Lipstick Saga: Do You Keep a List of Great Products?

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Lipstick Saga: Do You Keep a List of Great Products?

lipstick, etc - Keeping a list of great products

There are products you find along the way that are so amazing… they are the ones that cost a song, serve a multitude of purposes, make life easier, do a job better, make you feel prettier, keep you better organized, etc., etc.

Often, they are accidental (wonderful) discoveries. You know, the kind that are great and you love and use them all up and return to replenish the supply but… you can never find again because you don’t remember exactly where you got them or what they were called and you already threw away the packaging because it was empty, or it’s been discontinued, or the local stores no longer carry it.

I keep a list of these in Evernote. I’ve found that keeping that information close means that even if I can’t find them again locally, chances are great I can find them online. The problem with online shopping for something specific is if you don’t know exactly what you are trying to find, it’s hard to succeed.

Lipstick Led Me There

I’m not really into makeup. I seldom wear the stuff. When I do, it’s usually a lipgloss, a little liner and maybe (if I’m going all-out) mascara. With that said, my daughter got me a tube of lipstick for Christmas one year. At the time, she was eleven. She did the shopping herself and TRUST me when I tell you I was not expecting any makeup an 11-year-old gave me to be something I’d wear. I was WRONG. It was perfect. Amazing, even.

The dollar lipstick she selected was my perfect shade, has staying power, and trumps any $25 tube I’ve ever seen, tried or owned.  When I ran out that first time, I went to look for it and couldn’t find it. The tube I had was too worn to read the shade or the number and the product itself was all used up. I purchased several similar tubes trying to find it again… to no avail.

I hate collecting makeup. I hate owning anything that isn’t exactly what I want or need. I hate “making do” when I know perfection exists.

The Search

Finally, I asked my daughter to show me where she found it. I don’t usually ask such things about a gift, but I was desperate!

She took me to the proper display, but since I didn’t know the exact shade name or number, I had to hunt through all of them.

My daughter pulled out one and told me “this is it!” But, it was too light to be the perfect one, too shimmery, they had obviously discontinued the one I loved, so I got the one that I thought was closest and bought the one my daughter said was “it” just to pacify her. They were .99 each.

It turns out she was right (thankfully) and the one she picked out really WAS the one. I tossed the too-dark one I had selected and immediately recorded all the info on my computer and I went to the store and purchased two more identical tubes to put back. (I’m like that when I find something awesome.)

The Solution: Starting My Awesome Products List

It was at that point I started looking for a way to record and carry that type of information with me. Papers got lost. Little notebooks got left at home. I used a few smartphone apps (this was early on and after losing this info a couple times to crashes, I quit). I tried keeping a copy in gmail, but I couldn’t always access gmail (or any Internet at all) when I needed to retrieve the information. I tried using programs that would sync with my phone AND my computer… back when it required a cable to sync… but then I’d forget to sync and info would get lost.

Now, I use Evernote. I can add information when I’m on my computer or on my tablet. I can snap a quick picture when I’m shopping and drop it in the “essential products” page or the “gotta try this” page and keep moving down the aisle.

If you want to save time (searching), money (buying a multitude of items trying to recover a lost treasure) and frustration (it sucks getting old and not being able to remember every little thing anymore)… you should try it. It will really help you to minimize mistakes and simplify your life.

(Needless to say, I have a photo of that lipstick in my Evernote now, I also have the manufacturer and distributor’s name, the number of the shade, the name of the shade, and where I can usually find it. )

Do you keep a list of amazing products that you use and adore and always want to be able to remember? What’s on your list?

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