Brand Loyalty/Product Snob?

I was talking with a close friend's girlfriend earlier and she was asking about my eye shadow. It's a bronze look using Maybelline color tattoo, my UD Naked 2 palette and ELF shadows. She told me that she uses MAC exclusively and will never venture into other brands. It came across very haughty IMO and the conservation fell flat afterward because I'm not that familiar with MAC and she really isn't familiar with any other ones. Is this common for any of you fellow beauty junkies and product lovers? I understand loving a brand or product, but I don't believe there is any brand that is Gospel and why limit yourself? If you find an HG product, of course the obsession is understandable. But limiting yourself to one brand seems like selling yourself short! I think there are sooo many desirable brands and products, from drug store to luxe and high end. Feel free to sound off and let me know what you think!

Only using one brand would be so boring to me!

I love using all different brands.

I find it strange that she is sooo very loyal! I have never met anyone who exclusively uses ONE brand.

UD is my favourite brand but I definitely don't limit myself to just them. The most fun part of makeup is being able to constantly be able to discover new products that you love! And I have to say the past few MAC collections I've seen have all been extremely underwhelming, while the price just keeps climbing higher and higher... 

It's definitely not unusual once you find a HG product to just stick with it - I believe my mum's used Clinique's foundation and powder for over 20 years! - but I couldn't imagine just picking one brand and sticking with it forever.

I use to be sort-of brand loyal but as I began using more and different products I realized that being brand loyal is limiting.

Only using one brand would be so boring to me! I love using all different brands. I find it strange that she is sooo very loyal! I have never met anyone who exclusively uses ONE brand. :doh:

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She told me she uses WnW liners and some different lippies, but 90% of her makeup is literally MAC. Like.. 10:1 ratio..that's a lot! Lol, everything in her makeup bag was MAC. I was surprised. I own an assortment of products and even stray from my HG items to experiment from time to time. So, definitely odd to see someone so exclusive.

I understand your friend's pov. When I was 19/20 I would only wear Lancome. I felt sophisticated buying it. In reality I knew very little about makeup and skincare. I was buying the image they were marketing in hopes that it would rub off on me. In hindsight I didn't really want to leave my comfort zone and believed that those ladies behind the makeup counter were paragons of beauty.

Now I buy a wide variety of beauty products from Sephora and Walgreens. I do have some MAC in my arsenal but it doesn't get used nearly as much as some of my other stuff. I used to leave the makeup counter second guessing my purchases and questioning if I could really afford it. Now I just hit up Target when the beauty budget's tight. 

I would guess that the MAC brand has an image that she strongly identifies as her own. Possibly that's just my Psych Major talking. 

How do I say this without sounding catty? Lol, I think she is very.. class/material conscious. She's not young and naive, about 30 or close to it. But she did say a strong draw was thinking her bf was affluent lol because he has two cars and the parents live in a nice home. Maybe it is more of a status symbol thing.

I have a friend whose entire makeup collection is all MAC--she's not snobbish about it, she's just reaally obsessed lol. for a broke college kid, her collection could probably pay for a semester of classes

I've come across several MAC obsessed guys and gals in various beauty communities online. They're just the line that seems to have the most appeal worldwide. I've also seen a ridiculous number of stashes that are MAC only, so I've wondered if it's just an OCD thing. My sister-in-law purchases MAC for her friends and family overseas because it's so expensive in the UK. I've asked her why MAC in particular is so popular, and she confirmed that it was more of a status symbol thing (at least for the people she was buying for!). I once recommended a (non-MAC) red lipstick to give to a friend of hers a few years ago, and she told me that if it wasn't MAC, her friend probably wouldn't use it. I remember being kind of shocked by that. Like norther, my favorite line is Urban Decay, but I love to play with makeup by any brand. You never know what'll work for you, and part of the fun for me is trying things out! I started dabbling in makeup at drugstores when I was in junior high. I guess you can say I've moved on up since I have more disposable income and a passion for it now. But I'm still rather fond of Wet N Wild's black nail polish and the ubiquitous 666 lip pencil, though I don't reach for them as often anymore. I understand holy grail items, but I can't imagine only sticking with one brand exclusively. There's just too much great stuff out there at all price points waiting to be tried!

I like to mix it up! I definitely have some mac (paint pots, lipstick, lipgloss, eye shadow, gel liner) but I also swear by my benfit creaseless shadow and my MUF concealer and my nars blush and lip color, stila lipgloss, etc Plus my favorite chapstick is burt's bees.  I like to pick and choose, because some products from some brands are just better than they would be if you stuck with the same brand the entire time. 

my theory: a good product is a good product! Doesn't matter if it's HE or drug store. Most of mine are currently higher end, but that's just because I like to try stuff before I buy it and you can't really do that with drug store colors. 

Originally Posted by MissLindaJean /img/forum/go_quote.gif
How do I say this without sounding catty? Lol, I think she is very.. class/material conscious. She's not young and naive, about 30 or close to it. But she did say a strong draw was thinking her bf was affluent lol because he has two cars and the parents live in a nice home. Maybe it is more of a status symbol thing.

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Well that's just silly. If she's going to be haughty, she should at least pick an actual luxury brand like Burberry or Tom Ford. MAC is like, one step up from drugstore makeup.

Originally Posted by lolaB /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well that's just silly. If she's going to be haughty, she should at least pick an actual luxury brand like Burberry or Tom Ford. MAC is like, one step up from drugstore makeup.

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Hahaha. Love it. I could NEVER afford that stuff. Mac is about as classy as I can get.... 

From all the group of Make Up fans, some MAC fans are the worse. There was a topic started on some makeup forum on how MAC increased their prices for eye pencils and paint pots. They kinda complained but pretty much said they don't care anyway. I've managed to collect the worse eyeshadow colors from MAC. I don't know how but they are so splotchy when applied and the lack of pigmentation is a huge turn off. Ugh, wasted money.

LoLs, I was thinking about this topic back in May and even started a post about it! /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> glad to know I'm not the only one out there pondering this~ XD

I started off as an exclusive, now, I just wanna try them all!

I want a little bit of everything. My skin sensitivities limit me enough so why would I want to do that to myself? I tend to believe that people who only consider one brand are quite close minded.

I think a big part of it is that people get familiar with a brand's products and formulations and they like to stick to what they know, especially if they have good experiences with MAC or whatever.  Experimenting with different brands can be tricky sometimes if you don't know what to look for.  

Quick note on MAC along those lines: Although I have a couple of their products, and usually I love trying a wide variety of brands, I actually avoid MAC in general because they release so many limited edition collections that I never know what is going on.  By the time I find reviews for a MAC makeup item and decide I like it, whatever collection it is in is gone or sold out, and I am never sure what is part of the permanent line and what isn't.  So I relate a little bit to the people who get uneasy trying other brands, if only for that reason.

I love trying new brands all the time.....Something new comes out i go check it out.

I don't like the brand mac that much because what ever products i have really don't work for me and i find them pricey as well /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I used to do that about skincare a while back (used L'Occitane exclusively), mainly because I didn't know what else there is out there and how I can try it. Then I subscribed to several beauty boxes and got much more adventurous /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

I don't think your friend is haughty, just obsessed, and that seems to be a thing. The MAC 'community' seems to be full of rabid fans, and yes having a big collection with LE stuff - especially the really rare hard-to-find stuff - becomes a status among fellow rabid fans. About ten years ago I got MAC obsessed and started spending $200-$300/month on anything I could get my hands on. I got caught up in it all and found myself contemplating $50+ purchases for LE things I didn't really want but 'had to have,' and my first visit to a PRO store was like reaching Valhalla.

From where I sit now - using lots of different brands - it seems so odd.

When I first started buying makeup I was into Mac but that quickly changed. My aunt would take me shopping and she bought something at the Shiseido counter and told me choose something. It was a set of dark brown eyeshadows. My MAC eyeshadows never got used again. Personally I think people who solely use MAC are MAC snobs (having been one myself a very long time ago) and need to explore what Is out there. I went from all MAC to having only bought the Cruella Deville lipstick in the past 15 years. So many exciting brands out there to explore!