Discussion Post! Things I DON'T buy from indies...

By Unknown
OK, so you all know that the team here at Indie Know buys tons of indie beauty products, obviously. However, there are things we all buy from big, mainstream companies, too. I thought it would be interesting to ask: what do you buy indie and what do you buy mainstream, and why?

I'll weigh in first.

Stuff I mainly buy from indie companies:

• Perfume--this is for two big reasons: cost and my personal tastes. The non-indie perfumes I've found that I love are few and far between, and tend to cost an arm and a leg. I can count the big bottles of non-indie perfume I own on one hand: Diptyque Philosykos, Hanae Mori Butterfly, Mistral Balinese Vanilla, Anthropologie Silk Road Caravan, and Anthropologie Cape of Good Hope. Oh, two hands, actually: I own a partial vintage bottle of Guerlain Shalimar EDT that I found at a garage sale. I tend to find mainstream perfumes headache-inducing, boring, or overly "perfumey"... that includes the Shalimar, actually, which I bought because it was cheap and classic, but I don't love it.
• Powder eyeshadow--the shade range is insane, it's cheap as hell, why wouldn't you? I still do buy mainstream pressed shadows for convenience or when I like a particular shade or palette, but indies are my go-to for bright, sparkly, and unusual colors.
• Kristin adds: I...buy a lot of these...
• Soap--I love love love fancy bar soaps, and I use them up on a regular basis, so I don't feel guilty about stockpiling them. Sometimes I'll buy regular fancy bar soap from the local soap shop, but I generally prefer the amazing variety of scents and textures available from indie soap shops. 
• Skincare (not counting sunscreen)--although I do pick up some things from the drugstore like Stridex pads, Alpha Hydrox AHA gel, and, most recently, Hada Labo serum, I refuse to pay Sephora prices for simple ingredients like maracuja oil or vitamin C serum, preferring to pick these things up from etailers like Garden of Wisdom or Lotioncrafter. The bang for your buck just seems to be way better.
• Home fragrance--I haven't really talked about these on the blog yet, but I own a few atmosphere/linen sprays from BPAL and Blooddrop, and I like them for the same reason I like indie perfumes--they smell good to me, unlike Bath and Body Works Wallflowers or Febreze Fresh Step or whatever that stuff is called. Ugh, Aphrodite Kypria atmosphere spray is so damn good.

Stuff I mainly buy from mainstream companies:

• Nail polish--there is no good reason for this, really, since there are tons of beautiful indie polish options; I think it's mainly because I enjoy polish as an instant gratification item, so I tend to pick it up on impulse at the drugstore rather than researching it and then buying online
• Sunscreen--don't screw around with DIY sunscreen; this is a complicated process and the safety of your skin is at stake. The homemade stuff may not work at all to protect you from sunburns, skin cancer, and premature aging.
• Pressed powder products--just because I don't see them offered all that often by indie companies, Fyrinnae being one exception. I prefer pressed products because they're easier to work with, so I wish more indie companies would offer them.
• Kristin adds: There seems to be a slight trend with more indies offering pressed products and the fans are loving it. Shiro has recently been offering limited edition 4-pan pressed versions of their shadows and they sell out within hours of the announcement (sadly they've been sold out for awhile but if you'd like to take a look at what they looked like here's the Etsy posting of the latest offering).
• Blush--I don't like working with loose blush (always seems to go on blotchy/overpigmented) and I don't have the supplies for pressing big pans of powder. 
• Kristin adds: Fellow blogger, AG, and I are big indie blush lovers! Specifically, we love formulas from Darling Girl Cosmetics and Fyrinnae. I haven't personally tried them but I know that AG also really loves the Lip Jellies as cheek stains from Little Sparrow Cosmetics!
• Primers--I haven't seen face primers offered by any indie companies, actually, except I think Fyrinnae makes a couple of powder primers. I don't use face primer all that much anyway. I have some eyeshadow primer from Detrivore, but haven't found it to work quite as well as Urban Decay Primer Potion to prevent creasing. I do love Pixie Epoxy. 
• Liquid and cream products--there's not a huge range of liquid and cream products available in the indie world, particularly for liquid foundation. However, my fellow bloggers make me think I need to go indie next time I need some cream blush!
• Kristin adds: This seems to be another increasing trend in the indie market! Aside from the aforementioned wonderful Darling Girl cream blushes, they also offer cream eyeshadow bases (their Watercolor Paint Pots) and I've seen pictures of a gel eyeliner that's to be released in the near future. I've also been hearing a lot lately about Pumpkin & Poppy who offer cream eyeshadows, eyeliners, blush, and contour products. Silk Naturals has recently introduced a cream foundation stick to add to their cream product lineup which previously just held cream eyeshadows and eyeliners. Things are definitely changing in the indie world!

Your turn. What do you buy indie versus mainstream, and why?