MAC, hype and our roles as consumers

[cno64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spectrolite Wow that was amazing and you touched on many things that have been on my mind lately. I have definitely fallen into the hype about MAC

You're absolutely not alone!
I routinely share samples of the MAC pigments; in fact just recently I gave some out to my dentist's staff!
At church, I am known as "the makeup diva," and I have actually been asked, "What's that lipstick you're wearing? Is it MAC?"
MAC should be dreaming about me, instead of the other way around!"

I am not proud of any of this; I just find it amusing.

 

[Beauty Mark]

I have a relatively small MAC collection (3 MSF, 1 mineralized eyeshhadow, some lipglass, and 4 Fluidlines). For me, I really like and use all these products.

I think MAC has done an amazing job in marketing and people buying into the brand. I hope this doesn't offend anyone, but I think it's especially obvious MAC's marketing works when people look for the MAC dupe of another brand's product rather than just a general dupe.

 

[zipperfire]

You make points I've been musing on for a long time.

1. To avoid the artificial demand of le, I know that certain things will re-occur or have similar re-issues. This is happening more and more--how many colors can there be in reality? (In music, there is a theory that certain sonorities get used up and music has to change radically at that point. So we move from classical to modern eras that change when they stagnate.)

2. To not get into the backup mode, I realize I won't use up much besides lipglass which goes off after a while. I don't worry about it.

3. I limit which collections to participate in; all of them are not for me. I try to be choosy and keep what I will be using.

We have to be wise as consumers. Very good points you've made here, thanks.

 

[BEA2LS]

Great article! many great points were brought up and i do agree. at this point in my life, i am so broke that i cannot get everything that comes out. and it's fine.

i do not feel the need to get stuff from mac and it is refreshing. i agree at the poster that said its sad to see some people who get really excited over make-up.. though i enjoy this board and will support it as it brings joy and fun to my day.

 

[blazeno.8]

This post is amazing.

 

[Arisone]

Thanks for posting this article. Recently, I noticed how much money I have spent on Mac. Thinking about it makes me cringe. I even get teased by family members about it. I agree with the poster who made the point about self esteem. When I wear Mac (or makeup in general) it makes me feel beautiful and confident. Because of the Hello Kitty collection my bank account have taken a big hit. I realize its time for me to make smarter choices in how I spend my money. I have makeup that I haven't even used yet.

 

[Curly1908]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovesong I don't see nothing getting the "hyped" about a collection.Myself, I love finding out new information lol and it gets me hyped.People think there is a problem with collecting makeup, but is it any different then collecting video games?Barbies?Baseball cards?I like to indulge in makeup.Even though I buy whatever I feel that I know I will use.Some people like to collect and there is nothing wrong with that.When it comes to LE collections I'm not really that hyped over it because there might only be two or three things I get from a LE collection.

The difference is that Barbies and baseball cards (and even some video games) appreciate in value. Makeup expires. And one person can only use so much makeup. This behavior is understandable and expected among the professional makeup artists on this board, but among the general consumer? No way.

Some of what I see on Specktra is pathological in nature. It's not just simply collecting. It's hoarding similar to elderly people with mental illnesses who own 10+ cats. Having to borrow money in order to buy MAC? Missing a bill in order to buy MAC? Convincing yourself or allowing other to convince you to get colors that look HORRIBLE on you just because it's popular (e.g. Lavendar Whip looks bad on about 60% of the people I've seen)? Buying 5 shades of the same color that look identical when you wear them? It just doesn't make sense.

Your makeup budget should be part of your discretionary income -- what you spend after your bills are paid and after you have deposited a significant amount of your salary into savings.

If you feel ugly in the inside, no amount of makeup is going to make you feel better about yourself.

 

[cno64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Curly1908 similar to elderly people with mental illnesses who own 10+ cats.

Please excuse a brief tangent here, but not everyone who owns 10+ cats does so because he/she is mentally ill.
Some care for multiple cats simply they love cats and because there are sooo many needy cats out there; this situation comes about directly or indirectly as a result of the actions of others who don't take responsibility for their pets; who abandon pets, let their pets breed indiscriminately, etc.
In my 30s, at one point I owned 27 cats, all former strays or ferals, and every last one of them was spayed/neutered, every one of them had annual vet checkups and immunizations.
They ate premium cat food and went to the vet every time he/she sneezed, or just didn't "look right."
It was pretty expensive and time-consuming, of course, but at the time it was manageable.
There came a point at which, of course, I had to draw the line, and say, "I just can't take on any more," and now I have only five, and that's as many as I can now take good care of.
Back to makeup hoarding: I certainly agree that one's "makeup budget" should consist of what, if anything, is left after the essentials like food, shelter, medicine, etc., have been taken care of.
And I agree that one should be careful of being psyched into a superfluous purchase just because a particular item is popular and everyone's talking about it, how much they love it, how many backups they bought, etc.
When others are excitedly squealing, "I bought the whole collection!" it's easy to feel- well- vaguely pitiful when you say, "Well, I bought one lipstick ..."

But if you know that one lipstick is the only item from a particular collection that you'll use and enjoy, then it was a good choice for you.

 

[rocking chick]

For me, its just like allocating my money elsewhere. In the past, I spent 95% on clothes & shoes and 5% on makeup. But now I spent 90% on makeup and 10% on clothes & shoes. So I think it still make sense since its still about the same amount of $$ spent

 

[xxAngelxx]

It does seem like its trendy or whatever to buy "the whole collection." I just wonder how some women making minimum wage, maybe a little more, can even afford that. Do they really need every item from every collection? Especially when they don't look good in every color. And I'm sorry, but I totally agree with the comment above that 60% of women wearing Lavender Whip just don't look good in it. But again, that's just my personal opinion.

 

[cno64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocking chick For me, its just like allocating my money elsewhere. In the past, I spent 95% on clothes & shoes and 5% on makeup. But now I spent 90% on makeup and 10% on clothes & shoes. So I think it still make sense since its still about the same amount of $$ spent

That sounds okay to me.
If you're willing to spend less on clothes and shoes so that you can buy more or nicer makeup, that's just how you choose to spend your money on putting yourself yourself together.
It isn't as if you're thinking, "Wow, there's a great new MAC collection being released this month; think instead of paying my water bill, I'll haul the entire collection."
I think that as long as you're paying your bills, providing for any dependents you have and are able to regularly save at least a little, it's completely up to you how you allocate the rest.

 

[Vixxan]

You did an amazing job writing this, thank you.

I have been out of the makeup scene for years, for personal reasons. I decided to start back wearing makeup a few months ago. A friend of mine showed me some makeup tutorials on YouTube and every tutorial had this product called MAC. Prior to my YouTube experience, I had never heard of MAC (no I haven't been living in a cave). So I decided to check into this thing called MAC and it was everywhere. On every forum, blog, website I went to. I read post where people were talking about MAC makeup as if it was the butter of God, ok. It just sounded like a bunch of hype to me but who am I to call it hype since I’ve never even seen the stuff before. So I decide to have myself a little adventure. Is it hype or is it the butter of God?


I ordered 100 samples of MAC eye shadow pigments from thebodyneeds.com. A few weeks later they arrive and I must admit I was so excited. I grab the package from the mailbox run in the house and it's time to open. I open the package then sit in silence waiting for some angelic music, a band to start playing or some guy to jump out of my closet and start break dancing. That didn't happen so let’s move on.

On my adventure I discovered something called mineral makeup (never heard of that either). The swatches looked as vibrant as MAC so I wondered is this the “Butter of God” or just makeup? So I decided to order some samples of everything (approximately 1000) I could get my hands on to answer these questions. My intention here was to find the perfect products for me but it seemed that the only advice on new makeup started with MAC and ended with MAC.

I made swatches of everything all over my arms and I have to admit these colors were incredible. They were so easy to blend they almost felt like the “Butter of God”.

Around the same time I ordered my MAC samples I also ordered makeup from Ben Nye, The She Space, Pure Luxe, Earthen Glow Minerals, Simply Naturals, Medusa, Manic Panic, Meow, Graftobian, Smashbox, Bobbi Brown, Mary Kay, Lancome, Clinque, Loreal, NYX, Chanel, Revlon, Mary Kate and Ashley, Jordana, Wet N Wild, Maybelline and Cover Girl. I ended up with more than 2000 products.

My findings:

NYX pigments provided color, coverage and blending as well as MAC’s pigments.

Smashbox was the biggest waste of money.

The She Space, Pure Luxe, Earthen Glow Minerals, Simply Naturals, Medusa, Manic Panic, and Meow all offer colors that are so vibrant and beautiful. They offer pretty much everything you need for a complete look at a nice price (some of them).

Mary Kate and Ashley have really nice cream eye shadows.

NYX: I really like every product I purchased from NYX, and I purchased a lot of their products


Pure Luxe I really like their products, I didn’t find any products from this company that I did not like.

Mary Kay I really like their lipsticks

Graftobian amazing foundation


Ben Nye is in a league all of their own, amazing makeup.

There is no denying the quality of MAC, their products are incredible but my main dislike with MAC is the life of its products. I don’t have the patience to chase limited edition, special collection or here today gone tomorrow items.

I was looking for the perfect makeup for me and at the end of my adventure I chose all of them to be the perfect makeup for me. Why? I had to pay for this stuff. Do you know how much 2000 products cost? I’m wearing them all, the good, bad and the ugly. If dogs start barking when I walk by I just want those damn dogs to know I paid to look this damn ugly.



The end.