11 Ways to Make Your Search for Makeup and Beauty Products Easier

If you’re like me and love to beautify yourself, there’s no doubt that you’ve spent hours and hours in makeup aisles at the store. But even for those of us who enjoy wearing makeup, sometimes it can be hard to find what we’re looking for amidst the maze of different brands, colors, and prices.

That’s why I put together this list of 11 ways in this makeup and beauty blog post to make your search easier when looking for makeup products. And if you don’t wear any or want more natural beauty ideas, just skip over that part! Everyone deserves to know how they can find what they need without spending all day trying various products on their face.

I’ve broken these down into three categories:

Things you can do BEFORE you go to the store. Things you can do WHILE you’re at the store. Things that will help YOU even if you’re not shopping!

1. Before You Go Shopping:

Make a List or Registry of What You Need

Do yourself a favor and make a list of what items you want to buy before you go to the store so that way, when you get there, it’s easy and fun to find what you need without any confusion. I’m a fan of making many lists, but I mainly use checklists and registration forms to make sure I have all my items ready to go.

I’ve put together both an online list and printed list that you can get at the end of this post. (Please note that you must be signed up for my newsletter in order to download the printable.)

2. Know What You Need BEFORE Going to the Store

This may seem kind of obvious, but it’s important to know what you need (as opposed to just knowing what you want). For example, do you really need a concealer? If so, do you need one that matches your skin tone or one that makes under-eye circles less noticeable? It’s important to know these things before you go into the store because otherwise, it’s easy for your eyes (and hands) to get caught by all the other colors and brands.

3. Know What Brand(s) You Can Trust

You can speed up your shopping time by knowing which brands are known for being good at what. It also means you can save money, because if you look around, you’ll find that a lot of brands are much more expensive than others. I don’t know about you, but I’m totally not willing to pay more for something just because one brand is known to be good.

4. Know What You Like

This may seem silly, but it’s important so that when you go shopping and see things that catch your eye, or brands you like, or colors and textures that make your eyes water, it won’t be such a shock when they’re on the shelf! This is also important if you want to be able to try out more than one product at home before deciding which is best for your face.

5. Read Reviews

A lot of makeup you can find online these days, but it’s still important to read reviews before you buy anything. Most people are too excited when they find the perfect item and don’t do enough research on it beforehand, and then they get really bummed when it doesn’t live up to their expectations or doesn’t work as well as they’d hoped (or they even think a product is bad, but didn’t do their research). Don’t be one of those people! Look for reviews from both the pros and the amateurs, and try to find out what everyone else is saying about that particular item.

6. Research Makeup Brands

This doesn’t have to be a huge time suck (and it might not be for you if you’re self-employed), but it’s important to try to learn the different brands and their products. That way, when you see something that looks good or sounds great, you’ll know exactly what it is and what it is capable of doing. You can even do this with your basic products, like eyeliners or lipsticks. For example, popular eyeliners are probably going to be all over the place in terms of price, but a basic black eyeliner can range from $4 to $20 depending on what brand.

7. Try Things Out at Home Before You Buy Them

There’s really no reason to buy something you’re going to hate, and it’s best to find out if you like it before you invest so much of your hard-earned money. The last thing you want is for a product to end up being a total waste of money because you didn’t try it out first! That’s why I strongly recommend that before getting something new, either at home or in the store, that you do some research beforehand and try it first. If you like it, then it’s a done deal. But if not, you can try something else!

8. Make a List of What You Already Have (and Use)

Most of us don’t really write down what products we have and use anymore since everything is on our smartphones and laptops these days. So if you have or use more than one foundation, eyeliner, lipstick, blush, etc., make sure to keep track of each one so that way you’re not buying the same thing twice! I’ve done this before (whoops), but luckily I had my trusty little notebook to remind me which ones I already had.

9. Have an Acceptable Brand and Price in Mind

Whether you’re shopping online or in stores, it helps if you already know what brands or products you can afford (brand-wise), and what price is your maximum. This avoids you going into the store and getting caught up by the price tags that might be way too high, but also keeps your options open for finding a more affordable brand. This is totally optional, of course, but if it helps you stop spending money on things that aren’t necessary (like I sometimes do), then it’s worth it.

10. Have a Plan

I know many people who after shopping, leave the store with a bunch of stuff that they don’t need. Really? Yes! And it’s so frustrating because you feel like you wasted your time, but you didn’t even get to try anything! So when I go to the store, I always have a plan of which things I want to buy and how much I want to spend. It’s important to know how much you can spend, but also not go over the budget because I’m sure you don’t want to feel like your money was wasted and you were just pretending to be a good shopper!

11. Try To Make Lists of Items YOU Really Need

Another good tip is to make a list of the items that are necessary: things like foundation, concealer, mascara, etc. This way, if it looks like there are no sales on those things and no coupons on them, it’s okay to only buy what is absolutely necessary.

Author Bio:

Hi. My name is Kathy Keeks. I’m a writer and digital marketer with a passion for content. I write blog posts, articles, and social media posts for others.I love to travel, Netflix and Beyonce. I love what I do! I help people find their voice and tell their stories. I love to write and am always looking for new projects. Now you k