I will not be purchasing anything from the recent Rhode launch.

or falling into the trap of launch FOMO anymore.

I just tossed out nine peptide lip tints and at $18 a pop, that’s $162 down the drain.

While we can’t deny the marketing genius that is behind Rhode, is the product worth anything without the face of Hailey Bieber attached to it?

The need to boil an $18 lip treatment just to avoid it getting grainy is insane to me. As a relatively new brand, I can understand that there will be manufacturing mishaps but this is an ongoing issue that has not been resolved. I just can’t justify using my hard earned money on something that’s going to require more work just to use.

The brand does appear to favor influencers over the consumer. We saw this play out during the Matilda Djerf launch.

This invokes an exclusivity that consumers desperately try to grasp on to when purchasing the product. Many brands nowadays lean into that FOMO marketing but I think Rhode does it the best. Hailey has been teasing the lip liners for sometime now, which has caused a frenzy to have the next “it girl item” but I had to ask myself, did I need another lip liner? Is this brand even worth purchasing from again or do I just want to feel like I belong?

This year I want to be more intentional with how I spend my money. I created a wish list on my Notes app. It’s been fun curating a list to come back to when I want to celebrate a milestone or treat myself rather than impulsively purchasing every new launch I see on my FYP or Instagram feed. I realized that with the constant overflow of new launches, I would never be satisfied if I continuously attempted to keep up with the trends.

After 32 years I finally realized that in my attempt to keep up with the “in crowd,” I was only hoping to satisfy the ache that the little girl felt when she had no one to sit with in the 2nd grade because she was an immigrant and no one wanted to be her friend. Maybe that’s a little too deep for lip liners but everything has meaning in this head.

I hope this encourages you to pause before checkout. What are you hoping to gain from this purchase?

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I wanted to share some products that are similar and may even be better than the Rhode products. (in my opinion)

If you want to try the Butter Balm ($32), try the La Roche-Posay Balm B5 ($18.99) instead. This is a hero skincare product for me, I have repurchased and repurchased again. I also have tried the Butter Balm myself and still prefer the Balm B5 over it.

If you want to try the Glazing Milk ($32), try the TirTir Milk Skin Rice Toner ($25) instead. I have tried both and hydration wise I do believe they do the same thing, however the Rhode Glazing Milk is a bit thicker. Some reviews online also suggest that it does create breakouts.

If you want to try the Peptide Lip Treatment ($18), try the Laneige Lip Glowy Balm ($19), Summer Friday’s Lip Butter Balm ($25), and Olehenrikson Peptide Lip Treatment ($22). I’ve used all three and loved each one. The Olehenrikson one may be the closest as far as formula. An affordable alternative would be the e.l.f. lip balm ($4) or lip oil ($8).

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Thank you so much for reading and for the support you have shown me on here! It’s been so fun to get back into writing again.

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Lot’s of love,

Vee