Prestige

Worth it? Shiseido Lash Curler

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Curled my Lashes, Bent my No Buy - Shiseido Lash CurlerShiseido Lash Curler, $20

Eyelashes are serious business. Often if I’m not wearing any other makeup, I’ve probably at least curled my lashes and thrown on a coat of mascara. My lashes are light brown and tend to point straight out from my eyelid so I tend to look a little worse-for-wear than I am. It’s silly, but that 30 seconds of effort makes me look a bit more awake and alive. I’d seen magazines and blogs praising both the Shu Uemera and the Shiseido Lash Curler but I initially dismissed it as hype because, back then, the idea of prestige cosmetics was comedy to me.

On the Cheap

For the longest time I used the Sonia Kashuk lash curler from Target. It was passable; I’d used better (cheaper) ones in the past. I hadn’t put much stock in an eyelash curler as an, “investment,” tool. A lash curler is a lash curler, right? After all, they’re fairly simple and straightforward. Is there that much difference between the $5 option and the $20?

Upgrade

Last year, in spite of my misgivings about spending $20 on something so simple, I splurged on my first prestige eyelash curler. I decided I was going to go with a cult favorite and selected the Shiseido Lash Curler over the Shu Uemura for, initially, accessibility’s sake.

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Chatter: On Discounted New Releases

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This post started with a question from a friend: If (prestige) palettes go on sale soon after they are released, are they worth the starting price?

Not shopping for certain things – say, palettes – enables you to save money (not looking/not tempted/not spending). It also, however, means you miss peculiarities in the market.

Several brands released palettes in the last handful of months only to have them rapidly marked down. Not marked down now that the holidays are behind us, though – before Christmas!

Basically – if we’re seeing 30%+ off discounted new releases within three months of release, why should anyone buy at launch? Why not wait?

Personally, I see the issue being twofold:

  • Most of these palettes were the part of the holiday collections for the lines in question. Previously, I said I was opting out of limited edition/holiday palettes. I still feel that way and do not see it changing for the forseeable future.
  • The target market for products like these are primarily (not exclusively) younger, trend-centric women. They don’t occasionally jump on the hype train, they have a Metro Card. It doesn’t matter to them that the product is good, just that it is relevant in-the-moment or that it happens to be their preferred influencer’s flavor of the day.

The Bottom Line

I don’t presume to tell anyone how to spend their money, but if you watch the beauty market for even just a couple years you can identify this pattern.

That Time Again – 2017 Favorites

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I sat down to write about my 2017 Favorites and ended up laughing at myself. I went back and checked the previous year’s favorites to make sure I wasn’t inadvertently writing the same post and … wow, I definitely almost did! I still love and use everything from that list a year later. I even still use the now-discontinued Gimme Brow; I’m on my last tube, sadly. Maybe next year will feature a new brow product. Maybe I’m set in my ways.

Rather than repeating myself, check out what I had to say on these items last time:

2017 Favorites

Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day SerumDrunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80

Buying an $80 consumable skincare item even at 20% off was a huge risk for me. I enjoy prestige makeup, but I was worried that I was:

  • losing my mind
  • buying into hype
  • going to hate it or be unimpressed and have wasted money
  • going to love it WAY too much but not find it a sustainable purchase
  • losing my mind

Although I was obviously hoping I’d like it, I was shocked by how much good it has done for my skin. It is my single largest beauty expense, but I am gladly forking over the money twice a year.

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Clothing Imitates Makeup – Urban Decay Electric

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Have you ever seen a piece of clothing that is so representative of something else (like…makeup) that it makes you do a double-take? Today, I did.

Behold:

This is the Milly Lou Lou Sheath in Tokyo Floral Print. If it strikes your heart in some kind of way, Off 5th has it for under $80 (down from $300+).

Far from fashionable or trendy, I stumbled across this dress entirely on accident and immediately thought,

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November 2017 Favorites

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November 2017 FavoritesNovember 2017 Favorites
1. MiroPure Straightening Brush, $40 / 2. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, 3 for >$8 / 3. Drunk Elephant C-Firma Day Serum, $80 /
4. Vaseline Original, varies / 5. OPI I’m Not Really a Waitress, $8

American Thanksgiving has come and gone (somehow it was already like two weeks ago, WTF). The holidays are officially here. I have yet to decorate my apartment (because I have been drowning in work, as I shared on earlier this week). This weekend, I will get the wee tree up and then I will wrap all the things. I’ve been into tying gift bows lately and have some amazing peacock ribbon that I’m excited to use. Before we get into my November 2017 Favorites, don’t forget to check out (and enter, duh) my Real Techniques Sculpting Set Giveaway; there’s only a week left!

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The Sickness; Sephora and Ulta Haul Chatter

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I seem to have a reasonably solid immune system and tend to only be taken down by the sick once or twice a year. Alas, this past week was one of those times. There’s been a lot of hot tea and chicken soup in this house in the last two weeks There wasn’t a whole lot (read: none) in the way of writing in the last week-and-a-half. The time I didn’t spend down and out (and re-watching Cowboy Bebop for the umpteenth time) I spent at work because I have a problem am a sucker didn’t want to leave things unfinished before my vacation (all are true).

Before The Sickness struck, though, I managed to get through my Ulta and Sephora purchases without going overboard.

Sephora Haul

Sephora still had Drunk Elephant’s Come C about Me set in stock, so I went for it. I haven’t gotten into any of the product yet; tragically the skin near my nose has been more reptilian than human since I received it. I’m excited to check out B-Hydra to see about the hype.

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