A few weeks ago, Tarte was on Hautelook, a website that offers daily flash-sales. The Make Believe in Yourself palette was on sale for I believe $24, and boy, was I tempted.
Lorac is also on there quite a bit, and I have been tempted to purchase stuff from there before, even though they are on my personal "no fly list." I believe they are on there this week, with products from some collections from a couple of months ago, including the I Love Brunch collection, and the California Dreaming collection. However, I restrained myself and bought nothing.
When it comes to buying and selling, I am by no means an expert. However, there are a couple of things that I have noticed over the past two years when it comes to "sales" and why for me Hautelook is a rather pointless endeavor when it comes to makeup.
1.) What goes on Sale are not the well-loved items.
They really are not. You are not going to EVER see a Megapro palette on Hautelook, because those retail for 50-something dollars, and the company is never going to concede to the fact that they can be worth less. Nope. But the company needs to move stock, and it will concede to palettes like the California Dreaming Palette, sold for $30, being worth $14, and the Brunch palette, originally sold for $44, now $22. It is important to note that both of these "big ticket" palettes were both criticized by reviewers.
2.) The companies will frequently offer sales on their own sites.
Now, because I have never bought from Hautelook, I don't know what shipping and customer service is like. I know all sales are final. Personally, I like the idea of buying from the companies more, because you may get a coupon or may have more choices. You'll notice Tarte, Too Faced, and The Balm do this.
3.) Purchases from Hautelook sales are frequently tossed during declutters.
I am going to go ahead and call myself and expert on declutters. I have watched waaaay too many, and even wanted to do a write-up on what all of them have in common. That would take a lot of time, but what I will note is that for many people, items purchased specifically on Hautelook are frequently given up during a declutter. Why? Because they were bought JUST because they were on sale, not because the person would buy it regardless. They were not drawn to it the same way they were drawn to other things.
4.) You can often find these things in person, on Clearance.
Of course, this is not guaranteed for all brands sold on the site, but oftentimes is the case. TJ Maxx, Kohl's, Nordstrom Rack, etc., are all places that sell discounted makeup. Sometimes seeing the product in person is a better way to make a decision about it.
5.) Don't discount ebay as a source of information.
A good way to gauge the "value" of something is to see what is an average going rate on ebay. I myself purchased the Tarte Pro to Go palette from ebay, and I have no regrets. Of course, one has to be super careful, but I paid $15.00, and no shipping.
Though I frequently visit Hautelook just to see what is on sale, I don't feel as though I am ever proven wrong. Especially with point #1. For me, a true sale is one where I would have bought the product any way, but it was discounted. Unfortunately, that is not the way the world seems to work. The best thing for me is to avoid buying makeup from Hautelook completely.
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