Make-up discontinued: 'My favourite beauty product was discontinued and I'm not OK'

OPINION — This year I suffered a major life crisis.

No one died, or got sick. No relationship ended. No one moved out. A pet didn’t die. Yet I was bereft.

You see, one of my favourite beauty products, a brand of foundation, disappeared from shelves. Discontinued. Defunct. And I was distraught.

Nine’s Merryn Porter has been on the hunt for a new foundation after the one she used disappeared. (Supplied)

I had been down this road before. But this one hurt, because I had used this brand for years.

It was nothing fancy. A chainstore brand found in some discount stores, pharmacies and supermarkets, but I loved it.

It cost about $30 a bottle, sometimes even cheaper on sale, but it did the job well, I like to think.

It had something I struggle to pronounce, hyaluronic acid, and collagen, and since I had been talked into changing shades to something slightly darker than my natural pale skin colour, it left me with a healthy glow.

Makeup stock Makeup is very personal for consumers, who can struggle when a product leaves shelves. (Getty)

So much so in fact that when I didn’t have it on, my family was convinced I was unwell.

When it started to disappear from shelves a couple of years ago, I panicked. I started buying up any I could find.

When they stopped being stocked in stores I looked online, and found a stockist on Amazon. So I ordered 10.

When they turned up in the mail wrapped in bubble wrap I was like a junkie who had scored a hit.

I hid them away in the cupboard and would only bring out a new one when I was certain I had squeezed every last drop from the last.

As my supply dwindled, I started searching online again, but it was too late.

I rued the day I didn’t buy all 20 online when I could.

Beauty brands often discontinue popular products. (Nine)

If there had been a make-up black market version I would have found it.

I took to the streets to search for more.

I would ask random shop assistants if they had seen it.

“No,” I heard more than once. “It has been discontinued. I don’t know why because it was popular. So many people have been asking for it.”

As my remaining bottle inched closer to empty, I finally admitted defeat and started looking for an alternative.

I started online, searching up the ingredients I craved.

Then I started carrying my little bottle everywhere. Sales assistants would waste precious drops putting it on their hands to colour match it.

I looked everywhere for the perfect replacement. (WireImage)

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Nothing worked. There was nothing like it. My life was OVER.

There were false starts and false promises.

A sales assistant promised a perfect match but once I got home and tried it, I realised she had lied to me.

I had fallen for her words like a love sick school girl. The realisation I had been duped stung.

I wore that mismatched colour like a walk of shame across my face while I continued to look for an alternative.

My search took me to Sephora. (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett)

My months’-long search finally led me to the spiritual home of young girls and women across Australia – Sephora.

There I found the closest match yet – but at almost triple the price, I am on the hunt for a more affordable alternative.

And I am not alone.

Gavin Northey, an associate Professor at the Department of Marketing at Griffith University, told nine.com.au last year that feeling bereft over the loss of a familiar beauty product was not only common but “totally normal”.

He said it was caused by a number of psychological mechanisms, including loss aversion, which led to the aforementioned stockpiling, followed by feelings of loss and even trauma once the supply runs out.

So for now, I keep searching, secure in the knowledge that one day I will find the perfect foundation, only for an employee at a cosmetics company to make it obsolete and hurtle me back to square one.

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