Buying Safely

by

Counterfeits exist. We all know this – be they counterfeit bills, bags, whatever. Someone makes a convincing (or not-so-convincing) knock-off, sells it to some unknowing (or uncaring) consumer at what appears to be a deep, deep discount. Fakes and counterfeits exist in the beauty industry, too, so it is important to know who you’re doing business with so you can be sure you’re making good choices and buying safely.

Before my interest in the beauty industry grew, I knew there were fakes – long before I owned my Naked palette, I had seen knock-offs trying to pass themselves off as the real thing from Urban Decay. Oh sure, that palette with the wrong font, wrong-color case, sold by an atypical vendor (eBay? random Amazon Marketplace merchant? Flea-Market [yes, really]?) that only costs $10 is clearly the same thing.

We all love a good deal, we all love not paying full price for something. I personally make it a point not to pay full retail whenever possible (legitimately, of course) but at some point I’d think a red flag would be triggered. This isn’t always the case, however; the siren song of cheap prestige makeup, skincare, and haircare is strong and lures people away from buying safely all the time.

A friend of mine (who isn’t as into this stuff) recently mentioned buying a Tarte Lipsurgence from Ulta ($24-25ish), but bemoaned the fact that she found it on Amazon for $9.97 + shipping after the fact. Eyebrows raised, I investigated…

Buying Safely - An Example of What to be Skeptical Of

 

…and found this.

I want to think it is reasonable to get that that cheap (or from Amazon at all), but unless that Tarte product is that cheap on sale from Ulta, Sephora, QVC, or the brand itself, steer clear. In addition to not wanting to waste money on a fake, you have to ask yourself:

If a seller is willing to pass their product off as that of another brand in order to make a sale, what else are they hiding about that product?

The ingredient listing, surely. You have no way of knowing what is in that product you’d be slapping liberally on your lips/eyes/etc. I’m not willing to gamble on that – if you are, congratulations on living on the edge, I guess. I won’t want to risk harming my eyes or lips to save a couple bucks that way. I’ll save up until I can buy it from a trusted source or I’ll buy a drugstore alternative; buying safely is too important when it comes to beauty items.

The reviews cried out that this listing was not legit, that they were sent fake product, etc. You should definitely check the reviews, but there are other things to look at. See how the features are formatted? You will never see legitimate (respectable!) retailers selling authentic product like this. It isn’t professional. Also, check their return policy. If they do not accept returns or exchanges for any reason, that’s sketchy.

Generally, be skeptical of:

  • eBay – The likelihood of you finding legitimate prestige products on eBay is pretty low. It is possible, but not likely, so I’d suggest avoiding it. You’d have better luck with Glambot – they verify legitimacy (but not batch/age).
  • Anything on Amazon that is not Shipped from and Sold By Amazon.com – There ARE a few Amazon Marketplace merchants who sell legit products but they are few and far between; and you’ll find that the legit products won’t have much (if any) of a discount as compared to traditional retailers. That said, Amazon.com itself does sell some prestige brands (LORAC, Stila, Cargo, The Balm, Eyeko, Butter London, and Deborah Lippman are some examples), so as long as you see that it is shipped from/sold by them, you can usually rest assured that you are buying safely.
  • Flea Markets – It makes me cringe to even have to mention this, but seriously. Fake palettes and products pop up all the time at these. Sometimes, the seller may not even realize they’re selling bad/fake product. Basically, don’t ever buy makeup or skincare at one of these (Avon is probably safe if you see it – no one is going to bother with counterfeits of it).

Basically, you can be pretty sure you’re buying safely if you’re buying from the brand directly, through Ulta, Sephora, a department store, Beauty.com, or other authorized retailers. If you aren’t sure if a retailer is authorized or legit to carry/sell those products, reach out to the brand to see if they can confirm.

Prestige/salon hair products are a bit more accessible. As far as hair products go, you sometimes see warnings to be skeptical of salon brands (like Tigi, Paul Mitchell, Sexy Hair, Redken, Matrix, etc) sold at drugstores, grocers and mass-retailers like Wal-Mart and Target. While you should be skeptical of buying those lines from the merchants I listed above, large chains like Walgreens, CVS, your local large grocers, Wal-Mart, and Target are not going to bother selling shady products, period. It would be a foolish risk for them to take. If you prefer to purchase them from your stylist or salon to help support their business, that’s awesome of you and you will definitely be buying safely – but you needn’t worry that you aren’t buying safely from your drugstore or mass-retailer of choice, either.

Be safe, buy safe. It isn’t just an authenticity issue, it’s a safety issue. If you aren’t sure, ask someone who is more experienced with such purchasing. If you don’t know anyone personally, there are a lot of great, helpful online communities that would be happy to help guide you.

December 2014 Favorites

by
December 2014 FavoritesDecember 2014 Favorites
1. Josie Maran 100% Pure Argan Oil, $16 / 2. Kat von D Foiled Love Lipstick in Adora, discontinued /
3. OPI Gelcolor in I’m Not Really a Waitress, $15 (varies) / 4. Red Carpet Manicure Glitz and Glamorous, $10 /
5. L’Oreal Infalliable Eyeshadow in Bronzed Taupe, $7

Rather than waiting a week to get these out, I decided to publish my December 2014 Favorites today. I feel like I should have more on my list, but they kind of overlap with last month…and I imagine next month’s will overlap with this month, too. :P I hope 2014 has been awesome to you, and that 2015 is even more fulfilling.

Before moving on to my favorites, today is the final day for my Urban Decay Naked2 Basics giveaway – it ends at 11:59PM EST, go check it out!

Read more

Monday, Monday

by

Monday, Monday. The holidays have fallen in a really weird way this year. Monday, Tuesday, and Friday were work days (at my, “real life,” job) last week and this week – but the week of Christmas was super busy. With all the traveling to see friends and family, I’m afraid I didn’t get much in the way of work done for the blog (not an excuse, just reality!)

I’m trudging through this Monday with a cranberry Red Bull (because Bawls isn’t readily available and the original Red Bull reminds me of cough medicine). I’m thankful that I re-learned how to use my Maybelline Color Tattoos since they, along with a L’Oreal Infalliable shadow, enabled me to slap on some eye makeup in under 90 seconds to look like I give at least a couple bothers.

Regular content will return Wednesday (with December 2014 Favorites). In the meantime, here’s some stuff to check out/do:

Outside of Beauty Skeptic, I recommend:

  • Coastal Scents, who is currently having 40% off their entire site through the end of the year – great if you want to experiment with color without committing/investing in a prestige brand, also great for their Elite Brush sets and 22-piece brush set.
  • Capitol Hill Style, a professional style blog rife with snark.
  • The Small Things Blog, which is a little bit of hair and beauty and a little bit of lifestyle. Kate makes hair wizardry look so easy – but I guess that comes with professional territory, huh?
  • Too Faced is currently holding 50% off their sale section.
  • Sephora has an extra 20% off their clearance.
  • Go watch some Batalash; learn some makeup stuff and laugh.

I hope everyone enjoyed their respective holidays. Let’s chat – if you celebrated a gift-giving holiday, did you get any fun beauty stuff?

Everything Nice Palette Tutorial: Teal Look

by

A while ago, I shared a creepy, low-res shot of this eye makeup (all single eye shots are creepy, face it) I did with the Too Faced holiday palette. I had taken it with my cell phone, but got a few requests to produce both a tutorial of the look and an Everything Nice Palette Tutorial. Although it is starting to be a bit late for holiday parties, this look is appropriate for them, and will carry you through any New Years’ festivities you may have. It would also be pretty cool for Mardi Gras or…you know, if you just felt like it (who needs an occasion?).

5hXauN0Everything Nice Palette Tutorial: Teal Look ft. Too Glam

Start with clean skin (obviously, we aren’t savages). When doing this look, I recommend doing your eyes first as these shadows have a good bit of fallout. You don’t want to mar your base, and who really has time for shadow shields?

Prep your eyes as you see fit – I’m going to use Too Faced Shadow Insurance. You can use whatever primer or concealer your heart desires, but since I have it, I’ll use it for this Everything Nice Palette Tutorial.

Next, grab a fluffy blending brush (I’m, using bdellium tools 785, a tapered fluffy blender), dip into Fawned of You (neutral light brown from the top row, second-to-last) and apply in your crease using circular and windshield-wiper motions. This will help us blend more later as well as provide definition to our eye socket.
 Everything Nice Palette Tutorial - Crease Shade

Read more

Formula X Polish First Impression

by

Sorry for the delay in today’s content – I didn’t have my photos uploaded (I thought I did), so it had to wait until I could access that SD card.

Last week I shared that I received a Formula X Polish System due to winning a giveaway. I broke it out on Saturday before our Christmas party to get festive.

After shaping and gently etching the surface of your nails with a fine-grit buffer, reach for you break out the left-most bottle in the Formula X Polish System kit. This bottle contains a thin, light blue liquid – this is the Cleanse step. It is basically just a nail dehydrator similar to those used on you at the nail salon before enhancements or with in-home DIY gel nails. I twisted the cap open and heard/felt a, “snap!” only to find the squared off caps on the Formula X Polish bottles are vanity caps. You have to pull it off before you can unscrew the simpler, cylindrical cap beneath. The snap was a piece of the interior to the vanity cap snapping off. Boo.

After that, continue to the clear pink – this is your base coat; the, “Prime,” step. The Formula X Polish Prime is pretty normal base-coat as thickness goes. Here, though, the brush started to annoy me. I expected cheap bristles in the brush-on cleanser, but these bristles remind me of the thick-stranded, cheap ones that resided in Wet n Wild nailpolishes of the early-to-mid 90’s. With a base coat, it wasn’t too much of a deal, but getting my nails fully covered wasn’t as easy (and as you can see, I don’t have large nails).

Formula X Polish - CleanseFormula X Polish System

Read more

Worth it? Pantene Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo

by

I ran out of my beloved Psssst! Dry Shampoo. No matter, my local Walgreens carries it! Or, they did, at least. I spent at least five minutes scouring my location’s tiny hair aisle for it. Not wanting to leave empty-handed and not wanting to make a special trip elsewhere, I picked up this can: Pantene Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo.

Pantene Blowout Extend Dry ShampooPantene Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo

Pantene Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo is one of three of Pantene’s dry shampoo offerings. They also have one called, “Original Fresh,” in a similar can with a green band and one called, “Root Reboot,” packaged the same but with a purple band. Along with the stand-to-Pantene vitamin boasting, Pantene Blowout Extend Dry Shampoo contains tapioca as an ingredient. Why? I really couldn’t begin to tell you.

Because I do not live in a fictitious world in which people actually do get regular biweekly salon blowouts, I’m testing this against the conditions my hair normally faces. Typically, I wash my hair every other day (e.g., Mon, Wed, Fri). I don’t usually need dry shampoo on that second day, but sometimes use it anyway to stay ahead. Sometimes, I want to push it another day – so, wash hair Monday and then again on Thursday, for example. Last week was one such week.

Read more