When it comes to buying makeup, there's a lot of decisions to make. Do we buy high end or drugstore? Stick to our favorite brand or branch out? Buy multiple variations of a product or just one? It's easy to look up what we, theoretically, should do when buying makeup, but odds are, we have other habits of our own.
Eyeshadow Palettes
We should...
Invest in one high quality palette, such as an Urban Decay Naked Palette, something from Morphe, or a Lorac Pro palette, for the basics, but stick to affordable brands for more daring colors and things we'll use less often.
But we actually...
Splurge on every single Naked palette, and a bunch of other ones too, and pretty much every palette we can find. I don't know about you, but I spend way too much on eyeshadow - it's my guilty pleasure.
Mascara
We should...
Save our money by buying drugstore mascara. Maybelline has so many options and really is a high quality mascara brand (and everything brand, while we're at it), plus, there are so many other options out there as well. It's important to remember that you're supposed to replace mascara about every six months as well, so it isn't worthwhile to constantly be spending $20 or more on mascara when you can get it for as low as $5 at Target or Walgreens.
But we really...
Buy more moderately-priced mascaras, such as Benefit's BadGal Lash mascara, but keep them way too long. I'll keep my mascaras for up to a year, sometimes longer. (Ok, admittedly, I pretty much never throw them away.) Even though it's convenient and cheaper to do it this way, keeping mascara past its expiration isn't good for your lashes and it's important to replace them frequently enough.
Lipstick
We should...
Try to buy dupes whenever possible, and keep it to one product per shade instead of having a million of our favorite. Occasionally splurging for our favorite shade is fine (Chanel Adrienne, anyone?), but when there are plenty of affordable options out there, we shouldn't make a habit out of it.
But we really...
Buy about 200 of our favorite shades, even though they all look nearly alike. And we get the same shade in lipstick and liquid lipstick forms, because of course we need both, right?
Foundation
We should...
Invest in a good foundation. The quality of a foundation really makes a difference, so it's okay to splurge. Also, it's very important to find a shade that matches your skin tone, and you can really only test with Sephora or department store brands. So making an investment in the perfect foundation? Definitely worth it.
But we really...
Maybelline FitMe? Yes, please. Cheap and easy to buy at Walgreens or Target, there's no reason why I would use anything else.
Yes, making bad decisions when it comes to purchasing makeup is incredibly easy. But is it necessarily a bad thing? Even though we may not be spending "responsibly" and using the most recommended products for each purpose, makeup is for us. We wear makeup because we like it, it's fun, and it makes us more confident. Not for anyone else. So why should we change the way we buy makeup?
I'll give you a hint: We shouldn't.
