High End Haul: Dumpster Diving

Makeup dumpster diving is a real thing. A really scary thing.

 If you search online, you will see the many posts and videos of individuals dumpster diving outside of beauty stores. So many vloggers, bloggers, and beauty buffs are using dumpster diving as a way to obtain beauty products. These dives include shampoo, conditioner, foundations, eye shadows, about anything you could find within your local Sephora or Ulta. I've seen hauls with amounts as low as $200 and some upwards of $6000. Six grand people!! Check out some insane hauls below.

$6700 Haul
$5000 Haul

Lets talk about how these dives go...
People wait until the middle of the night to scope out beauty stores dumpsters. They ensure the dumpster locations are public property to avoid the police. They climb in the dumpsters and literally dig through mounds and mounds of trash looking for beauty finds. Often times, they'll find the stores inventory list of items they had to discard. This is their cheat sheet to finding the best items.

Since they are cosmetics, when returned to the store... they are no longer able to be resold on the sales floor. Beauty companies are required to dispose of these products. Since the trend is catching on, some stores are going as far as destroying the products before trashing to deter dumpster divers from climbing in and grabbing what they can find. Some even go as far as dumping cleaners and bleach on top of the products. I would say companies are mainly concerned about liability. 

My main point for this post. Two words- HEALTH RISKS

No matter the amount of money this may save me or provide me with some super high end products, the risk is not worth the benefit.You have no clue why these items were returned or what has happened to them in the meantime. Plus, they are in a DUMPSTER. Imagine the germs and bacteria in the dumpster?? Now these products are going mostly likely on your face. (All of the dumpster diving videos I've seen clean their products after returning home, but it's still weird.) I'm too scared to try a new product in my Ipsy bag, let alone something out of a dumpster. There's also the legal consequences if you are in a private area. Stores are cracking down on violators.

I'll spend my money on new products to ensure my safety. (Don't get me started on knock-off makeup!) What's your thoughts? Would you dumpster dive for makeup products?