People are digging through dumpsters outside of cosmetic stores and finding some brand name products, for free!
If you’re wanting to get quality beauty products, you’re going to have to pay the price for it.
Let’s face it, good makeup can be really expensive, forcing you to save up for the latest Urban Decay $54 eyeshadow palette or $39 Tarte foundation.
However, some makeup junkies are finding new methods of saving, when it comes to high-end cosmetics – Dumpster Diving!
Destinee, aka Miss Skelliton on YouTube, has been posting videos of this dumpster diving trend. She does this by combing through dumpsters outside of Ulta, taking the reject products, and then repurposing them for personal use.
In a video from January 2017, Destinee found over $6,700 worth of makeup products in a dumpster, outside of her local Ulta. She brought in boxes full of bags filled with makeup products that look to be destroyed and damaged from snow that had fallen.
But when it comes to restoration, Destinee and friends have their own system of salvaging flawed/damaged products.
What Products Did She Find?
Destinee showed a good amount of Redken, BioSilk, and Shea Moisture hair products, including brand new shampoos and conditioners. She also got some different skin products, including clay masks.
Makeup products included: Eyeshadow palettes and lipsticks from NYX, Urban Decay, and Tarte. She also found blushes from Benefit Cosmetics and Urban Decay. There were also dozens of foundations from Benefit, It Cosmetics, Clinique, and more!
In the description for Destinee’s dumpster diving video, she lists her top tips, when it comes to rummaging through and cleaning the cosmetic products.
Some of which include the obvious, like sanitizing the products with alcohol and checking local dumpster diving policies.
‘Dumpster Diving’ Is Actually A Common Hobby…
Destinee is not the only one to dumpster dive and upload her haul of findings onto YouTube!
Surprisingly enough, there are many other YouTube channels that show what they found at their local cosmetic store dumpsters. Seriously, just YouTube ‘Dumpster diving at Ulta‘ – there are over 54,000 results that pop up! That’s insane!
There’s even a YouTube channel that’s solely devoted to dumpster diving, called Dumpster Haulics. That channel has even found some stuff outside Gamestop and Party City, but a majority of the videos are dedicated towards Ulta dumpsters.
Doesn’t Makeup Expire?
Something to take into consideration with dumpster-diving is not only is it unsanitary, but you have to keep in mind the expiration dates of products.
According to the Huffington Post, most cosmetic products last anywhere from 3 months- 2 years.
Natural Products – 3 to 6 months, Lipsticks- 2 years, Foundations- 6 months to 2 years, Eyeshadow/Blush/Powders- 1 to 2 years, and Eyeliners- 6 months.
Okay, as someone who has been watching makeup/fashion videos on YouTube, for years, I honestly did not know this was a thing people did.
While dumpster diving may be legal in most states across the USA, it doesn’t seem like the best idea to take part in, health-wise.
I like to consider myself a makeup junkie, but I personally do not see the need for that vast amount of products. And there’s no way you’ll ever find me digging through trash for used/mistreated makeup- Pass on that! I’ll continue to actually go into a store to purchase products that I feel I need or want to try out.