That perfectly matched nude lipstick or the perfume you’ve been wearing since high school: There are certain products that just stick with you. You buy them over and over again until one day you hear that dreaded word…discontinued. It’s enough to make you smear precious mascara. Well, we’ve picked up a few tricks for relocating our favorites along the way, and we’re here to share ’em with you.
Scour the Internet
But we don’t mean blindly Googling your near-empty foundation. Specific online outlets like Beauty Encounter and Overstockcosmetics.com have massive inventories you can search from. Still no luck? You can always try eBay or Amazon (though the pricing can be a little inconsistent).
Head to the Counters
It’s time to visit your local department stores. If the product you’re looking for was recently discontinued, there’s a good chance the bigger stores still have back stock or even unused samples. On that note, Estée Lauder has a "Gone but Not Forgotten" program that does the legwork for you. All you have to do is email the company and it’ll track down discontinued products (of up to 36 months!) from its lines, which include Bobbi Brown, MAC Cosmetics, Clinique, DKNY Fragrances, Tom Ford Beauty and more.
Make It Yourself
And if all else fails, you can send a little dime-sized nubbin of your favorite product to a lab like Three Custom Colors, which will recreate the same shade for you within two to three weeks. There’s even a database of discontinued shades that other people have already submitted (in case you can’t bring yourself to mangle your beloved lipstick). Either way, your info will remain on file so you can reorder whenever you need.
