Curious: Are you buying as much makeup/skincare as you used to?

[indylovesmakeup]

I saw lately that Ulta shares dropped in value and sales were down. Obviously it’s a different store with a different feel from Sephora but now I’m wondering, are you buying/using less makeup and/or skincare than you did a year or two ago? Why or why not? Ulta blamed a lack of innovation in the market but I’m not sure if that’s fair. I find I am indeed buying less simply because I’m busier than I was a few years ago and I want a simpler routine. How about you?

[treestar86]

well, I only started shopping there and getting more into beauty a few years ago when they opened up here.  so, compared to before then, I'm buying more, but since I've collected so much over the last few years, I don't really need or can afford much more.  but if I had the money I'd keep buying since I love a good deal, gifts and samples and collecting things... 😛  and I tend to focus on skincare, since I don't really wear makeup.

[neta83]

To respond to indylovesmakeup As I will be turning 55 this year, I been more involved in skin care,seeing a derm doctor for advice to better care for my skin than buying the newest eyeshadow or face mask. Also will be switching jobs soon to get out of retail altogether.

[itscarin]

@indylovesmakeup I literally have boxes of unopened makeup I've purchased.  And perfumes.  

Skincare is the only thing I use every day without fail so it's definitely easier for me to finish a skin product than it is to finish a makeup product.  

For makeup, I'm definitely buying a lot less, just because the market does seem over-saturated.  How many new eyeshadow palettes do I need?  How often do I use that Natasha Denona Palette I *had* to have a few months ago?  And also, I just feel like it's all been done.  Show me 20 different highlighters and I'll show you 18 that I don't need/want.  A couple of years ago I had to have EL victoria beckham highlighter.  So I bought that, and I wear it, and I love it, but I also love the Nars copacabana liquid highlighter, and I can't really wear more than one highlighter at a time.  I just honestly don't need all the things, and honestly, my husband is annoyed by the amount of space they take up and how bad I am at putting things away.  (Yep, I'll take ownership for this being my fault.  Maybe if I was more organized I could get away with more things!)

It's funny that I've noticed a couple of threads in various makeup communities speculating on Ulta's sales loss.  It's a little curious to me that we, as consumers, pay attention to what Ulta's quarterly reported earnings are.  I'm not sure what that says about where we as consumers.

But, I love speculating so I'm down to speculate!

I would hypothesize that Ulta has had huge growth over the past few quarters.  Their losses may be due to the general recession trend we hear everyone talking about.  If you discount economic influences, than my next guess would be that Ulta has been "gaming" the system, so to speak, and it's starting to catch up with them.

What I mean by gaming the system is that when you have a new start up in Silicon Valley, you only care about acquiring new users.  You don't care about longevity.  You just need to convince the investors that you're growing like crazy and you're an investment they want to get in on.  Sometimes, to enhance your user base, you might do something that is unsustainable long-term: such as pay people to create new accounts (eg using mechanical turks to create new users).

An analogous equivalent for Ulta may be all the crazy perks they were giving to consumers, like free full-sized products with any purchase every month for Diamond members, or all the big GWP goodie bags you could get, or even the beauty youtuber bags they used to do.  All of those promotions probably drove sales like crazy, but it's possible that Ulta was able to finance them by betting against their future.  Now that they've established themselves as a competitor to Sephora, they do seem to be pumping the breaks on some of their promotions.  For example, the buy-in for a huge gift with purchase bag has gone up to $125 when it used to be $75.  The free full-sized items every month with any purchase have turned into a $25 min purchase requirement.  And, they also let you collect points when you redeemed points, however, that's been cancelled, too.

So to sum it up, I'd say 1. general recession trend and 2. Ulta's been hemorrhaging money with GWPs trying to attract customers for too long,  and they're starting to reap what they sew.  They may be finding that value-minded consumers are less interested in purchasing from them when there are not as many concessions made.  They may also find that it's financial impossible to sustain all the concessions.     

[noladarling]

Call it the "KonMari" effect, but I think a lot of people are starting to question if that new highlighter, eye shadow palette or lipstick is really going to bring them joy and if they really need it. When you consider that makeup has a shelf-life, even if you do a whole face every day you'll barely work your way thru one palette before it just becomes unsafe to use. And the folks at Ulta are spot on about the lack of innovation. Even though there's literally a new 8 to12-pan eye shadow palette release every other day, at least a third of the colors are dupes from others palettes. There's really not a lot of incentive to spend $50-150 just to get a few slightly unique colors, because nobody really needs a few dozen versions of tan, brown, beige-pink and taupe eye shadow. And don't get me started on highlighters. I was in a meeting a few months back, and a guy in his 60s, literally asked me what that "sparkly stuff" was on my face. He then said that he'd noticed that "all the ladies" were wearing it and thought it looked nice. That's when I knew that highlighter, as a makeup trend needed to die. After all, what more evidence do you need that a trend has officially jumped the shark, than having a guy who still wingtips & hasn't bought a new suit in over a decade claim that everybody's doing it?

And trust me, Sephora and Ulta have noticed that people are cutting back on makeup. That's why we're seeing more hair- and skincare product releases on their respective apps and websites, along with beauty wellness products (a lot of which are just capitalizing on the CBD oil trend). I, for one, think this is great, because beauty isn't about sparkle and gloss. It's about presenting the best (and healthiest) version of yourself.

FTR: I recently sold my house and am living out of suitcases for the next few months, so the entirety of my mobile beauty provisions—nails, hair, skin and makeup—can fit into a makeup train case and a carry-on tote.

[mermaid805]

@indylovesmakeup Great thread! I'm super curious about this topic and very intrigued by others responses.

I am buying WAY less of both makeup and skincare than in the past and for a plethora of reasons.

1) I have too much stuff and I only have 2 eyes, 1 set of lips etc... so I'm just not using enough product to justify more.

2) Lack of incentive- a few years ago it seemed like every purchase I made came with at LEAST one full size freebie, which is part of what led to #1, and now I'm just not as eager to buy since the GWP's aren't that good and I've been spoiled. With a $65 purchase from Ulta you used to get multiple freebie bags samples and bonus gifts- now there's nothing comparable. Once you've been spoiled its hard to go back, and it's hard to justify the costs of the cosmetics since I know there's a huge mark up on the product and the companies can afford to charge less but don't to keep their profits up and meet supply/demand. 

3) Lack of customer support- I've seen this go down across the board for both Sephora and Ulta. I've been part of the VIB program for over a decade and I can assure you that the customer support in the early days was leagues better than it is now. Since I am forced to order mostly online these days because of my location, its frustrating to try to reason with untrained customer service staff over the phone about missing items or damaged pieces. 

4) Lack of innovation- I think it's a little lush for Ulta to blame their falling sales on this alone, but I do feel that the trend for a lot of us was to overindulge when we first got into beauty and now without innovative products its not inspirational to purchase more stuff none of us need. Five years ago I was absolutely thrilled with every Too Faced palette release, now that they haven't done anything to improve their formula and every collection feels contrived I no longer have any drive to check out their new releases. Companies use the same color combos constantly, promote reformulated but not that different products and generally all tend to follow the same bandwagon (I'm looking at you "Cannabis Sativa Oil" that's now in everything from Mascara to face creams). I will agree that there isn't enough true "newness" to stimulate me to make purchases, and I would love if the holiday releases mixed it up a bit. I typically buy most of the Nars holiday collections because I find them inspired, last year not a single piece. 

5) I'm more comfortable with myself- I love makeup and skincare, but when I was younger I was always looking for a miracle product that would magically enhance whatever I didn't like about myself. Now I realize that there is no magic cream, and I don't need it because I'm lovely and awesome just the way I am. This shift in self love has changed the way I look at beauty products- they're now way more for me and self expression than curing my need to look good for others or the belief that I needed it to look normal. Now I'm more into self care and long term health benefits than immediate gratification and I find myself more interested in tools like a scalp scraper or vitamins that help regulate my internal stuff rather than another red lipstick.

[Kim888]

@indylovesmakeup For me the two to three year time line kind of lines up to where I first really got into makeup/skin care more than just the average consumer. I definitely think I am buying less than I did then, especially of makeup, but for me it partially comes with knowing what I'll actually use or like more now.

I have a pretty solid skin care routine so aside from buying tons of sheet masks and replacement things, something really has to catch by eye for me to  buy it. Usually  if I'm buying new skin care other than masks it's something I got a promo/sample of and loved. Makeup wise I was very easily swept into the hype of new releases before and I was able to justify if because I really didn't have anything like it. Now I just have significantly more product and It's a lot easier to remind myself that no matter how pretty a product is, if it's not something I use often it's just not worth it. I do still buy tons of lippies though haha

I do think this spring/summer was lackluster as compared to other years if I'm being honest. There were a few exciting things but last year I remember having a list of multiple palettes I had to have and trying to decide which to get, this year I'm just like okay guess I'll wait and see what the holiday brings. 

[WinglessOne]

@indylovesmakeup  I’ve had to increase my skincare purchases within the past 2 years to find things that play nice with my changing skin. Products I’d used for decades suddenly stopped being effective or caused bad reactions. In some cases, I’m sure “suddenly” was really a storm that had brewed over many years and finally erupted. All those years of Origins Checks & Balances cleanser, for instance—my former ride or die cleanser—had gradually dried out my face until one day my skin yelled “NOPE, NO MORE OF THIS” and rebelled with painfully dry scaly patches. Thus began my search for a new cleanser. That’s how a lot of my skincare purchases have begun. 

My most frequently purchased makeup item has always been lipstick, and that hasn’t changed much. Even though I’ve decluttered over 200 lipsticks in the last 12 months, I’ve bought some new-to-me formulas. Eh, I love to test all of the things. That’s why I plan to buy Pat McGrath’s upcoming eyeshadow palette: it contains some new formulas. I don’t need that palette and it won’t be cheap, but I wanna test it! 

There are some items I’ve stopped buying mostly or completely, having realized I don’t need them. Examples: I’ve quit all liquid and cream foundations, and I recently decided I don’t need a separate vitamin C serum because that ingredient’s already in several of my current skincare products. Once I finish my current bottle of vit C serum, I won’t buy another one by any brand. 

[Brutalitops]

@indylovesmakeup I've actually been getting more into makeup (mostly because I have the income to indulge in it now) but my spending on skincare has been fairly consistent as skincare has always been a priority for me. That being said- like obviously I understand that there are differences in finishes and formulas and quality- but at the end of the day there are only so many combinations of pink-purple-brown-red shades (and fun colors or whatever) that are physically possible to create. And of those- there are only so many that I want. The same is true of pretty much everything else. Collectors aside, for people actually buying makeup to use it there's just not really much to innovate in that space outside of performance and at some point you hit a wall. There are some new releases I get excited for because they are things I don't already own much of or the packaging/ set/ colorstory is especially compelling and different enough from what I already own. However, I generally find myself pretty uninspired- it's just the same old colors and same old products I already haven't purchased just repackaged and/or rearranged. Makeup is just kind of repetitive by it's nature and eventually you hit a wall with increasing market share

[sprocketta]

@indylovesmakeup I would say I'm buying more skincare and less makeup. I'm definitely spending more on skincare since I've expanded my routine and the products I want are at Sephora and not Ulta. This is disappointing to me as I really prefer the Ulta rewards system.

[indylovesmakeup]

Same and same.

[221Katie]

Ulta’s shares may be down because of the ongoing legal problems regarding the allegations of selling used makeup, they’re now facing their second class action lawsuit over this. 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@indylovesmakeup This is a very interesting thread, and I enjoyed reading everyone's answers!  I've bought less eye shadow palettes this year compared to last, but only because less caught my eye.  Other than that, I'd say my spending has remained about the same. 

One thing that changed, though, is that I've been shopping at Ulta more.  Their rewards system is very attractive to me, and I didn't like that Sephora changed their return policy to 60 days.  I just found out today that it has changed again to 30 days, which I think is unfortunate.

[fatimamummy]

I’m buying way less makeup now because there is just so much hardly ever used stuff sitting in my drawers that I don’t feel the motivation to acquire any more. I’m still buying skincare frequently but have controlled the urge to keep buying new stuff without finishing what I’m using. Now If something interests me , instead of buying it right away, I file it to buy later when I run out of a similar product in my stash. 

[saritza]

we just got to many makeup the last few years so people are not buying much skin care is more necessary and hair products and also perfumes but if others website's have better deal of course we will not shop at ulta or sephora. #lancome website have a lot of promo #urbandecaysite also #thebay good for perfumes #shopperdrugmaster with their points you get free products so they have a lot of competition they should make more sales and give more samples 🤣🤣🤣

[newcarlee]

Hi @indylovesmakeup, I got into skincare 3-4 years ago on a whim and purchased a lot of products in the 2 years thereafter to find things that work for me, including beauty box subscriptions.  Now I’m on product overload and mostly shopping my stash. So, yes, I’ve slowed down my buying but nothing to do with product innovation.

[ShannonAlexis]

Using my first year on BIC as a benchmark - I am buying less makeup and more skincare than I used to.

Part of that may be because I am getting closer to 30, maybe also a little bit of product release burnout. Mostly I think it comes from knowing myself better. I know what kind of products and makeup looks I like, so there's less trial and error. In general I am trying to buy less of everything in my life - for sustainability and so I don't have to move it out of my apartment...

I think Ulta's sales will go up again soon. They have been introducing a lot of desirable brands lately and have very competitive sales/GWPs. They will have KKW beauty soon, which I think will be good for them since the only other place consumers can get those products is direct from KKW.

[GG84]

I’m buying only what I run out of. In the beginning of the year it was a different story however my business expenses are astronomical as of late, so something had to give. 

[tastelikewater]

I'm definitely buying less of both skincare and makeup, and for different reasons. I have sensitive skin and mild rosacea, so I'm hesitant to experiment and risk a flare-up. While I'll sometimes add in a new product - right now I'm trying The INKEY List Bakuchiol Retinol Alternative Moisturizer 1 oz/ 30 mL

and I'll try out new eye creams from time to time - I prefer to stick to the simple routine I've developed that works. 

As far as makeup, I think a lot of it is fatigue. Maybe I've just been paying more attention, but I feel like the past year or so has been a constant bombardment of new releases, and I'm not feeling excited about most of it. This also coincides with me really honing my style; yes, that upcoming Melt Radioactive palette looks amazing, but I'm a Natasha Denona Biba kind of girl! I no longer want to buy things just to have them. 

[ShortErica]

I've bought way more sheet masks than ever in my life. Last year 0. This year, hundreds. But that's mostly from TJ Maxx/Marshalls.

I've never been a big makeup wearer so I put myself on a no buy to use what I have. I have broken it once because I ran out of Mineral veil and really enjoy and use the product but that's it.

Skincare my purchases have been consistent to prior years but I try not to have as many backups or buy them a lot closer to when the product I'm using is near its end.

[Gemini619]

I’ve been buying less makeup simply because I feel like I already have more than enough and I’m very satisfied with what I have. I still keep an eye online for the latest releases and sales though, just because it’s something I enjoy doing even if I don’t buy anything. As for skincare, I’ve never been a big shopper. I know what works for me and I stick to it. I’ll only purchase skincare if I run out of something.