simpleek

When it comes to makeup, I hardly know a thing about it. The use of eyeshadow, blush, mascara, and eyeliner are all foreign objects to me. Sure, the pretty colors dazzled me and I appreciate other women who are able to make their faces a certain way and make it look effortless. Me? I grew up with a mom who encouraged me and even my older sister that makeup is unnecessary for us. My mom always told us we both have naturally pretty faces, makeup is meant to enhance what you already have, a natural beauty is better than an overly made up one, and the only makeup we needed is lipstick to give us a dash of color.

The only makeup in my personal beauty arsenal has always been lipstick or lip gloss. I may not voluntarily buy other makeup products, but I’m certainly obsessed with getting particular lip colors that work well with my skin color. As anyone would know, once you find THE brand for you, most will faithfully stick to that brand and buy more of it when you run out of your favorite product. So what happens when your favorite brand of lipstick ends up being discontinued? The search for a new lip color that’s close to your favorite discontinued brand is on.

My favorite type of lip colors are of the darker kind. Deep reds, rich browns, and shades of berries are the type of lip colors I’m attracted to. My natural skin tone is olive colored and a darker lip works really well with my coloring. Lighter shades like bright reds and pinks don’t work well with my skin. Those colors actually make the lipstick color clash with the rest of my skin.

Throughout my high school and college years, I’ve experimented with different types of lip colors. There have been colors that were the perfect fit for my skin tone and others that looked all wrong. Using different brands of lipsticks required a ton of trial and error, but I eventually figured out what worked for me and what didn’t. This also meant I made a lot of mistakes buying lip colors I thought would look fine on me, only to come home and realize that me and the lipstick I had just bought were not a match made in heaven.

The times I did find the perfect brand and color of lipstick that suited me well, I sought nothing but that brand and shade of lipstick. This included Sephora’s Kat Von D line of makeup. At least it used to until the store stopped selling the line. When I was casually looking around Sephora during a shopping trip with a friend a few years ago, I was struck by the lip colors Kat Von D’s line had. Most of the colors were dark and had a bit of a rock n’ roll edge, which perfectly embodied the look and personality of the famed tattoo artist. I instantly fell in love with one lipstick color from her painted love lipstick line––a dark purple shade of lipstick named “Prayer.”

“Prayer” worked well with those days I wore a purple sweater or a pink dress. The dark berry color complimented and completed my look for the day, and it made me feel prettier and edgy with a touch of feminine softness. Another trip to Sephora eventually led me to another lipstick color I immediately loved from Kat Von D’s cosmetic line, a red lipstick called “Misfit.” Along with a few other brands of lipstick and lip gloss I had in my possession, these were the main lipsticks I alternated on my daily, minimalist beauty ritual. When I started running low on “Prayer” a few months ago, I took a trip to Sephora to buy more of my favorite shade, but discovered that Kat Von D’s line was nowhere to be found in the store. I searched every aisle and shelf, just to be sure, until I came to the sad conclusion that the massive beauty store no longer sold her line.

I am aware that technically Sephora hasn’t really discontinued her line. You can still buy some of her makeup online, but I typically don’t bother to shop for makeup online. I only buy lipstick and lip gloss and it’s a bit much to have to buy one tube of lipstick online and have to pay shipping and handling for it, even if it’s my favorite brand and shade. No, I rather buy my lipstick and lip gloss in stores. If the brand isn’t being sold in stores anymore, it’s considered discontinued in my mind when I can’t get it immediately.

My heart sank and the thought of having to find a new brand and new shade of purple (or close to the one I loved so much) was a little hard to swallow. Hey, change is never easy and having to start over with a new color and brand felt weird and awkward to me. I looked around the store some more and I eventually found a new shade I could use, but it still wasn’t the same as “Prayer.” The new color would serve its purpose, but it could never replace “Prayer.”

Sometimes, it never really occurs to you that a brand may eventually get discontinued. You assume it’ll always be there when you need it until the day comes when it’s just gone without any warning or notice. Maybe the lesson here is to stock up on your favorite brand as much as possible. You never know when it’ll just disappear.

How do you feel about discontinued brands? Do you mourn its loss or do you move on to the next brand without batting an eye?