Ah beauty buffs will always be plagued by that eternal question of how to scratch that hard to find beauty itch. You know that one right? The one brand you hear so much raves about and wish we had it available locally.
The one product everyone and their mother seems to love yet is impossible to find in stores or online. That product that you’ve been dying to try but which is only found overseas and in the luxury price range.
I am a beauty buff and I have this terrible itch. It doesn’t help that I read a lot of blogs and I am suggestible and I have friends who tell me “You just HAVE TO TRY THIS!” No friends, you aren’t helping me at all!
My latest beauty itch is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. I’ve read so much about how wonderful they are at giving an airbrushed finish to the skin. Hell, even friends rave about them *sob*
So, when I was down in Melbourne last week and out shopping with Tine, the minute I stepped into David Jones department store, I said “Look, I want to see the Hourglass powders!” They had the limited edition Ambient Lighting Palette on display and the price as you see is AU$95 (approx RM285). The palette was tiny!
I have to admit the pull was definitely there. I wanted to badly to pick up this item that is practically impossible for me to find here (and online, I’ve checked) but was I prepared to cough up that much money for it? Tine wisely told me to sleep on it which I did.
But I’m curious if you would have been willing to splurge on this hard to find beauty item or any beauty item you’ve been eyeing. Are you willing to? After all, you may not come across it again!
I realise that beauty products in Australia are very highly marked up which is why I balked. This same Hourglass palette retails at US$58 (approx RM184) which is almost half the price. It might interest you to know that prices of Revlon is almost dollar for RM!
Did I grit my teeth and hand out wads of cash for this palette then?
I didn’t. I couldn’t justify it if I’m to be honest. The full size individual powders retail at AU$65 (approx (RM195) and although I was fairly tempted, I ended up not getting any. As much as I wanted to try these products, I just wasn’t willing to splurge, never mind that they are hard to find and that I really wanted it.
That was me at my most rational. I’m not always that rational when I travel because sometimes, it’s so hard to see something you’ve been wanting for a while, that I justify the splurge with the thought that I don’t have access to the brand or product. There’s always an excuse isn’t there? 😀
Yet on the other hand, I went a little crazy buying up scented candles which aren’t quite beauty products, but were items I was quite willing to splurge on because good scented candles are hard to find locally 😀
So you tell me: How willing are you to splurge on hard to find beauty products?
Do you justify your splurge with the thought that you don’t have easy access to it? Or perhaps you splurge because it’s something you’ve wanted for a while and maybe can’t find it anymore. Or perhaps you just don’t care. You want it and that’s all that matters! I sometimes splurge if I really really want something and especially if I see it while I’m travelling. It always seem to make it easier. What about you? Spill! 😀
Paris B
Rute says
Yeah the best thing to do is definitly sleep on it.
I’m very cheap (and also haven’t got lots of money to spend on makeup), so I’ll probably wouldn’t buy it, the only things I really splurge on are Urban Decay palettes, and I need to REALLY love them! Or on a good foundation! Everything else (besides skincare) I always look for some kind of dupe!
Paris B says
I think travel brings out the devil in all of us but I’ve now learned to tame it when it comes to beauty products, and end up spending more on food or decorative items or the like. Beauty is, I find a little too universal and easily obtained elsewhere or dupes as you have said 🙂
Lily says
I used to splurge. Nowadays, I know better. I calculate better. I think better >_<
Paris B says
*pat pat* you’ve grown up 😉
Waterlily says
I would never go for an item like that, at least not for such an extravagant price. I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it and at that price, and if it is scarce, I would not be able to get it again. Why bother with the impending disappointment. I’d just let it go.
Paris B says
That makes sense although I was so horrified by the hefty mark up it was quite a no brainer not to get it. Now, if I had been in the US, I might have, because it’s not easily found locally. That said, I’d also have to see how much I have left after splurging on food and other fun things. After all, being on holiday isn’t all about shopping 😀
Emma says
This Hourglass palette is my latest splurge. Ever since the ambient powders came out, I’ve been wanting to try them so bad but they are so expensive and Hourglass is not officially available in Hong Kong! So I don’t have the opportunity to try and see which powder I would like to get. And now this palette came out, and everybody rave about it and I just can’t help myself. I went online and bought it after watching Amarixe on YouTube raved about it. Still haven’t received it, and hopefully it would arrive soon!
I probably wouldn’t have bought it if it cost AU95! But I got it online for around USD60, so that’s still acceptable.
Paris B says
Ahh I hope you’ll like it once you receive it, Emma 🙂 It feels absolutely lovely. Super fine milled and gorgeous on skin. A little sparkly but I’m sure you can use it for evenings and parties 😀 Definitely not worth getting at AU$95. At US prices, I would have considered it 😀
lara says
This is my first time commenting here. Found your site not long ago and want to say that I really enjoy your point of view and sense of humor. For me at least it gets boring after seeing swatches and reviews after reviews, so someone with a point of view like you is fun to read! Yes, I’m guilty of buying things overseas that I wouldn’t buy at home (I’m from the US), just b/c it’s unavailable at home, or limited edition, or, “when will I ever go back to Asia/Europe again?!” etc. But I’ve learned to be wiser w/my purchases at home and overseas.. for the most part anyway. There’s only so much makeup and stuff a person can have before it becomes too much, at least for me. By the way, glad you didn’t buy the Hourglass Ambient powders — it’s really not all that, all hype… others may differ I know
Paris B says
Hiya Lara, thanks for leaving a comment and sharing your thoughts. You’re right, I too get bored writing review after review so it’s always fun to chat and discuss stuff right? We all have such diverse views most of the time! I’m glad you enjoy these little breaks in beauty monotony 🙂 You know what? I just know that when I visit the USA, I’ll go mad buying stuff that I can’t get here, especially from the drugstores. Somehow, being on holiday means you are less inhibited, don’t you think? I used to splurge in HK too when I visit. There’s SO MUCH variety there! But lately, I’ve learned to tone down a lot. It all looks the same after a while anyway. As for the Hourglass powders, I’ve been told by many to just stick to Guerlain so that’s what I’ll do. Can’t deny I’m curious but perhaps one day when the hype dies down and I find it somewhere at a better price. Maybe then 🙂 See ya around!
gio says
Once I would have splurged. These days, I’m more careful. If it is something that I think I would use a lot, and the price isn’t too high, then yes, I would buy it. Otherwise, I’d just hunt for a dupe back home.
Paris B says
You know Gio, I don’t even look for dupes anymore! LOL I just let it go. After all, I’m sure there’ll always be something else that comes out that looks/wears just as amazingly well
Tine @ Beautyholics Anonymous says
How ridiculous were the prices eh? Now you know what a shocker cosmetics prices are here 😛
Paris B says
I know! And it’s no wonder online shopping is such a big deal Down Under.
Lydia says
Smart woman! I could have picked up this palette when there was an abundance in stock but I waited to use my VIB coupon and almost missed out. I am too much of a bargain hunter to spend and exorbinant price, let alone a huge mark up like that. I think it is so easy, especially as blogger, to get caught up in “needing” a popular item. I try to think “this will not affect my life or my legitimacy as blogger if I don’t buy this.” The powders are lovely and one of my favourite products of the year but the palette size is smaller, so the price you mentioned? Not worth it.
Paris B says
LOL I think YOU are the smart one waiting to get this on discount! 😉 You’re right about the allure of buying stuff, being a blogger and I’ve definitely been caught up in that hype before. I’m good now. Only buy what I want and need and not “for the blog” because really, unless the blog pays, there’s no way I can justify buying anything for the blog 😉 Hope the palette is serving you well!
Ali_A says
Cosmetic goods in Australia are generally more expensive though…
Paris B says
Yep! The prices of things (not just cosmetics) shocked me especially when some of them are the same price here, dollar for dollar which makes it quite ridiculous.
Jacqueline says
I don’t mind splurging but draw the line when it comes to paying more than what it is suppose to retail for. I think I have passed the LE craze, if I don’t manage to get it, its fine because eventually something newer and better is bound to come along. I do kick myself when something I paid full price for becomes cheaper. That just sucks for me.
Paris B says
Oh yeah I hear ya on the LE craze. My time’s past on that too. These days, if I get it, well and good. If not, I’m not going to kill myself over it haha! But yeah, price differences will get me and although I sometimes don’t like paying more than necessary, I do if it’s something I really want and manage to see it elsewhere. We can’t always help exchange rates but if it’s super crazy like this Hourglass palette, sanity reigns! 😀
Anne says
Going overseas ( haven’t even step out of the country yet! I can easily spent more than $500 every time when I’m in changi DFS!) tend to make me go crazy and shopped like there’s no tomorrow! I often enjoy the “hunt” of searching for hard to find brands like addiction, three,Cdp, eve lom etc in overseas, and make it an effort to haul tons back home. A the end of the day, I realized I can’t finished using it, and there are lots of half used bottles and compacts etc lying around on the dressy table. Totally a waste of moolah! I need to be locked down at home instead! I’m a stupid woman!
Paris B says
Haha you’ll outgrow it Anne 🙂 I love checking out new and exciting, different beauty products overseas – which beauty junkie doesn’t! But taking out wads of cash will make me balk and I tend to get overwhelmed once I get to a counter. Happens to me everytime I come to a NARS counter, or even GA when I’m in Singapore!
Hani Lutfi says
If it was a skincare product, I would be more than willing to spend a few extra bucks but if it’s make-up, I’ll pass. RM200 for make-up? I’d rather spend on clothes.
Paris B says
I guess we all have our poisons, as I tell everyone. Me? My weakness is candles. People tell me I’m dumb for paying so much for candles but hey, if it makes me happy eh? 😉 But I am more willing to spend on skincare too, just not a brand I can’t get easily. If I have to replenish, it doesn’t make sense to buy something that hard to find.
Maja says
Oh my goodness. I travel quite a bit and I love to splurge on beauty items I can’t buy in Switzerland. I buy products I will enjoy for a long time, for example the Hourglass Unlocked palette – the predecessor (in a marble case) is in its final throes and I have had it for more than two years.
But I have calmed down quite a bit on beauty splurging since realizing that the carrousel turns so quickly and every awesome foundation, every brilliant palette, every marvelous serum and every great bargain will be followed by countless even better offers. 🙂