Hello and happy weekend! It’s nice to be writing a blog post after the week I’ve had. I know I was not even remotely true to my word about starting to post twice a week, but I think I will soon be able to start doing that. Longest story short, I was sick with the flu, then there was a loss in the family (that I am not really handling well, honestly), and finally I am changing up some things with my education and had to make some crazy big life decisions, so my life felt like it was momentarily spiraling out of control. Anyway, I’m here, I’m trying to adjust, and am going to try to make it all about the makeup (again).

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Was teetering with post ideas for this weekend (I have a ton of ideas) but wanted to talk about this subject since it is so new to me and I have some initial first thoughts. So, like the title suggests, today I am going to be talking to you guys about buying used makeup. I know what your first thought might be – eww??? But, I’ve actually had a (mostly) good experience trying this service and it’s actually becoming kind of addicting.

(Side note, though, if you follow my instagram you know that I am constantly shopping, but I’ve recently declared that I am on a no-buy for a while. My birthday is coming up in two weeks and I am waiting on refunds from the state and from school and I don’t go back to work until the beginning of May so I really need to get some chill)

The website I am going to be talking about today is called Glambot. Glambot is a website that buys, sanitizes, then sells gently used makeup, specifically high-end makeup. I was first introduced to glambot through one of my favorite youtubers, and it took me a hell of a long time to try shopping on it because I felt kind of repulsed by the idea, truthfully. It wasn’t until one day when I was browsing out of boredom and saw that they had the Kat Von D Monarch Eyeshadow Palette (which is currently discontinued) that I was like “Okay, I gotta try this.”

So, just some background about Glambot. This is a website, as I said, that trades in used makeup. People send in products they have gently (or maybe even never) used, Glambot offers them a price for these items, the person can decline or accept, and if accepted Glambot then sanitizes the product and lists it on their website for a profit. They list the item in terms of it’s condition and how much product is left. For example – the KVD palette I spoke of earlier was listed as being in good condition, 80% full. Below are photos of that I received:

So, you can see there is like a dingy spot in the top corner of the packaging, but other than that everything was completely fine. I didn’t know what to expect when I looked at the actual shadows, but it honestly looked like someone had maybe used 3 of the shadows once or twice and that was it, it actually looked more like 95% filled. Also, I could see signs that the shadows had been wiped down with alcohol, which was reassuring.

Another thing I was concerned about was authenticity: this palette is faked very often, but Glambot offers a guarantee that all products are true and authentic and will work with you if you feel like you have received a fake item. They actually boast on their website about being able to accurately spot fakes, and have a blog devoted to some of the worst fakes that have ever been sent to them. Other than that, everything was well packaged (I ordered a few other things), true to their descriptions, and most importantly – clean.

Products that come from Glambot arrive sealed with a GB sticker to show it has been sanitized. According to their website, they have a 5 step cleaning process that involves not only cleaning the makeup itself, but also the packaging and any tools like brushes or applicators that may be with a product. I have spoken before about how makeup can be sanitized in my Donated Makeup post: most powder products can be wiped down with alcohol or if necessary have the top layer scrapped off, lipsticks can cleaned similarly – but I am kind of unsure of how cream products, anything in a jar that you stick your phalanges into, or how anything with a wand can truly be sanitized. I know that at makeup counters, though, they do sanitize makeup that is used for makeovers and whatnot, so I know there is a process, I am just personally unsure how (which makes me weary to try items like this that are used – I know that Project Beauty Share cannot accept items with wands for this reason). I believe their website says they use heating for things like this? Again, unsure – but that is just me (please draw your own conclusions when shopping).

Since the above mentioned first purchase, I have made a BUNCH more purchases because like I said, this is a little addicting. The idea of being able to buy discontinued, rare, or collectable items is appealing to someone who is a makeup junkie like myself. They literally are constantly listing new products for sale. If you sit there refreshing the “new arrivals” page you’ll notice the never ending listings immediately, which is why it is kind of a website you need to stalk to get the best deals. However, while there are things I like about the site, there are also things that concern me:

The Pros:

• Being Able to Try High-End Makeup on a Budget

They list both limited edition and discontinued items, but also list currently available items. So, if you always wanted to try the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay but thought the price was insane, you could grab a used one for a percentage off (and with a quick google search, you could definitely find a coupon code too). I think I read somewhere that they price items according to their fill, so for example if an item is 80% filled than the listing would be at a 20% off price, but again I am unsure if I read that on the actual Glambot website or not, and I do not know how true that is (more later).

• Range of Products

They sell everything from eyeshadows to lipsticks to foundations to brushes. You could easily get a full face worth of products at a reduced price. Like I said, they are CONSTANTLY updating. You can search by item or by brand which is cool: I recently got to try some NARS blushes at a discounted price after being curious about them for so long, but not wanting to spend a lot for them.

• Quality of Items

I’ve mentioned how I felt my Monarch palette was more filled than listed, which has  been the case several times with my orders. I swear, some items I’ve bought were most likely never used, or possibly even just swatched than put to the side until the original owner decided to get rid of it. I know I am horribly guilty of getting a product that I’m totally excited for, but then putting it to the side and hardly ever reaching for it again either because it turned out to be not what I wanted or just forgetting about it.

• The Prices

Like mentioned, items are discounted based on how used they actually are, there are TONS of coupon codes floating around the internet, and they have a “glambucks”program which gives you money back as you shop (not much, about $3 dollars for every $100 dollars spent) and if you sell to glambot you can opt to have your payment given in glambucks (or store credit) so you can just shop later.

• Packaging

This is some of the most secure items I’ve ever purchased online before. Items are so safely packaged, and that means a lot to me since I’ve had items from big chains like Ulta just thrown into a box to rattle around and as a result they’ve arrived broken: so mega points to Glambot for taking the time to ensure the safety of the products.

(I have yet to try selling anything to Glambot, so I can’t comment on how well that process goes, so I can only speak as a consumer right now)

The Cons:

• Expiration Dates???

As you may or may not know, makeup comes with an expiration date. If you look at a product, it will have a sticker that looks like a jar being opened with a number by it. This is to indicate that an item has X amount of months of shelf life after being open. So, if I am buying an item I know was discontinued a year ago, and it has a shelf life of 12 months – how safe is it?

I know I personally don’t go tossing products (mainly powder products) exactly at their expiration date, especially after what I pay for them, and also because I have yet to notice anything off or weird from a powder product I’ve had for a while. Cream products, liquids, and especially eye products like mascara I KNOW have very limited shelf lives and I have thrown away things that have gone bad before (changes in texture, odors, even mold). Dry products are less likely to develop bacteria than wet items, so again, this is something that concerns me about Glambot and I don’t see it addressed in their FAQs. (Please use your own judgement on the shelf life of your makeup products, though, because I know there is a reason to throw away products after it’s expiration whether or not I personally think I need to, ya know?)

• Photos of Listings

Something that irritates me about Glambot is that they use stock photos for their listings rather than actual photos of the individual products being sold. So, what I saw of the KVD palette was what I would have seen on the Sephora website, and not a true representation of what I was getting (so, I had no idea about the marking on the cover, for example). They most likely do this out of convenience, since they have so many listings and multiple listings of one item at a time, but it is still annoying. They do tell you, to, if something is missing that should be included like a brush or applicator, for example.

• Price Gouging

I spend enough time shopping for makeup to know what things are worth and what brands typically charge for things. I have definitely seen things listed with original prices MUCH higher than what they actually were, and listed at “discounted prices” that are actually more expensive than a new item would be (they list colourpop shadows as being originally $6+ dollars for example, when they are always only $5). They mainly do this with discontinued products, or limited edition products, because of their rarity. People (like myself) collect makeup just like they would sneakers or stamps, so I suggest doing research before you buy anything just to make sure the deal you are getting is actually worth it. Obviously, if they know they are the only retailer selling this high-end product that no longer exists on the market, they have the freedom to mark things up the same way an ebay seller might. It’s all about profit at the end of the day. Supply and demand.

• Things Marked as Limited Edition That Aren’t

This one really bugs me. Going off the above point, things that are LE tend to be priced higher than other items.I have definitely noticed items being listed as limited edition that simply just aren’t, and you can still find on the original retailer’s website. Again, please do your research before buying.

• Percentage of Fill

I do not know if Glambot actually weighs items to see how filled an item is, or just makes a judgement call when listing what percentage of fill a product is. I’ve definitely received an item or two that was listed at 80%, but in my opinion was lower than that. This has only happened with one order, though, which is pretty good for the amount of stuff I’ve gotten overall.

• Tricky Sales

A sale I often see Glambot do is this type of “exclusive member” thing called Glamden, where they list great products that you literally cannot believe you are seeing, but you have to have already made a purchase using a special code to become a Glamden “member” to be able to actually buy it. So, you have to spend money before you can spend more money from this special Glamden reserve, and I noticed it said in the description of the last sale that previous Glamden members still had to go through this (so it is not one and done). Also, shortly after the sale I’ve seen the same “exclusive” items listed again to everyone – so, obviously they are just creating hype to get sales. Again, all about profit at the end of the day.

My Overall Thoughts:

I have enjoyed shopping from Glambot and have been very impressed with things I have received, but have also been disappointment as well. For me, though, the pros (mostly) outweighed any cons I experienced, and as I’ve said before the biggest thing to me would be to recommend doing your own research about products (and cleanliness) before shopping. Would I recommend Glambot to you? Absolutely. I still continue to constantly check the “new arrivals” page even though I am on a no-buy (just in case something pops up that is way too good to be true). I am going to include a referral link that will give you $10 dollars in Glambucks to shop, but will also give me Glambucks as well for referring you. As always, you do NOT have to use it if you don’t want to, but it is there if you do.

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As always, I hope this post was helpful to you in some way, and has maybe given you a new way to build your makeup collection that you might not have considered before. Have a great rest of the weekend, and hopefully I will get to me second post of the week sometime around Wednesday! If you have any suggestions for topics you want me to blog about or products you want me to review, or any ideas for my palette series that I mentioned in last week’s post, please let me know!

-Lacie ❤︎❤︎❤︎