Online Shopping

Recently while shopping online, I found myself struggling to recall the last time I found myself in a beauty hall with a purpose - a trip to source a very specific item, rather than just stumbling around wasting an hour or so and seeing what is new. Rather I tend to spend more time than I care to wish online, trying to track down whatever beauty product that I simply "must have" without ever as much as seeing it in person.

That alone is a huge problem, if said product has wormed its way into my affections via Instagram there is no telling of what filters it has been ran through to make it a little more photogenic - not that there is anything wrong with that, a pretty photo stream is what the people want (it gets them going) but when your Instagram find arrives in person, you may be a tad disappointed. This of course is also the reality with online stores - professional lighting and staging can alter the final result but deep down we all know this and most likely will hit Google for more candid photos; that's not to say I've not bought palettes and the likes without such levels of make-up detective work because I have (see my Hourglass collection). Blind buying - as we like to call it - has caused me more beauty heartbreak than when I found out I'm allergic to cocoa butter and as such half of Lush and yet I keep coming back for more. Rashes and all.

Online Shopping

Weirdly I am more hesitant to order from brands that offer no physical premises (or at least in the UK anyway) such as Colour Pop, Kat Von D and Kylie Jenner which makes no sense whatsoever; my logic is that in the very least with other brands, I know that if something does go wrong, returning the item is slightly more straight forward. In my experience, it isn't typically the shade of the item that I have purchased with next to no thought that disappoints me, rather it tends to be the finish or the overall texture. A photograph can very rarely hint if a lipstick will leave my lips parched and flaky after two applications, or if my must-have highlighter will feature chunky glitter that will find a new home in my already obvious and enlarged pores. Three words: no thank you.

No I don't really need, a brick and mortar store to sway me into purchasing my next matte lipstick but wouldn't it be nice to have the option? If there was the choice of being able to drop-in to a shop on the high street and swatch until my heart is content, I'm almost certain that if that was case my hauls would be that little bigger? And yet not so long ago I ordered basically one of every shade from the Colour Pop range so really my opinion counts for next to nothing.

I am interested to read what your view is on blind purchasing make-up? Do you need to try before you buy, or do you like the thrill of the unknown so to speak?