A while back, I wrote a post to help readers decipher whether they have a makeup addiction. ‘With the rise of social media and the online beauty community, many beauty lovers (like myself) quickly fall into the trap of needing to keep up with the latest releases. However, the negative ramifications of makeup addiction are extensive. In today’s post, I’m sharing the 5 ways makeup addiction destroys your life.

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1. Going Into Debt

The most obvious way that makeup addiction destroys your life is that it encourages you to go into debt. In an effort to keep up with the latest releases, the average consumer is encouraged to spend without pausing to think. Instead, people are actively encouraged to spend beyond their means.

Although layaway programs have existed in the United States for decades, their 21st century online equivalents encourage excessive spending. Previously, retailers implemented layaway programs to allow less wealthy customers a way to afford big ticket purchases such as baby cribs, couches, and televisions. However, with these deals customers do not receive their items until the retailer receives payment in-full.

In comparison, “Buy Now, Pay Later” programs such AfterPay, Klarna, and Sezzle encourage customers to shop beyond their budgets for everyday purchases. These programs literally promote a “Buy Now, Pay Later” strategy that encourages customers to take on debt to afford lower-ticketed items like eyeshadow palettes or sneakers.

In theory, programs like Afterpay make beauty more accessible However, in reality, these programs encourage customers to take on debt to afford non-essential goods.

2. Cluttering Your Space

Aside from eating up all your disposable income, cluttering your space is another way that makeup addiction destroys your life. However, this negative side effect is much subtler than going into debt.

At a certain point, makeup collectors run out of storage. Lack of storage leads to additional spending on storage systems like acrylic cases, shelving units, and storage boxes. To some extent, organization systems might help to hide clutter. But even with shelving system, acrylic organizers, and drawers, it is easy for makeup hoards expanded beyond control. What do I mean by this?

Lately, my bedroom feels like it is in a constant state of clutter. In addition to my two main makeup boxes, my three-drawer system, cubby and wall shelves, there are piles of untouched makeup goodies stored in boxes. Homeless.

As someone who is otherwise organized, the clutter causes distress. But I’m not alone in feeling this way. According to Psychology Today, mess contributes to additional stress. Not only does it cause over stimulation, but it is distracting. Additionally, for makeup collectors (like myself), the clutter causes guilt and makes us feel like we need to work.

3. Eating Up Your Time

The third way that makeup addiction destroys your life is by depriving you of other joys. In other words, makeup addiction eats up your time.

First, to amass a lot of makeup, you must spend a good amount of time shopping or thinking about shopping. Second, rather than spending time on more satisfying activities, you feel stuck reorganizing your hoard.

As a beauty blogger, I do not “officially” add new products to my storage units until I’ve photographed and tested them. Therefore, I constantly shuffle my products around as new things come into my collection.

In this way, makeup addiction keeps me stuck. It deprives me of the ability to play with and appreciate what I own!

4. Encouraging Deceptive Behaviors

Raise you hand if you’ve hidden your purchases?

No? Just me.

Excessive or addictive shopping habits encourage shoppers to try to hide their ‘bad behavior’ from family or close friends. To hide the truth, fibs get told.

For example, although I chronicled my monthly spending for over a year, I hid my shopping from my family as much as I could. In fact, there were many times when I shipped products to my boyfriend’s house instead of my home. Other times, I ran to the mailbox to intercept packages. But no matter my behavior, I felt ashamed by my habits.

5. Inability to Think Critically

Another way that makeup addiction ruins your life is that it destroys your ability to think critically. Loss of critical thinking manifests in a few ways.

First, you lose your ability to discern good decisions from bad ones. For example, makeup collectors often buy makeup they dislike just because they ”collect” products from that brand. For a period of time, avid beauty lovers collected the Urban Decay Naked Palettes, Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palettes, and Anastasia Beverly Hills Palettes. As such, many people bought palettes they disliked just to own the entire collection….

Second, makeup addicts favor immediate gratification over delayed gratification. A makeup addict might go on a wild shopping spree just because a brand holds a sale. He or she will buy products just to experience the immediate satisfaction of making a purchase. However, he or she might feel remorse later if they cannot afford to go to dinner with a friend. That individual failed to think critically about saving their money for future fun.

6. Forgetting What You Own

As someone with a huge collection, I literally forget some of the products that I already own. Even though I keep an extensive inventory spreadsheet, I forget what products are in my collection. In fact, I recently uploaded my spreadsheet to Dropbox so I can check my inventory when I shop in-stores.

Sadly, this behavior feels common for beauty lovers with huge collections. Shopping feels more challenging when you need to check for duplicate shades or similar products in your collection. As a result, additional money gets waisted buying repeats.

7. Creating Excessive Waste

If it wasn’t obvious, creating excessive waste remains a detrimental side effect of excessive shopping. Immeasurable amounts of CO2 gets wasted transporting products from distribution centers to home addresses – particularly for overnight or two-day shipments.

Beyond the CO2 production, cardboard boxes, plastic mailers, and plastic bubble wrap, packing peanuts get tossed after a singular trip. As someone who rehomes gently used makeup, I save a collection of boxes and bubble wrap. However, repurposing packaging remains less common for most consumers.

Final Thoughts on the Ways That Makeup Addiction Destroys Your Life

Although the concept of makeup addiction sounds silly to some, this niche form of shopping addiction is not a joke. There are many ways that makeup addiction destroys your life.

Beyond ruining someone’s personal finances, makeup addiction causes extra stress and negative self-thought. The ability to think critically is lessened as consumers chase after the online shopping high. Overtime, this mindset to ‘treat yourself’ or to impulse shop leads to negative consequences and ingrained bad habits.

If you struggle with shopping addiction, I encourage you to seek professional help. If you don’t have an addiction, but just struggle to make smart shopping decisions I encourage you to read this post on tips to stop impulse shopping or this post on making smarter shopping decisions.

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Do you struggle with buying too much makeup? What are the negative side effects that you’ve noticed? Please let me know in the comments below.

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