During these times of recession we're all finding ourselves tightening our budgets and tweaking our beauty routines a bit here and there. Using at-home hair color kits, skipping regular pedicures and switching from Dior Show mascara ($24) to an oldie but goodie, Maybelline Great Lash ($5) are enough sacrifices for some, but people across the US have been taking it one step further... product swapping.
Beauty website MakeupAlley now has a tool called Swap. Here, members are able to place beauty products they've used and don't want any more onto a discussion board in hopes another member will contact them and offer another product in exchange. A recent AM New York article interviewed MakeupAlley member, Sarah Richards, 19, who said she saves about $30 per month by trading ProActive skin care products for a bunch of nail polish.
Before a member swaps they're able to check reviews on the person they're about to exchange with to see if their trades in the past have been positive. People have been trading everything from used lipsticks, half full skin care products, fragrances, foundation and makeup brushes. Personally, I'm not even a fan of using testers at makeup counters in department stores so this money saving trick isn't for me.
What are your thoughts? Would you swap twenty used nail polishes to get a half full jar of Creme de la Mer? Tempting...
