No to Chanel!...Wait what?

[sillylilacs]

Alright Chanel lovers...you read my title correctly! =O *ducks sharp objects thrown my way*

My question of the day is what is a reason or situation that you guys tell yourself not to buy a Chanel product. It may even prevent you from splurging on the prettiness that is Chanel.

So I will start! I am totally drooling over the pretty Chanel holiday products, buuuuut I can't buy any because grad school application fees are outrageous.

 

[purrtykitty]

I think the price point is a pretty good reason, and it frequently stops me from buying things. I regularly splurge on Chanel's Le Vernis and Glossimers. But, I pick and choose everything else. I've also stopped buying a crap ton of other makeup (read: MAC

) so that I can afford the things I want from Chanel. Extra bonus, I'm buying far less makeup.

If I were in your situation (and I kinda am, being unemployed), I'd pick out the couple of things that you're eyeing, and rank them. Then start saving up for the one you want most. Toss your spare change in a jar, skip a coffee or two. I never pay with exact change. I pay with full bills and toss the change in a jar. It's amazing how it quickly spare change adds up.

 

[martiangurll]

Expense is the most convincing argument IMO to bypass Chanel. Most of the products have the quality but you are paying extra for the name. Don't get me wrong, there is more to the name than "just" status. I think they stay on trend (well, they make the trends) and their colors to me are always fashion forward. But there will be dupes if you have the patience to wait and don't want to invest the cash. And you don't have to pay as much to get products that are of equal or in some cases better quality by getting a less expensive brand. It isnt' strictly a matter of quality over quantity.But sticking to a budget means you may be choosing a less expensive brand.

I do agree with Purrtykitty that if you want to splurge on Chanel, its good to do something nice for yourself and save up. And spare change does add up! I think the quads are what I tend to splurge on because I feel I get more for my money...

 

[Ingenue]

I'll bypass Chanel if I'm not convinced about the performance of a certain product. I've already stated that I feel like quality of the new mini-brush gift set is subpar, and certainly not worth the 125.00 price tag. Same for the Black/Gold Orientele duo some months back... and the eyeshadow quad for Soho Story. The jury is still out on the Blush/Highlighter

I've never met a makeup brand that I had to have EVERYTHING of (or loved EVERYTHING of), and Chanel is no exception. Since I'm a professional MUA and not a collector, performance is really imporant to me. For that price, I need to see my money at work. If I don't feel like I'm going to get that, I walk on by.

 

[sillylilacs]

Well I should clarify, I do save. A lot. I'm just curious as to what other people do to talk themselves out of buying and what they really would buy =)

I have a lot of bills (tuition, books, apartment, utilities, transportation, groceries etc) and after that I move some into my savings account, then whatever is left over may or may not goto makeup. =O Also my boyfriend's birthday is coming up in 2 weeks, then our anniversary, then xmas >.< haha

The point is my money is on a tight budget

We've all been there right? =p

But yes! definitely agree, I have a little coin jar that I bring to the bank every month and that racks up very very nicely

And being a poor starving college student (=p), I skip out on a coffee here, a lunch there...I mean realistically speaking, 3 lunches and I've got myself a good polish or gloss no problem! And then...again I agree with you ladies that you must do your homework before buying.

Swatches online is one thing, but for higher ends (esp with prices like Chanel sticks on), I do want to go and see it myself in real life. I mean, computer screen vs natural light? (well fluorescent light...) Maybe I'm being all snooty or being cheap about it, but yea, when I dish out the money for Chanel, I want to make sure that I will use it and love it =p

Anyways that was enough rambling! XD

 

[heart]

I think the best rule of thumb is just being picky... when I was living by myself and fully supporting myself (rent, utilities, school, food, etc) I spent a lot of time trying to decide if I really needed something. I was lucky to have a lot of make-up friends/coworkers who were wealthy or had sugar daddies (haha) and they would happily swatch products for me or let me swatch on myself. I also joined makeupalley.com and meticulously read reviews on an item/product before buying, and I stalked specktra and youtube for reviews/tutorials. I even stalked blogs for blog sales and things like that. Temptalia.com is also great for swatches, plus she has a dupes list which I used to religiously look through. For a long time, I bought NYX eyeshadows/lippies on cherryculture.com because it had a lot of dupes/almost-dupes for MAC or NARS products I wanted. I would only buy the expensive version if I knew I didn't already have a color like it, and if a cheaper positively reviewed brand didn't have anything comparable. The good news is that with all the money I saved, when I did decide I needed the more expensive version I always had the funds for it and never felt guilty or got buyer's remorse and I was able to pay all my bills and still have plenty left over for my savings.

Sometimes because I waited so long to decide, my want for something also just completely went away.