Beauty Bargains | Blog Sale Buys

Products | Blank Canvas Cosmetics Blush & Bronzer Palette / Mac Lipsticks in 'Cut a Caper' and 'Chatterbox' / O.P.I 'Teal the Cows Come Home' / Benefit 'That Gal' Brightening Primer / Nars 'Copacobana' Multiple/ HD Brows Palette / POP Lid - Eyeshadows Palette / Nars 'Voyage' Eyeshadow

One thing I'm good at is building up my ever growing wish list of beauty bits I want to own. Another thing I'm also pretty good at is spending money on these beauty bits from said wish list.  My bank balance often falls victim to a few too many cheeky 'treats' now and again, but ever since I started blogging it's opened my eyes to the world of blog sales and saving the pennies a little bit more. We're a fickle bunch, us beauty bloggers.  As soon as we've treated ourselves to one new lipstick, we're pretty much already clocking which shade we're going to slip into the basket next time. Our beauty collection grows continuously by the day - and testing and trying new products means that blogging can sometimes turn into a pretty expensive little hobby. It's not always the case though. Being the little cosmetic magpie that I am, I often turn to blog sales now and again to see if I can scout out any bargains. I know, just call me David Dickinson.  I thought I'd put together a little post to show you all what I've managed to pick up the past few months in various blog sales (I'd love to name and link all of the bloggers but I cannot for the life of me remember where I got each product from so for that I do apologise!)

 It is no secret that one thing I'm partial to is a Mac lipstick or two.  At £14 a pop they aren't the cheapest of treats, but I often find brand new Mac lipsticks in blog sales.  We've all been there, got the lipstick and decided that actually, it's not the shade we're after at all.  This is where blog sales come in handy.  I actually manged to find Mac's 'Cut a Caper' in a sale a little while back - a limited edition shade that I wish i'd grabbed when I had the chance but had sold out everywhere the day I decided I'd make a purchase.  It's always worth keeping an eye out for Limited Edition shades - people often buy them in a rush before they sell out, and then realise they actually aren't too fussed and sell them on a few months later when it's been sitting in their makeup drawer. I know I've made the same mistake before! 

I don't think I paid more than £10 for any of these items above and the majority of them haven't even been used - just swatched.  Most bloggers are more than happy to accept offers if you're the haggling type. Personally, if I'm only taking one item I will just take the item for the price stated, but if you're taking more than one item it's worth just asking what the best price they could do them for! Bloggers are a lovely bunch - there's no harm in asking.  If I'm after a certain product, I'll sometimes ask on Twitter if anyone is selling the item, or I'll simply search for blog sales and knock myself out looking through each one (search 'bbloggers sale' on Twitter and you'll come up with a few links) It gets pretty addictive after a while.  It's also a good way to discover new blogs and talk to the people who write them - so many times I've stumbled across blogs I like purely looking around for certain products and end up adding them to my reading list.  It's also a good way to try high end products without the commitment of spending the full whack on something you might not like.  

I haven't yet run a blog sale.  But I have plenty of products I don't use sitting in a drawer somewhere that I'm thinking of selling over summer.  Being the beauty fanatics that we are, it's good to pass on those items we don't like.  Its bound to happen when we're constantly looking for that new 'holy grail' item - it's a very good way of getting rid of the stuff you don't use and selling them on to another blogger to try and test til their hearts content. One man's trash is another man's treasure and all that!  I'm sure you'll see these products I've featured on my blog later down the line - I've already written about a few of them. You can find my review of the HD Brows palette here, or take a look at what 'Teal the Cows Come Home' looks like swatched here.  Both products I really, really love and I don't think I paid more than £5 for either one of them!

Are you a bit of a bargain hunter like me?

What's been your best blog sale buy?