makeup Artist. The former is amazing at taking care of her own face, she knows the ins and outs of exactly what colors to use and where to put them. But she would likely have no clue what to do if plonked down in front of 10 models and told to make them up. The type of knowledge gained from experience with other people's faces is not better in all cases, but it is different and necessary. I truly don't prioritize one over the other. What you hear from a facialist who has worked with dry to oily skin, 15 year olds and 70 year olds, will not necessarily be as helpful in some cases compared to what you get from one very articulate amateur who is the same age and skin type as you. In some cases you will get a lot out of the amateur's advice, because she will have tried all the options suited to your skintype, and will have some relatable insights for your exact skin. By listening to laymen and to professionals, you will gain more breadth and depth of knowledge than just sticking to one category.

I will say if you are a true skincare beginner, it is better to follow a regimen or philosophy based around an "expert." It's too difficult to know, as a newbie, who you are listening to. I've seen very earnest, serious-sounding routines given from one amateur to another, and neither was aware that it was horribly destructive and counterproductive (think: Clean & Clear scrub followed by a rubbing alcohol wipe, use aloe vera if feeling dry.) If you're brand-new to skincare, there are smart amateurs out there, but you won't be able to pick them out as easily. Stick to the basic posts and simple advice from experts where possible.

Time Spent in Industry/Hobby

A minor corollary to the above point is to consider the guru's time spent engaged in the line of work or hobby. This is not a direct measure of quality, but it does help you weed out some people who may not know what they are talking about. This is not a hard-and-fast rule, because there are people who spend dozens of years in an industry and they are not holistically well-informed or good at communicating that opinion. But in general, make sure to heed the advice of seasoned, competent, and cautious advisers over the advice you get from a super-excitable and confident newbie.

There's that old adage about the man who knows he knows nothing being wise. May sound a bit trite, but it's true. Listen to people who tend to tack on "your mileage may vary" or "proceed cautiously" when dispensing their own advice. They are aware that everyone has individual reactions and skin issues, and they do not want you to be disappointed or emotional when things inevitably go off-script. Someone who confidently assures you that you'll definitely love my routine, it's so easy, all I use is lemon juice Nivea scrub SPF 15! is probably not thinking about different skin types and variance in product tastes.

Free Products

While this is a touchy subject in general, I believe conflicts of interest for beauty gurus/influencers cannot be ignored, and so I do take it into account when a skincare guru receives free products, either as gifts or in exchange for reviews. Read the link above for a more detailed breakdown of my thoughts on the subject of conflicts of interest in the social media marketing age.

Even the most honest, trustworthy, and virtuous gurus will be influenced in some way when they receive free product. If a guru receives thousands of dollars worth of product every year, for free, their recommendations and daily routine will be skewed because of that. Even if they remain outspokenly conscientious of budget-friendliness, if you look at the products they use on a daily basis, they will likely prefer/use more expensive ones. And that makes sense. When dealing with a pool of products which are all formulated well and effectively, it's pretty easy to choose the one with sexier packaging, a nicer scent, and a slightly more luxurious texture.

The results of the Heritage Rosewater Mist ($8) and the Omorovicza Queen of Hungary Mist ($90) are likely comparable, as the main constituents of both are glycerin and water, but if I was given the latter for free, you bet your ass I'd be spritzing it and showing off the lovely frosted-glass bottle as much as possible. And it wouldn't be fake enthusiasm. I would genuinely be excited to receive such a lovely and luxurious item, and I would 100% enjoy it.

The question is- for these gurus who receive those types of products on the daily- how do we, as followers, figure out what products are in the "beautiful but would never buy if I was a pleb" category, and which are worth the expense? That's not a question I have a concrete answer to. I think if skincare is a hobby and not purely a perfunctory grooming task, it inevitably involves some element of luxury. You can choose a $90 mist and not be "wrong," but you have to always prioritize your own budget and look at a spectrum of reviews for luxury products. Do not buy a product that is raved about by your Favorite Skincare Guru Ever without checking for reviews from people who purchased it themselves. Wait and see if your Favorite Guru repurchases or continues to use it after a few months- that will show you a bit more information than just a preliminary rave.

Preferences/Strong Opinions

Something which definitely concerns me about the culture of worshiping skincare gurus is that there are people who take every word from a single person's mouth as gospel. Following one smart expert might not lead you astray, but what if you follow 20 "trusted" sources? What happens when Paula of Paula's Choice loves mineral oil and Caroline Hirons hates it? Where do you fall on the issue, and does it have to do with your own preferences, or just which woman you trust more/discovered earlier in your journey?

For me this is an issue everyone has to hash out for themselves, and it really will influence the way you consume skincare media and advice. There are certain truths in the field of skincare science, but the vast majority of "rules" are guidelines. You can cherry-pick evidence to support both sides of a black and white issue. It doesn't mean either person is wrong, nor does it mean both people are 100% right. The perspective of the person making a claim matters a great deal, and it's your job as a media consumer to account for their perspective, even if the guru believes him/herself to be making an irrefutable claim.

Again with the example of Caroline Hirons/Paula Begoun on the issue of mineral oil- I have seen nasty remarks directed at both women, as if either is being willfully deceitful and spreading bad information. These two women are actually friends, and agree on a great deal of skincare "truths." They simply have a different perspective on the issue. For one, I've seen the Hirons say that mineral oil is a lazy ingredient in expensive skincare as the MSRP would allow for more expensive ingredients and better "value" to the consumer. But of course, there is value in simple, non-irritating skincare that prevents water loss (which mineral oil does.) I've also seen her claim that mineral oil is "junk" for the skin, which is a bit more of an extreme position, and I do believe this comes from her desire for the average person to get good bang for the buck when purchasing skincare. Paula Begoun believes, as many others do, that the evidence points to mineral oil being a good thing in most cases, and that shying away from the ingredient can be detrimental for your overall routine.

In this instance, you could find a perfectly good regimen for your skin listening to only one of those women, even though they are diametrically opposed on this issue. But if you close your ears to other experts, and only listen to one as your Own Personal Skincare Jesus, you are missing out on the beauty in the noise. There is such a wide-ranging diversity of opinions in the skincare world- and if you are grounded in science and you don't make an impulse purchase based on one beautiful review, you are not going to come to much harm just listening to what others have to say.

I would say I'm less on the hippie-dippie side of things. Probably growing up around Berkeley engendered in me suspicions toward anything that smacks of ignorant do-gooders. But I still like to read interviews with brands that follow a green/hippie philosophy. There's good knowledge and wisdom there, even if it doesn't apply to me personally at that time. I can better recommend mineral oil-free alternatives to someone who refuses to use it (even though I love it) if I read a moisturizer round-up from a mineral oil-hating blogger. I'm not vegan, but I have friends who are who ask for vegan recommendations. You can decide what to believe, in all cases, but you can never go wrong hearing more opinions.

Science-Washing

After dunking on hippies, I'll venture to the other end of extremes and mention that, especially in the last 5 years, there's been a lot of science-washing in the skincare hobby world. After decades of hiding cosmetic formulary behind a veil of glamour and "ah, you wouldn't understand it" brand esotericism, finally consumers have better access to information about ingredients and formulas. But this exposure to more information does not necessarily create a better understanding or deeper knowledge for the average person. In fact, there are some people who, because of their own lack of scientific background, pick and choose the "sciencey" experts who deliver information in the cutest blurb/post and blindly parrot the information without thinking critically about the subject.

Did I just tell you to listen to experts when in doubt, but also don't listen too hard to experts? I contain multitudes, yada yada. Although many of the more science-minded Internet skincare personalities like Stephen Ko or Lab Muffin are intelligent and well-reasoned, it doesn't mean that you can read their posts and regurgitate the information in order to understand skincare better. One of the most hazardous trends I've noticed is the frantic perusal of INCI lists (ingredient lists) and the dogged insistence that if you recognize ingredients and their position in those lists, you can predict how a skincare product will behave. Blogs like Chemist Confessions have certainly contributed to this issue, though I think we humans will always find a way to take a nuanced issue and make it black and white, thereby nullifying the value in the endeavor.

You can read an ingredients list and scoff at the low position of a botanical extract in the INCI list, because, armed with your cursory reading of someone else's summary of the necessary percentage of astragalus extract for anti-inflammatory activity, you know that that extract is in there for looks, not for utility. But that would be a gross misunderstanding of how skincare ingredients are produced (there is no industry-standard rule for concentrations of botanical extracts) and also the way the formulation process works. The main reason I hated The Ordinary skincare line when it launched was that it followed that reverse-reasoning of a skincare mob: X% of Y ingredient is GOOD so our formula contains ONLY X% of Y ingredient and no other USELESS garbage. I have noticed a lot of self-appointed INCI detectives hyperfocus on the active ingredients and dismiss the unsexy things like solvents, emollients, emulsifiers, and basic humectants with a wave of their hand. In reality, the majority of a user's experience with a skincare product, as well as its efficacy (how well it absorbs, how effectively it penetrates, how well it layers with the user's makeup and other skincare) is dependent on these unsexy "fillers." The best skincare is the skincare you'll continue to use. The best skincare is the skincare that, day in and day out, makes a noticeable improvement in the quality and feel of your skin. There's an annoyingly vast gray area to individual skin preferences, but it comprises the majority of the skincare experience. 

When I've been asked how I "know" a skincare product is working, my answer is usually that I don't ever know, for sure. I have been known to use a "Holy Grail" product for a year, then take it out of my routine just to check and make sure it's doing something. Sometimes I'll add it back, and sometimes I'll leave it out. Because neither our bodies nor our environments have static compositions, sometimes what our skin "liked" last October doesn't carry over to what it likes this May...or this coming October. Hormonal changes, ways of eating, stress, age, weather, location, and many more factors are lumped into this mystery question of "what does my skin like?" And no cosmetic chemist can write a single post helping you answer that question. It's up to you to experiment and be patient with building a routine that works in reality, not in theory. 

Concluding Thoughts

This is a complex situation that can't be reduced to "X guru good Y guru bad, thanks for coming to my TedTalk." I think that the industry and hobbyist communities are filled with both the well-meaning and the treacherous, the informed and the ignorant. Most people have a blend of all of these qualities. Every single one of us has blind spots and prejudices, and as a consumer it is your responsibility to take information from a wide variety of sources to balance out and eliminate those blind spots as much as possible. As always, my recommendation is to build a skincare routine slowly, one product at a time, while observing how your skin reacts to individual items. Feel free to hold all the advice of skincare experts and hobbyists in your mind at the same time, but remember that your experience will be a large factor in deciding what stays on your shelf and what gets tossed in the trash. Remember that it's all too easy to misinterpret or extrapolate wild conclusions from nuggets of truth, and most skincare rules are more like maybe-sometimes guidelines.

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. 

2017 Favorites: Makeup

If 2016 was my year of perfecting makeup techniques, 2017 was the year I really indulged in the products that elevated those techniques. I don't have a tiny collection, and I don't have a huge one. I am pleased to say I took great joy in the products I own this year, without having excess items that didn't get much love.

Some of the products I'll be talking about were purchased prior to 2017- they're not all new or new-to-me but they represent what I enjoyed most this year!

Stellar Limitless Foundation

A post shared by @faceonomics on Sep 20, 2017 at 8:49am PDT

I can't believe I've only been using this product since June of 2017. It kind of feels like it's always been there for me. In any case, since I purchased this product, I have not found its equal within or without my existing collection. I usually wear a full face of makeup with powder, highlighter, and blush, but in the photo above I was only using the Stellar foundation for my base. This is a light-medium buildable to medium-full coverage foundation with a skinlike but not overly dewy finish. It's extremely longwearing on my oily skin when set with a powder, but I have spoken to many drier-skinned women who find it hydrating/wearable for them as well. 

To me this is a masterfully made formula, because of its versatility on different skin types, and the fact that it is such a "beautifying" foundation. Some foundation is just like paint- it covers your face in a uniform color, but it needs to be prodded, tweaked, spritzed, and buffed to actually improve your overall face. The Stellar Limitless Foundation is something that can be swiped on in a hurry, and it immediately makes you look like a better version of yourself. I can compare it in that way to the MAC Face & Body, although it is much less dewy, and has considerably more coverage. I never hear "Your foundation looks great" when I wear this, I hear "Wow your skin looks amazing!"

In addition to that rare beautifying quality that makes it so unique, the color range of Stellar's foundations is phenomenal for someone like me (neutral-warm olive) who doesn't like to use traditional yellow-toned foundation straight up. Their latest shade offering is S01, which is what I wear, and it's between an NC20 and NC25 in MAC terms, but it has a swampy yellow-green undertone, unlike the schoolbus yellow of some other companies' warm tones. This line in general caters toward the medium toned part of the spectrum, paying careful attention to the way real skintones work in real life, not just using a sliding scale and distributing 12 shades across a Pantone color gradient.

The last thing that I have to rave about is that the Stellar foundation is seamlessly skin-like. I usually dot my foundation on using fingers and then go back in to blend with a sponge, but if I get distracted in between those steps, I've actually forgotten to blend the Stellar because it meshes with my skin so beautifully. This is not just a colormatch issue, this happens because the texture is so fine and flattering on the surface of the skin. I find that it looks beautiful up-close in person but even nicer in photos, if possible. All around a truly stellar (heh heh) addition to the foundation market in 2017.

Tom Ford Eye Duo in Naked Bronze

A post shared by @faceonomics on Aug 29, 2017 at 8:47am PDT

File this product under "worth the hype, and then some." Tom Ford makes several shades of this cream/powder duo, but this is the standout in my opinion. I purchased this because smoky bronze is my favorite flattering eyeshadow color. I am pretty faithful to Urban Decay Smog for a powder shadow look, but I wanted one cream to use as a single wash in case I was in a hurry or traveling.

I have tried and hated a lot of cream shadows. MAC Paint Pots, Maybelline Color Tattoos, Kiko Shadow Sticks- to me they all had one defect in common- they do not blend out seamlessly at the edges. For some people with very sculptural, dynamic eye shapes, this is not a problem. I personally have a plain-Jane eye area. It needs carving and smoking and swooping and sculpting to look really good and most cream shadows don't allow for that.

Tom Ford Naked Bronze however- it contains multitudes. It is a sheer neutral-warm satin brown when applied lightly, and it builds to a lustrous medium dirty bronze, and then finally to a metallic chocolate bronze with an even heavier hand. Because it can be blended out to create a soft, seamless crease, it doesn't require fussing or partner products. It just looks good. And I haven't even mentioned the pressed glitter half yet- it can be left off for a smokier look or popped on top for a burst of glittery sheen. This truly is the one eye look that I can't mess up, and the fact that it can be adjusted and worn at about 6 different levels of drama/formality makes it unique among other "single wash" products.

If you are cooler than me, try the single Cream Color shade Platinum. If you are significantly paler, try the Golden Peach duo.

Addiction Blushes

A post shared by @faceonomics on Nov 1, 2017 at 11:00am PDT

Although my love affair with Surratt blushes continues, my wandering eyes landed on blushes made by the Japanese brand Addiction this year. My friend with impeccable blush taste compared the texture of these blushes to Surratt, so when I visited Japan in October I took the opportunity to pick some up. Since I got home, I've regretted only buying 2 shades.

These are powder blushes that have a feel in between a traditional soft powder and a powder-gelée formula (like the Clinique Cheek Pops.) The color range is quite extensive with more than 20 available shades, but I think where they shine is their selection of nude blushes and more saturated scary-in-the-pan shades.

The two shades I first purchased are Revenge and Amazing. The former looks like a bright red in the pan, similar to NARS Exhibit A, and the second is a fuchsia-bubblegum on first glance. However, both apply so seamlessly and sheerly I have to wonder what kind of deal with the devil the formulators at Addiction have done to get this so right. When applying bright/intense blush I typically layer the most intense shade over a nude, soft one to diffuse the edges and aid blending. However, the Addiction blushes are so fine and sheer that they can be whacked on carelessly without looking streaky or patchy.

Stila Magnificent Metals Glitter & Glow Eyeshadows

A post shared by @faceonomics on Aug 16, 2017 at 8:41am PDT

The Stila liquid glitter shadows were my gateway drug to all things glitter. In 2017, I went from owning almost nothing that could qualify even as high-shimmer to a collection that's heavily weighted in the fabulous direction. Partly through coaching by my glitter-obsessed friends, and partly just from my own experimentation, I learned how to wear glitter in a "casual" way. Although glitter is a shorthand for New Years Eve and nights out, I mostly wear glitter in the daytime to my office.

The Stila shadows made the transition from a satin/pearl dimension to the glitter life totally seamless. My favorite shades from the line are the ones with no base tone, as they make versatile toppers for any eye look. The Gold Goddess shade is a neutral, not-too-yellow gold, and Diamond Dust is an ultra-reflective silver with some holographic sparkle. I don't find too much extra utility in the shades with tinted bases, because I prefer to do 90% of my eye look with powders, and add sparkle as a final step. However I have seen many people wear the colored-base Stila shadows beautifully. My personal favorite ways to wear them are as a smattering on the inner eye corner, all along my lower lashline, and as the center "pop" in a halo eye.

These shadows make glitter application foolproof, as they require no special primer, they do not create excessive fallout, and the formula distributes glitter very evenly with no effort. I particularly enjoy that the pieces of glitter are quite flat, large, and irregular, which gives a broken-glass type effect. I find it to be more editorial and interesting compared to what I call "pinprick" glitter which often looks more like remnants of a kindergarten craft project.

MAC Next to Nothing Pressed Powder

A post shared by @faceonomics on Dec 20, 2017 at 9:41am PST

One of my greatest makeup challenges is achieving a dewy, glowy base while keeping my makeup in place for 10+ hours. It often feels like you have to pick one or the other as an oily-skinned person, but this year I tried the brand-new MAC Next to Nothing powder and all my satin-dew dreams came true. I was a devotee of the famous Laura Mercier translucent loose powder, but I always had a few complaints. It was just a hair too matte and quite inconvenient for travel. The MAC powder improves upon both of those issues- it has a beautiful "strong" setting power but it only barely mattifies the skin/foundation. It's travel-friendly and comes pressed in the standard MAC compact.

I use this powder in the shade Light Plus. It does not offer any coverage, but it is not a true translucent powder. It took me 6 months to fully use up a single compact, and I gladly repurchased it when I realized that all the other powders in my stash were seriously lacking. I prefer it to the sexier-looking Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Powder, which is ever so slightly too-mattifying, and on the flipside actually has worse oil control compared to the MAC.

Clinique Chubby Stick in Whole Lotta Honey

A post shared by @faceonomics on Dec 23, 2017 at 12:08pm PST

When I first started wearing lipstick, it was always fully opaque, satin or matte formulas. I scoffed at the idea of sheer lipsticks, partly because I recalled trying crappy tinted balms in the past, and also because I doubted the impact and definition a sheer formula could offer. I actually received Whole Lotta Honey as a gift from a friend in 2016, but I really started rocking it often in this past calendar year. It's a semi-glossy sheer formula housed in a twist-up crayon format, and its magic lies in the exact balance of depth and pigmentation. Most sheer lipsticks are too weak to make a difference, or too pigmented to be considered low-key. I have crooked lip lines, which means most lipsticks require application with a lip brush to look decent. I can literally scribble Whole Lotta Honey on without a mirror and it looks good, no, great.

This swatches a muted orangey-brown but once applied to my lips, it manifests as a peachy nude. My natural lip tone is a pale, dead-looking cool pink, which doesn't harmonize well with the warmth in the rest of my features. Whole Lotta Honey goes with any subtle look, and most warm-toned dramatic looks. It even works well with some cooler eye looks, depending on what blush I pair with the look. It also works well to modify many of my other lipsticks. Layered over a too-stark or too-dry color, it can add plumpness and warmth where it's missing. Most of my lip products stay in my bookshelf where I can pick through them based on what my mood is that day, but Whole Lotta Honey literally lives on my vanity. I use it so often, alone or layered with other colors, that it doesn't make sense to ever put it away!

NARS Audrey

A post shared by @faceonomics on Nov 29, 2017 at 9:21am PST

On the heels of a rave for a super-subtle lipstick, let me rave a bit about one of my favorite dramatic lipsticks of the year. NARS Audrey is a satin-finish berry that has some magical undertone I cannot find a perfect dupe for. I actually avoided buying this lipstick for over a year because it seemed crazy to pay NARS Audacious prices for a berry shade, a lipstick category that is saturated at drugstore and high-end price points. But in this case, I ended up wasting more money on failed dupes than I would have if I'd just shelled out for Audrey from the beginning!

Audrey is uniquely flattering for my muted, yellowy skin. It's neither too bright nor too muted. Berry shades with too much brown tend to make my face look dull or dragged-down. Berry shades that lean pink turn neon on me, and that's just not the look I'm aiming for every day. Audrey is strangely muted without being brown or blackened. It is clearly cool (berry) and not a plain red lipstick. It brightens my face without screaming for attention. It just works. The lesson I learned from Audrey is that everyone can wear some version of a color category. You just have to be adventurous and willing to kiss a lot of lipstick frogs.

Conclusions

2017 was a great year for makeup, personally, and for the market as a whole. I learned a lot about my own face and preferences, and the fast-paced release schedule in 2017 meant that companies were constantly one-upping each other and improving their offerings. It can be dizzying to face the enormous variety on the cosmetic market today, but remember that you as the consumer can only benefit from increased competition. A competitive market economy propels technology and innovation forward, while putting a downward pressure on retail prices. The increased availability of different products should excite you, as it will allow for a collection more finely tuned to your exact preferences.

Don't ever feel that you as an individual must own all the exciting new things. Each of us can only take so much, financially and mentally. Stay focused on finding things that suit your face and your budget, and that bring you joy. I love to stay on top of new releases, but I also don't regard each new makeup collection as an opportunity to buy. If you ever feel stressed over the number of new releases, just return to what you enjoy about makeup- and focus on your own goals. Part of the reason I wrote this post is it makes me happy to use a single product to death. The more products I own, the less I can use my favorites. That's something I try to keep in mind, and it might help you if you are having doubts about your makeup collection. 

Why I Love and Hate The Ordinary

via theordinary.com

The Ordinary, which is the low-cost and simple line from parent company Deciem, has been growing in popularity over the last year and I think in the past 3 months the hype has reached a fever pitch. I find that anything that gets too popular too quickly attracts a lot of attention, positive and negative. I've found myself reflecting on deeply negative and positive feelings toward the brand. This is a meandering discussion of those feelings and where I think they come from.

This is not a product review, although I have tried many of their products and even more from their sister brands. I am more interested in exploring the feelings and thoughts I have seen pop up in the skincare communities online and in my own head while observing the growth of this innovative and unique skincare brand.

The Active Ingredients

It's hard to fault The Ordinary for their brand's understanding of active ingredients. They use scientifically-researched old standards and promising new ingredients and deliver them in a refreshingly transparent manner. As a consumer bathed in green-washed lies of Ancient Coconut Oil Magic and force-fed products whose active ingredients aren't even functional at the pH the product is developed...it's nice to see a company use the ingredient at the right pH and concentration that it claims to. I have noticed a great deal of people who find their formulary honest and straightforward.

On the flipside, I have witnessed pushback and myself felt a twinge of annoyance at the other side of the coin. The Ordinary (and its sister brands Hylamide and NIOD) are so focused on the scientific portion of the skincare experience that it has alienated customers. It can come across as hardlined and elitist.

I personally think that there is room in the skincare market for this type of bald focus on active ingredients, even at the expense of alienating folks who want a more holistic, gentle experience of being marketed to. I have personally seen many routines belonging to skincare enthusiasts who happily use perfumey and luxurious expensive creams alongside a bland and basic Ordinary product. The Ordinary seems to be positioning itself to be the discreet but powerful companion to the artsy, indulgent items that we all enjoy. 

The Formulary

Continuing on a similar theme, this is an area where I personally feel a big cloud of emotions and opinions forming. Because The Ordinary's focus is actives, it leaves out the other piece of the pie. If a skincare product isn't "cosmetically elegant" i.e. fun or enjoyable to apply, then it drastically reduces a person's desire to use it. Skincare is part health, part hobby for many of us. If it were like taking a vitamin pill, nobody would post Instagram photos of their 10-step skincare routine or spend hours discussing their favorite products with strangers online.

So many of The Ordinary products are formulated for maximum potency of actives. Rather than optimizing, which is the practice of maximizing one variable in relation to the other, The Ordinary seems to max out and go balls-to-the-wall with whatever ingredient they are featuring. This means they sacrifice the feel and comfort in much of their line, all in the name of chemical efficiency. I think this is good in a way- it turns some consumers away but it also gets the message across that The Ordinary takes skin health Very Seriously. There is nothing more important to The Ordinary than getting the active ingredients we pay for onto the customers' skin and working.

Many people, including myself, complain about the stickiness, greasiness, graininess, and generally baffling textures of multiple items produced by the brand. What this means is The Ordinary is certainly losing potentially good customers, customers interested in their value proposition, by formulating their products with such a singleminded direction. But nobody can be popular with everyone, and no one brand can satisfy the whole market. What The Ordinary is doing is giving customers highly simplified options that are undeniably effective, even if they are not comfortable.

I worry that people using The Ordinary won't enjoy the products enough to use them long enough to see results. While several of their products have results that can be measured and observed within days or weeks, others claim to have a lasting effect that will manifest over the course of months or years. Peptide serums like the Matrixyl 10% use ingredients whose effects are subtle and far from immediate. If the serum doesn't feel or smell nice, and it doesn't show results quickly, why would a customer stick with it? When the price is the only persuasive factor, the argument for repurchasing dramatically weakens.

You want to give the customers multiple avenues to excuse and justify their expenditure on your product. When they have no silky skinfeel or beautiful fragrance to enjoy, their justifications shrink, and they might end up not repurchasing.

The Repeat Customer

The Ordinary has expanded past their initial launch and each time they announce a new product, there's plenty of excitement. However I still do see the medium and long-term customers' interests waning with time. The excitement over spending $5 on a serum overcomes the initial distaste for smell or texture...but the longer a person uses that item, the price paid becomes a distant memory and therefore less "valuable" as a component of the experience.

The Ordinary does an amazing job of capturing new customers and creating excitement. What I wonder is how many customers they will be able to retain long-term. I know that the products I recommend to others are the ones that bring me a little shiver of joy when I use them. Many of The Ordinary's products are, well, ordinary. They are ordinary by design, but that means they can come across as joyless.

When someone is looking to insert a potent active into their routine, it's possible that's exactly what they want and need. Maybe The Ordinary will build a long-term and loyal fanbase because of their cheap, purpose-driven range. Then again, maybe people will become disenchanted with the negative or plain aspects of the brand and begin to dislike the brand in general.

I think of the skincare brands that have attained household name status in the last decade- and there are quite a few, contrast with my teenage years when it felt like Estée Lauder and Clinique were IT. These newer household name brands blow you down with brand image, fantasy, and combine it with cosmetic elegance. A brand like Tatcha has good products, but by no means ones that are so effective they warrant the price tag for every item. The brand image is essentially snake oil dipped in rice wine and powdered with geisha makeup. But it doesn't matter! That purple and gold packaging, those scents, that skinfeel...it seduces customers. It keeps them wanting more and imagining what they could be if they own the latest Tatcha release.

Of course this kind of aspirational luxury pricing and brand image can really hurt customers. They end up paying high prices for items that either do nothing, or do a mediocre job. I think that for people disenchanted with high prices and underperformance, The Ordinary is a breath of fresh air. But I do question The Ordinary's ability to really delight consumers and fully convince them of value after the initial low-cost shock-and-awe strategy.

The Price

That brings us to price- which is a huge factor in determining the success of this brand. Without the positioning as an ultra-low cost skincare brand, I doubt The Ordinary would have captured the loyalty of so many people who are admittedly offended by its inelegant textures. To put up with greasiness from a $5 bottle is reasonable...to do so with a $150 bottle...not so much.

I remember when The Ordinary first launched and I saw the hype building at a feverish pace. The first thing people remarked on was how damn cheap it was. Could it be? A company producing serums and acids for less than $10 each? Nobody had seen anything close to this before, and I think The Ordinary did an amazing job of entering the market with a bang. If you're going to be inexpensive, then by all means, be so dirt cheap that people have to give you a shot.

I think that because of the development costs associated with creating a perfect product- one that feels good and works- that's why you see such simple, targeted, but unpleasant formulas. At such a low price. Each skincare user has to decide for him or herself if they can put up with certain inadequacies if the payoff is worth it in another way.

Something I rarely think of, but which comes to mind with The Ordinary, is that being cheap is not always a good thing when you're selling to consumers. Brands like Drunk Elephant and Sunday Riley, for instance, keep customers coming back partially because they are so damn expensive. When someone is looking for a gift, or a treat for themselves, or they are pining for good skin and want to be seduced and encouraged, they look for fantasy and beauty. A brand which cultivates an image that's greater than the sum of its parts, through sometimes eyeroll-inducing marketing or exaggerated claims, can still capture much of the market. If you make ostentatious claims, you attract users, and if you aren't completely lying, well, you can retain them despite your initial promises being overblown. And when you do deliver big-time, as with the Sunday Riley Good Genes product, a chemical exfoliant that I wouldn't dream of paying more than $15 for that goes for $150, you get fans who are willing to fight and die defending your high price as "very much worth it." There is a cachet that accompanies high prices, and so it's a valid strategy to chase that type of reputation. It can pay off in the long run.

I think it is fantastic that we now have options for chemical actives and ingredients that were only available at absurdly high prices in the past. More competitive formulas on the market will force innovation and perhaps bring prices down a bit. Although The Ordinary is so low-cost I doubt it's cannibalizing any profits from the really high-priced stuff. I think it's more of a stepping stone to skincare for people intimidated by prices but eager to learn about the science. Indeed, The Ordinary's parent company Deciem has several other higher-cost brands under their umbrella, and I'm sure The Ordinary serves as a gateway drug to attract new customers who can burn cash on their nicer lines.

The Distribution and Service

When I first began thinking about this post, The Ordinary did not have any distributors in the USA. In the UK they had Victoria Health, but in other countries, they sold their products exclusively through their own website. I ordered three times from their website and each time was what I would consider to be an unpleasant customer service experience. First, they took about 5 days to ship. Second, they did not have all their products stocked while simultaneously announcing new releases. Third, their followup customer service was like wrestling a slippery eel. I did not feel a great deal of warmth or goodwill toward the company after my experiences. I began to resent that a company was so focused on new releases and they weren't putting in what was, in my opinion, a very fundamental piece of work to retaining their existing customers.

However, recently The Ordinary partnered with Beautylish and the San Francisco-based beauty e-tailer now carries their full line. I couldn't be happier about this partnership because Beautylish has consistently amazing customer care. Their service is proactive, unobtrusive, and quick, which is exactly what you want as a customer. 

I think that The Ordinary's stocking and service issues were getting so huge that they could not have survived 2017 without 3rd party distribution. When the manufacturer faces the customer directly, and the customer finds the transaction unsatisfying, that poisons the goodwill and the reputation of the brand directly. That kind of stain is very hard to remove, and once somebody thinks of your company as having shoddy service, you've usually lost them forever. I had already decided to never purchase a Deciem product again when my best friend Beautylish decided to carry The Ordinary, at which point I decided I might be willing to give their products another shot.

Finding a reputable distributor who can go above and beyond with taking care of your customers was a smart move for The Ordinary. I had heard people excusing their poor service and shipping times saying that "you get what you pay for" and that people ordering low-cost items shouldn't expect good customer care. This is entirely the wrong way to look at it- because the majority of the market will not think of companies in this manner. The Ordinary was right to course-correct and find someone with the infrastructure in place to stock and ship items in a more streamlined fashion.

Concluding Thoughts

I don't consider myself a fangirl or a hater of The Ordinary. I'm very intrigued by the strong market position they've taken- I truly do believe they're doing something unique. Whether their strategy pays off remains to be seen, but they are surely creating an enormous buzz and capturing an untapped market of potential skincare-users.

Everyone's bundle of considerations (price, delight, aesthetic, personal skin chemistry) will be slightly different. So of course you will find people who despise the brand and who love it, based on their differing perspectives. This is true for any brand, and I'm curious to watch this type of market discussion/impression play out with the bold stance The Ordinary has taken.

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.