Things I Bought and Returned (TIBAR) | VOL. 3
Because you should never keep anything you're lukewarm about.
This week has been very heavy for me personally, and while I sort out my feelings and grapple with whether or not I’ll share more via a paid letter next week (that isn’t a tease—I’m really unsure as of this moment and like to keep an open dialogue with you guys), I realized I still wanted to touch base this week even if I can’t do it in the way I normally would. The idea of curating both a paid letter and a free Friday letter in the next few days was too much, so I decided to let everyone in on this one that would typically live behind a paywall. Consider it a free preview of what would normally only be seen by paying subscribers. Enjoy and consider upgrading to paid.
Welcome to volume 3 of TIBAR—Things I Bought and Returned. If you’re a red-blooded American woman, you’re more than likely familiar with the very popular Instagram page, Things I Bought And Liked (TIBAL). This woman—whoever she is because she has somehow remained completely anonymous for years now—has made a living off of buying things, liking them, then sharing what she likes with her audience. Is she a glorified influencer? Absolutely. But she approached the industry in a different way and became a disrupter, which we love.
To put a spin on what she does, I decided to send out a monthly TIBAR newsletter highlighting all the things I bought, hated, and sent back. If you’re a new paying member, you can run back through my archive to see volumes 1 and 2!
This past month, I’m proud to say I didn’t do much shopping so I don’t have nearly as much to report, but let’s get into it anyway.
RETURN 1: SEPHORA ESSENTIAL FACE BRUSH SET
I’m in the market for all new makeup brushes and thought I was making a wise choice by throwing this set into my Sephora basket during their spring savings event in April. But it only took one use of both the foundation brush and the blush brush to realize that these brushes are not, in fact, “it.” I didn’t love how they felt in my hand, how they applied their respective products, or really anything about them so they went back fast. For now (and probably for always?), I’m sticking to my Artis foundation brush that I haven’t been able to top since I purchased it last year—it’s just really good. For blush, I’m using the Merit balm so no brush is needed there. However, I will give an honorable mention to this contour/blending brush a Sephora employee convinced me to get for applying my new contour stick. It is perfectly magnificent.
RETURN 2: THREE MADEWELL DRESSES
Well, I should say I’m hoping for ONE return and TWO exchanges. This button-up midi dress is a true return. I love the idea of it, but the 8 is way too tight across my breasts and the next size up wouldn’t be flattering, so it’s fully going back from whence it came. However, this little mini dress is so cute—I studied the size chart, got it in a 6 even though I knew better and, per usual, my breasts got in the way and I need an 8. Otherwise, the fit is great and it’s a perfectly conservative mini-length (mid-thigh, closer to the knee), which I’m finding myself desiring more and more as the weather heats up and I shop my own closet. I also LOVE this green number so much but, again, I listened to the reviews which claimed it ran small, got a small, and it’s too small in the boobs. This is my fight song, ya know? I will definitely be exchanging it for a medium because I need this dress—it has pockets, the material is incredibly soft and delicious, and I love the tiny print for spring and summer. Use code REFRESH for 20% off purchases right now, btw.
RETURN 3: THE WICKER CHAISE FURNITURE FOR THE PERGOLA
Word to the wise: Don’t order outdoor furniture offline. Go in person to find whatever it is you’re going to want to sit in, otherwise you’ll probably end up like us, having to re-box 100 pieces of material to send back to the warehouse. I’m an impulsive and impatient person (hi, Aries), and I wanted outdoor furniture yesterday so I pulled the trigger on this very standard seating group for our back deck and it turned out to be pretty terrible. Terrible quality, terrible depth (you basically had to sit up straight), terrible cushions (so thin), just… terrible. The good news is that Zac only put together one out of six chairs before we discovered the error of my ways so we didn’t have to completely breakdown the entire set and re-box it. Still though, having to box up that one chair was a bitch and a half (as in Zac had to meet me at FedEx to help me carry everything into the store, bitch and a half), and I had to forgo about $70 to make the return. Oye. Zac warned me of this very situation, but I stubbornly insisted this was exactly what we were looking for only to be very, very wrong (Don’t tell him I told you, but he’s usually right about a lot).
The good news is, we went back to Plan A, which was to get in the car and drive to stores that sell outdoor furniture so we could actually test them out and ended up finding the perfect 5-piece set from none other than Nebraska Furniture Mart. I will say this about outdoor furniture—just from this experience alone, I can tell you that it’s worth it to invest. You don’t have to go crazy, but if a rattan sectional for $800 seems too good to be true, you will end up having to send it back because it’s so awful. Spend the money. It’s worth it.
But here’s what DID work last month
As a new addition to the TIBAR letters, I’m going to end each with the five top-selling items each month according to my commission statements. The data here is pretty sketchy, but for this purpose, we’re gonna trust it. Here’s what readers/listeners/followers/lurkers were loving last month:
Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic Lip Balm in “Pillow Talk” — I was so happy to see this in the number one spot because I am hopelessly obsessed with this stuff. I swear I’ve used half the tube in just a few weeks. Every five years or so, some beauty product makes its way into my arsenal that I end up using forever and I have a feeling this is one of those.
Madewell White Wide-Leg Pants — I am not a white jeans girl for spring/summer, but I can and have gotten on board with white wide-leg pants. The Madewell pair I own are from last season, but these are the updated version for this year and just as good if not better. 100% linen and 20% off right now with code REFRESH.
Sephora Contour Brush — I don’t mean to double down, but this contour brush I briefly mentioned up there was a top seller last month. I love it because it’s the smaller version of their full-size contour/blending brush and just enough for application and smoothing.
Sam Edelman Mule — I don’t have it in me to splurge on Gucci mules no matter how badly I want them, so I got the next best thing in these Sam Edelman dupes that are a fraction of the cost. I love them because you can wear them into spring, take a break for summer, and break them out again as soon as temps drop to the 80s.
J.Crew Red/Pink Button Down — This is technically a beach cover-up, but I decided that no one puts baby in a lounge chair by the pool and wore it to my Dallas meet-up a few weekends ago. Sure, it’s a little sheer but nothing a nude bralette can’t take care of. I took a small (it’s oversized because, ya know, the beach).
Thanks for reading, and I’ll write you guys next week.
—EGM
The way I have a constant flirtation with the Charlotte tilbury lip stuff and just haven’t brought myself to pull the trigger on a $35 lip balm. But I’m close. Veryyyyy close!