How Influenced are You by Online Swatches and Reviews in 2025?

I wrote the article below on Monday, April 14, 2014, and at that time the beauty blogging world looked quite different. Most of the bloggers with whom I was friends back then no longer have beauty blogs, and at that time we spent a lot of time studying swatches, running to department stores to see the swatched products in person, and often we would succumb to unreasonably large hauls. I am wondering how your ideas have changed in the 11 years since I published this. I, for one, no longer run to the department stores to swatch whole collections, or return home with piles of purchased products. I also seldom study swatches online, and I don't find myself obsessively plotting my next purchases of lipsticks, lip glosses, blushes, eyeshadows and foundations. 

Here is what I wrote over 11 years ago:

The amount of time that beauty bloggers and beauty enthusiasts spend looking at, or "studying," swatches and reviews in order to select or reject upcoming purchases can become a rather time-consuming activity that can be a very costly undertaking (both in terms of the time spent "conducting research" and money spent in chasing down the next best thing).

Obviously my intention is not to undercut the value of beauty blogs and the various beauty forums for their ability to help each of us weed-out what might end up being frivolous purchases (or to introduce us to fantastic finds that we might have otherwise missed), but I do think that there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration before falling too far down this particular rabbit hole.

Swatches online do not faithfully indicate how this particular color will look on your skin. Nowhere is this more evident (and less forgiving) than with foundation swatches. This issue goes far beyond any disparity in the skin tone of the swatcher compared to the skin tone of the reader-- though the raw canvas of the swatcher's skin does indeed modify the appearance of the foundation. Of course the difference in the resolution and color of individual monitors also serves to distort these colors. Even if one establishes that they have a similar skin tone to the swatcher because they are both in the NC/NW blah blah range this doesn't take into account that many foundations have a tendency to oxidize, and even those that do not can suffer oxidation when commingled with the particularities of each person's unique body chemistry. I, myself, have tried to narrow down my color selections by studying swatches only to learn that the differences between what I saw online, and what I saw in-store were canyons apart. I realize that access, or lack thereof, to physical retailers make seeing for yourself an impossibility much of the time-- particularly when what is sought are hard-to-find niche products that can only be purchased online, or ordered from a store that is cities, states or even countries away. However, there is no beauty product that can make one look worse than wearing the wrong color of foundation.

Lipsticks, blushes and eyeshadows that are less than ideal can be tempered by blending them with other colors to make them work, but the wrong foundation shade can create the most artificial mask, or my face but worse, that sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm not saying that there is no value to seeing our swatches, but caveat emptor, because what you see isn't necessarily what you get. I always try my best to acquire foundation samples before making the purchase because history has proven time and again that it will help me be able to weed out the duds from the potential holy grails.

Shopping your own stash will reacquaint you with many of the wonderful products that you already have. I started Project Make-A-Dent for this very reason. I found myself so far down the rabbit hole of the latest releases, and realized that I had plenty of brand new products that were very similar to those that I didn't have and found myself coveting (in many cases my products were untouched and still in their boxes-- a particular problem that beauty bloggers often face as we generally leave new things unmarred in order to photograph them for our posts to show you the pristine product before it becomes ravaged by the brush). The potential for wastefulness when you have forgotten about so many products already in your possession should give each of us pause to at least take a good inventory before going and buying yet another nude lipstick or taupe eyeshadow that looks just like the many already collecting dust.

This is not intended as an indictment of our makeup & skincare purchases, or an anti-buy message to myself or others, but instead the call for a reasoned approach to acquiring more products, and perhaps a note to myself to try to avoid the many pitfalls of what can ultimately be very expensive purchases of ill-suited or duplicative products.

Chasing limited edition releases because of their perceived scarcity, and their limited time to be acquired can end up looking like a crazed addiction for those of us who get caught up in the mob mentality of needing to get that new thing that promises to be the one that you simply can't live without. Certainly the endless You Tube videos and blog posts that extol the virtues of these "must-haves" should be tempered by one's own common sense, discretionary funds available, and the objective interest in, or need for that particular product. The frequency of reading about these new releases, since everyone is talking about and swatching them at the same time, begins to feel like an effusive endorsement since so many bloggers are talking about them, but that doesn't necessitate buying all of these things. They will be discussed until the next release, and then will be forgotten about. The cycle continues in perpetuity because the collections just keep coming, and we keep talking about them.

I wish that I personally had the willpower to never find myself caught up in the hype of "needing" something that is over-hyped or hard to find, but I do find myself succumbing to these powerful impulses, albeit with less and less frequency.

Studying swatches is fine until it crosses that line from an interest to an irrational fetishistic desire to possess everything that your favorite bloggers adore, or that look just too pretty to pass up (not because you really want them per se, but because seeing them has become needing to possess them). Even though it may be the most perfected coral lipstick ever produced in the history of mankind, that changes absolutely nothing if coral lipsticks categorically look ghastly with your complexion.

I have contemplated these issues with sustained regularity, and even wrote a think-piece entitled Makeup Hoarding or Collecting: How Quickly the Edges Can Blur, and what I have come to believe is that what should be a fun and artistic endeavor (playing with makeup) can quickly devolve into a compulsive need to over-engage in conspicuous consumption (and to spend an inordinate amount of time reading about those very products). Neither buying, nor playing with makeup should be tainted by the uncomfortable compulsion to acquire in a frenzied state for fear of losing out on something that one will forever regret not having purchased (as though that special lipstick actually has within it the power to change our lives in any sort of appreciable way).

Truth be told, I (and I suspect many of you as well) tend to gravitate toward the same colors repeatedly (pinky nude lipsticks and lip glosses, pink blushes, taupe eyeshadows), and with each new compelling permutation of these shades I find myself seeking out what may be the best and most idealized version of each. Save for the disparity in finish, texture and overall quality-- what I am most often confronted with is the fact that I tend to repeatedly come home with shades that are close enough dupes to those already found in my stash.

I think that part of the problem becomes the fact that the purchase of coveted raved about products becomes aligned with the misperception that purchasing these products can become something that is needed in order to be granted access to the blogs and bloggers-- as though it is more than a product, but instead a membership card to a particular community to which one wants to belong. As though being without it one is hopelessly relegated to the sidelines and rendered mute on the particulars of this or that lipstick. It leaves one feeling as though they showed up to a lecture without having done their assignments, and then they need to sink down in their seat to avoid engaging because they have shown up unprepared.

Additionally, subjectivity must always be factored in since each of us has our own inherent likes and dislikes. For instance, if one has a particular aversion to matte lipsticks, or a particular penchant for shimmering eyeshadows, then one may be dismissive of the former and overly enthusiastic about the latter. In truth, it may be a fabulous matte lipstick formula worthy of consideration, and a mediocre shimmery eyeshadow in a lovely shade that may not be worthy of consideration.

Bottom line, the most important thing that each of us can do is let our common sense prevail, and try to remember to enjoy oneself rather than allowing something that should be lots of fun become a stressful enterprise predicated on excessive, and often unnecessary, acquisition. It is also important to remember that we as bloggers tend to test far more products than the average consumer, and that our experiences should help you avoid making purchases that ultimately won't work for you as much as our experiences introduce you to products that will be a good fit.

What are your thoughts on the subject?
How do you keep your purchases in check?
How influenced are you by pretty swatches and positive reviews?
Has your beauty cup runneth over, or have you maintained a levelheaded perspective?

Copyright © 2025 www.lolassecretbeautyblog.com All Rights Reserved.

2020 and Mindful Consumerism

Every few years I repost this article that I wrote in 2012, when Lola's Secret Beauty Blog was only a year old, after contemplating the effects of my own excessive consumerism. I had received a very interesting email from a longtime reader who claimed that she was making a concerted effort to avoid the trap of purchasing from limited edition collections, or anything else that ultimately didn't suit her, and how she felt empowered by the restraint that she demonstrated by making well-reasoned, rather than impetuous, purchases. This inspired me to #repost this article since it contemplates this very issue, and it certainly makes me contemplate my own spending habits as a consumer. Given that we are bombarded by limited edition releases, between brand and blogger coverage, consumers often get caught up in the FOMO purchase of products that we simply don't need, and probably won't use. Therefore, I thought that it would be a good idea to start off the new decade by being more mindful about all of my purchases.

Barbara Kruger's appropriation of René Descartes' maxim "I think, therefore I am"(Cogito, ergo sum) is searingly funny and poignant when "I shop therefore I am" becomes a commentary about the commodification of culture. Ironically, her artwork, which is the byproduct of her philosophical critique, is worth a tremendous amount of money itself.

I love Kruger's work because it makes you take a long hard look at the underpinnings of what drives culture, and what motivates us to do what we do, and think what we think.

This particular work Untitled (I shop therefore I am) always makes me think about my own buying patterns as a consumer, and it makes me think about the consumer goods that I fetishize, and how so much of that is culturally conditioned. Take for instance the makeup and skincare products that I have amassed over nearly a decade of blogging: there is no question that I could live without those things, and thankfully I don't have to. However, we are often unconsciously driven to crave things that we don't yet have, and nearly as quickly as we acquire them we lose interest in them and obsess about the "next thing." Seasonal collections support this fickle consumerism, and we buy into the construct. Madison Avenue banks on our willingness to stay on this expensive joy ride- which we willingly do!

Barbara Kruger Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987)

While I long ago realized that I don't define my worth by the acquisition of the latest Collection, I likewise realize that I all too easily succumb to wanting things that I don't yet have. There is a reason, after all, that I have so many lipsticks and blushes that are variations on the same shade of pink. Subtle distinctions are made: this one has a satin finish, this one has a touch of lavender, this one has pink pearl etc. Then there are infinite ways to justify the necessity of extravagant purchases:  this is from the Chanel Summer Collection (including the much dreaded letters- LE), these were from Sephora's Friends & Family Sale, these couldn't be resisted because of double or triple points on my Nordstrom card....  There is also the lure of the GWP- even if it isn't a particularly good gift- it can make an otherwise rational person buy unneeded things indiscriminately in order to make the minimum purchase price. I'm not talking about the glorious Space NK gift bags that are worth their weight in gold- I'm talking about the run-of-the-mill gifts that get stuffed in a drawer along with the things that you didn't need or want so that you could get the gift in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I am hardly declaring a personal war, or even a moratorium on makeup and skincare consumption- I am just trying to be a little bit more discriminating and mindful of what I am purchasing. I have a sizable stash of makeup, and trust me there are plenty of things that I still haven't gotten around to using yet (and that's not including backups). However, this motivation to "collect" is simultaneously at odds with my pragmatic nature and the overarching desire to only have what I need and use. I don't expect this contradiction to resolve itself because truth be told I am a makeup magpie and I like bringing those pretty shiny baubles back to my nest to look at and play with. However, there is a tipping point: there is a balance that must be struck- a delicate equilibrium that must strictly be adhered to- otherwise chaos will ensue.  There is a point where you simply have too much- a point where just one more lip gloss or serum takes you from Collector to Hoarder. I am still in the category of the former, rather than the latter- but the line is much finer than it actually appears the closer you get to it. At a certain point it is a distinction without difference. So beauty blogger or not, I am making a concerted effort to buy consciously rather than impulsively. Weighing, for instance, whether this eyeshadow is different enough from what I already have to be a worthwhile purchase. I do not equate this with deprivation, but instead I see this as a way to make each purchase a more meaningful one. One in which I select things that I really love, rather than things that I feel I should just buy because they are limited edition and will likely sell out quickly. That simply is not a good enough reason to buy a lipstick shade that is unflattering on you-- even if it is the it color of the season.

I still want to be in makeup and skincare nirvana I just don't want the frenzy of acquisition to infect my enjoyment of these things, or to cause me to buy things that I ultimately won't use because they weren't well-reasoned purchases in the first place. I want to be as rational about my makeup purchases as I am in all of the other aspects of my life as a consumer. After all, makeup and skincare costs money and lots of makeup and skincare costs lots of money. So while I am not imposing a ban on makeup consumption- I am going to make a real effort to not only buy what I will covet, but what I will actually use.

This is not an indictment of my own spending habits, but instead it is intended as a wake-up call. This is a simple plea to have my rational self take the wheel before I toss down my credit card- because the makeup magpie in me is impetuous and impractical, and generally likes to take charge in the face of so many shiny pretty things. It is she who is solely responsible for the size of my stash!

What are your thoughts? Do you find yourself similarly inclined to buy things that you don't really need or want? Do you have lots of things that you don't use in your stash? What solutions have you come up with? Do tell!

Copyright © 2020 www.lolassecretbeautyblog.com All Rights Reserved.

How Much Skincare and Makeup Do We Really Need?

The other day I was thinking about all of the fall collections that have been launching, and the way in which so many of them aren't unique, or particularly interesting, in my estimation. There are so few that have moved me and made me want to go see them, let alone purchase them. There are a few, of course, that I am curious about, but what I am finding is that I already own so much skincare and makeup that it has to be really special, and particularly well-suited to my needs and desires to warrant a purchase.

This made me, once again, reflect upon my consumerism– which lead me to reread what I wrote on the subject back in 2012, and then reposted a few years later.

Here is what I wrote:

I am reposting this publication that I wrote in 2012 after having received a very interesting email from a longtime reader who claimed that she has made a concerted effort to avoid the trap of purchasing from limited edition collections, or anything else that ultimately doesn't suit her, and now feels empowered by the restraint that she demonstrates by making well-reasoned, rather than impetuous, purchases. This inspired me to #repost this article since it contemplates this very issue, and it certainly makes me contemplate my own spending habits as a consumer.

Barbara Kruger Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987)

Barbara Kruger's appropriation of René Descartes' maxim "I think, therefore I am"(Cogito, ergo sum) is searingly funny and poignant when "I shop therefore I am" becomes a commentary about the commodification of culture. Ironically, her artwork which is the byproduct of her philosophical critique is worth a tremendous amount of money itself.

I love Kruger's work because it makes you take a long hard look at the underpinnings of what drives culture, and what motivates us to do what we do, and think what we think.

This particular work Untitled (I shop therefore I am) always makes me think about my own buying patterns as a consumer, and it makes me think about the consumer goods that I fetishize, and how so much of that is culturally conditioned. Take for instance makeup, skincare products, Tom Ford reading glasses, or Marc Jacobs wallets and purses (my personal favorites). There is no question that I could live without those things, and thankfully I don't have to. However, we are often unconsciously driven to crave things that we don't yet have, and nearly as quickly as we acquire them we lose interest in them and obsess about the "next thing." Seasonal collections support this fickle consumerism, and we buy into the construct. Madison Avenue banks on our willingness to stay on this expensive joy ride- which we willingly do!

While I long ago realized that I don't define my worth by the acquisition of the latest Collection, I likewise realize that I all too easily succumb to wanting things that I don't yet have. There is a reason, after all, that I have so many lipsticks and blushes that are variations on the same shade of pink. Subtle distinctions are made: this one has a satin finish, this one has a touch of lavender, this one has pink pearl etc. Then there are infinite ways to justify the necessity of extravagant purchases:  this is from the Chanel Summer Collection (including the much dreaded letters- LE), these were from Sephora's Friends & Family Sale, these couldn't be resisted because of double or triple points on my Barneys or Nordstrom card....  There is also the lure of the GWP- even if it isn't a particularly good gift- it can make an otherwise rational person buy unneeded things indiscriminately in order to make the minimum purchase price. I'm not talking about Barneys gift bags that are worth their weight in gold- I'm talking about the run-of-the-mill gifts that get stuffed in a drawer along with the things that you didn't need or want so that you could get the gift in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I am hardly declaring a personal war, or even a moratorium on makeup consumption- I am just trying to be a little bit more discriminating and mindful of what I am purchasing. I have a sizable stash of makeup, and trust me there are plenty of things that I still haven't gotten around to using yet (and that's not including backups). However this motivation to "collect" is simultaneously at odds with my pragmatic nature and the overarching desire to only have what I need and use. I don't expect this contradiction to resolve itself because truth be told I am a makeup magpie and I like bringing those pretty shiny baubles back to my nest to look at and play with. However, there is a tipping point: there is a balance that must be struck- a delicate equilibrium that must strictly be adhered to- otherwise chaos will ensue.  There is a point where you simply have too much- a point where just one more Glossimer or serum takes you from Collector to Hoarder. I am still in the category of the former, rather than the latter- but the line is much finer than it actually appears the closer you get to it. At a certain point it is a distinction without difference. So beauty blogger or not, I am making a concerted effort to buy consciously rather than impulsively. Weighing, for instance, whether this eyeshadow is different enough from what I already have to be a worthwhile purchase. I do not equate this with deprivation, but instead I see this as a way to make each purchase a more meaningful one. One in which I select things that I really love, rather than things that I feel I should just buy because they are limited edition and will likely sell out quickly. That simply is not a good enough reason to buy a lipstick shade that is unflattering on you-- even if it is the it color of the season.

I still want to be in makeup nirvana I just don't want the frenzy of acquisition to infect my enjoyment of makeup or to cause me to buy things that I ultimately won't use because they weren't well-reasoned purchases in the first place. I want to be as rational about my makeup purchases as I am in all of the other aspects of my life as a consumer. After all, makeup costs money and lots of makeup costs lots of money. So while I am not imposing a ban on makeup consumption- I am going to make a real effort to not only buy what I will covet, but what I will actually use.

This is not an indictment of my own spending habits, but instead it is intended as a wake-up call. This is a simple plea to have my rational self take the wheel before I toss down my credit card- because the makeup magpie in me is impetuous and impractical, and generally likes to take charge in the face of so many shiny pretty things. It is she who is solely responsible for the size of my stash!

What are your thoughts? Do you find yourself similarly inclined to buy things that you don't really need or want? Do you have lots of things that you don't use in your stash? What solutions have you come up with? Do tell!

Copyright © 2018 www.lolassecretbeautyblog.com All Rights Reserved.

Makeup Collecting or Hoarding: How Quickly the Edges Can Blur

Barbara Kruger Untitled (I shop therefore I am) (1987)

I am reposting this publication that I wrote in 2012 after having received a very interesting email from a longtime reader who claimed that she has made a concerted effort to avoid the trap of purchasing from limited edition collections, or anything else that ultimately doesn't suit her, and now feels empowered by the restraint that she demonstrates by making well-reasoned, rather than impetuous, purchases. This inspired me to #repost this article since it contemplates this very issue, and it certainly makes me contemplate my own spending habits as a consumer.

Barbara Kruger's appropriation of René Descartes' maxim "I think, therefore I am"(Cogito, ergo sum) is searingly funny and poignant when "I shop therefore I am" becomes a commentary about the commodification of culture. Ironically, her artwork which is the byproduct of her philosophical critique is worth a tremendous amount of money itself.

I love Kruger's work because it makes you take a long hard look at the underpinnings of what drives culture, and what motivates us to do what we do, and think what we think.

This particular work Untitled (I shop therefore I am) always makes me think about my own buying patterns as a consumer, and it makes me think about the consumer goods that I fetishize, and how so much of that is culturally conditioned. Take for instance makeup, skincare products, Tom Ford reading glasses, or Marc Jacobs wallets and purses (my personal favorites). There is no question that I could live without those things, and thankfully I don't have to. However, we are often unconsciously driven to crave things that we don't yet have, and nearly as quickly as we acquire them we lose interest in them and obsess about the "next thing." Seasonal collections support this fickle consumerism, and we buy into the construct. Madison Avenue banks on our willingness to stay on this expensive joy ride- which we willingly do!

While I long ago realized that I don't define my worth by the acquisition of the latest Collection, I likewise realize that I all too easily succumb to wanting things that I don't yet have. There is a reason, after all, that I have so many lipsticks and blushes that are variations on the same shade of pink. Subtle distinctions are made: this one has a satin finish, this one has a touch of lavender, this one has pink pearl etc. Then there are infinite ways to justify the necessity of extravagant purchases:  this is from the Chanel Summer Collection (including the much dreaded letters- LE), these were from Sephora's Friends & Family Sale, these couldn't be resisted because of double or triple points on my Barneys or Nordstrom card....  There is also the lure of the GWP- even if it isn't a particularly good gift- it can make an otherwise rational person buy unneeded things indiscriminately in order to make the minimum purchase price. I'm not talking about Barneys gift bags that are worth their weight in gold- I'm talking about the run-of-the-mill gifts that get stuffed in a drawer along with the things that you didn't need or want so that you could get the gift in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, I am hardly declaring a personal war, or even a moratorium on makeup consumption- I am just trying to be a little bit more discriminating and mindful of what I am purchasing. I have a sizable stash of makeup, and trust me there are plenty of things that I still haven't gotten around to using yet (and that's not including backups). However this motivation to "collect" is simultaneously at odds with my pragmatic nature and the overarching desire to only have what I need and use. I don't expect this contradiction to resolve itself because truth be told I am a makeup magpie and I like bringing those pretty shiny baubles back to my nest to look at and play with. However, there is a tipping point: there is a balance that must be struck- a delicate equilibrium that must strictly be adhered to- otherwise chaos will ensue.  There is a point where you simply have too much- a point where just one more Glossimer or serum takes you from Collector to Hoarder. I am still in the category of the former, rather than the latter- but the line is much finer than it actually appears the closer you get to it. At a certain point it is a distinction without difference. So beauty blogger or not, I am making a concerted effort to buy consciously rather than impulsively. Weighing, for instance, whether this eyeshadow is different enough from what I already have to be a worthwhile purchase. I do not equate this with deprivation, but instead I see this as a way to make each purchase a more meaningful one. One in which I select things that I really love, rather than things that I feel I should just buy because they are limited edition and will likely sell out quickly. That simply is not a good enough reason to buy a lipstick shade that is unflattering on you-- even if it is the it color of the season.

I still want to be in makeup nirvana I just don't want the frenzy of acquisition to infect my enjoyment of makeup or to cause me to buy things that I ultimately won't use because they weren't well-reasoned purchases in the first place. I want to be as rational about my makeup purchases as I am in all of the other aspects of my life as a consumer. After all, makeup costs money and lots of makeup costs lots of money. So while I am not imposing a ban on makeup consumption- I am going to make a real effort to not only buy what I will covet, but what I will actually use.

This is not an indictment of my own spending habits, but instead it is intended as a wake-up call. This is a simple plea to have my rational self take the wheel before I toss down my credit card- because the makeup magpie in me is impetuous and impractical, and generally likes to take charge in the face of so many shiny pretty things. It is she who is solely responsible for the size of my stash!

What are your thoughts? Do you find yourself similarly inclined to buy things that you don't really need or want? Do you have lots of things that you don't use in your stash? What solutions have you come up with? Do tell!

Copyright © 2018 www.lolassecretbeautyblog.com All Rights Reserved.

Do Blogger Swatches Cause You To Make Well-Reasoned Purchases, or Cause You to Over-Purchase?

The amount of time that beauty bloggers and beauty enthusiasts spend looking at, or "studying," swatches and reviews in order to select or reject upcoming purchases can become a rather time-consuming activity that can be a very costly undertaking (both in terms of the time spent "conducting research" and money spent in chasing down the next best thing).

Obviously my intention is not to undercut the value of beauty blogs and the various beauty forums for their ability to help each of us weed-out what might end up being frivolous purchases (or to introduce us to fantastic finds that we might have otherwise missed), but I do think that there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration before falling too far down this particular rabbit hole.

Swatches online do not faithfully indicate how this particular color will look on your skin. Nowhere is this more evident (and less forgiving) than with foundation swatches. This issue goes far beyond any disparity in the skin tone of the swatcher compared to the skin tone of the reader-- though the raw canvas of the swatcher's skin does indeed modify the appearance of the foundation. Of course the difference in the resolution and color of individual monitors also serves to distort these colors. Even if one establishes that they have a similar skin tone to the swatcher because they are both in the NC/NW blah blah range this doesn't take into account that many foundations have a tendency to oxidize, and even those that do not can suffer oxidation when commingled with the particularities of each person's unique body chemistry. I, myself, have tried to narrow down my color selections by studying swatches only to learn that the differences between what I saw online, and what I saw in-store were canyons apart. I realize that access, or lack thereof, to physical retailers make seeing for yourself an impossibility much of the time-- particularly when what is sought are hard-to-find niche products that can only be purchased online, or ordered from a store that is cities, states or even countries away. However, there is no beauty product that can make one look worse than wearing the wrong color of foundation.

Left to Right: Tom Ford Frantic Pink (too warm for some people), Tom Ford Wicked (too cool for some people), and Frantic Pink and Wicked blended. When blended, Frantic Pink warms up Wicked, and Wicked cools down Frantic Pink-- thereby making them infinitely more wearable to people who find them individually more difficult to wear.

Lipsticks, blushes and eyeshadows that are less than ideal can be tempered by blending them with other colors to make them work, but the wrong foundation shade can create the most artificial mask, or my face but worse, that sticks out like a sore thumb. I'm not saying that there is no value to seeing our swatches, but caveat emptor, because what you see isn't necessarily what you get. I always try my best to acquire foundation samples before making the purchase because history has proven time and again that it will help me be able to weed out the duds from the potential holy grails.

Shopping your own stash will reacquaint you with many of the wonderful products that you already have. I started Project Make-A-Dent for this very reason. I found myself so far down the rabbit hole of the latest releases, and realized that I had plenty of brand new products that were very similar to those that I didn't have and found myself coveting (in many cases my products were untouched and still in their boxes-- a particular problem that beauty bloggers often face as we generally leave new things unmarred in order to photograph them for our posts to show you the pristine product before it becomes ravaged by the brush). The potential for wastefulness when you have forgotten about so many products already in your possession should give each of us pause to at least take a good inventory before going and buying yet another nude lipstick or taupe eyeshadow that looks just like the many already collecting dust.

This is not intended as an indictment of our makeup & skincare purchases, or an anti-buy message to myself or others, but instead the call for a reasoned approach to acquiring more products, and perhaps a note to myself to try to avoid the many pitfalls of what can ultimately be very expensive purchases of ill-suited or duplicative products.

Chasing limited edition releases because of their perceived scarcity, and their limited time to be acquired can end up looking like a crazed addiction for those of us who get caught up in the mob mentality of needing to get that new thing that promises to be the one that you simply can't live without. Certainly the endless You Tube videos and blog posts that extol the virtues of these "must-haves" should be tempered by one's own common sense, discretionary funds available, and the objective interest in, or need for that particular product. The frequency of reading about these new releases, since everyone is talking about and swatching them at the same time, begins to feel like an effusive endorsement since so many bloggers are talking about them, but that doesn't necessitate buying all of these things. They will be discussed until the next release, and then will be forgotten about. The cycle continues in perpetuity because the collections just keep coming, and we keep talking about them.

I wish that I personally had the willpower to never find myself caught up in the hype of "needing" something that is over-hyped or hard to find, but I do find myself succumbing to these powerful impulses, albeit with less and less frequency.

Studying swatches is fine until it crosses that line from an interest to an irrational fetishistic desire to possess everything that your favorite bloggers adore, or that look just too pretty to pass up (not because you really want them per se, but because seeing them has become needing to possess them). Even though it may be the most perfected coral lipstick ever produced in the history of mankind, that changes absolutely nothing if coral lipsticks categorically look ghastly with your complexion.

I have contemplated these issues with sustained regularity, and even wrote a think-piece entitled Makeup Hoarding or Collecting: How Quickly the Edges Can Blur, and what I have come to believe is that what should be a fun and artistic endeavor (playing with makeup) can quickly devolve into a compulsive need to over-engage in conspicuous consumption (and to spend an inordinate amount of time reading about those very products). Neither buying, nor playing with makeup should be tainted by the uncomfortable compulsion to acquire in a frenzied state for fear of losing out on something that one will forever regret not having purchased (as though that special lipstick actually has within it the power to change our lives in any sort of appreciable way).

Truth be told, I (and I suspect many of you as well) tend to gravitate toward the same colors repeatedly (pinky nude lipsticks and lip glosses, pink blushes, taupe eyeshadows), and with each new compelling permutation of these shades I find myself seeking out what may be the best and most idealized version of each. Save for the disparity in finish, texture and overall quality-- what I am most often confronted with is the fact that I tend to repeatedly come home with shades that are close enough dupes to those already found in my stash.

I think that part of the problem becomes the fact that the purchase of coveted raved about products becomes aligned with the misperception that purchasing these products can become something that is needed in order to be granted access to the blogs and bloggers-- as though it is more than a product, but instead a membership card to a particular community to which one wants to belong. As though being without it one is hopelessly relegated to the sidelines and rendered mute on the particulars of this or that lipstick. It leaves one feeling as though they showed up to a lecture without having done their assignments, and then they need to sink down in their seat to avoid engaging because they have shown up unprepared.

Additionally, subjectivity must always be factored in since each of us has our own inherent likes and dislikes. For instance, if one has a particular aversion to matte lipsticks, or a particular penchant for shimmering eyeshadows, then one may be dismissive of the former and overly enthusiastic about the latter. In truth, it may be a fabulous matte lipstick formula worthy of consideration, and a mediocre shimmery eyeshadow in a lovely shade that may not be worthy of consideration.

Bottom line, the most important thing that each of us can do is let our common sense prevail, and try to remember to enjoy oneself rather than allowing something that should be lots of fun become a stressful enterprise predicated on excessive, and often unnecessary, acquisition. It is also important to remember that we as bloggers tend to test far more products than the average consumer, and that our experiences should help you avoid making purchases that ultimately won't work for you as much as our experiences introduce you to products that will be a good fit.

Ella said that this post would be perfected by the inclusion of a picture of Zeus-- so here you go!

What are your thoughts on the subject?
How do you keep your purchases in check?
How influenced are you by pretty swatches and positive reviews?
Has your beauty cup runneth over, or have you maintained a levelheaded perspective?

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