{"id":9002,"date":"2016-07-28T08:02:18","date_gmt":"2016-07-28T04:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/?p=9002"},"modified":"2016-07-28T08:38:43","modified_gmt":"2016-07-28T04:38:43","slug":"anti-haul-the-makeup-im-not-going-to-buy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonniegarner.com\/en\/2016\/07\/28\/anti-haul-the-makeup-im-not-going-to-buy\/","title":{"rendered":"ANTI HAUL: the makeup I’m NOT going to buy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, I wanted to do\u00a0an “anti haul”: in a nutshell, I’ll describe all the makeup that I’m not going to\u00a0buy and explain why. Yes, I agree, it’s a bit provocative to write this kind of post when you have a beauty blog! wink<\/span> <\/h2>\n

But first, here’s a brief reminder of what a haul<\/strong> is:
\nThis phenomenon was born on YouTube but it’s now\u00a0also on blogs by extension. The principle is simple: the blogger\/ YouTuber\u00a0unboxes\u00a0and comments his\/her purchases after a shopping session<\/strong>. This type of content can lead to first impressions or even mini reviews.<\/p>\n

Back to our topic of the anti haul, it’s my friend Luanne (from the blog Weesha’s world<\/a>, if you don’t follow her on Instagram<\/a>, you’re missing out!) who first told me about this new phenomenon on YouTube. So I started watching some anti haul videos<\/strong>. Specifically\u00a0the\u00a0Kimberly Clark<\/a>\u00a0videos. The lipsticks anti haul video<\/a> is one of the funniest I’ve watched in a long time, you definitely need to watch it!!!
\nIt totally\u00a0inspired me<\/strong> and\u00a0I thought it would be a great idea for a\u00a0blog post! : D<\/p>\n

Then I started to think about it more seriously, and I realized that in the past, I had some\u00a0comments asking me my thoughts\u00a0on very hyped up makeup products<\/strong>\u00a0and I have sometimes been tempted to buy them just to probably do a bad review.
\nSo, I thought that\u00a0rather than spend my money on products that I probably won’t\u00a0love, it would be more useful to explain why I won’t buy some particular makeup products<\/strong>. And with reasons I feel are valid so other than “I don’t like the color” or “I already have this color” because let’s be a little honest here, already having 30 dupes of a product won’t\u00a0stop me from buying it! wink<\/span>
\nAnd also, this article is about my feelings<\/strong> on certain products and you’re absolutely free to\u00a0not agree with me about them. I love discussing\u00a0important topics like\u00a0makeup wink<\/span> , so please feel free\u00a0to give me your thoughts\u00a0on the\u00a0topic\u00a0in the comments! wink<\/span> <\/p>\n

Because sometimes I feel like some\u00a0makeup products are rather\u00a0overpriced compared to their real quality \/ value<\/strong>. And they’re still all over the social media, with everyone raving about them (especially the\u00a0influencers<\/a>!) And clearly, after a while it becomes very tempting<\/strong>!
\nHowever, after some research<\/strong>, I often notice that the price is totally unjustified<\/strong> and that it will probably not be worth investing in them.<\/p>\n

I spoke about it several times already here, I buy nearly all of the products I review here<\/strong> so I clearly don’t feel like spending my money on products on which I have doubts. This, by the way, has a big impact as a blogger on how you select products as opposed to getting them for free and often on top of that, being paid to promote\u00a0them.<\/p>\n

Obviously, this post is quite odd\u00a0for someone like me because yes, I’m clearly a shopalcoholic<\/strong>. Yes, I buy more makeup products that I could use in my whole life. But occasionally, I decide not to be a sheep and I refuse to buy certain products, even if the whole raves about them\u00a0and absolutely wants them.
\nSometimes a little research on the composition<\/strong> of these products, the way they’re manufactured<\/strong> and also a good understanding of the marketing behind their promotion in the social media<\/strong> can avoid a purchase that you could otherwise regret after.<\/p>\n

I’ll try to stick to the facts<\/strong> as much as possible because obviously, there are many products and brands that I don’t want to buy for more subjective reasons<\/strong> (I don’t like the brand image, I don’t want to support the person behind the brand, the prices are too high for me, I hate the colors etc), but\u00a0I don’t really see the point of writing an anti haul post about those types of products! wink<\/span> <\/p>\n

Before I tell you which makeup products I’m not going to buy, I\u00a0want first\u00a0to give you some reasons that can motivate me to not purchase a product<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Stefanie Nicole<\/a>‘s YouTube videos:<\/h3>\n

Although I don’t agree with everything she says, I really like\u00a0Stefanie Nicole’s reviews, which I find very detailed<\/strong>, informative <\/strong>and honest<\/strong>. And in this ocean of\u00a0product placements along with hidden sponsored content, it’s such a nice change! Also, she’s\u00a0older than most of the famous YouTube gurus (which is a great thing IMO, I personally find it easier to relate to her) and she doesn’t need beauty brands to live because YouTube is not her day job.
\nOn top of that, I love\u00a0her way of doing research on the products she reviews. She really investigates<\/strong> things and she doesn’t hesitate to\u00a0look at the ingredients list to be really sure the product is good and safe to use.<\/p>\n

With all that good information in hand (and her very good beauty knowledge as well), she posts highly detailed videos<\/strong> on her channel, with references to the ingredients list, some comparative tables of several brands with details on the quality, the price etc. She’s clearly a more informative YouTuber than a inspirational\u00a0one<\/strong>\u00a0and honestly, it’s so refreshing\u00a0to look at someone who knows what she’s talking about and who isn’t trying to sell me something for once.<\/p>\n

So yes, clearly, I watched her videos a lot in order to prepare this anti haul, you’ll see. But I would love to see more detailed and thorough reviews in the beauty world so that we can all become more knowledgeable consumers<\/strong>!
\nI am certainly a beauty addict but I’m not a sucker\u00a0anymore who buys any new beauty product appearing everywhere on Instagram (well, at least, I’m getting better)! wink<\/span> <\/p>\n

White label products and private label companies:<\/h3>\n

I think it’s important to understand what private label & white label companies<\/strong> \/ products to determine whether a product may be overpriced\u00a0compared to the quality that you actually get<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

A white label product<\/b> is a product or service produced by company A (the producer) that other companies: B, C, D etc. (the marketers) rebrand to make it appear as if they had made it.
\nPrivate label<\/b>\u00a0or white label<\/strong>\u00a0products are also known as “phantom brands”. Private label products\u00a0are available in a wide range of industries including cosmetics. They are often positioned as lower-cost alternatives to regional, national or international brands, although recently some private label brands have been positioned as “premium” brands to compete with existing “name” brands. (source: Wikipedia<\/a>)<\/p>\n

In the case of cosmetic brands, this is a very common practice<\/strong>, particularly among indie makeup<\/a> brands in the United States.
\nMany brands don’t really have the money for their own laboratories to create products, especially at the beginning, and that’s why they use private label\u00a0companies. As a consumer, it’s pretty hard to know, because brands obviously don’t really communicate on the subject.<\/p>\n

At the moment, as I already mentioned in my article about\u00a0indie makeup<\/a>, thanks to\u00a0social media, new\u00a0indie makeup brands are booming and they use these white label companies to reduce their costs. And if they really want to cut them, these brands use Chinese\u00a0private label\u00a0companies<\/strong>. The\u00a0famous “made in China<\/strong>” which has such bad press and is now often replaced by the less known “made in PRC<\/strong>” (PRC: People’s Republic of China), but exactly\u00a0the same<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It allows these indie makeup brands to retail cheap products<\/strong>\u00a0(or to make\u00a0a good margin if they increase the price\u00a0even if the production didn’t cost them too much) and to also launch new collections more often<\/strong>, because the production deadlines are faster. And it’s great for a makeup brand to be able to launch products quickly\u00a0because consumers constantly want\u00a0new things.<\/p>\n

I just want to be clear: it doesn’t mean that it’s exactly the same product which is\u00a0released from the laboratory with just a different label on it, because the formula can be slightly changed. But very often, the formulas\u00a0are\u00a0very similar<\/strong> and you just have to\u00a0look at the list of ingredients to realize that.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

How can I tell if it's a white label makeup product?<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n

It's very simple. Well, only\u00a0if you have access to the list of ingredients, which sometimes can be\u00a0a complicated quest!wink<\/p>\n

You simply need to copy the ingredients list for the product you have questions about in Google and look at the results you get with it.
\nIf the results you get back are mostly with\u00a0the name of the product and the brand for which you have done the research, it's quite possible that the formula is\u00a0exclusive to this brand and that the product is not a white label one.<\/p>\n

However, if you get several or even a few different brands\u00a0for\u00a0the same ingredients list, it probably means that the product you're looking into comes from a private label company, which works for several other brands.<\/p>\n

As I said above, the principle is not illegal and does not bother me more than that. But what I don't like\u00a0however, it's to realize that there are big\u00a0price differences between these products when in effect they are very similar products.<\/p>\n

It's what happened to the brand Becca<\/a> a few weeks ago.
\nThey manufactured an eyeshadow palette\u00a0for a collection in collaboration with the famous YouTuber Jaclyn Hill<\/a> through\u00a0 a Chinese\u00a0white label company. Apparently, they manufacture in the USA for the rest of their products. This specific palette retailed at $45, and it contained 5 eyeshadows.
\nA beauty blogger\u00a0who bought this palette felt like this Jacklyn Hill eyeshadow palette wasn't the same quality as the other Becca palettes\u00a0she owned and loved. So she\u00a0did a little research\u00a0online just in case.\u00a0She Googled the list of ingredients of her new\u00a0palette. And\u00a0she discovered that several brands of cheap makeup came up\u00a0with the same ingredients list. Some brands like\u00a0Costal Scent for example. The average price per Coastal Scents eyeshadow doesn't exceed $2 (you can see their\u00a0eyeshadow palettes\u00a0here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

So you can\u00a0imagine the comfortable margin that Becca would have been making on this palette had it remained on sale. Yes, because after this shocking revelation, the palette has been removed from the shelves. But the image of the brand and the\u00a0YouTuber associated with them took a big hit!<\/p>\n

The video of the disappointed beauty blogger\u00a0is here if you want to have a look:<\/p>\n