Last week, I showed you what happens when you use that simply adorable RMK Fairy palette from their 15th Anniversary collection. Essentially, you lose all the detail in her pretty little head (although RMK has a very innovative way of getting around it! 😉 ) I spotted an interesting comment from MisSmall that I thought would make interesting discussion amongst us makeup mavens 😀
Fairy!!!! Oh I can never bring myself to use it! Or I’ll most likely do what I do with most of my purchases (eg. colour pencils), one to keep and one to use. Am I the weirdo here or do most girls do that with their pretty things?
She wasn’t alone, because there were quite a few comments along the same vein of not being able to use something that looks as pretty as that.
What say you, Ladies? I’m sure we are all loathe to dig into a pretty makeup palette and lose the design over time which sometimes, turns it very blah. Would love to hear your thoughts and naturally, here’s mine! 😉
I’m sentimental about a lot of things, but pretty makeup palettes aren’t one of them. So as you might guess, I’m a “user” not a “collector” of pretty makeup palettes 🙂
I will look at them in all their pristine glory and go “Aww…” and I will die a little inside when I take my brush to the product, but ultimately, my personal belief is that makeup is only beautiful once you use it because its purpose is to make US look beautiful, not just to sit around looking pretty hehe…
So that’s me. I use my makeup palettes, pretty design or not. I don’t buy to collect although I may buy because its pretty. But I will ultimately use them.
How about all of you? Are you swayed to purchase the pretty makeup palettes that all the various brands have been coming out with? Do you use them or do you keep them in their pristine glory as a collector’s item? Or maybe you adopt the buy one to use, one to collect theory? Incidentally, I met a couple of people who do this, so I am really curious about what you do/think 🙂
Paris B
Pretty palettes L-R: Dior Minaudiere, Clarins Nude Inspiration collection, Maison Lancome blush, RMK 15th Anniversary Cheek Palette and Guerlain Cruel Gardenia Meteorites
I’m not emotional that way with makeup >< My rationale is that there will always be other collectibles to entice you and I can't deal with having so much stuff lying around and not use them. I can't speak for everyone but I don't usually bring my makeup out and admire them.
That’s true about there being others. There will always be others but I’ve seen mint condition palettes fetch good prices on eBay. I’m not sure about now but back then, one could make quite a tidy sum from a pristine palette!
Morning! I suffer from an internal struggle of sorts when it comes to such pretty palettes (especially limited edition ones) where they will be left on my dresser for a while before I finally gather the courage to defile them! I wish there’ll come a day when I can afford to implement the ‘keep one, use one’ theory! 😀
I know! I think that would be sort of fun. A museum of pretty palettes of sorts 😀
I am easily moved by pretty packaging/ Prints and proceed to buying it but I will definitely use a product once I bought it.. Although I will try to preserve the prints as much as I could haha… Like use a corner of it instead of using the whole thing XD
Haha I’m guilty for doing that when I use a new eyeshadow palette. I usually start at a corner instead of going for the middle which will show wear the most. Guess we want it to look good even as it serves it’s purpose right?
I’d just take a snap first – and then proceed to ruin the pretty design. What is pixie dust worth if one cannot use it to fly? 😉
Lol!! I love your quote! Indeed. Pixie dust is as good as cobwebs if we don’t use them for its intended purpose 😉
i love looking at these pretty palettes but avoid buying them because i know i will not have the heart to use and ruin the pretty pictures imprinted… hence, i go practical and veer towards the non-collectibles….
Ahhh… That’s the other way of looking at it 🙂 but you have to admit that it’s nice to own it right? Try this trick. Take a. Rush, close your eyes and brush across the surface. You’re done! Now you can use it hehe…
I used to just buy and not use them because I just couldn’t dig in. However, after starting to blog, I have newfound love for using makeup! I didn’t take out the makeup to admire per se, but it felt painful to swatch and ruin the pretty. When I collect, its mainly for the packaging. If its the product I like, I will definitely use it!
Blogging is a good thing then! 😉 previously, I was like some readers. If it was just too pretty, I wouldn’t even buy it. Also, I saw some used testers had the pattern all worn off and it looked ugly. That helps me decide if it’s worth buying then 😀
I totally agree with LeGeeque! Except on really extreme cases, I’m a user as well. Although it pains me everytime I use the product that it’ll never look as pretty as when I first got it, the effect on my face usually makes me happy enough to accept that loss. ^^
The one and only case (so far!) that I’ve bought more than one of a product for its beauty was a limited edition (always those, of course) blush from Missha that I’ve failed to buy when it first came out at 2009, which I’ve regretted ever since since everything about it looked so perfectly like me. Fortunately, I’ve seen the blush back for sale at the end of last year on Ebay, and I was so thrilled and amazed at finding it again that I just had to buy a backup to keep and another to use. 😛 I still have no idea if it was made permanent since 2009 and I hadn’t noticed or something else entirely, but I don’t regret the least in paying nearly double the 2009 pricing and hoarding just a tiny little bit on this case, since it was much more than just a pretty package/design.
Contenders for similar hoarding based on their beauty were M.A.C.’s Lightscapade MSF and the new Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, but I’m sure M.A.C. will release Lightscapade again in a few years at most, and I managed to purchase the ED Skinfinishes I’ve lemmied over – and since their appeal to me is now more their effect than their design, I’m not that sad about using them up without having a backup; I know I won’t finish up 3 highlighters any time soon. ^^
What I do hoard though (just a bit!) are foundations/concealers/sunscreens, but I think that’s much more understandable in general – you just can’t afford to lose that perfect product, you know?
Sorry for this huge comment! I’ll try to be succinct some other time.
Hi Rose, thank you for sharing your thoughts! Don’t worry about it being long. Sometimes, our thoughts can’t be summarized right? 😀 I actually haven’t bought a back up of aalette even if I sometimes think of it. I figure I could just get something else. Maybe I’m not sentimental that way 🙂 I know what you mean too about hoarding base products! I used to buy back ups of my fave concealer when I saw I saw it go on sale. Then it was discontinued! Madness! And you know how it is. They may bring back a colour, but they’ll never bring back a foundation or concealer
i love collecting pretty palette, and i’ll admire it for a very2 long time before i can bring myself to use it, hehe =P looking at all those pretty palette just make me happy & content, it’s one of my weird habit i guess, lol
I don’t think it’s weird actually. We all have our poison as I always say. Just because I don’t do it doesn’t make you weird, it makes you unique! 😉
I’m one of them. I buy and collect makeup esp limited editions and anything in pretty packaging. I can’t help myself. I have 2 clear cubes which i store them in, right by my bedside. Makes me happy when I look at my collection. May sound silly and a total waste of money to some but it makes me smile. Some people collect stamps, I happen to collect makeup in pretty packaging.
Aww I don’t think it silly or a waste of money! If it makes you happy and you aren’t going into the poorhouse or in debt, I don’t see what business it is of anyone to say if it’s right or wrong 🙂 after all, we all have our poisons. Some of us go weak in the knees for bags and shoes and you just go weak for a pretty palette 😉
Pretty packaging has always been my weakness and most often, the reason I purchase the product. However, if the quality is horrible, I return, give away or sell the item. If I wasn’t a beauty blogger, I would probably just keep it to admire, but since I have a pile of make-up waiting to be reviewed, I rarely keep products that aren’t useful. I just don’t have the space for it, unfortunately. =/
Oh yes, quality is important to me too! There’s no point in a pretty palette if it is too sheer, light, shimmery, boring, chalky etc we do and should use it after all 😉
I still haven’t touched a lot of my makeup. But once I finallly dig into it (the first swipe is the hardest!), there’s a sense of relief and then I can just go ahead and ruin the whole thing! LOL I’m sure a psychologist will have a field day with the lot of us!
Haha! Yes! We’d be the perfect neurotic test subjects 😛 like you, I find it hardest to take the fist swipe. After that it’s pretty much a free for all 😀
I’ve not yet bought a “pretty” palette in my life before, but methinks I will just use it regardless! ^.^ But when my Uni friends gave me my Dior Addict Extreme (Riviera), I put it in my makeup drawer for the longest time because it was too “special” for me. I actually did not touch it for 3 months!
It’s no longer a virgin now though heh heh heh.
Ah, riviera is a gorgeous colour! I can understand why you’d not want to use it. It’s such a bit of luxury isn’t it? 🙂
ah pretty palettes, i couldn’t bear to touch them most of the time, as it will ruin those pretty prints. my cruel gardenia is still sitting prettily at my makeup place, waiting for me to touch it.
now i have a rule for myself, for everything i buy, i have to start using it within that 14 days i buy it, 14 days to admire things not so bad right? 😛
Have you used your Guerlain Cruel Gardenia yet Plue? ;p.
I have yet to touch that, plus a few things gifted from friends, and the UD 15th Anniversary palette.
Aiyoyo! Please use the UD 15th anniversary palette! It’s a good one. I’ve actually decided to stop looking at UD after their china nonsense so I’m glad I got this palette 😛
Can’t bear to. Reckon you guys might have to tie me down and make me swatch it. I don’t think I’ll be getting any UD anytime soon either, thanks to the China foofah.
Yes, next time we see you we just might! 😀
oops not yet ahahahah! so many things that I have yet to use!
Oh girl, Cruel Gardenia is so gorgeous on! Use it!! The 14 day rule is a good one. If you don’t use it, you can’t buy anything else right? 😛
Yah, I try to stick to it hahahaha, so at least if I know something’s not working for me, I could give it away while it’s still fresh 🙂 It won’t end up in the bin like my other older stuff.
I’ll be digging in soon into Cruel Gardenia! For now am enjoying the bebolas, although that did took me quite a few days to use it, along with the Lunasol brush 😛
oh, you have a lot of gorgeous palettes PB! i envy you! i love the one on the left(I think that’s Christian Dior?) , my mom have this in a different shade though …. As I said, I will have a hard time using it but eventually I will still use it after maybe a week or two or even a month of looking at it, hihihi… I’d rather use it than be put to waste when the time comes that I can not use it anymore…
Yes, that’s the Dior palette from about 2 years back I believe 🙂 I agree with you. Best use it while it’s new before it expires. I’ve tossed out some cream products because they smelt bad and it’s such a waste!
You people are so funny! Ha ha… yes the psychologist will sure have a happy time with us. Monstro!
Oh to add in – I just use the product. No point it sitting there looking pretty 🙂
What perfect fodder for a psychologist looking into the ways of a woman’s mind. Think he’ll go mad before he’s done lol!
I purchased Nars Hanamichi Kabuki-inspired eyeshadow palette last fall and it’s just too pretty to use. Though most of the time, I am a user, not a collector and will happily dig into a palette or blush to use it.
Ooh I remember that one. Boy! Is that a gorgeous palette or what!? I saw it pop up online recently but decided not to get it because whilst gorgeous the colours aren’t something I’d use. Do you think you’d ever dig into that? 😉
Probably not, since the colours aren’t something I’d use either. I’ll probably just open it to look at occasionally. XD
I use mine as much as possible. The only thing I still have yet to break into is the gorgeous Dior minaudiere palette Bee got me last year. Too pretty to use 😛 As for the rest, I’m glad to say I’ve deflowered them 😛
Congratulations! I remember you had a nice list of stuff you hadn’t used 😀 now to make the deflowering of the Dior palette you mission!
I am usually suckered to buy the makeup if the palette is gorgeous and I would admire it for a while before I dip my brush into it. I won’t buy another of the same palette for collection purposes because I don’t have the storage space for it and I probably can’t finish the one that I bought for usage. I would use that money to buy other palettes that I am also lemming for. 😛
Oh yes, that’s wise 🙂 I met someone who buys 2 of everything. SA love her, naturally 😀
I’ve used up everything that I bought….it’s what I used daily in my make up routine…so since some of the product bought is from overseas and I need to wait up until 1 month just to get it….I definitely used it up..I am a youtube junker… so most of the time I don’t know how some makeup texture or what other than waiting for u (Paris) to sample it first…yet again..I used it up but I kept all the empty bottle..not sure am I sentimental about it..but since the expensive things doesn’t comes by easily .. I do keep the box and empty packages ..hahahaha
Lol! Wow you keep the packaging too? I usually toss my boxes. But sometimes, when my skincare comes in nice glass bottles, I feel like its such a waste to toss them out. Yet there’s no place to store them. Sigh…
Ok, here’s the thing. I don’t buy them. 😛
Don’t get me wrong, I love cute/special palettes and powder design. And I very much wish I could just buy and admire them everyday. However, I know (for sure) that if I buy them, I wouldn’t be able to get myself to use any of them. So, I just suck it up, and look away. 🙁
Is this what they call “tough love”? 😛
Lol!! Yes! That’s category #3 hehe… Another reader mentions that she does that too. Look the other way, excuse she can’t bear to use them. It’s nice to own though, especially if it works well to boot. So I’d suggest the next time, you not look away, but steel yourself and dig right in. The first swipe is the hardest and then it’s all downhill 😀