This year, I did something I had never done before, I tracked every dollar I spent on beauty. I expected the number to be high. I didn’t expect it to be over $5,000.
I don’t splurge on clothes or bags, I rarely even eat out. But skincare, makeup, hair appointments, that’s always been my soft spot. By December, I had reached VIB status at Sephora and was closing in on Platinum at Ulta, all while realizing my bathroom cabinets were overflowing with products I couldn’t use fast enough. The wake‑up call came when I complained about not taking a vacation in years. The money had been there. I had just spent it gradually and without thinking.
How much is too much for beauty? I didn’t ask until I’d spent $5,000.
Why Beauty Spending Feels “Normal” Even When It’s a Lot
One of the first surprises of tracking my beauty spending was how invisible those dollars had become. Unlike a weekend trip or a high‑end handbag purchase that leaves a clear mark on your bank statement, beauty spending is incremental. A $38 skincare serum here, a $28 lipstick there, a salon visit once a month individually, these feel like nothing but collectively, they added up.
That invisibility reflects broader consumer behavior.
Recent industry research shows that beauty spending remains remarkably resilient even in uncertain economic times. The beauty market itself continues to grow steadily, analysts estimate global beauty and personal care sales are expanding up to 7.3% increase year‑over‑year, driven by sustained demand across skincare, makeup, and grooming categories.
Surveys suggest consumers spend dozens and often hundreds of dollars per month on beauty and personal care products, with makeup and skincare being the most commonly purchased categories. Studies also show that many consumers underestimate how much they’re actually spending. One consumer report found that Americans spend an average of over $1,700 a year on beauty products, and that figure rises significantly for Millennials and Gen Z consumers.
It’s easy to feel like you’re “just buying one thing” when beauty products are marketed as everyday essentials or little self‑care boosts.
The Psychology of Small Luxuries and Emotional Spending
Beauty products carry a sort of permission slip, they make us feel better about ourselves, which makes the purchase feel earned or deserved. Retailers know this instinct well.
On earnings calls, major beauty retailers have acknowledged that customers sometimes lean on beauty purchases as a form of comfort or emotional escape, especially during stressful periods. In a landscape where experiences and savings feel constrained, that psychological safety and mental boost of a new serum or lipstick can feel worth the money in the moment.
It’s also tied to how beauty is framed culturally as self‑care, self‑improvement, or even a rites‑of‑passage purchase. And with social media constantly introducing new trends and products, we’re encouraged to try more because there’s always something new promising better skin, a flawless look, a perfect hair day.
That combination of emotional justification and cultural messaging makes spending feel less like indulgence and more like investment, until you actually add up the numbers.
There Goes the Loyalty Trap (Rewards Programs and Escalating Status)
One of the accelerators in my spending was loyalty programs.
Becoming a VIB at Sephora or hitting Platinum at Ulta is not just a badge, it feels like progress. It feels like proof that you’re a valued consumer, maybe even someone who “deserves” perks. But those tiers also encourage spending. You chase the next reward, the next discount, the next milestone, and suddenly you’ve spent far more than you planned.
This is not unique to beauty. Airline miles, coffee punch cards, and hotel statuses all use the same psychological cues: progress bars, tiers, and exclusivity. In beauty retail, they gamify loyalty in a way that makes incremental spending feel like smart saving.
Only when you stand back and track the dollars do you see how many of those purchases were motivated by the incentives, not necessity.
So When Does Beauty Spending Become a Problem?
It’s tempting to answer that question with a dollar amount: $1,000, $3,000, or $5,000. But the truth is more personal.
Beauty spending becomes a problem not when you cross a specific number but when it consistently:
- Crowds out other priorities.
If you forgo travel, savings, or experiences you care about because of beauty expenses,that’s a signal your budget and values are out of sync. - Becomes habitual rather than mindful.
Buying because of habit, boredom, or incentives instead of intention is when spending stops serving you. - Serves emotional gaps instead of practical needs.
A new serumwon’t fix stress, loneliness, or dissatisfaction even if for a moment it feels like it will.
Across consumer studies, a significant portion of people have regretted overspending on beauty, especially younger buyers influenced by trends and social media. That should tell us something; even when spending is culturally normalized, it can still feel out of place in our own lives.
What the Industry Trends Reveal About Your Habits
To put my experience into context, it helps to look at broader industry trends.
Beauty remains a big business. The global market continues to grow, and consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z are spending both online and in stores.
Skincare is especially dominant, often accounting for the largest share of categories which fits with how many of us rationalize purchases as investments in our skin health. But the sheer volume of products, price points, and sub‑categories also creates an environment where it’s easy to spend incessantly without noticing.
Meanwhile, economic pressures haven’t stopped beauty purchasing entirely. In some markets, consumers treat beauty like a small “luxury” they don’t want to give up even when tightening budgets elsewhere, a phenomenon sometimes referred to as the lipstick effect.
That doesn’t mean spending is immune to consequence, just that it’s socially and economically reinforced.
Reframing “Too Much” into Intentional Spending
So how do you know when you’re crossing from mindful joy to unconscious habit? Here are some questions that helped me:
What am I actually using?
Owning 10 serums doesn’t mean you’ll use 10 serums.
Would I still buy this if there were no rewards program?
Distance from incentives clarifies intent.
Does this align with my broader life goals?
If not, it’s easy for spending to become aimless.
Tracking is the first step. But reflection and putting your spending in the context of your life goals is the second.
For me, realizing that $5,000 could have funded a vacation, months of savings, or simply less financial stress was sobering. It didn’t mean I had to abandon beauty altogether, it meant recalibrating what it meant to me.
Practical Shifts That Don’t Kill Your Joy
You don’t have to quit beauty to regain control. Here are practical ways to spend with intention:
Establish a spending window.
Set a calendar date once a quarter to review and make beauty purchases.
Use before you buy.
Challenge yourself to finish what you already own before adding new items.
Set priorities.
Decide what matters most, skincare that works, makeup you enjoy, or occasional treatments ( and make rules around those categories).
Pause emotional buys.
If you’re about to buy because of stress, wait 48 hours.
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