It happened at sorority recruitment. The weekend was so rewarding and fun. But it was also hectic, punctuated with minimal sleep, and rounded-off with a lost voice and a dire need for caffeine. The four-day weekend was drawing to a close. As one of my sorority sisters and I packed up and headed for our dorms, we prepared to tackle the homework we’d neglected over the weekend.
I had the idea to stop by Starbucks, in an effort to get the necessary caffeine-boost that would allow me to at least stay up a few more hours and get some work done before taking on the new week. As I was about to order my grande chai tea latte, I found myself rummaging around in my bag. Unable to locate my wallet, I suddenly panicked and realized that I had left it somewhere. I also was not in the mood to go on the hunt for it. I started haphazardly throwing shoes, clothes — you name it out — of my bag, trying to find my wallet, when I eventually spotted it hiding at the bottom. And somewhere in my frustrated search, I must have taken out my makeup bag. And as I set my sights on ordering my chai tea latte, I must have left it behind.
I was in an absolute frenzy later that night when I realized my makeup bag, filled with over $200 worth of brushes and cosmetics I’d collected over the years, was nowhere to be found. After several texts, Facebook posts, and calls trying to locate my bag, I eventually resigned myself to the fact that it was long gone. Now I just had to figure out how I was going to replace it all, or at least the make-up lover’s necessities, without breaking the bank.
I started my journey at CVS, hoping that drugstore makeup was the cheapest solution to my tragic dilemma. After picking up a few staple products – foundation, bronzer, highlighter, eyeliner, concealer, eyelash curler, brushes – I approached the cash register confident that I wasn’t spending too much. That was until the cashier told me my total.
“72.95,” the cashier said, beginning to bag my items. I stood there, dumbfounded that I’d racked up such an impressive total on drugstore makeup.
“What were the most expensive items?” I asked, trying to mentally eliminate a few not-totally-necessary purchases. I ended up ditching the individual brushes, highlighter, and bronzer, figuring I’d go to Sephora the following day and hopefully get a discount by buying bulk sets rather than individual products.
The next day I ventured downtown to Sephora, carrying a tiny Post-it note scrawled with only the necessities I needed to replace. Wandering up and down aisles jam-packed with thousands of glistening products, each boasting promises to make you just that much more beautiful, I plucked items from my list off the shelves. Meanwhile, I found myself consistently stunned by the steep prices. Had makeup always been this expensive?
I left Sephora that day toting a signature black and white bag of purchases totaling out at $117, a cringe-worthy price to pay for my lost makeup bag.
Moral of this makeup-lover’s tragedy? Keep your wallet close, and your makeup bag closer.