10 Beauty Things I Don't Buy & What I Use Instead

1. Eyeshadow palettes

I love to wear eye makeup but I wear the same colors. I had an obsession with buying palettes, probably because the packaging is so lovely on all of them.

On any palette, you can see the colors that get used and the colors that never get used or even tried, which is a lot! A complete utter waste of money.

2. Celebrity makeup palettes

This isn’t just eyeshadows. Maybe Rihanna or a Kardashian introduced a collaboration and it all looked shiny and new, and the packaging was fab, and the marketing was great, and I thought I’d use it, but I never would. I have stopped buying celebrity releases.

3. Nail polish

I used to collect all the colors. I get my nails done now, and I make no apologies about it since I am not good at painting my own nails.

I used to line up my bottles of nail polish, they looked pretty, but I could never do my nails right. I would add bottles but never used them. I have stopped this waste of money.

4. Lipsticks

I still wear lipsticks, but I will tell you that the entirety of my lipstick collection includes two colors. That’s all! I have finally, finally realized that these are the only lipsticks I use.

One is Pillow Talk by Charlotte Tilbury, which is neutral. The other one is a red by Chanel which is the only color I wear. You may have many shades of lipstick and that is okay if you wear them.

I also have two glosses. I have the Dior pink gloss and a lip plumper from Dior and I get my money’s worth from them because I wear them often.

I love color, but when I was buying all the trendy lip colors–from pinks to oranges to purples–and I’d put them on, I’d feel absolutely ridiculous and self-conscious! Yet I still bought them! For me, it was a waste of money.

5. Beauty sheet face masks

They don’t work for me since I have sensitive skin, but I’d still buy them. I stopped buying them finally. Now I only use Dermalogica products; they last longer and don’t react with my skin. 

6. False eyelashes

I just can’t wear them, I can’t put them on right, it is usually a mess. I see other girls wearing them and they look great and make their eyes pop, but I can’t. Even though I couldn’t pull it off, I’d still buy them because I thought “well, this one will be different.” 

I just use mascara now. I use Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara. I would buy any new mascara that promised to be the next best thing but now I have stopped buying random designer mascaras and just stick to the basics.

7. Hair accessories

I stopped buying expensive hair accessories. Generally, I wear my hair down and straight. I had a drawer jam-packed with hair accessories and hair styling tools. I’d buy them because I thought “this time the curls will stay in my hair.”

But I’m useless at styling my hair and putting clips in. Nothing worked so I just stopped buying these things. I have some basic bands and grips, but I have stopped buying fancy items.

8. Makeup wipes

I used to buy wipes for eye makeup. I wear black mascara and I’d need half a packet just to get one day’s makeup off. I’d scrub at my mascara and still need a lot of wipes.

I stopped using them because they are wasteful money-wise since I was going through packs so fast. I also stopped using them because my skin is so sensitive.

And after having my first child, I realized how many baby wipes we were using and having to dispose of and I was now aware of how much I was adding to the problem with wipes. 

9. Treats or pick-me-up items

I stopped buying myself treats just because I need a “pick-me-up.” The packaging made me feel like I was getting a real present. But I wasn’t buying the normal items that I was sure to use again and again. I was buying new, shiny things I’d never use.

I calculated all the money I was spending on these items, and I was burning it up!

10. Makeup sponges

I didn’t want to give this up, I just kept buying and buying them. I finally realized I like to put my foundation on with my fingers. It works for me. I went through all the different shapes and sizes of sponges and tried using them to blend makeup, but nothing felt comfortable.

Beauty things I don't buy

I hope I gave you insight into why I kept spending money on beauty items I never used. I think plenty of us are like that until we accept the fact that some beauty items just don’t work for us.

Let me know in the comments if there are beauty items that you’ve decided to stop buying because they were a waste of money.