I am a skincare junkie. As such, I've had the time to "sew my wild oats" to an extent. At least enough to stop myself from slobbering over every new High Active Serum on the market. I've reached a point where I prefer doing a bit of research on the companies churnung out these lovlies before handing over my money. The market is over-saturated with brands and I want to show my support to brands deserving of my hard-earned coin.

With deal season upon us and the ever-looming FOMO, I find myself trying to strike a balance between making educated purchases and catching a good deal. Let's face it - most companies suck. They want money. That's it. And though I know my pennies may be insignificant in the grand scheme, I will continue to purchase strategically when possible. 

I don't mean to instigate an argument. I believe adults should be capable of discussing opposing opinions without stepping on each others feelings.

That all said, are there any brands you guys recommend people avoid? If so, it would be helpful to also give a brief explanation as to why these brands should be avoided.

Here are my "Refuse to purchase" brands (off the top of my head) - 

Drunk Elephant - I cannot overlook the way they have treated customers in the past. I don't know if they've improved any. I certainly hope so. But they used to be very anti-consumer and would blame every complaint on user error. Not to mention their products are ridiculously overpriced.

Truly - They have bought other companies' products and spruced up the packaging and resold them aa their own in the past.

Kylie - whatever products she promotes... no thanks. 

Ellen Degeneres's new brand. I'm still in shock on that one. I used to love that woman. I thought she was one of those rare genuinely kind souls... oops. She fooled me. Now it seems she plans to dupe everyone again and enter the realm of skincare. Again under the guise of kindness. Perhaps her agent did field research into a bunch of industries to find which conumers still held her in the highest regard and steered her in that direction.

Now Tower 28 has entered a sort of purgatory for me. I used to love their SOS spray, but now find myself unsure if I want to support them anymore. The company's ethos was based on the premise of never charging more than $28 per item. When I was first introduced to this philosophy I knew it would not last. As other prices rise, of course the company couldn't withstand a price cap at that level forever. However, make a promise and break it... It's a slippery slope for me.

On the flip side, are there any brands that you (so far) 100% recommend? Obviously everyone has differing values when it comes to skincare brands. One company may strive to keep prices low, but sacrifice sustainability in the process. Or vice versa. 

There will always be scandals and shockers, but at this time I still hold a few brands in high regard. The brand I stand by more than any other is currently Ellis Day Skin Science. Quite some time ago I started to see ads for this company and was immediately intrigued. They set out to tackle acne without causing harm to its users like most other anti-acne treatments do. The Balancing Phage Serum has delivered on its claims, though it is pricey. I always end up going back to this serum for my anti-acne needs. I just try to purchase during sales...Like now lol. Their customer service has been amazing since my first contact with them.

I love that Selfless By Hyram took a philosophy and turned it into a brand. Their products haven't wowed me so far but I think they would have if I had been a skincare novice upon their release.

Speaking of philosophy... I love the brand Philosophy. I have long struggled with mental health battles. Hence my skincare obsession was compelled lol. Skincare was my way of caring for myself. Though at the time I still lacked the ability to care for my mind, caring for my skin was a stepping stone for me. This is another brand that I don't necessarily reap any rewards from their skincare line. I tend to avoid fragrance in my skincare when possible and this brand is heavily fragranced. Buuuuut... the fragrances are lovely lol.

Brands I Refuse To Support

I don't know about you, but I love the hunt for a good deal. The majority of my beauty purchases are through retailers. But sometimes it's better to buy directly from the brand. Sometimes they run better sales, have rewards programs or offer a more luxe experience.

What are some brands you guys prefer to buy from directly instead of going through a big retailer? 

Then, on the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes brands have poor customer service, take forever to ship or other issues. Are there any brands you've made purchases from but had bad experiences? 

I think most people with access to Ulta agree their rewards program is awesome. But I've had my fair share of issues with customer service at times. Sephora's rewards kinda suck in comparison. YesStyle has decent rewards, but prices and availability fluctuate. Beautylish rewards kinda suck.

So - Brands I like to buy from directly -

Allies of Skin - If you're in the market for an expensive experience, their products are pretty nice, but insanely expensive. Their rewards program is decent, but they often run steep discounts on their site and you can't use your rewards in conjunction with the promos. And the promos are often better deals.

Alpyn Beauty - they often run gifts with purchase, including collabs with other brands.

Biossance - I used to love the Biossance rewards program, but since the brand has new ownership, I've noticed their deals are way less frequent and lower discounts.

Dior - I recently discovered their rewards program. At first it was exciting, because they have daily quizzes and videos to watch to earn points, but it hasn't been working for me for like 2 months. You can get deluxe samples and deluxe packaging, but retailers often have sales, whereas the Dior site does not.

Let's help each other out to find the best deals and/or experiences 😉

How do you decide where you shop?

What is one makeup product you just don't care about? We all have different styles and preferences. I see people going nuts over laminated brows. I never understood that. It always felt like a trend started by brands hoping to sell their products.

And for me, I own literally one lip pencil, only because it was a free gift with purchase. I tried it, but I hate it. I just don't get lip liners.

Anyone else unable to understand the hype behind some products?

What is one makeup category you have zero interest in?

As any good skincare addict, I've spent my fair share of money on products that were less than impressive. Some get demoted to use on the body. Others find homes with friends and family. If truly awful, they go to trash panda Heaven. 

Then there are the conundrums. The ones I keep around, determined to find use for but failing time and time again. Maybe they cost too much. Maybe I'm just in a hoarder kind of mood. Maybe I'm just crazy.

One such product for me is the DHC Astaxanthin Collagen All-In-One Gel. I read the reviews, which were glowing. It went on sale for 50% off at Ulta and I snagged it. Not long after, I found out the company's CEO used racist slurs against a competing company. 

I have zero tolerance for a company that stands for racism. If they were a company that exclusively hired Japanese employees, used only ingredients sourced in Japan, etc I could understand. Wanting to empower a specific set of individuals is to be celebrated. But there is no reason to speak ill of another company for being less exclusive and most certainly not acceptable to use racial slurs. 

It honestly sickens me to see major retailers like Ulta still selling their products. I feel like they continue to sell the products because most of their customers are unaware of DHC's apparent ethos because it is a foreign company, therefore not on their radar. 

Now, besides that rant, the product itself remains. After much deliberation, I decided to go ahead and use the product so as to avoid wasting it. And I found that it does NOT work well with other products. Like at all. Bizarre coincidence or grand design? 

So I've been slowly using it here and there. Can't allow myself to toss it. Can't see myself passing it along as it has been open a few months now....

Which brings me to my point....Anybody else care to share their most annoying purchases? They can annoy you for any reason. Perhaps you bought an expensive product only to find out you are allergic to something in it. Or you have this one serum that you don't love but also don't hate so it just sticks around forever.

Most Infuriating Purchases

Skincare gets expensive really quickly if you're not careful. Sometimes I see a product and scoff. "No way will I spend $X for that serum." Then I go and spend double on a different serum.

I'm just curious what you guys think. Do you have a set limit on how much you will spend on a product? Or do you have a set amount you spend each month? 

Or do you throw caution to the wind and buy what you want, when you want? 😁

What's your limit?

The smell isn't great, but doesn't bother me and goes away quickly. It's crazy expensive. Unfortunately, this feels lovely and nourishing to my skin, but also promoted my underlying malessezia folliculitis. 

This gave my skin such a bright, revitalized look. It is so thin and soaks into the skin immediately. Feels so hydrating - far more than other watery toners.

These just feel so wasteful. So much packaging to throw away. Not to mention the price is high. But I love snagging these as free gifts with purchase.

These are so easy to use. Hands down the most effective chemical exfoliator I've used without causing damage to my barrier. 

The packaging is terrible. It looks so luxe at first, but over time the paint starts to flake off as you use it. 

This is partially due to the formula being watery and leaking some over time. I found the paint comes off less if you open it by wrapping a tissue or something similar around the bottle to limit greasiness from the formula or from your fingers breaking down the pain. So insanely annoying I would never buy a full size bottle. Instead, I opt for the mini size.

I hate that I love this so much. I trash talked this when it was first revealed on the basis of the company claiming the tint would blend into any skintone.

I have yet to see any creators with deep skin give a review, so I don't know if I was correct in my hypothesis.

However, this is such a great "under makeup" SPF for me. I treat this as a primer, as it's so expensive I wouldn't want to use it too quickly.

It's pretty neutral in terms of moisture. Doesn't add moisture, doesn't dry out my skin. But it does dry down quickly, allowing you to go in with your makeup without waiting a really long time.

White cast. HARD. Rubbed my skin raw trying to get rid of the cast. 

This does nothing. Nothing. 

Makes your scalp feel wet for a while. After months of use - no change. At all. 