What is a C^3?
It's supposed to be c^3 or C cubed which stands for Carefully Curated Collection. I have made this blog in the hopes of being informative and supportive. Many makeup bloggers on the Internet show you humongous hauls of products that they end up rarely touching after reviewing and telling you to go out and buy. For me, this blog is to catalog all the product's I've tried, and the ones that I know I love and that would be great addictions to your collection. I also am going to try to review products/brands that are usually advised against for Women of a Darker Color so show how some can transcend what others immediately tell you. I found my favorite blushes after ignoring all the naysayers. Note: This doesn't often work, so do it rarely. I often destash items that did not work out for me instead of keeping them and never keep a product that I don't love. I use the Sephora sample system to my advantage as a savvy shopper and will try to limit my purchasing to the large sales.
There are 5 Golden Rules to a successful C^3:
- It's About Quality, Not Quantity.
- Money is No Object, IF You're Going to Use It.
- Dupes Are For Dopes
- Destash, Destash, Destash.
- Try It, Don't Buy It. Yet.
Very simple. Very very simple, I promise!
Rule One: It's About Quality, Not Quantity.
This is not shaming anyone who has more than one, three, or five foundations. This is my personal choice, but I have one foundation. It matches, it does what it's supposed to, and I enjoy wearing it. I feel that I could wear it in multiple seasons and still look appropriate. That's Quality. Someone else might have three foundations, that they use during the different seasons, months, and times of the month depending on their face. As long as the products have a special Quality that the others cannot provide, because they have their own Qualities, that product has a place in your C^3. Quantity is having three foundations that are either; backups of one you're using, have the same quality (pore minimizing, acne reducing, fine line reducing), or otherwise extremely similar traits. Quantities should be destashed for space and peace of mind.
Rule Two: Money is No Object, IF You're Going to Use It.
I love Hourglass products. I like the quality, the pigmentation, the wear. I enjoy these products, despite the obviously high price. I could sell all my Hourglass on /r/makeupexchange, and replace everything with drugstore products, but... why should I? I use these products, they get used well. There are no products that compete with them. I don't mind buying a $55 foundation if it's my only foundation I wear. I rather do that than spend $55 on 5 different foundations that all have varying problems. It doesn't matter how much you spend on a product as long as you use it. If you aren't going to use it, save your money!
Rule Three: Dupes Are For Dopes.
Not trying to insult the person with 5 Cashmere dupes, but honestly, if you can dupe a color in your collection, why do you have it? Are you going to rotate through all of them? Why not just pick the one that you like wearing the best, the most flattering, the most comfortable, the longest wearing, the least transferring, and destash the rest? You got one face, one of every color should be plenty. This pairs down your collection while making sure the one you keep actually gets some use! If you feel like all of your dupes get equal love and use, then more power to you. I'm not going to break into your vanity and steal them because I don't agree, I'm not that much of a bitch.
Rule Four: Destash, Destash, Destash.
I am constantly re-evaluating my C^3. I mean it. When I wasn't working, I was going through it every other day; swatching, comparing wear times, critiquing color compatibility, etc. I was analyzing it since I had nothing better to do, and I had a really bad combination of too much makeup and not enough money. Now that I have a job, I do weekly evaluations instead, on the weekends. The point is for you to find those weak links, the dupes and Quantities in your C^3. I try to destash once a month and so far, it's been a huge hit for me, but you can space out your destashes by season, year, month, whatever time frame that works for you as long as you don't stop. Don't stop looking, don't stop paying attention, don't stop remembering what you have because if you don't you're just going to end up back at square one.
Rule Five: Try It, Don't Buy It. Yet.
So it's finally time to talk about bringing in new makeup to the fold. So you go into Sephora, you swatch the lipsticks, the blushes, the eyeshadows, and you fill up your basket and start to migrate towards the cash wrap. STOP RIGHT THERE MISSY/MISTER/GENTLEFOLK. Take a picture, write it down, whatever you gotta do, but do not leave with those items. Get samples of everything you can and leave. Hopefully, you've left those swatches on, how do they look in the daylight? Try out those samples when you get home. Keep using the samples, you'll start to notice things you don't like about the product now that it's not so new anymore to you. Maybe you've noticed glitter or creasing, or god forbid it just does not match.
And you almost bought it. If you had, you'd have to take it back, nervously deal with the Sales Associate who may or may not be one of those rude chicks who like to call people who return makeup (that will be destroyed so no one can use it) nasty on the internet (because internet anonymity folks). Basically, I'm trying to save you a process. Also, maybe you had just enough for that purchase, but what if you ran into one of those "surprise expenses", like your car doesn't work and you have to take a cab to work. Looking fly don't get you to work. Or maybe your dog swallows something he shouldn't have, and now you're looking at a vet bill that's enough to get you to VIB.
Place the products that you liked, the ones that have a place in your C^3, the ones that fit, on your Planned Purchases List (which I will go over in another post because this one is long as fuck) and say, "next month, I'll get that palette if I still want it, and the month after that I should be done with this foundation so I can get this new one that works so much better!" It's more rewarding that way, and it's more likely that you can afford the purchases because now you can fit them in your budget and they won't be huge $100 spending sprees that you'll regret. This doesn't mean all people regret their $100 spending sprees, but I'm pretty sure that once they get home, they realize that something is going to be ignored in favor of the new products.
That's it. That's literally all you need to keep in mind to start a C^3. Hopefully this guides you though the beginning stages, and feel free to drop me a comment if you have a question on my instagram, tumblr, here in the comments, or if you want, you can stalk me around reddit into a thread I'm dicking around in.
Toodles!~
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