Do You Splurge or Save on Beauty Products?

I'm a huge beauty addict. I've got tons of cosmetics (mostly MAC), and a bit of an obsession with OPI nail polish. I have cut back a LOT on buying anything new in those departments though.

Within the last year or so, I've started to get into higher end skincare. I kept switching up the drugstore products I'd use on my face, and I was never completely happy with any of the new moisturizers I tried. I wanted to test out higher end stuff and see if I really noticed a difference in quality.

The first thing I bought was the MAC Microfine Refinisher. After using it for about a week, my dull skin was looking a lot less dull!

It wasn't too long after that when I started trying different moisturizers. I had better results with those as well. I'm still on the hunt for the perfect one though!

I recently ran out of eye cream. The skin under my eyes is really dry, with *gasp* a fine line or two. I wasn't totally happy with the cream I had been using. I had started reading reviews on MakeupAlley long before I ran out, and decided that I wanted to try Shiseido Benefiance Anti-Wrinkle Eye Cream. I'm not going to lie, the price kind of scared me. I thought about it for a long time and decided to give it a try. I think that if I'm really really happy with it, the price would be worth it. I do really want to be WOWed at that price though! So I'll give it a try for a while and report back.

A little bonus that helped me make the decision, I found a Shoppers Drug Mart location that sells Shiseido skincare products and went there to buy it because they were having a special that you get 20x the Optimum points if you spent over a certain amount on beauty products. Along with the eye cream, I got a couple of other products that I've been wanting to try out because of great reviews on MakeupAlley. Kiss My Face Peaches & Cream 4% Alpha-Hydroxy moisturizer - I will use this as a night cream because I like my day cream to have SPF in it. And I also got St. Ives Elements Micro-Dermabrasion exfoliator - I'm hoping this can be a cheaper substitute for MAC Microfine Refinisher that I'm almost out of.

Total spend on these 3 products was $89.81 after taxes BUT, this purchase earned me over 15,000 Optimum points which is equal to $25 in merchandise if I was to redeem those points. This makes me happy because I spend loads at SDM with a lot of that being on groceries, surprisingly.

Do you ever splurge on beauty products?

How Much Is My Face Worth?

I've seen a few lovely girls - TheNotice, Ginger Won't Snap and Fabulously Broke In the City doing posts about how much their face is worth. That is, how much is spent on all the products they use on their face. I thought it'd be fun to write everything down and see how my worth adds up!

Ok, so I've always know that I'm a huge beauty addict and that I probably spend WAY too much on cosmetics. I'm getting a glimpse at just how much after tallying all this up. Here goes!

PREP
Neostrata moisturizer - $36
MAC Moisturelush eye cream - $36.50

FACE
MUFE Lift Concealer - $23
Clinique Pore minimizer Instant Perfector - $21
MAC Studio Fix Foundation - $31

CHEEKS
MAC blush (usually Emote or Strada) to contour cheeks - $21
NARS blush - $25

EYES
UDPP to as first base - $17
MAC Paint Pot, also as a base - $20
MAC eye shadow (I usually use 3 colours) - $17 each x 3 = $51
MAC Fluidline to line upper lashes - $18
MAC pencil liner to line waterline - $17
MAC Prep + Prime Lash before mascara - $16
Clinique High Impact Mascara - $14
MAC Brow Finisher - $18

LIPS
MAC Lipglass or Lipstick - $16.50

TOTAL = $381 plus 13% tax = $430.53

YIKES!

Of course, I don't use all this stuff everyday. In fact, I've been wearing barely any makeup or none at all at work lately. I go through phases. Sometimes I'm just too tired to get up 15 or 20 minutes earlier in the mornings so I can do my makeup. That outline above is pretty standard for when I'm going out though.

My makeup collection is pretty ridiculous. I partly blame it on MAC and all their Limited Edition stuff. When it's LE, it's like a frenzy to buy the stuff you want before it sells out!

Speaking of which, I can't wait until next month when the Hello Kitty collection launches! Hehehe

Twitter?

So I just signed up for Twitter. Everyone's talking about it, but I'm not sure that I get it. I guess I have to go look for some people to add and see what all the fuss is about. If you've got it, feel free to add me!

http://twitter.com/soveryfabulous