How Social Media can Help you Make Smarter Beauty Buys

The concept of purchasing a beauty product online and not in store used to seem absolutely insane to me.  You want me to order something I am going to put on my FACE without first testing it out in person? Nope.  However, I found increasing incentives of online shopping as I became busier with school and work.  Yes, I still enjoy and even prefer to make that in person trip to Sephora (a certified “happy place” of mine) but sometimes, that is just not going to happen.  However, fear not, I found 3 major hacks for purchasing the right beauty products online that even I trust.

1. Search Instagram
1. It's hard to know which shades of a product will either A. compliment you entirely, or B. wash you out completely.  This is what makes online purchases in this department so risky.  To help counteract the fate of looking like casper the ghost, I suggest using Instagram's tag search.  If the product you are looking to buy is somewhat popular and belongs to a big brand, chances are that people have used the product, taken a picture, and tagged the name int that posted photo.  Voila! I search the shade I’m interested in and see if any of my results look as if they have similar skin tones to mine.  You get real products on real people.  This helps me to get a better idea of what would ultimately look best on me.

   

   I searched "hang up lipstick" into the "Tag" search to get multiple results for Mac's Hangup lipstick shade, all on different skin tones.

   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Find Honest Reviews
1. Use youtube to research reviews posted beauty bloggers who have tested out the products. Most reviews are honest, but look out for those who may be sponsored.  A lot of time you will get to witness a bloggers initial reaction to the product.  They may comment under their breath “That is a thinner consistency than I thought it would be..”  I always watch multiple vlogs before making a purchase.  You can even go a step further to read comments in response to a video for feedback from users just like you who don’t blog (a.k.a should not be biased)!
3. Watch Tutorials
1. You can also watch tutorials on how to use certain products so that you are not disappointed when something doesn’t work exactly like you had imagined.  It’s even more important view these tutorials to learn the best way, or multiple ways to use a certain product to get its full benefit and your money’s worth.